All about the Fest!

Sunday's author signings set for Po-Boy Fest: Diane Grove's "Dot.Conned"; Tom Morgan's "Historic Photos of New Orleanss Jazz"; Susan Norris-Davis' "Living New Orleans 2010 Day Planner"; Karen Ocker "Ray Nagin Coloring Book"; Dean Shapiro's "Historic Photos of Steamboats on the Mississippi"; Melissa Lee Smith's "Historic Photos of New Orleans." Come support your local authors and get you Po-boy on!

Feed the meters!

Our Oak Street renovations are complete with wide sidewalks, comfortable benches, beautiful trees, plenty of bike racks and a pothole free street. These are the good things. The bad things are green and money hungry: the meters. And I ain't talking 'bout the The Meters.

I watched 4 meter maids, park their city car (in a metered spot without paying, of course), divide up, and spread the tickets all around. And yes, I was 4 minutes past my allotted time and got a little present myself. They are doing this about three times a day and enjoying it.

So, please, feed the meters. Or park on the side streets. Or walk. Or take the streetcar. And if you came to see little 'ol me and paid to park, let me know, and I'll give you a little discount 'cause you shouldn't let those meters tell you what to do.

Things I'm Happy For Today

1. Being busy! I get weird(er) when I have too much time on my hands.
2. Oak Street Party today. I love shaking things up and am so impressed with the hard work of all the merchants in pulling Oak Street together. I definitely feel the love.
3. Kristen Fouquet's book signing for her new book "Twenty Stories" on Friday. Great little collection of short stories and sure to be a fun time.
4. Cleared out another four boxes of books from the back room. May actually get the renovations done on time, though probably not, and I'll just have to be alright with it all.
5. Ordered several new copies of "Where The Wild Things Are" because I think the movie is going to rock.

That's not too bad before noon.

BCB Update for September 1st

Greeting and Salutations! Check out what's new and happening at Blue Cypress Books!
~ Be our "FAN" on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for special online only discounts and updates.
~ The next Blue Cypress Books' book club meeting is September 27th at 4:00 where we will be discussing Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." New members are always welcome.
~ We are stocking even more Basin Street Records . Come on down and support your local musicians, like Kermit Ruffins, Jeremy Davenport and Teresa Anderson.
~ Get your books on sustainable agriculture, local gardening, whole foods cooking, and environmental stewardship at the Hollygrove Market and Farm. We have a bookcase there and a portion of sales go to supporting the market.
~And as always, we are committed to providing New Orleans with high quality, affordable used and rare books!

This Week's Updates.

Greetings and Salutations! Check out what's new and happening at Blue Cypress Books -
~ Be our "FAN" on Facebook and follow us on Twitter - we love to stay in touch and you can send your book thoughts thataway. Special online discounts!
~ Blue Cypress Books' book club will meet August 30th at 4:00 to discuss Italio Calvino's "The Baron In The Trees."
~ So very happy to be sponsoring the Youth Empowerment Program's book club. Currently looking for any used copies of "A Disobedient Girl" by Ru Freeman. Visit YEP's website www.youthempowermentproject.org for more information about this great organization.
~ While, we are all about the used books we've added quite a bit of NEW books all about New Orleans. Fiction, Art, Children's Books, Travel, and more.
~ A very special THANKS to all the dedicated teachers and educators who came by this summer committed to stocking their classrooms with books for the children of New Orleans. They are being the difference!
~And as always, we are here to provide New Orleans with high quality, affordable used and rare books!

Youth Empowerment Project Sponsorship

Blue Cypress Books is very proud to be a new supporter of New Orleans' Youth Empowerment Project. Any project that has this kind of success deserves our support.

BCB has committed to supporting YEP's Book Club for one year in addition to providing supplemental materials necessary for literacy and continuing education. This month's book club selection is A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman. (If anyone has a used copy they are no longer needing, please bring it down to the store and we will buy it from you.)

Quick Book Review - The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

What I liked: Intriguing, quick moving story. Witty, sardonic, interesting characters. Great layout in epistolary style.

What I didn't like: Typical detective novel in that I saw who-done-it but didn't see why-done-it as the withholding of critical information is integral to the story style. Also, not the novel's fault at all but this "Barnes and Noble Classics" publication is terribly cheaply constructed as the corners started to turn up almost upon my touch. Also, not the novel's fault, but a product of the time in which the author lived, but the romance between the first cousins is icky. Just icky.

So glad I picked up this Dickens' contemporary and creator of the entire detective novel genre and would definitely do so again.

You never know who is going to call . . .

Actual conversation:

"Blue Cypress Books, can I help you?" "Yes, do you sell pets?" "Um, pet books?" "No, pets. Specifically, I'm looking for a reptile dealer." "*long pause* No, I don't sell pets." "Well, you are listed under in Superpages.com as selling pets." "Well, thanks for letting me know, have a good one!"

Bargain Books Galore!

I posted this on Facebook a couple of days ago, but neglected to cross-post. Ugg. Here goes on the 'ol blog:

"Through a generous donation, I've gotten boxes upon boxes of books. Most are former library books, with creases and wear, but some are also great works of literature and some are fun summer reads. I don't have room for them so come grab a bag, fill it up and make whatever donation you'd like knowing ALL PROCEEDS will go to KIPP: Believe College Prep on Carrollton!"

Now, quit fussing 'bout the heat and come get the books. Nice air conditioning awaits . . .

Local writers

I love when local writers come into the shop. The problem is I often recognize them as I often read the words but don't pay attention to their photos. Well, one of my favorite editorial Times-Picayune writers came into the shop today. This article is an example of why he is one of my favorite writers: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/deberry/index.ssf?/base/News/124417926144810.xml&coll=1.

Thank goodness he paid with a credit card or his face would have gotten past me and I would have missed the opportunity to tell him how much I enjoyed his work. So authors, please don't use cash.

Where Y'At Magazine Writers' Picks Blue Cypress Books!

Thanks so much to Where Y'at Magazine writers for picking Blue Cypress Books as the "Best Place to Buy Used Books and Support a Small Local Business." Awesome!

REVIEW - The Condition by Jennifer Haigh

So, I picked this book up on the high praise of The Onion's AV Club, a website I spend entirely too much time on. Here's what I thought:

The Condition - Jennifer Haigh. This novel is revolves around a dysfunctional New England family. The story opens in 1976 with the timeworn ritual of the summer vacation on the Cape. The story purports to revolve around the daughter Gwen's "condition", a genetic, chromosomal abnormality that will keep her tiny her whole life. However, Turner's Syndrome seems to affect all members of the McKotch/Drew family seem to suffer not from a lack of physical development, but mental and emotional growth. The father is a cliched oversexed professor who studies his family from a scientifically. The mother is a passive/aggressive prude. The oldest son is a closeted homosexual. The daughter is not so much limited by her genetic condition as her mother and father issues and her frankly, dull outlook on life. The youngest son is a middle aged stoner whose job and family are a bad joke. In all, the book is filled with unlikeable people who frankly, need to grow up. This is a classic tragic-family-secret book, ironically beautifully written. However, the self-absorbed, dull characters and especially the neatly wrapped up ending culminating with a cheap shot of September 11, made this book an unsatisfying read. C-

Frankly, I should have relied less on the official AV Club review and more on the comments section: "It does sound like a Lifetime movie."

Party On!

Jumping on the party bandwagon with Oak Street Cafe and Queen of the Ball Snoballs.

Party set for this Sunday evening, from 6-9 and will include music, food and drinks. Come on down and enjoy our new road, sidewalks, benches, and bike racks!

What's Happening . . .

This is the group email that went out this week . . .

Greetings and Salutations! Check out what's new and happening at Blue Cypress Books -

~ Be our "FAN" on Facebook! We love to stay in touch and you can send your book thoughts thataway.

~ Blue Cypress Books' book club will meet May 31st at 4:00 to discuss Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis."

~ Every day new books arrive. As always, they are in the gentlest used condition with exceptionally affordable prices. Fill up your "Frequent Reader" card for free books. Don't forget we both buy and trade books!

~And as most are aware, Oak Street is still undergoing serious renovation. Our deepest thanks to those that continue to support our business and the businesses of Oak Street. Rumor has it, we are still in for another four weeks of renovation so stay tuned!

And as always, we continue to being committed to providing New Orleans with high quality and affordable used and rare books.

Oak Street Renovations

Thanks so much to everyone who has checked in on me since Monday's Oak Street Renovation article: http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/oak_street_upgrade_costly_to_n.html

What I'd like to know now, is who ran off with the cobblestone? The much ballyhooed cobblestone strip running up the middle of Oak Street was ripped out last week and hauled off. Where did it go and why? Also, why are holes that were dug up three weeks ago and then refilled being dug up again? Something is going wrong with this project and not a word from the Oak Street Association, Fleming Construction, or the City. I for one, would certainly like to know how long I can expect my business to flounder.

Book Club Information

This month's book club meeting is today. We will be discussing F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Super short story as we wanted to squeeze a meeting in before the chaos of Jazz Fest was upon us all!

Here is a list of the upcoming meeting dates and the books to be discussed:

Sunday, May 31st - Marjane Satrapi "Persepolis"
Sunday, June 30th - Richard Price "Lush Life"
Sunday, July 26th - Robert Olen Butler "A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain"
Sunday, August 30th - Italo Calvino "The Baron in the Trees"
Sunday, September 27th - Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
Sunday, October 25th - Truman Capote "Other Voices/Other Rooms"

I'll be trying to gather copies of the above books. Just send an email or call if you'd like to reserve any copies.

The Onion's Many Layers

I'm a huge fan of the The Onion's AV section, especially the film reviews. And while I check out the book reviews, I've sometimes found it lacking. Recently disappointing was the Best-Of-The-End-Of-The-Year selections. Not that the books weren't worthy, it's just there were so few of them. The selection of about 8 books to the about 20 Best-Of-Film showed a lack of effort to take books as seriously as film and music. Well, this is a great start to making up for the past:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/announcing-a-new-av-club-book-club,26645/

Fellow Blue Cypress Book clubbers, please note the introductory selection . . .

Vacuuming will set you free?

I'm giving Joyce Carol Oates work another try. I'd really disliked her past work, not the style or story, just the bleakness of it all. However, several of her recent works have appeared on my reading shelf, so not unlike Phillip Roth, I'm willing to give this author another shot.

Also, just checked out this interview which made me wonder: who would win a fistfight, Oates or Didion?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/magazine/12wwln-q4-t.html?_r=1&ref=books

NPR thoughts

This morning's NPR reports kept leading to book related thoughts. Surprise.

First there was segment regarding "brown fat", specifically on weight loss. Now, I don't give a flying Snickers about weight, as I've long accepted the extra padding my kids gifted me with. But what caught my interest was the reference to mitochondria. I fondly remembered the first time I'd heard of mitochondria - Madeline L'Engle's "A Wind in the Door", the book that followed her award-winning "A Wrinkle in Time." L'Engle's children's novels were awesome in that they never presumed to talk down to young adults. She made learning about science an adventure.

Also, NPR interviewed Sandra Cisnarios this morning on the 25th Anniversary of her novel "The House on Mango Street." I always felt this book was especially relevant on the idea of home versus the place one lives. I haven't read this one in so long, but feel I'm ready to pick it up again.

Favorite Find of the Day

Was able to crack open another box today (thanks road work for all the free time!) and was super pleased to find it filled with vintage children's books. Children's literature is a favorite of mine, thanks to a childhood filled with a lot of time on my hands and unfettered access to the public library.

I was most happy to pull out of the box, Astrid Lindgren's "Of Course Polly Can Ride A Bike." Most readers will recall Lindgren's unforgettable character Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraimsdaughter Longstocking, otherwise known as Pippi Longstocking. I couldn't get enough of Pippi with her emotional and physical strength and her intelligence. She was mocking, scarcastic and often rude to those adults she was forced to interact with but was also, so much fun and truly a good friend. I was forever trying to make my own braids jut sideways from my head, but I was weird like that anyway.

Lindgren's personality shines on in "Of Course Polly Can Ride A Bike" as Polly channels Pippi's spunk to prove she can ride a bicycle like her older brother and sister. The illustrations are so bright and complete the story.