For me, the joy is not only collecting them, but also reading them.  I want to read the scarce 1st edition of The Dark Arena (1955) , not just have it on my shelf.  Here are some tips for those who want to read their collection, and keep them in good shape (but of course, reading them WILL produce minor wear  – so be prepared)

1. Take Care
Seems simple, but it’s the truth.  Treat it gingerly – don’t open it too wide and stress the binding, don’t lay it face down on a table open.  I ALWAYS use Brodart acid-free dustjacket protectors.  Personally, when I read a book I remove the dustjacket and store it in a safe place.  Jackets are the most delicate part of your book, and the easiest to damage.

2. Avoid Food and Drink
Avoid eating and drinking while you read (let alone reading in the bathtub!).  Books are alergic to liquids!  Also, food gets on fingers, fingers touch the pages, pages absorb the food – so be careful!  Also, take a good look at the table you set your book down on.  Sticky tables make for sticky books.

3. Keep Out-of-Kid’s Reach
We all want to have our children see us read – it helps encourage them to become readers.  Just make sure you put your prized 1st edition out of reach when you are done.  Children can do very mean things to books…

4. Avoid Writing
It is amazing how often books come into the store with writing/highlighting.  It instantly devalues the value of a book to practically nothing.  Please, use pens to write your own novel, not mess up one that somebody else wrote!

5. Avoid  Direct Sunlight
The bookshelf may look great in the bath of sunshine by the window, but in a very short abount of time that sun will bleach the spine.  The best place is out of direct sun, away from heat, and with no moisture.  Avoid the basement or the garage as the books will absorb the moisture and get musty.

These are my tips, any have any others?

Westlake collapsed from an apparent heart attack as he headed to New Year’s Eve dinner while vacationing in Mexico, his wife, Abigail, told the New York Times.

In a lengthy career that spanned a half-century, Westlake won three Edgar Awards, an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay "The Grifters" and the title of Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993. His first novel, "The Mercenaries," was published by Random House in 1960.

Westlake wrote more than 90 books – mostly on a typewriter. Aside from his own name, he also used several pseudonyms – including Richard Stark, Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt and Edwin West – in part because people didn’t believe he could write so much so quickly.

"In the beginning, people didn’t want to publish more than one book a year by the same author," Susan Richman, his publicist at Grand Central Publishing, told the Times.

In recent years, Westlake wrote only under his name and Richard Stark, author of a dark, spare series about a one-named sociopath called Parker. More than 15 of his books were made into movies, and he wrote a number of screenplays, including "The Grifters," which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1991.

Westlake continued to write until he died. His latest novel, "Get Real," is scheduled to be released in April 2009.

Donald Edwin Westlake was born July 12, 1933, in Brooklyn but was raised in Yonkers and Albany. He attended several colleges in New York but did not graduate from any of them.

He married his current wife, Abigail, in 1979, and the couple made their home in Gallatin, N.Y. He is survived by his wife, four sons from his previous marriage, three stepchildren and four grandchildren.

After months of work (mostly at night when the store was closed) we’re on the home stretch of the reno.  There is MUCH more shelf space, and now comes the massive job of reorganization.  The new store layout will make it much easier for you to find what you are looking for and showcase much more of our stock.

Improvements are happenning daily, and will continue over the next few months.

Gift Certificates – The Perfect Christmas Gift

Books are always a big hit at Christmas time, and in today’s economy, used books are the logical choice.  Of course, it can be difficult to know what to get.  You just never know what they have read (unless they’re kind enough to provide a "want list"!).

Gift certificates are the perfect solution.  We offer them for any amount, and it’s a great way to ensure your loved ones get what they really want.

Plus there’s no wrapping…!

Terry On Books Blog – Review of EXIT MUSIC by Ian Rankin

After having it sit on my "to-read shelf" for several months, I decided to get to it and finish off the Scottish crime fiction saga featuring Detective
Inspector John Rebus; "Exit Music" being his
swan song. Now that I’ve read it, there’ll be no more Rebus books to anticipate and to savour; at least not until 2014, when his author has stated that he may bring Rebus back on board as a consultant.

Rebus would be sixty-eight by then, if he doesn’t drink himself to death in the meantime. Predictably, Exit Music is another good read from Ian Rankin. Our three main characters are here, as well as a few we’ve met before and a couple of newcomers. DS Siobhan Clarke is slowly and competently taking over the reins of the two related murder investigations in progress as Rebus’s last day looms large. Big Ger Cafferty floats in and out of the picture, irritating the hell out of Strawman.  Not surprisingly though, Rebus still has considerable input in the solving of both cases, despite being somewhat handicapped by his latest and last suspension from duty.

Exit Music is another dark, seedy story that Rankin fans are sure to enjoy, although saying goodbye to our old friend, John Rebus, as he reluctantly accepts retirement, is a sad ending indeed. No doubt I’m speaking for many of you when I say that in a year or two, I’ll probably begin reading the Rebus books over again, in anticipation of his resurrection in 2014.

To read more of Terry’s Blog click HERE

Season’s Greetings!

From all of us at the Jolly Olde Bookstore, we hope you have a safe and happy Holiday Season!

We’ve been working with them for three years now, and are proud to be included in their success stories:

http://www.communityintegration.org/Services+Offered/IDS/default.htm

But what about Canada?

Top Fiction Hardcover

1. Through Black Spruce (Joseph Boyden); $CDN 34.00; Pengu; 9780670063635
2. The Host (Stephenie Meyer); $CDN 28.99; Littl; 9780316068048
3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (Mary Ann Shaffer); $CDN 25.00; Dell; 9780385340991
4. The Flying Troutmans (Miriam Toews); $CDN 32.00; Knopf; 9780307397492
5. The Private Patient (P.D. James); $CDN 32.00; Knopf; 9780307397782
6. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (David Wroblewski); $CDN 32.95; Doubl; 9780385664783
7. A Most Wanted Man (John le Carre); $CDN 32.00; Pengu; 9780670069125
8. The Origin of Species (Nino Ricci); $CDN 34.95; Doubl; 9780385663601
9. Cockroach (Rawi Hage); $CDN 29.95; House; 9780887842092
10. Just After Sunset: Stories by Stephen King (Stephen King); $CDN 32.00; Simon; 9781416595281
11. The Hour I First Believed (Wally Lamb); $CDN 31.95; Harpe; 9780060393496
12. Swallowing Darkness (Laurell K. Hamilton); $CDN 30.00; Rando; 9780345495938
13. Salvation in Death (J.D. Robb); $CDN 28.50; Putna; 9780399155222
14. Cross Country (James Patterson); $CDN 30.99; Littl; 9780316018722
15. The Cellist of Sarajevo (Steven Galloway); $CDN 29.95; Knopf; 9780307397034

Top Fiction Paperback

1. The Shack (William P. Young); $CDN 15.99; Windb; 9780964729230
2. The Appeal (John Grisham); $CDN 11.99; Dell; 9780440244974
3. World Without End (Ken Follett); $CDN 24.00; NewAm; 9780451224996
4. The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga); $CDN 16.00; Simon; 9781416562603
5. Heart and Soul (Maeve Binchy); $CDN 24.95; McArt; 9781552787281
6. The Book of Negroes (Lawrence Hill); $CDN 24.95; Harpe; 9781554681563
7. Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen ); $CDN 16.50; Harpe; 9780006391555
8. Three Day Road (Joseph Boyden); $CDN 20.00; Pengu; 9780143056959
9. Good to a Fault (Maria Endicott); $CDN 25.95; Freeh; 9781551119298
10. The Boys in the Trees (Mary Swan); $CDN 15.50; Henry; 9780805086706
11. Late Nights on Air (Elizabeth Hay); $CDN 22.00; M&S; 9780771040191
12. Gods Behaving Badly (Marie Phillips); $CDN 19.95; Rando; 9780307355935
13. The Chase (Clive Cussler); $CDN 10.99; Berkl; 9780425224427
14. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd); $CDN 15.50; Pengu; 9780142001745
15. Duma Key (Stephen King); $CDN 12.99; Simon; 9781416599319

Top Canadiana

1. Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (Margaret Atwood); $CDN 18.95; Harpe; 9780887848100
2. Don Cherry’s Hockey Stories and Stuff (Don Cherry); $CDN 29.95; Doubl; 9780385666749
3. A Fair Country (John Ralston Saul); $CDN 34.00; Pengu; 9780670068043
4. Fifteen Days (Christie Blatchford); $CDN 22.00; Doubl; 9780385664677
5. Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent (Andrew Nikiforuk); $CDN 20.00; Greys; 9781553654070
6. Hell or High Water (Paul Martin); $CDN 37.99; M&S; 9780670068043
7. The Daily Planet Book of Cool Ideas (Jay Ingram); $CDN 28.00; Pengu; 9780143169352
8. Getting to the Bubble: Finding Magic Amid the Urban Road (Mike McCardell); $CDN 32.95; Harbo; 9781550174434
9. Otherwise (Farley Mowat); $CDN 32.99; M&S; 9780771064890
10. Rick Mercer Report (Rick Mercer); $CDN 19.95; Doubl; 9780385665193
11. Izzy (Peter C. Newman); $CDN 34.95; Harpe; 9781554680894
12. Passchendaele (Norman Leach); $CDN 19.95; Cotea; 9781550503999
13. The As It Happens Files: Radio That May Contain Nuts (Mary Lou Finlay); $CDN 32.00; Knopf; 9780307396624
14. Rowboat in a Hurricane (Julie Angus); $CDN 22.00; Greys; 9781553653370
15. Climate Wars (Gwynne Dyer); $CDN 34.95; Rando; 9780307355826

Top Kids Canadian

1. Just One Goal (Robert Munsch); $CDN 6.99; Schol; 9780545990356
2. Love You Forever (Robert Munsch); $CDN 5.95; Firef; 9780920668375
3. Scaredy Squirrel (Melanie Watt); $CDN 8.95; Kids; 9781554530236
4. Starclimber (Kenneth Oppel); $CDN 8.99; Harpe; 9780002007450
5. Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch); $CDN 5.95; Annic; 9780920236161
6. Darkwing (Kenneth Oppel); $CDN 21.99; Harpe; 9781554680153
7. Darkest Powers: Summoning (Kelley Armstrong); $CDN 14.95; Doubl; 9780385665346
8. Imagine a Place (Sarah L. Thomson); $CDN 19.99; Simon; 9781416971634
9. Alexandria of Africa (Eric Walters); $CDN 14.95; Doubl; 9780385666398
10. Something from Nothing (Phoebe Gilman); $CDN 6.99; Schol; 9780590745574
11. Chester (Melanie Watt); $CDN 18.95; Kids; 9781554532254
12. Schooled (Gordon Korman); $CDN 8.99; Schol; 9780545993210
13. Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach (Melanie Watt); $CDN 16.95; Kids; 9781554532254
14. The Hockey Sweater (Roch Carrier); $CDN 10.99; Tundr; 9780887761744
15. Beware, Pirates! (Frieda Wishinsky); $CDN 6.95; Maple; 9781897066805

Top Canadian Fiction

1. Through Black Spruce (Joseph Boyden); $CDN 34.00; Pengu; 9780670063635
2. The Book of Negroes (Lawrence Hill); $CDN 24.95; Harpe; 9781554681563
3. Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen); $CDN 16.50; Harpe; 9780006391555
4. Three Day Road (Joseph Boyden); $CDN 20.00; Pengu; 9780143056959
5. Good to a Fault (Marina Endicott); $CDN 25.95; Freeh; 9781551119298
6. The Boys in the Trees (Mary Swan); $CDN 15.50; Henry; 9780805086706
7. Late Nights on Air (Elizabeth Hay); $CDN 22.00; M&S; 9780771040191
8. The Flying Troutmans (Miriam Toews); $CDN 32.00; Knopf; 9780307397492
9. The Origin of Species (Nino Ricci); $CDN 34.95; Doubl; 9780385663601
10. Cockroach (Rawi Hage); $CDN 29.95; House; 9780887842092
11. Barnacle Love (Anthony De Sa); $CDN 18.95; Doubl; 9780385664370
12. When We Were Young (Stuart McLean); $CDN 18.00; Pengu; 9780143169062
13. Passchendaele (Paul Gross); $CDN 9.99; Harpe; 9781554682904
14. De Niro’s Game (Rawi Hage); $CDN 14.95; Anans; 9780887848131
15. The Cellist of Sarajevo (Steven Galloway); $CDN 29.95; Knopf; 9780307397034

And the source of all this info?

http://www.cbabook.org/bestsellers/

Hillerman’s daughter, Anne Hillerman, said her father’s health had been declining in the last couple years and that he was at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque when he died at about 3 p.m.

Hillerman lived through two heart attacks and surgeries for prostate and bladder cancer. He kept tapping at his keyboard even as his eyes began to dim, as his hearing faded, as rheumatoid arthritis turned his hands into claws.

”I’m getting old,” he declared in 2002, ”but I still like to write.”

Anne Hillerman said Sunday that her father was a born storyteller.

”He had such a wonderful, wonderful curiosity about the world,” she said. ”He could take little details and bring them to life, not just in his books, but in conversation, too.”

Lt. Joe Leaphorn, introduced in ”The Blessing Way” in 1970, was an experienced police officer who understood, but did not share, his people’s traditional belief in a rich spirit world. Officer Jim Chee, introduced in ”People of Darkness” in 1978, was a younger officer studying to become a ”hathaali” — Navajo for ”shaman.”

Together, they struggled daily to bridge the cultural divide between the dominant Anglo society and the impoverished people who call themselves the Dineh.

Hillerman’s commercial breakthrough was ”Skinwalkers,” published in 1987 — the first time he put both characters and their divergent world views in the same book. It sold 430,000 hardcover copies, paving the way for ”A Thief of Time,” which made several best seller lists. In all, he wrote 18 books in the Navajo series, the most recent titled ”The Shape Shifter.”

Each is characterized by an unadorned writing style, intricate plotting, memorable characterization and vivid descriptions of Indian rituals and of the vast plateau of the Navajo reservation in the Four Corners region of the Southwest.

The most acclaimed of them, including ”Talking God” and ”The Coyote Waits,” are subtle explorations of human nature and the conflict between cultural assimilation and the pull of the old ways.

”I want Americans to stop thinking of Navajos as primitive persons, to understand that they are sophisticated and complicated,” Hillerman once said.

Occasionally, he was accused of exploiting his knowledge of Navajo culture for personal gain, but in 1987, the Navajo Tribal Council honored him with its Special Friend of the Dineh award. He took greater pride in that, he often said, than in the many awards bestowed by his peers, including the Golden Spur Award from Western Writers of America and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America, which elected him its president.

Hollywood was less kind to Hillerman. Its adaptation of his 1981 novel, ”Dark Wind,” with Lou Diamond Phillips and Fred Ward regrettably cast as Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, was a bomb.

Although Hillerman was best-known for the Navajo series, he wrote more than 30 books, including a novel for young people; the memoir, ”Seldom Disappointed”; and books on the history and natural beauty of his beloved Southwest.

”Those places that stir me are empty and lonely,” he wrote in ”The Spell of New Mexico,” a collection of his essays. ”They invoke a sense of both space and strangeness, and all have about them a sort of fierce inhospitality.”

He also edited or contributed to more than a dozen other books including crime and history anthologies and books on the craft of writing.

Born May 27, 1925, in Sacred Heart, Okla., population 50, Tony Hillerman was the son of August and Lucy Grove Hillerman. They were farmers who also ran a small store. It was there that young Tony listened spellbound to locals who gathered to tell their stories.

The teacher at Sacred Heart’s one-room school house was rumored to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan, so Tony’s parents sent him and his brother, Barney, to St. Mary’s Academy, a school for Potawatomie Indian girls near Asher, Okla. It was at St. Mary’s that he developed a lifelong respect for Indian culture — and an appreciation of what it means to be an outsider in your own land.

In 1943, he interrupted his education at the University of Oklahoma to join the Army. He lugged his mortar ashore at D-Day with the 103rd Infantry Division and was severely wounded in battle at Alsace, France. He returned from Europe a genuine war hero with a Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, temporary blindness and two shattered legs that never stopped causing him pain.

He returned to the university for his degree and, in 1948, married Marie Unzer. Together, they raised six children, five of them adopted.

As a young man, he farmed, drove a truck, toiled as an oil field roughneck and worked as a reporter and editor for the Borger News-Herald in Borger, Texas; the Morning Press-Constitution in Lawton, Okla.; United Press International in Oklahoma City; and the Santa Fe New Mexican, where he rose to executive editor. He quit in 1962 to earn a master’s degree from the University of New Mexico, where he later taught journalism and eventually became chairman of the journalism department. In 1993, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.

Hillerman was still teaching when he wrote his first novel, ”Blessing Way.” A story that always made him chuckle: His first agent advised him that if he wanted to get published, he would have to ”get rid of that Indian stuff.”

Hillerman is survived by his wife, Marie, and their six children. Services are pending.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/1243960,xhillerman102708.article

Best-selling author Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles Tuesday, November 4, 2008 after a courageous and private battle against cancer.

While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us — and entertained us all while doing so — his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes. He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget.

Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand.

He will be profoundly missed by those whose lives he touched, but he leaves behind the greatest gifts of a thirst for knowledge, the desire to understand, and the wisdom to use our minds to better our world.

Michael’s family respectfully asks for privacy during this difficult time.

A private memorial service is expected, but no further details will be released to the public.

1. The ISBN will change from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007
2. Existing ISBNs will be prefixed by 978
3. The resulting 13-digit number will be identical with the EAN-13 number that is currently encoded in the bar code
4. The 979 prefix will be introduced when the current stock of numbers is exhausted
5. Publishers’ identifier prefixes are not likely to remain the same for ISBNs using the 979 prefix
6. Bar codes will carry the 13-digit ISBN with hyphenation above the barcode and the EAN-13, the identical number without hyphens or spaces, below the bar code.

Brian, Terry, Shafagh & Azi
Jolly Olde Bookstore

WEDDING!

It’s been a very busy summer, highlighted by Brian’s marriage to Tracy!  It was a wonderful day and Desmond did a excellent  job as Ring Bearer.

EXTENDED HOURS!

RENOVATION

TERRY’S BOOK BLOG

As always here is an excerpt of our own Terry Stillman’s Book Blog:

Whatever your age, whatever your financial means, you can begin to build a book collection.

Nearly all readers-except those people who rely wholly on the library for their reading-buy books that they want to actually read, mostly for pleasure, sometimes for knowledge. If you keep these books in a visable, accessible place in your home, you may be inclined to say that you are a book collector, but what you probably have is a personal "reading library". Building a book collection takes a little more thought and planning.

Firstly, most book collections are composed of books that reflect the collector’s main interest(s). Perhaps you’re extremely interested in World War II. Does your interest focus on aviation, land battles, or the navies of the Allies and Axis countries, or all three of the armed services? Perhaps World War I, medieval warfare, the American Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, or even modern warfare is more your preference.

You may have a keen interest in a hobby such as gardening, painting, or music. Your profession may be in science, medicine, law, architecture, even farming and bookselling. You can collect books on all of these subjects.
Are you enthralled by the many amazing children’s book illustrators over the past one-hundred-and- fifty years? Are you familiar enough yet to favour any particular era of illustration, be it Victorian, early 20th century, between the two Great Wars, post-WWII and 1950′s, the ’60′s and ’70′s, or the modern period of 1980′s to present?

If you are of modest means, you may have missed the boat in terms of buying original editions of books illustrated by the top children’s book artists in the late 19th and early 20th century. If you enjoy the work of Kate Greenaway, Walter Crane, W. Heath Robinson, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Kay Nielsen and their many talented contemporaries, you may still seek out much of their output in later printings, some published as late as the 1980′s.

If you have considerable disposable income for collecting illustrated books, or first-edition literature, then your possibilities are endless.

Once you decide to collect-be it children’s authors or artists, military books, gardening books, sports books, art books, books on games, whatever-the first rule should be to focus. Choose your genre, then choose your sub-genre. It may be first edition books by American authors of the 1920′s and 1930′s. It may be English gardening books from the 1880′s to the first World War; or English true crime books from 1880 to the second World War; or American gangsterism; or all the first editions of Edward Gorey (that might be a sub-sub-sub-genre). Start somewhere, but use some sensible parameters. Secondly, think about a budget. Can you afford a hundred dollars a month, two hundred a month, ten thousand a month? Set some sensible financial parameters as well.

Read more at Terry On Books Blog

Jolly Olde Bookstore
2419a Clarke St
Port Moody, BC, BC V3H 1Z2
Jolly Olde Bookstore

The Website The revamped website is pretty much done, and looks great. We’ve already had quite a few customers utilize the online inventory, and had us deliver online books to the store for pick-up. The blog is also up and running. I wish I could say that I’ve been updating it daily, but there IS already quite a bit of good stuff on there, so make sure to check it out.

Terry On Books Our own Terry Stillman has also decided to dive into the world of Blogging He is an excellent writer, and even wrote a story on our (all too brief!) store cat, Eco. Here is an exerpt: The cat in the photo has been named “Eco” after Umberto Eco, and he has recently accepted the position of Bookstore Cat-or Cat-in-Residence-at the Jolly Olde Bookstore in Port Moody, British Columbia. Eco turned up at the backdoor of the bookstore about three weeks ago, looking for something to eat and a place to crash. Brian, the owner, and his fiancee , Tracy, took to the cat right away, and Eco (as they named him) settled right in. Eco had a tattoo in his ear so they thought someone was probably missing him. Brian and Tracy found Eco’s vet who had a phone number for his owners. Unfortunately, the number was out-of-service so the owners had probably moved. In a way, this was good news because Eco had decided that the bookstore was a good gig. Today, a flyer was pushed through the mailslot with the picture of a lost cat on it-a cat named “Bo”, who looked a lot like Eco. Part way through the day, Bo’s owner showed up to claim him. Sure enough, the family had moved, but not too far. Someone had seen one of the flyers they had posted and phoned to tell the owners they thought their cat was at the bookstore. Tonight, Brian and Tracy are saying good-bye to Eco and they’ll be handing him over to his owners who have had Eco (Bo) for about five years. Tears on both sides. So, Eco’s position as Bookstore Cat was short-lived. Too bad, he seemed a Natural. What do you think about Bookstore Cats? Good idea or bad idea? Do you like shopping in a bookstore that has a cat? If you own a bookstore, does a cat live there? Or do you prefer to have your cat live at home? To read the entire blog visit: http://www.stillmanbooks.com/terryonbooksblog/