The Olive Reader

more short story love from mcnally jackson

2009-07-14T13:21:00-05:00

Last week we posted some short story display photos photos from Books & Books. Today’s photo, snapped by the illustrious Book Club Girl at last night’s Garth Stein event for The Art of Racing in the Rain, comes from McNally Jackson here in New York City. And for more short story goodness, check out the August issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, which calls our collections “a joy.”

classics to skip--at your own risk!

2009-07-13T13:43:00-05:00

Check out this great post on one of our favorite sites, The Second Pass. Fired From the Canon lists 10 classics that you should feel no need to read. I tend to chafe at the idea of books-you-absolutely-must-read-or-else-you-may-as-well-be-illiterate anyway; sure, I loved The Corrections and One Hundred Years of Solitude (two of the “skippable” books), but I can see how someone wouldn’t. And I hated On the Road (another skip), but I’m glad I read it, if only to know what everyone else is going on about. And I still say that if you didn’t love The Tender Land, you probably don’t have a heart.

summer is short in florida (short stories, that is)

2009-07-09T14:53:01-05:00

We just got some great photos from our friends at Books & Books in Bal Harbour, Florida. As you can see, they’re really running with the Summer is Short short story campaign! Thanks, Books & Books! And if any other store wants to follow in their footsteps and send us their own short story display photos, we’d love to post them!

“the word is their bond”

2009-07-07T17:37:00-05:00

Check out this amazing, inspiring story about a book club for the homeless in Boston. It’s an excellent reminder that books still do have the power to improve our lives, even if it’s just for an hour or so a week.

the inspirations of margot livesey

2009-07-06T17:51:00-05:00

Presented for your enjoyment, here is a video of Margot Livesey, author of The House on Fortune Street. Margot discusses her various inspirations for the book, including a friend tasked with ghostwriting a book about euthanasia.

Get Rich Cheating

2009-07-02T20:03:00-05:00

Looking for a job, recession got you down? Let Jeff Kreisler teach you a thing or two about how to strike it rich. Get Get Rich Cheating — the book to read while luxuriating in your ill-gotten wealth.

an ode to indie movies

2009-07-02T13:26:00-05:00

Start your holiday weekend off right with this ode to indie movies, sent to me by our esteemed colleague Kayleigh in library marketing:

awful library books

2009-07-01T13:57:00-05:00

I am loving Awful Library Books, a site run by librarians which features books that really, really should be retired from libraries. Some of my favorites:

Take That, Scourge of Time

2009-06-29T20:14:01-05:00

David Giffels’s All the Way Home is the story of a man’s journey in search of the perfect house for his family. This is rather like my search for the perfect water bottle that won’t smell ghastly no matter how long I’ve left the cap screwed on, though in David’s case, the decaying Ohio mansion he moved his family into has evolved through seasons of grueling home improvement — now standing as a gorgeous symbol of determination, dedication, and a warms-your-insides feeling of what it means to build a home and a family. Which is probably more than I’ll ever say about a water bottle — smelly or not. Check out David’s photo gallery of the before-and-after shots of his home — like a tour through a Dickensian orphanage that ends with all the flourish of your favorite episode of Extreme Home Makeover. Do you have a sudden urge to go home and clean everything now? Extra coolness factor: David’s previous books include one about Devo.

simon van booy’s modern love

2009-06-29T14:44:00-05:00

I cried while reading this week’s “Modern Love” column in the New York Times: “Raising a Princess Single-Handedly“ by our own Simon Van Booy, author of Love Begins in Winter. Like his fiction, Simon’s essay about being a single dad is spare, eloquent, and moving.