Friends Forever: A Novel

Admission letters from the Atwood School are like getting into Harvard or Yale with the exception that this school goes from kindergarten to twelfth grade. It carries enormous social status and most children who graduate from this school are accepted into the finest colleges including many Ivy League ones.

The first day of school for five children is what this book is about. It focus's on Billy who has his football in hand, next to arrive is Sean holding his toy gun (which was not supposed to have gotten into the classroom) and they decided to sit down and play with the blocks.

Shortly, after that a beautifully little girl who looked like a princess walked in and said her name was Gabrille but that everyone called her Gabby. Then another little girl arrived wearing braids and her nametag read Izzie. She walked right into the kitchen and asked the two boys what they wanted to eat. Several moments later a boy came in and asked "am I too late for lunch?" and his nametag said Andy. So Izzie started preparing the lunches for all five of them and then when activities started they stayed together.

As the story progresses there friendships and problems and life is shared with all five of them. Some have problems at home as we learn that one of the children's older brothers got in trouble another two of the five parents are going to get divorced. One will remarry and the adventure's follow them thru graduation and then keep going.

They make a pact at graduation that where ever life takes them they will always remain Friends Forever.We are taken thru some very heartwarming and touching moments in their lives some which are very happy and also sad ones. It lets us stop and realize just how precious each day can be and how things are not always what they look like.

Ms. Steel has written an excellent book that is something that could happen to any of our children today and it is a very touching story.

I have read all of her books and find this is one of the most touching and heartwarming books that she has written as we all can put ourselves into these places and possibly these situations. It's a quick read as most of her books are but this is one you wont be able to put down, as these characters are definitely real people.

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should i buy The Last Bookstore In America reviews

I welcomed the discomfort of the cognitive dissonance of reading "The Last Bookstore in America" on my Kindle. It made the novel even more delightful! Although the Gizmo seems a real possibility in the near future, I had never intellectually pursued its logical end result. I feel strangely compelled to defend my e-book ownership: Since June, the 60 Kindle books I've read are not swaying in dangerous 4-to-5-foot towers in front of the eight floor-to-ceiling bookcases in our house.

Also because our daughter graduated three years ago from Humboldt State University in contiguous Arcata, I am familiar with Eureka, its Old Town, and the waterfront. I love the North Coast culture.

Amazingly, as a writing professor and lover of books and bookstores, I found no plot line, character development, or local description that I would recommend Amy Stewart to change before final publication.

I have just about finished reading this very funny "book" on my Kindl*EDIT: The video shares some parts of the premise that you may consider spoilers, though these plot points are revealed within the first couple chapters of the book, and the author herself discusses these elements of the book in The New York Times. If you want to be fully surprised, don't watch the video. But I had read all about the book before picking it up, and knowing more about it actually increased my level of excitement about reading it. The written review below contains no hints beyond what is in the synopsis above.***

This was a cracking good read. As a Kindle owner, I was fascinated by the premise - a world with a Kindle-like device which is so great it obliterates the printed book, and nobody's disappointed about it, either. Against this backdrop, Lewis and Emily inherit one of the last five bookstores in America from Lewis' eccentric Uncle Sy, and they travel to sleepy Humboldt County, CA to check out this romantic relic of a bookstore. The story takes some unexpected directions from there.

The book itself was beautifully crafted - I loved the characters, the setting and details were so easy to imagine, and the writing was witty and full of personality. On the Kindle, you can highlight your favorite parts, and I found myself highlighting every other page through the entire book - there were so many gorgeous snippets of perfect writing throughout.

If you're a fan of Amy's non-fiction about gardening and the outdoor world, you are going to love this book. There's some of the best garden writing and imagery in this book that I have read anywhere, and the rest of the book was so full of liveliness and personality that you're sure to love it as much as I did.

And once you finish, join the discussion at Amy's site by doing an internet search for Last Bookstore in America. e -- how ironic. I must say that the premise and the story itself was thought provoking. I thought the character development was charming and I grew to like being in the company of most of these people right away.
I was disappointed however with the editing. It was quite jarring in places how many spelling and grammatical errors were in this manuscript. Do e-books not get edited for this kind of thing?
I would recommend this as a fun romp of a read. I will NEVER give up books and I think most readers -- however much they love there e-readers -- feel the same way. No Gizmos for us. Fast forward into the future of 'real' books through Amy Stewart's story of the 'Last Bookstore in America'. It's shocking,(I wondered what the locals in Eureka thought of it),very funny, and not at all impossible to visualize the demise of "the book". But what will replace books? Read the book and be surprised. If you know anything about the North Coast culture maybe you will guess sooner than I did. The characters were realistic but I felt the plot dragged in a lot of places. I actually learned how to use my Kindle's key to skip chapters and then go back for the details. I know this sounds terrible but I'm an impatient sort. I recommend this novel as an entertaining read from a very talented author. This is an entertaining and charming story about Lewis and Emily, a married couple, who inherit a surprisingly profitable bookstore from Lewis's eccentric uncle in Eureka, California, one of five remaining bookstores in America (by book's end, the last). All of the residents of this community are quirky and endearing, and while Lewis and Emily don't fit in at first, in time they learn the mystery of the store's success and succumb to its momentum.

As other readers have noted, the only way to read this delightful tale is on an electronic reading device, such as the Gizmo in the story, which has steadily undermined the book as we've known it. With the Gizmo, there is no need for physical books: printed words on parchment or paper. Nonetheless, residents of Eureka beat a path to the Firebreathing Dragon (the name of the bookstore), buying books to the tune of over a million dollars a year. Their purchases and the bookstore, of course, are central to the elaborate and slightly concealed joke that's being played on us the readers and Lewis & Emily the owners.I think I expected something a bit more in-depth but, in spite of that, found myself easily getting into the book. None of that plodding that sometimes happens when you can barely keep reading but do so just in hopes that you haven't wasted the time already invested. I enjoyed the author's style and was engaged in the book right away. That said, it's a book I'd consider a fun easy summertime read. I'm reading it as part of a book club and I'm not sure we'll have a lot to discuss other than the potential of the scenario painted happening. The characters seemed a bit superficial and the plot line obvious but, still, I don't regret reading it at all. Yes, like many others, I read it on a kindle and kept smiling about the incongruity of that as I read. I live in N. California. My son went to Humboldt University..a spit away from Eureka.
If you haven't been up here, you might not know that kids come up here to go to college, first time away from home, and start wearing tie dye, woven shorts and birkenstocks. Within a week, they are stumping for the legalization of Hemp.They mean cannabis, of course, but they say hemp. 4 years later, with an education they head for Silicon Valley for the big tech money..and have forgotten about Hemp.
This wonderful book takes a look at the rapidly changing technology (Gizmos) and of course Nile.com...and extrapolates the end of Dead Tree Books, therefore the end of bookstores.
An 'out of it' couple go to Eureka to claim a bookstore the husband's Uncle Sy left him in a hard to find will. This couple may as well have lived on the moon..they have missed the eccentricity of San Francisco which is not far from where they were living. Protected by their condo walls and high end jobs, they have no idea of any other way of life.
I won't give away the plot. If you don't know that marijuana is California's largest cash crop, and Humboldt county the largest growing area, and that getting a medical card here to buy legally grown pot takes 5 minutes, you may not 'get' this book. Every now and then our very own state leaders try to decide if marijuana should be legalized to pay off the state debt. So far, it hasn't happened.
The couple learns that the falling apart bookstore is making a million plus $ a year, and give up plans to go back to their feathered nest in San Jose. Greedy? Well who wouldn't be? They begin living out of the cash register and never see what is really going on.
The rest of the story is in the book.
Don't let your sensibilities decide..OMG this is about POT! and not read it..this is one great book.
It is about so much more.

It is funny and semi-true and there are some delicious lines in the book that I wish I had thought of saying.
I will keep this book in my Kindle (irony again) and re-read it.I picked up this book free during an Amazon giveaway. When pharmaceutical rep Lewis inherits his uncle's bookstore in tiny Eureka, California, he and his super-materialistic wife Emily go to look at it and are astounded at its profitability in the post-paper-books world. But how long before they discover that its earnings have nothing to do with books?

I could not get into this book at all. The characters are so one-dimensional and uninteresting that the clever plotline is wasted. I gave up a third of the way through. This is a well written story that makes you think about the possibility of a world without books. No bookstores, no libraries. The manner in which the "last bookstore in America" stays in business and thrives is hilarious. The naive nephew is a rather endearing character. His "I must have everything I want...now!" wife is a good example of how many people today live their lives. Buy today, pay ...whenever. The townspeople are interesting characters. Several parts of this book made me laugh out loud and I would recommend it as an enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

should i buy Seeking a Scribe: Enchanted Bookstore reviews

Thirty-Five Year Old,Lyra Struggled With The Deaths Of Her Parents And The Failure Of A One Sided Love Marriage Until Her Ex Filed For A Divorce. She Fled Florida After The School Season Ended. Her Only Living Relative, Her Aunt Jean Was Struck With Cancer So She Went To Help Her As She Remembered Happier Times Spent There As A Girl.

Cullen Drake, A Bookstore Owner And A Wizard From Dragonspier Had Been Sent By The Imperial Dragon To Seek Out A New Scribe Foretold To Write The Greatest Book Of His World's Existence And Found The Ten Year Old Lyra In A Hospital Fighting For Her Life. When She Read From The Dragonspier Book, He Had The Power To Transport Her To His World Where She Thrived, But He Lost Track Of Her For Twenty-Five Years. Now. Fate Had Had Brought The Young Girl He Remembered Loving And Waiting To Love Back Into His Life. She Had The Power To Fight The Black Dragon And Keep Evil From Taking Over His World, But Was She Strong Enough So All In His World Wouldn't Die?

Wow, Be Prepared For A Fantastic Story As Lyra Learns She Came From A Long Line Of Scribes And Learns So Much About Who She Is!! Dragonspeir is rich with imagery and I can easily picture myself walking the same paths as Lyra, Cullen, and her animal guides. The characters are well developed and relatable and I'm sure you'll be rooting for Lyra and Cullen like I was. I'm putting this author on my watch list! The settings are as breathtaking in one reality as they are real in the other. Ms. Moore has a flair for description, you can practically feel the heat of the dragon's breath on your skin. She makes the leap between the two worlds seamlessly. Her characters transition in the blink of an eye and are as real as your next door neighbor...if your neighbor is a wizard! This author is one to watch. I love reading about dragons, so I was ecstatic to win this ARC book in a competition. I won it a while ago, but I haven't been able to read it until now.

Lyra McCauley is a fantastic character. She is a 35 year old divorced writer, who is visiting her sick aunt. Lyra is a loving woman, who has been hurt by her ex-husband and doesn't want her heart broken again. Meeting Cullen Drake sparks an adventure full of danger, and a love she never thought she would have.

Cullen Drake is a wizard from the world of Dragonspeir, who has been given the task of finding the owner of the Book of Dragonspeir. He is a very complex character and a very powerful wizard.

This book is full of enchantment and magic. I love the talking animals in Dragonspeir; They bring the story to life. I especially enjoyed the Cicada, Sheridan; He made me laugh! Every animal has their own character, and the interaction between Lyra and them all, made them seem very human-like. When I actually started reading this book, I thought it would make a wonderful fairy tale for children. However, that soon changed when I realised that this book is actually aimed at YA audiences. There are some steamy scenes in this book, so I don't recommend it for anyone under 16!! However, that being said, this book took me on an adventure through Dragonspeir, and I got to meet some dragons (some good, some evil), and some other great characters. The Black Dragon is one scary character! I kept thinking to myself "Don't go in there!" during one of the scenes. The atmosphere that Marsha Moore has created, both dark and light, is very perceptible and palpable. I could easily "see" this story playing out in my head. I don't know why, but it was like an animated movie in there! Go figure!
I am now looking forward to reading the next book in the series, thanks to the teaser chapter that Marsha kindly included in the book!

I recommend this book if you are looking for a fantastic fantasy story that takes you on a magical journey filled with dragons, sprites, unicorns and wizards. First off I love the concept of this book. I think just about everyone who is a big reader can understand what I am talking about her. When you find a book you love or a character you love, wouldn't it be so amazing if you could step into that world and actually live in it, or meet your favorite character? This book kind of takes that desire and expands on it. Lyra is a part of this great imaginative world and she is the one who has to save it, and the world exists within a book! In a way the book is kind of a book inside a book. I personally think that this is a really cool way for Moore to create a way where every reader's fantasy of being in a book comes true.

Another strong point in the book for me was the use of animals. I think I have made it pretty clear how much I love animals on this blog, and I love when they make an appearance in books. Anything from someones companion dog who has nothing magical about them, to the animals in this book, who are some of the coolest characters themselves; made from fantasy and with their own personalities to boot!

I think the really cool thing about the plot in the book was that really their were kind of two plots. One in Lyra's world and one in the world that takes place inside of the book. But the two plots worked so well together in tandem, because obviously Lyra was a part of both of them. I think often times when you have something like this book, that is a little bit more complicated on the plot side, as a reader you can sometimes feel like you are missing out on some of the details or that too much is going on and you can't follow the storyline, but this was no a problem at all in Moore's book. She made everything about both worlds very easy to understand and fun for the reader to follow along with.

I really enjoyed the tone throughout the book. I thought the writing in the book was really good, and enjoyable. I thought the pace was just right, nothing felt rushed and nothing felt to slow (and I hate when things are slow so that made me really happy). I like that nothing was overly serious throughout the entire book, there were moments that were funny and felt organic, and of course there were moments of seriousness, but it was good to have those funny moment to break up the intensity.

I think the only thing I can really talk about that I wish might have been a little bit different is the backstory. Sometimes when I read a book I feel like the author info dumps all the back story in the first couple chapters and it kind of turns me off to a book. But in this book I wish I had known more of the backstory for the characters. But then again this is book one, so hopefully with the next books you will get to learn more and more about the characters (which is of course always a strong possibility).

Overall I really thought that the book was a solid book all around. I think it is one of those books that would be enjoyed by a wide range of readers, there is definitely something in this book for epic fantasy readers, I think the urban fantasy crowd could also easily enjoy this book, and I also believe that the paranormal romance readers could find something in this book to enjoy as well. So if you are looking for something new, and you have ever wished that you could be apart of a book, then you should check out this book. After the loss of her parents and the end of her marriage, Lyra McCauley decides to travel north for the summer to Lake Huron, to visit and care for her Aunt Jean, who is battling cancer. There she meets Cullen Drake, the owner of a magical and mysterious bookstore, who has the key to Lyra's hidden past and her favorite childhood book. Along with the book comes the memory of an entire world that she had forgotten, as well as a quest, a love, and a responsibility that has the potential to change everything she knows.

should i buy Bookstore - Peel reviews

Before I opened this book, I posed some questions I thought the book should answer. These questions, with the author's response follow:

1. What are the criteria for choosing Amazon.com, eBay, or one's own site for selling a particular title?

The author clearly prefers Amazon over most other options, although he gives some good reasons for setting up your own web page.

2. How do you pick titles to sell? Some obvious examples, such as Stephen King hardcovers are really poor second hand sellers.

The author gives some very general suggestions on which titles to pick and which titles to avoid. I agree with him almost entirely, although I can think of some exceptions to most of his titles to avoid; however, that is based on special knowledge of certain fields such as cookbooks.

3. How do you acquire interesting titles cheaply? Whenever I browse a second hand bookstore, 99 out of 100 titles are pure junk. I have yet to find, for example, an important out of print cookbook at any used bookstore.

The author provides many good sources, including every one I could think of, plus one or two I did not think of.

4. How do you track your stock so you can quickly determine whether or not you have a title OR where you may be able to acquire a title for a book hunter.

The author gives many useful answers to this question, including some new technology options that really surprised me, based on accessing the Internet through your cell phone.

5. What is the best shipping option considering cost versus speed?

The author gives some very good analyses on the advantages and disadvantages of fast versus slow delivery options.

6. Is there any value to branching out to recordings?

The author never once discusses how to apply his suggestions to other merchandise, even though he does go so far as to consider expanding an Internet sales operation to a brick and mortar store.

One of the reasons the author does not deal with other goods is that marketing books through the Internet is so much richer a subject than I imagined, in spite of the fact that I am a major customer of these services. The amount of software written to support this enterprise is staggering.

In a nutshell, Mr. Weber has given us an excellent manual on how to do this very specialized, albeit very popular form of Internet marketing.

The first sure sign that Steve was not pulling the wool over our eyes was when he stated that while this activity can be really rewarding, it is still hard work. The plus side is that you get to keep all the rewards of this hard work.

Since running a bookstore was always one of my secret ambitions, I really appreciated almost everything Weber had to say about this adaptation of the corner bookstore. If I were to point out any one thing where the author was light on his recommendations, it would be with the fact that I think a person who really knows and loves books in the first place will do much better than the average entrepreneur. I suspect that one could get into real estate investing without a good knowledge of law, carpentry, or finance, but unlike houses, books are something which not everyone knows well. One test for an aspiring book merchandising operation would be to name the leading textbook authors in statistics, economics, symbolic logic, and organic chemistry. I cite these because Mr. Weber makes the excellent point that non-fiction books hold their value much better than fiction, especially current popular fiction. The author does not point this out, but a major exception to this rule should be manuals on computer software. No one has any use anymore for a text on Multiplan, dBase III, or Wordpro.

I especially liked Mr. Weber's recommendation that the reader consider specializing in a particular field, such as cookbooks. This is an especially good suggestion as everyone must eat and so everyone needs someone to cook for him or her. It is also a good field as there is a rich bibliography of out of print cookbooks which most foodies would love to have access to, such as English writer Jane Grigson's catalogue.

While Mr. Weber does not deal with any other type of goods, I suggest his suggestions would work almost as well for records, toys, or collectibles in general, as long as you know your subject.

I am very happy Mr. Weber provided his book to me for review as it is very unlikely I would have found it on my own, and it is an especially fertile plot of ideas, suggestions, and guidance regarding this enterprise. I am happy for him that he got his work into print when he did.

There are untold thousands of books on the market that promise the buyer a way to make money. Most just provide an outline, or some ideas that the author claims will produce guarenteed millions, buying distressed properties, government surplus, whatever. Some are by successful business owners, but don't really get into the details of running a business. And some are out-and-out frauds.

This book, though, is almost unique among how-to business books. It's written by a successful busienssman, and it's a real, practical nuts-and-bolts guide to setting up an internet-based used book store. In fact, it's so detailed you have to wonder why the author is going to such pains to help set up his own competition.

There are chapters on where to buy books, what books to sell and which to avoid, how to grade books, the best selling venues, how to describe books, how to set up an inventory system, how to deal with problems- if you can't run a business using this book alone, you shouldn't be running a business, period.

Now reading this book won't guarentee you can make a successful go of an on-line used bookstore; you still need the kind of drive and perseverence that characterize all successful business owners. This isn't something you can make a go of in a few hours a week; it requires dedication. And you need to be flexible; I suspect that this business model won't be profitible forever, as the publishing market changes. But it's a good model for more than just books. I could see applying the same model to other used goods.

If you are, in fact, the kind of person who has the drive and the devotion to make a business work, and you're looking for a good business model to start with, you could do a lot worse than to get a copy of "The Home-Based Bokstore". I strongly suspect that this book will spawn a lot of new Internet entrepenuers. The Home-Based Bookstore doesn't claim to be complete and comprehensive, so it's probably not fair to give it only four stars because it skimps on some useful information.

For example, Mr. Weber recommends giving the customer a tracking number but doesn't make it clear how to get one. I'm sure this is idiotically simple to anyone familiar with postal transactions. That's probably why Mr. Weber didn't give a hand-holding description of the process.

I was clueless. I took my first shipment to the post office and asked for a tracking number. The clerk started pulling out forms for costly and complicated types of service and began to spout arcane postal jargon. I couldn't cope with the information overload so I shipped my books without the all-important tracking number.

My next trip I learned that you have to get DELIVERY CONFIRMATION. Look for the small lime-green form. It has a bar code label (with tracking number) that you attach to your parcel.

I could have used some help with book terminology, i.e., the verbiage to put into the "comments" field of your Amazon listing. If you browse the listings, you see myriad descriptive terms. Is there a right or wrong way to list your book? The book does not address the topic.

The book is rife with listings for pricing and inventory software, online postage services, and the hand-held scanners you can use for automated scouting at book sales. It's puzzling that the author would present these listings without commentary regarding which ones he found useful, or if he used them at all.

The author could have summarized how he was able to quit his job in three months and sell books full time. As others have noted, he generously shares precious inside knowledge, so this might not be a valid gripe. Without this book or one like it, the fledgling bookman would have a harder time getting started.

This manual outlines enough of the basics to get you started. I was able to sell a few books before I even finished reading The Home-Based Bookstore, the book that introduced me to selling books online. It popped up on my Amazon recommendations and I thought "Why not give it a shot?"

Within days of buying the book, the local Friends of the Library (FOL) had a "parking lot" sale. I headed for the sale with high anticipation of launching my bookselling empire.

The "sale" turned out to be a disturbing mob scene. The books are piled into several plastic shopping carts. Scanner-wielding book vendors paw through them frantically, pushing and shoving to gain the advantage. They are like vultures attacking a carcass. A few books spill out of the carts and are left on the ground. Within minutes, the vendors skulk off to their corners to guard their booty.

The Friends of the Library are selling books on Amazon. They have rightly already culled any books of real value. The books causing the frenzy apparently are the dregs the Friends don't want to bother with. They are offered at the parking lot sale for 10 cents to 25 cents, however. If you're not shy about mixing it up with other booksellers, you can make money at a sale like this. That's what one of the vendors told me. All of the vendors were women at this sale, so the risk of a brawl breaking out might actually be low.

I can't imagine myself joining a mob scene, so I all but gave up on getting inventory this way. I had plenty of extra books from my own collection, so I decided to use Amazon to clear some space on my bookshelf. Opening an account and setting up your listings is easy as pie. Within a few minutes you are in business.

I listed books from $3.29 up to $65.00 depending on the lowest price showing. The next day my prices were undercut by other vendors. I retaliated with price cuts of my own. They responded with further cuts, and so on. I eventually stopped cutting my price. The other vendors have (Cyberdyne) robotic software that cuts their prices automatically. The book I listed for $3.29 was later listed for a penny, the result of a regressive bidding war between the robots.

I figured $3.29 was my bookshelf-clearing price. If I can't unload a book for $3.29, I'll donate it to the library. Let someone buy it for a dime at the parking lot sale.

I typed the ISBN into the Amazon search screen to gauge the market for each book. When you come up with 1,356 copies starting at a penny, it's safe to say the market is saturated. I ended up with three crates of these marginal books, destined to land on the pavement at the parking lot sale.

Why not sell my leftovers to a used bookstore? The first one I called said no thanks, "we are overwhelmed with inventory right now." The second place I called didn't really want to hear from me but said they might consider taking some books off my hands if they met their stringent requirements, etc. Who needs it? I took my crates to the library and got a nice thank you.

I sold seven books! Amazon's shipping guidelines actually have pictures showing just how you should address your parcels. You can't go wrong. By my second trip to the post office, I was a savvy shipper, even mastering the DELIVERY CONFIRMATION process.

I gave same day or next day service. My books were in good condition and reasonably priced. I wrapped my parcels meticulously. For my labors, I was rewarded with two 5.0 feedbacks from my customers. Bless their hearts!

I'm going to go on Amazon and find an outfit for a hockey goalie, complete with face mask and helmet. I'll use it as battle gear for the next FOL sale. My bookselling competitors won't know what hit 'em.

should i buy Bookstore Cat (Step into Reading reviews

BOOKSTORE CAT is a nice little story with colorful, fun pictures full of interest. And a surprisingly good plot for a learn-to-read book! The author has obviously had a personal relationship with a cat, as she's captured Mulligan's personality and "priorities" very well. What intrigues me is the whole concept of "Step into Reading" books. This is a Step 1 book for the earliest readers. (There are four steps.) If you're new to them, as I am, let me tell you there are a LOT of titles in the series (listed at the back of the book). Some are Sesame Street books, Thomas the Tank Engine, Arthur, and more. If you have a preschooler, you might want to look into these. I have always had cats and this book is fun to read to my grandchildren when they come over for a visit. Parents and children alike will love reading over and over again this charming story about Mulligan, a cat in a bookstore who seems to be running the show, and takes his position very seriously!

While a puppet show for young customers catches Mulligan's eye, he is alarmed to discover the presence of a big green bird on the stage. Naturally, Mulligan springs into action, causing the expected bruhaha!

Well, in the end young readers will be amused to see how Mulligan is so satisfied that he had done a good job.

The illustrations are wonderful, making the bookstore look like a very inviting place, indeed! By all means, invite this kitty into your own home. BOOKSTORE CAT is a nice little story with colorful, fun pictures full of interest. And a surprisingly good plot for a learn-to-read book! The author has obviously had a personal relationship with a cat, as she's captured Mulligan's personality and "priorities" very well. What intrigues me is the whole concept of "Step into Reading" books. This is a Step 1 book for the earliest readers. (There are four steps.) If you're new to them, as I am, let me tell you there are a LOT of titles in the series (listed at the back of the book). Some are Sesame Street books, Thomas the Tank Engine, Arthur, and more. If you have a preschooler, you might want to look into these. This is a GREAT book for kids - my 18 month old daughter LOVES this book and I am lucky if I can get through pre-nap time or pre-bed time reading without having to read this book aloud more than three times.
The book is written so that there is the right amount of text and pictures on each page to hold a small attention span captive long enough to read the entire book. My daughter enjoys and understands the plot, the protagonist/antagonist characters, and happily points out the mommys, babies and animals; she especially likes shaking her little finger and saying "No no no" and "uh oh" to the character in the story who tries to enter the bookstore.
This book is also good to use as a tool for exposing a child to a second language; I can easily point to things and ask my daughter to show me the gato, the libro, the ventana, etc.
If you are looking for a book that is the next step after board books for younger children OR a first step with a beginning reader....this is it!
Happy reading and remember.....every book store needs a Bookstore Cat!

should i buy A Sinister Sense (A Raven's Nest Bookstore reviews

Cousins Clara and Stephanie find themselves in the midst of another mystery while running their paranormal bookstore Raven's Nest, this time to help out Clara's good friend/maybe boyfriend Rick. These two are a really fun crime-solving team, and I also enjoy the mother/daughter dynamic of Clara and Jessie. The addition of Tatters makes this terrific cozy series even "cozier" and I loved how Clara can even read his thoughts at times! The mystery isn't extremely complex, making this a great summer read...not too taxing on the brain yet extremely enjoyable.Finn's Harbor was a quiet little town on the coast of Maine. Well, quiet if you didn't count Roberta Prince, the owner of the stationer's store, who had a fit when she thought Tatters was going to jump on her. She was a prissy Prada type who dressed to the nines to impress Rick Sanders, the owner of the hardware store and that disgusting dog. Tatters, who had absolutely no fashion sense, plowed into the cookbook display at the Raven's Nest bookstore trying to get her attention. "You need to control that monster." Yes, and Roberta, the biggest gossip in Finn's Harbor, needed to control her mouth.

Since the economy tanked, Finn's Harbor wasn't exactly a happening town. The only thing remotely exciting was when Clara Quinn and her cousin, Steffie, the owner of Raven's, joined forces to help solve Ana Jordan's murder the year before. Common sense should have told Clara to stay out of police business, but she had another sense that told her otherwise. Clara had the Quinn Sense, a paranormal sense that "led her down paths she didn't want to go" and one of them was figuring out whodunit. The voices that came to her were posed as riddles. Clara's secret psychic abilities would soon come in handy.

"There's been a murder," Molly squawked at Clara and Steffie. A bludgeoned corpse just happened to turn up in the back of Rick's pickup. Frank Toski was deader than a bag of nails and had been pounded into the great beyond with a hammer from his hardware store. The Quinn sense was never wrong, but when Clara asked Rick if he knew Frank, it claimed, "He's lying." Huh? The Sense also told her he didn't do it. Mayor Carson Dexter wanted an immediate arrest in "the bowling alley murder." The Quinn cousins began to investigate, but for some reason the Quinn Sense was becoming unpredictable ... just like the guy who was pointing a chain saw at them!

This delightfully charming mystery blended with a touch of paranormal Quinn-sensibility will garner many fans. I became enamored with Tatters, the mischievous dog who was there when Clara needed him and when she didn't. The humorous realism he brought to Finn's Harbor, as well as many other incidents, made this mystery a down-to-earth tale that made it into an irresistible page turner. The Quinn Sense, which was an on and off again psychic sense, was one that Clara was finally accepting in her life. Hopefully as the series progresses, it will become a stronger and more prominent part of her life. Clara was a smart, serious, and gusty Maine sleuth that you'll totally fall in love with!Clara Quinn, a bookstore worker, has claim to the 'Quinn Sense.' This sense is a family inherited trait that allows Clara insight into a situation rather telepathically, using audiology and clairvoyance. She hears voices and sees crime scenes. Clara has spent great energy to suppress this ability since her best friend, and cousin Stephanie did not inherit the sense.

In this case, Clara does chose to use the advantage of her sense. Rick Sanders, a man that Clara is interested in, has a dead body show up in the rear of his pickup. Clara 'knows' he is not the culprit, she has to hurry to find the true killer before Rick is charged with the crime.

We are introduced to a lovable furry dog, Tatters who is able to converse with Clara and that is an avenue the author, in my opinion, should pursue. I would like to see more paranormal exploration.
Finn's Harbor was a quiet little town on the coast of Maine. Well, quiet if you didn't count Roberta Prince, the owner of the stationer's store, who had a fit when she thought Tatters was going to jump on her. She was a prissy Prada type who dressed to the nines to impress Rick Sanders, the owner of the hardware store and that disgusting dog. Tatters, who had absolutely no fashion sense, plowed into the cookbook display at the Raven's Nest bookstore trying to get her attention. "You need to control that monster." Yes, and Roberta, the biggest gossip in Finn's Harbor, needed to control her mouth.

Since the economy tanked, Finn's Harbor wasn't exactly a happening town. The only thing remotely exciting was when Clara Quinn and her cousin, Steffie, the owner of Raven's, joined forces to help solve Ana Jordan's murder the year before. Common sense should have told Clara to stay out of police business, but she had another sense that told her otherwise. Clara had the Quinn Sense, a paranormal sense that "led her down paths she didn't want to go" and one of them was figuring out whodunit. The voices that came to her were posed as riddles. Clara's secret psychic abilities would soon come in handy.

"There's been a murder," Molly squawked at Clara and Steffie. A bludgeoned corpse just happened to turn up in the back of Rick's pickup. Frank Toski was deader than a bag of nails and had been pounded into the great beyond with a hammer from his hardware store. The Quinn sense was never wrong, but when Clara asked Rick if he knew Frank, it claimed, "He's lying." Huh? The Sense also told her he didn't do it. Mayor Carson Dexter wanted an immediate arrest in "the bowling alley murder." The Quinn cousins began to investigate, but for some reason the Quinn Sense was becoming unpredictable ... just like the guy who was pointing a chain saw at them!

This delightfully charming mystery blended with a touch of paranormal Quinn-sensibility will garner many fans. I became enamored with Tatters, the mischievous dog who was there when Clara needed him and when she didn't. The humorous realism he brought to Finn's Harbor, as well as many other incidents, made this mystery a down-to-earth tale that made it into an irresistible page turner. The Quinn Sense, which was an on and off again psychic sense, was one that Clara was finally accepting in her life. Hopefully as the series progresses, it will become a stronger and more prominent part of her life. Clara was a smart, serious, and gusty Maine sleuth that you'll totally fall in love with!Clara Quinn, a bookstore worker, has claim to the 'Quinn Sense.' This sense is a family inherited trait that allows Clara insight into a situation rather telepathically, using audiology and clairvoyance. She hears voices and sees crime scenes. Clara has spent great energy to suppress this ability since her best friend, and cousin Stephanie did not inherit the sense.

In this case, Clara does chose to use the advantage of her sense. Rick Sanders, a man that Clara is interested in, has a dead body show up in the rear of his pickup. Clara 'knows' he is not the culprit, she has to hurry to find the true killer before Rick is charged with the crime.

We are introduced to a lovable furry dog, Tatters who is able to converse with Clara and that is an avenue the author, in my opinion, should pursue. I would like to see more paranormal exploration.Cousins Clara and Stephanie Quinn from the Raven's Nest Bookstore are back with another murder to solve in Allison Kingsley's latest cozy mystery, A SINISTER SENSE. Things aren't looking so good for Rick Sanders, the owner of Finn's Harbor's only hardware store. A dead body is discovered in the back of his truck, and the murder weapon was taken straight from his own store's inventory. Even though most of the town thinks he's guilty, Clara just knows he's innocent. Rick is Clara's good friend (and even a potential love interest?), so she's not going to sit by an let him take the fall for someone else. Armed with her special "Quinn Sense" and her cousin Stephanie's help, Clara sets out to find the real murderer.

A SINISTER SENSE was a quick and easy read, and overall I liked it - not loved, but liked. The mystery was fairly simple, without a lot of twists and turns or red herrings in the plot. Clara was such a loyal friend to Rick, and when others turned their back on him, she stuck to her guns to find the real murderer, even after receiving threats if she didn't stop snooping. I enjoyed the dynamic between Clara and Stephanie as cousins, best friends and a fun amateur sleuthing team. My main complaint with this book is the same one I had with the first book in the series (Mind Over Murder) - the way the murderer was caught was just kind of silly. Not very believable in my opinion, and that took away some of my enjoyment.

I'm crazy about bookstore settings, and the Raven's Nest sounds like an intriguing shop with its Edgar Allen Poe theme. The bookstore specializes in the occult genre, which is fitting given that certain family members, like Clara, have the "Quinn Sense." It's similar to having a sixth sense; Clara hears voices in her mind, giving her vague hints about certain things, or she will just develop a strong "feeling" about something without explanation. Clara is not very good at using her special ability, mainly because she's not happy about having it in the first place, and for years she's tried to pretend it wasn't there. I absolutely LOVE cozies with paranormal elements, so I wish this book had delved deeper into the Quinn Sense.

Since I'm curious to see where Clara's relationship goes with Rick, and I want to know more about Clara's woo-woo powers, I will be continuing with A Raven's Nest Bookstore series. I'm just hoping the cousins find a different way to catch the killer next time.

Cousins Clara and Stephanie find themselves in the midst of another mystery while running their paranormal bookstore Raven's Nest, this time to help out Clara's good friend/maybe boyfriend Rick. These two are a really fun crime-solving team, and I also enjoy the mother/daughter dynamic of Clara and Jessie. The addition of Tatters makes this terrific cozy series even "cozier" and I loved how Clara can even read his thoughts at times! The mystery isn't extremely complex, making this a great summer read...not too taxing on the brain yet extremely enjoyable. In Finn's Harbor, Maine the male corpse is found in the back of hardware store owner Rick Sander's truck. The victim had been seen on Rick's store and the murder weapon came from his shop. Police Chief Dan Peterson brings Rick to the station for questioning.

The townsfolk feel Rick killed the John Doe, but Clara Quinn, who works at her cousin Stephanie Quinn Dowd's Raven's Nest Bookstore employee, rejects the notion he is a murderer. She points out the same jumping to false conclusions happened to another bookstore worker Molly Owens (see Mind Over Murder). However, she also knows she is attracted to Rick. As the evidence mounts against Rick, encouraged by Stephanie to use her Quinn Sense to investigate, Clara knows she must identity the victim and why he was in town in order to find the killer.

The second Raven's Nest Bookstore paranormal amateur sleuth is an entertaining amusing whodunit as the two cousins who are BFF "sisters" land in one mess after another. The investigation is fun while Tatters the dog adds canine humor to the amusing fiasco the cousins land in. Fans will enjoy this lighthearted well written mystery.

This was an enjoyable cozy murder read.

should i buy The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores reviews

Ray Oldenburg's The Great Good Place, just issued in this paperback version, is a classic in the sociological literature on the social and cultural geography of American Culture. Taking it's place alongside The Road to Nowhere, much of Christopher Lasch's work and the writings of other distinguished students of the decline of place in America, Oldenburg's work is in many ways better than these precursors because he shows how and why we were on the way to creating a placeless culture even before the computer revolution exacerbated the tend. The wholesale and largely uncritical acceptance of the automobile, place-hostile zoning ordinances, and puritanical meddling have conspired to produce a culture which is rapidly extinguishing haunts and hangouts--the sort of real places of pure sociability which contribute so much to the quality of life and which Oldenburg sees missing in the narrow, money-grubbing, time-driven culture of late century Americans. His analysis of the English Pub, the German Beer Garden, the Viennese coffee house, and other authenic places brings a much needed antidote to the depressing sameness that is characteristic of the increasingly McDonalized society in which we live. Not giving in to pessimism and despair himself, Oldenburg offers wise and witty prescriptions for how we can turn this around and once again produce a "Great Good Place." His thesis is that we have produced this environment--we can produce a better one. This is social science at its best, and with this new paperback edition just published, it should be accessible to more readers than eveOldenburg's scholarship here is a little fuzzy -- while I found myself agreeing with many of his points, much of his evidence seemed anecdotal. His cross-cultural comparisons were interesting: the French cafe and the Austrian coffeehouse are institutions that seem, well, very foreign to Americans.
There are no substantive mentions of hair salons or bookstores in this work. I'm not sure how they slipped into the title.
On the whole, this work raises interesting questions about the decline of public life and public space in American culture. Oldenburg throws a number of darts at the suburbs and poor urban planning, but seems to spend more time lamenting the lost innocence of small-town America than thinking about the future and how things could be turned around. There's a lot of thought-provoking material here, and I think this work represents a good jumping-off point for further consideration and research. Drawn by the concept of a "third place" as described by this book and referenced elsewhere, I thought I'd read to find out what this was about. In the end, this was a fascinating and thought provoking book. Mr. Oldenburg posits that much of our societal ills today are resultant from a lack of free association. That is, the places where people congregate / hang-out are disappearing because of urbanization, industrialization, etc. One example, the German beer garden (and its descendant in the US with early German immigrants) as a family affair - as, economically, there didn't seem to be any reason for such an institution in an "American" community, this venue slowly disappeared or devolved into the bars we know today - focused on serving alcohol to the subservient and willing. In fact, Oldenburg points out, the beer served in the beer garden was weaker than what we know today because the point was not the beer - the point was the association and conversation within the community, among families.

As we move towards a "private property society" and focus on "property rights" as we seem to understand them, the ability to be social, without prior planning, is slowly eroding. Simultaneously, the places to "hang out" are disappearing as a consumer driven market seems desirous of generating the most profit for the fewest people (corporations). Because of a desire for inexpensive goods, a local business, owned and operated by nearby residents, is next to impossible - especially in the face of the mass market competition from large corporations.

I think Oldenburg hits the nail squarely on the head. As I drive around (in a car-based economy), it's increasingly difficult to find a place to "hang out" and/or become a regular. (1) Restaurants are driven towards specific time limit for customers in hopes of turning a larger profit by serving more customers; (2) American bars are not conducive because service deteriorates if you choose not to imbibe and those that also serve food follow (1); and (3) the notion of coffee shops not driven by 1 or 2 are few and far between. Even assuming that there are such places of the "third place" variety, it more often than not requires a car to get there (not to mention paying to simply park near a place).

Anyone interested in property rights, humans as a social animal, and the notion of a "community," should read this book. Have you ever wondered why the atmosphere in your local coffee shop is so special? Ray Oldenburg skillfully explains the "third place" theory. The book is relevant in both academic and non-academic settings. It is a great read. Oldenburg's book is full of history around the changing landscape of cultural institutions, namely the "3rd Place": the places of rest, relaxation, and socialization at the heart of community. His focus is primarily on Western/Caucasian 3rd places, and at times is a little too nostalgic. I would have liked to see him address more around redefining these places, especially around the issues of the urban/inner-city places.It is true that Oldenburg wants to retrieve the free association of groups that are intermediate between the naked individual and the state, and he probably does question whether the perceived rootless existence of the homosexual is conducive to the preservation of the old neighborhood. Certainly, he would not feel that we must overthrow all the old moral and religious associations to make way for the purely legalistic conception of social existence that liberals seem to want. I would think that a purely legalistic conception of social existence is not acceptable even to those who think to profit most by a manipulation of our legal apparatus. Tolerance is a virtue, and for the liberal it is the supreme virtue, but I want to do more than tolerate my wife. I want to desire her. The promotion of boys night out or girls night out is not the same as promoting a gang rape mentality or an artificial attempt to segregate. It is simply a recognition that men and women like to congregate as men and women just as humans congregate as humans and don't seek companionship with goats or sheep. Oldenburg can reasonably question whether what is new is what is desirable just as we can question whether what is based on might is right. Embracing the Madison Avenue advertising temporal unit of the decade as if it were a properly historical temporal unit is not to show a proper appreciation of time, and embracing the Madison Avenue inspired attack on our ability to say no is not to embrace a higher moral calling. In this book, sociologist Ray Oldenburg writes about the importance of "third places"- places of small-scale public assembly that are not homes or workplaces such as British pubs and Austrian coffeehouses. He describes a few examples, seeks to explain why such places are useful, and shows why some such places are more successful than others.

Oldenburg explains that such places provide a means of recreation that allows people to socialize without having to schedule in advance or suffer the stresses of more intimate friendships. And according to Oldenburg, third places benefit marriages, because good third places ensure that a marriage is not forced to bear 100% of the spouses' need of companonship. .

But I wonder if Oldenburg overstates the importance of third places. For example, in describing 19th-century German-American beer gardens, he notes that German immigrants were quite successful at creating third places, while other ethnic groups such as Irish and Jews were much less so. But in the long run, these groups fit reasonably well into the American fabric. So what difference does it make that their bars weren't as fun?

And what distinguishes the most successful "third places" from any bar or coffeehouse or shopping mall? It is here that Oldenburg is least coherent, perhaps because he is trying to describe the indescribable. Oldenburg suggests that third places proliferate "wherever human beings have settled [except] where planning and zoning disallows them." But when describing specific examples, he shows how fragile they are: for example, he writes that the German beer garden lost ground to less hospitable pubs because Americans "never seemed able to allow the concept of a good tavern."

And when describing the beer gardens and the American Main Street, he focuses on their lack of exclusivity, noting that they were able to accommodate all ages, and were able to accommodate nonpaying loiterers as well as paying customers. But he also suggests that pubs have been ruined by incompatible newcomers; for example, New York's McSorley's "faces its greatest threat in the form of college students who make meals of its cheese platters and take over the place at night." I'm not sure I see how these observations are consistent.

Having said that, Oldenburg sometimes is on target in describing what makes a place an adequate "third place" and what causes it to fail. For example, North American taverns often fail because of the sheer level of artificial noise designed to drown out, rather than to facilitate, conversation. One Toronto tavern I recently visited forced me to choose between an indoors saturated with loud pop music and an outside area saturated with panhandlers- neither of which a particularly welcoming prospect. Perhaps such a place is designed to help the solo drinker get drunk as quickly as possible. But Oldenburg points out that over the past few decades, bars have lost ground to homes as places for alcohol consumption, indicating that the would-be drunks prefer homes to bars.

Oldenburg concludes by tying the decline of "third places" to suburban sprawl; where taverns and similar alternatives are not within walking distance, the possibility of an unscheduled break wanes. But are urban, walkable neighborhoods more conducive to third places today? Or has the decline of third places affected more walkable places as well? I'm not sure Oldenburg has the answer. I'd read quotes from this book and references to it being influential in giving us the language of the 'third place' but it wasn't until I read it that I realised how valuable it is. Unlike many non-fiction books it just gets better and better with every page and finally ending with a staggering conclusion. If people understood how much we've lost in the areas of community living, we'd no longer be beating a path to psychologists, but to city planners demanding change in order to develop living neighbourhoods.

Living in a new housing area in Perth, Western Australia I experience daily the result of the isolation that results from having houses built like mini-fortresses crammed together away from any shops or community spaces. As Oldenburg says, it couldn't have been designed better by a car manufacturer to require reliance on vehicles to get anywhere.

I was disappointed to find only a single copy of this book in all the univeristy and state libraries in Western Australia. So I've ordered numerous copies to hand out to fellow community leaders and I hope that just maybe we might start to bring change for the benefit of subsequent generations.