Haunts and ghosts

The incredible success of local author Kathleen McConnell with her book, Don’t Call Them Ghosts: The Spirit Children of Fontaine Manse, has been in no small measure a reflection of the tastes of our patrons. Through in-store promotion and word-of-mouth, the winter book-signing she did here at the store remains one of our best-attended events. And, the book continues to sell wildly.

For such fans, we’ve brought in a special allotment of two key books at a bargain price. Michael Norman and Beth Scott have written guides to Haunted America and Historic Haunted America.

We have a limited supply of these right now, but I wanted to let the readers of this Web log know about it first. I’m trying to get Haunted Heritage and Haunted Heartland in as quickly as possible, too. These are all legendary and/or eyewitness accounts of haunted places in America, and I know many of you will want to add these to your collections.

Our purpose and our future

Volunteer Hoosier was created to offer an online forum to solicit ideas, questions, comments, and suggestions for the Winter version of our Public Affairs Symposium. Although this Web log has been part and parcel of our bookstore blog, we envision an expanded role in the coming months.

You will note that Volunteer Hoosier has been a bit more (and, unfortunately, a bit less) than a forum for symposium comments. During the coming months, to the extent possible, Volunteer Hoosier will be the conduit for my own frankly political expression.

I do think it is inappropriate to use the resources of my business to express my own opinions on issues of public affairs and politics, so I will maintain this Web log. But, you will begin to notice a broader focus for this blog in the coming weeks.

We all are appreciative of the initiative shown by fellow blogger NA Confidential with his Web log. While I will continue to contribute my comments to Roger A. Baylor’s original postings, I will be trying to generate a healthy portion of my own opinions here. I may not be able or willing to post on a daily basis, but I will endeavor to make the postings on this site edifying and worth your consideration.

As always, I invite your comments and emendations to the opinions expressed here. It would be unfair to intrude on the original postings of my friend and colleague Mr. Baylor, so here is where you will see the majority of my musings and opinions.

For the sake of decorum and consistency with my stated purposes for this Web log, I won’t be posting opinions, per se, until after the Destinations Booksellers Winter Public Affairs Symposium. In addition, this is the the primary site on which you will be able to read the post-symposium report and post-event comments.

But, fair warning. After Wednesday, the nature and frequency of postings for Volunteer Hoosier will change in tone and in nature. We hope you will enjoy it.

Patrons, take notice

For the first time since we opened in October, Destinations Booksellers will be suspending its operating hours. You’ve grown accustomed to our extended operating hours over the last four months, but it’s important to alert you to the special circumstances surrounding this suspension.

On Wednesday, we will close the store at 3 p.m. In extreme circumstances, we can make delivery of pending special orders, but browsing and shopping in the store will not be available. We expect a strong turnout for Wednesday night’s Public Afffairs Symposium, which begins at 7 p.m., so we will close the store to prepare for same.

We will reopen at 9 a.m. on Thursday. We thank you for your patronage during these first four months of operation, months which have exceeded our projections for sales and vastly exceeded our expectations in terms of the affection and appreciation you, our loyal patrons, have shown to us and the concept of a full-service general bookstore in Southeast Indiana. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

New Albany in Vintage Postcards

We have news about the much-anticipated new book by David Barksdale and Robyn Sekula, New Albany in Vintage Postcards.

This is the first new book about New Albany since the store opened, and is effectively the only one still in print. Arcadia Publishing is known for these local history books filled with vintage photographs and they’ve recently launched this line featuring collections of postcards.

David and Robyn have already given us a preview during an event earlier this year, and the excitement is building for readily accessible book about historic New Albany. Jeffersonville and Clarksville had each been featured in Arcadia’s Images of America series, and we’d like to help get those two books back in print, too.

But the big news is we’ve come closer to a confirming release date for New Albany in Vintage Postcards, and it looks like it will be available in May (which coincidentally is Preservation Month in Southern Indiana).

Arcadia does limited print runs and then the books disappear from the shelves. It’s my impression that Floyd Countians will snatch up all the copies by the end of May and we’ll just have to cross our fingers about a reprint for all those Christmas giving plans. Reserve your copy now by coming by the store or dropping us a line. We’ll be turning the sign-up sheet into a confirm and reserve sheet, so be sure to let us know how many copies you want for yourself and how many you want to give as gifts. We’ll fill orders until we run out. It sells for $19.99, so order several now.

Don’t get caught out on this book the way many of us were on the last several books about New Albany.

Busy day, busy week

Running the shop and staying on top of everything is beginning to run me a little ragged, so today I’d like to refer you to one of my favorite Web haunts, The Egglestonian Creed.

We’re preparing for Sunday’s art exhibition and Wednesday’s symposium while maintaining our Friday Third Space Night, our Saturday Rhyme & Reason event, and Monday’s Sound Off, so enjoy this Destinations Booksellers patron’s erudite musings while I get some work done.

Gramer lessins

Just yesterday I was talking with a store patron about WHY careful editing is so important. We were talking about our proof copies of upcoming books. These advance editions clearly state that they are not final, but are only proofs provided to us for evaluation purposes. Accordingly, they can often be quite a pain to read if you are sensitive to a) facts, b) spelling, c) grammar, and/or d) story continuity.

Recently, my wife was reading an advance copy of one novel. Suddenly, I heard a scream from our living room and rushed in to see what was wrong. It seems that about one-third of the way through the book the author had decided to change the name of a central character. Who the heck was “Susan” and why was she sleeping with “Mary’s” husband?

Anyway, I told my patron my feelings on typos, particularly in professional writing. We learn to spell from reading. When we read a new word in what we believe to be an authoritative document (newspaper, book, encyclopedia), we internalize it. Some time after that, we are likely to write it…or say it aloud. When the “authoritative document” gets it wrong, it’s just like sneezing in someone’s face. Those germs will infect and are likely to go on and infect others.

Which brings me to today’s feeble rant.

In The Tribune’s front page story (and I still think I saw Amany Ali’s byline on the article I read – my apologies if I’ve grown accustomed to her style and misidentified the writer, but I’d swear I saw her name on the story) on the county’s plan commission request to Sammy O’s owner Sam Oskin, she quotes commission member Paul Riggs as saying “What we’re looking for is assurity from someone trained in the safety field, as far as having an adequate fence that would preclude someone from falling or rocks that would potentially fall.”

Even if Mr. Riggs said those words – “assurity?” – don’t spread such hogwash. Before you know it, someone else will be using that word, thinking it’s a real word because they saw it in the paper. Maybe Mr. Riggs was seeking a “surety” or just mangled the word “assurance,” but the newspaper doesn’t need to be propagating mythical words.

New Visions for Downtown New Albany

As you know, we’ve created a special site just for the upcoming Public Affairs Symposium at the Volunteer Hoosier Web log. Click the link for more details, including the discussion panel for Wednesday’s event. It starts at 7 p.m., March 2.

Fiddler on Hauss Square

Beloved Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, for those of us deprived of regular trips to Broadway, may best be known for his deedle-deedle-deedle-dee warbling of If I Were a Rich Man.

The emperor Nero, in legend, fiddled while Rome burned.

Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to stay, wanted to go…

The shadow government of New Albany for most of its history has been the local Democratic Party, and now that the party is finished licking its presidential election year wounds, the factions have coalesced for a showdown in just 10 short days. If I Were a Democrat (and I am), I’d be watching this one closely to try to divine the direction of the county’s Democrats and just who will be the “public face” of the party, as one new friend puts it.

But I digress. Wednesday’s upcoming Public Affairs Symposium isn’t talking capital “P” politics. That can wait until next Saturday (okay, maybe until next Thursday). We’re addressing New Visions for Downtown New Albany and we continue to solicit your comments, ideas, questions, research, and financial contributions (oops, strike that last one) as we finalize the topic list.

Some of you seem to think you need a personal invitation. You don’t. Post a comment here or e-mail me if you a) don’t care for your writings to be public, or b) are put off by the Blogger registration procedure. My e-mail is ops@destinationsbooksellers.com. Click there and you’ll be part of the symposium.

Well worth your time

Keith Olbermann, the iconoclast who has created a name for himself by getting serially fired from network after network, seems to be firmly ensconced in his MSNBC chair, but some of his best work is done on the blogosphere.

It would be well worth the time of any reader or writer concerned about the integrity of Web logging to read this piece from Olbermann.

Patron Passport review

As you know, we are often privy to advance reader copies, galleys, and proofs of upcoming books. Obviously, we don’t have the resources or the time to read all of these books in the way we’d like.

That’s why we count on our Patron Passport members to evaluate books for us. Here is a review of Jeannette Walls memoir, The Glass Castle.

THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls

Three of my family have read this book within the last week and we all agree: READ THIS BOOK!

Ms. Walls writes of her childhood in a way that you ARE her. You feel everything she goes through. You laugh with her and cry for her.

Her family is made up of the most unusual parents possible. Her father can be very loving and then when drunk the most hurtful. Her mother is in her own world, but can draw some of the most unusual answers to their problems you ever heard.

You cannot put the book down wanting to know what will happen to Jeannette and her siblings next. It astounds you how they cope. It even astounds you more how they survive, let alone become normal, productive human beings.

Excellent reading.

Patron Passport member Betty Atkins takes home a review copy of The Glass Castle with our gratitude for sharing her thoughts on this book. We hope you enjoyed it.