Thursday, December 15, 2022

The Art of the Handsell Weekly Link Round-Up

 


Last week, I told you that Denis and I had gone to an event at The Poisoned Pen with authors Paige Shelton and Jenn McKinlay. I've had the pleasure of lunching with these two women a few times, and I can testify to their sterling characters and senses of humor. It's always fun to go to one of their events.

They were asked for book recommendations by the audience, and I had to chime in with my two cents' worth for one of them (Remarkably Bright Creatures). I noticed some of the folks turning around in their seats to look at me in a "Who are you?" way-- especially when it became obvious that Paige and Jenn knew me, but I didn't think much more about it until Denis and I went down to the bookstore.

While Denis did whatever it was that he did, I was browsing. Of course, I did find a couple of books to buy, but I wound up selling more than I bought. I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to be in a bookstore and handsell books.


I sold books by Michael Stanley and T.E. Kinsey and Betty Webb and others-- a dozen books all told-- and several of my recommendations were scribbled down for future reference. Owner Barbara Peters once offered me a job, and how I wish my health had permitted me to take her up on her offer! 

I hope your holiday season is a good one. Enjoy the links!



►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►Book Banning & Censorship◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄
  • Watch these rats "dance" to the rhythms of Mozart, Lady Gaga, and Queen.
  • You should keep your cats inside for the sake of their health and the environment. (YES!!!) 
  • Ten species driven toward extinction by cats.
  • Back to the drawing board: dolphins shrug off hot sauce-laced fishing nets. 
  • Raccoon was once a Thanksgiving feast fit for a president. (Fortunately, my family of farmers and hunters never followed that trend.)
  • A hawk is making a stunning recovery after flying into the grill of a truck. 
  • How the Budweiser Clydesdales became a commercial success. (A man from my little farm town was a farrier for one of the teams, and I had the privilege of seeing those magnificent horses.) 
  • I wouldn't mind visiting Arkansas's Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
  • More than 52 million birds in the U.S. are dead because of avian flu
 
►The Wanderer◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
  • Bob Jackson, the man who's read every book ever shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
  • From a White House wedding to a pet snake, Alice Roosevelt's escapades captivated America. 
  • Carol Burnett reveals how she came to create the charwoman. 
  • Hopwood DePree, the American who moved to England to save his ancestral home. 
  • Jane Smiley explains her process of writing an historical mystery. 
  • The mesmeric Dr. James Esdaile
  • Merle Oberon was an Indian actress playing the biggest role of her life in Hollywood. 
 
►Best of 2022 Book Lists◄
 
►I ♥ Lists◄
 
That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.
 
Don't forget: One of the best ways to celebrate this holiday season is by curling up with a good book!

12 comments:

  1. Oh, Cathy, you would be an absolutely ideal bookshop sales professional! You could even own one! I'd have loved to be there when you handsold; I'll bet you're champion at it. I'm glad you had a good time at the PP. Now, as I'm sure you can guess, I'm off to that Egyptian tomb. And is that really a cargo ship they've found?

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    1. Sounds like you should check that ship out, too!

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  2. I knew we would get more PP stories! How fantastic to get to chat books in person again and recommend some!

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  3. I worked in a bookstore for several years, until I wanted to earn more money to support my travel habit. Handselling is one of the best parts of the job, and one I miss. I'm glad you got that added enjoyment at that event.

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  4. I am so glad you had a good time at the PP and were able to sell some books, too. What a great day. Your house looked all ready for the holidays in your photos. Hope you and Denis have a great time. Meanwhile, I am both angry at more book banning, yet delighted at the "Best of 22 books." I read all of these and am overwhelemed. I bookmarked a few of them. But oh, so many books,so little time (and aging eyes, which get tired easily). Thanks for the links and my best wishes for you and Denis to have happy, healthy holidays and read a lot of good books and see good movies/TV shows. And I'm sure we'll read about those you liked. I got Netflix and I'm afraid I'll drown in streaming and neglect reading.

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    1. For dedicated readers like us, I can't see us ever neglecting reading-- unless we're absolutely forced to do so.

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  5. I follow Poisoned Press on YouTube, I’ll have to see if I can spot you in the audience

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    1. You can in some of the older ones. In the two events I've attended this year, I was out of camera range for Michael Stanley, and they never posted the video for Shelton and McKinlay because the moderator's voice was so low it was practically unintelligible. (Even then I was out of camera range. I'm pretty good at that!)

      Plus, I was thrilled to see that Jane Harper will be at The Poisoned Pen in February. Something tells me I'll be there, too!

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  6. Yippee for Jane Harper. I am promoting her books to friends.

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