Josie, the one and only, turned 15 today. She is a remarkable animal.

So, almost 11 years in and I think — I hope — we are staying true to our vision of keeping things very simple. We still keep track of sales by hand, on paper, still have no computerized inventory, no point-of-sale system. No speakers in the ceiling. No logo. (Literally; we have no logo; we have bookmarks — which we love — but they do not feature a logo.) We do not have a counter or a cash register or printed bags or a discount program. We don’t advertise, do not serve coffee. Some stores do these things and have these things, and that’s fine, but we do not. Everything we have goes into the inventory, into keeping it full and interesting. That’s really all we do down here. It isn’t much, I guess, but it is a satisfying thing to be able to do. So we’re just going to keep doing that — keep it simple, keep it personal, and keep it going, if we can, one day after another.

We are thankful for so much support.

Coming soon, a few words about some of our favorite books of 2008.

I’m thankful that crane didn’t fall over. And for so much else besides. (The weather in Missoula was perfect this year, wasn’t it? Thanks, weather! Etc.)

We will have a page up soon you can click to in order to buy gift certificates and certain other items from us online. It should be up in a week or so.

We are doing some remodeling. Every three years, evidently, we have to get out the ladder and the drill. More about this soon. Meantime, pay no attention to the man with the ladder and drill. (Most of this work will be done after hours.)

I did go the final Downtown Master Plan meeting. I sat with some Hip Strip business owners. I liked hearing about the bicycle transportation stuff. I hope that part gets done! Protected bike lanes would constitute a major downtown amenity. A good half of the meeting seemed to be about bicycles.

Finally, if you can swing it, shop locally, please! Let’s keep our money in town. I know that I will be spending the majority of my gift money these holidays at the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center. JRPC has never looked better than it does right now.

The little dog and I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

Two new paperbacks we have IN STOCK, would make a great pair to read back to back, or simultaneously.

In western Georgia, [Stalin] traveled with fishing-rods and tackle, and when arrested by the local police he convinced them he was just fishing.

-Young Stalin, Simon Sebag Montefiore (Vintage, $16.95)

Those who felt joy at Stalin’s death were mostly too cautious to show it in public.  Any sign of pleasure had to be concealed.  Zinaida Belikova, a factory worker in Krasnodar, recalls that many of the town’s intelligentsia, doctors, teachers, even Party officials, found it hard to hide their excitement when Stalin died.  ‘The mourning ceremonies in Krasnodar were more like a holiday.  They put on a mournful face, but there was a sparkle in their eyes…

-The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia, Orlando Figes (Picador, $20)

I’ve dreamed of building an A-frame cabin for my home since I was a little girl. This dream, born in an age of innocence and economic ignorance, but quickly down-sizing to a mere nostalgic concept, led me to pick up a copy of Rob Roy’s Mortgage Free! Innovative Strategies for Debt-Free Home Ownership. This book is similar to Thomas J. Elpel’s Direct Pointing to Real Wealth, so it will be more appealing to people who want to get back to life’s simple pleasures through the art of conservation. Roy offers various benefits to the conserver-lifestyle, including both personal and monetary. In fact, he makes owner-built home ownership by way of conserving appear to be a better long-term investment than even a college education. The best part, however, is that Roy writes from experience, having built two homes himself. (For proof, photos are included.) He also points to websites and to other books that will aid readers on their quest for debt-free home ownership.

With suggestions on conserving money, making smart investments, buying land, and designing and building a shelter, this book is an inspiring introductory guide for anyone dreaming of building a nest of their own, or maybe even a little A-frame cabin.

Mortgage Free! Innovative Strategies for Debt-Free Home Ownership by Rob Roy, (Chelsea Green, $24.95) IN STOCK!

One of the great New Yorker covers? We think so. If you’re looking for it, we have a few, very few, for sale right now.

[p. 395]:

I asked him how he got the nickname Foot.

“The first day I went into the coal mine, a guy looked down and said,  ‘Damn, how big are your feet?’ I said, ‘Fifteen.’ He said, ‘You’re a big-footed son of a bitch.’ And that was it. One guy had a huge head, so of course we called him Pumpkin. One guy had a big red birthmark on his face, so of course we called him Spot. They don’t cut you any slack. They’ll get right on you. A coal miner will get right on you.”

I shined my light on his boots and he wagged them, like puppets.

It was tough getting used to identifying people, in the darkness, just as feet, shoulders, chin, teeth. As for Foot, he was a truck of a man, forty-nine years old, a wide load in both girth and spirit. He had a messy mop of gray hair and a rugged, intelligent face that often wore one expression: “You gotta be kidding me.” He was proud of a lot of what he’d done with his life — his three kids, his stint as a county commissioner, his coal-mining expertise — but his heart, he said, belonged to his fifty-two head of beef cattle: Pork Chop, Frick and Frack, and, aw, Bonehead, with the amazing white eyelashes.

– Jeanne Marie Laskas, “Underworld,” originally published in GQ
from The Best American Magazine Writing 2008

From the popular little NPR program, This I Believe, comes a second edition of collected essays, now IN STOCK.

This I Believe II: More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, (Henry Holt, $23)

The following is an excerpt from the essay “Doing Things My Own Way” by Bela Fleck–who, it should be noted, has been spotted shopping at Shakespeare & Co. 

When I perform with my own group, my map of the banjo is all I need.  But when I move into more conventional jazz or classical situations, I don’t always have the tools to fit in.  I can barely read music.  I don’t thoroughly understand the conventions of each tradition and I’m not sure how to voice jazz chords–which notes to leave out, how the scales work, all the rhythmic concepts.

I heard that when George Gershwin wanted to study harmony from Ravel, he was advised against it.  Ravel felt that Gershwin would obliterate the very thing that made him special by learning conventional approaches to rhythm and harmony.  I’d like to think that the same is true for me, but I’m not convinced.  I worry that my approach might not be built on a strong enough musical foundation.

It’s this fear that allows me no rest in my musical pursuits.  When I’m at work–whether it is writing, practicing, or editing and mixing CDs–I obsess.  To say that I am picky is an understatement.  Delegating is pretty much impossible; I can be downright controlling.  I have to get everything just right.  Then, one day, the intensity disappears.  This usually  means the project is done…

…I believe in living with and giving in to my obsessive side when it serves the music.

This annual nonfiction anthology is a must have. It comes in this year at an impressive, thick, whopping, Fat-New-Yorker-Pieces-of-Yore* 545 pages — and yet it’s still only $16.95! And a well-bound $16.95 at that. What’s not to like here? Not a thing. Have a look at the table of contents. Get one for yourself–and several more as gifts. One of the best deals in the shop.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, the bosses began designing the factory. The three-story building they had rented was perfectly empty: white walls, bare floors, a front door without a lock. You could come or go; everything in the Lishui Economic Development Zone shared that openness. Neighboring buildings were also empty shells, and they flanked a dirt road that pointed toward an unfinished highway. Black silver billboards reflected the sky, advertising nothing but late October sunlight.

– Peter Hessler, “China’s Instant Cities”

* What Jacob Weisberg, in his introduction to this volume, calls “deep-dive, long-form literary journalism.”

We now have in stock the Moleskine Monthly Planner + Notebook 2009.

Soft cover, $15.95.

We have a dozen signed copies of Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers: The Story of Success — a nice gift idea for Gladwell fans. The book goes on sale Tuesday, 11/18.