We are truly spoiled by amazing customers :)

One of our oh-so-awesome customers made us a present! She hand knit us a pillow with our logo on it. Isn't that adorable? Chaucer is thoroughly enjoying it.

We really do love how amazing our customers are, and we all hope you guys have a great holiday season.

Thanks for making my job the best job ever!

The tragic death of books

So, it's been a long while since I've blogged, and I would like to discuss with everyone the agony I've been facing for the last two years of my life as a bookseller.

My mother has always said that I was a hoarder, a pack rat, a stockpiler. Honestly, I prefer to think of myself as a collector, a connoissuer if you will. So when I moved ten hours from home in a Mitsubishi Eclipse, my cache of books had to be cut down significantly. That included donating about one hundred books, in addition to clothes, and vinyl albums. Needless to say I was crushed; it was like parting with my children. I knew each item as a separate individual possessing qualities that I wanted in my life.   

So when Bruce asked me if I could use my past experience of doing returns to start doing them at the bookshop, I cringed. Returning books can be a relieving experience, but there is also the possibility that the process will turn into a anguished goodbye. I say this because I recently had to come to terms with sending one of my favorite books back to the publisher. Last summer I got recommended Dharma Punks by Noah Levine. I picked it up here on a Tuesday and did not put it down until the early morning hours of Wednesday. Like all good books, it got me thinking about life, and the way things move in circles.

When I was pulling from my list of things to return and came across Dharma Punks, I almost lost it. I immediately walked over to the computer and typed in the information that would tell me how many copies of the book I had sold since I had written the staff pick for it. The numbers, to my surprise,  were staggeringly low. Then it dawned on me that I had not found the right person to send it home with, and because of that, it had to find a new home with the publisher it came from.

The idea then dawned on me that I needed to find closure. Do you know how hard it is to find closure when you know you could've saved something from going back FROM WHENCE IT CAME?! Impossible. Or, nearly impossible. I shed a single tear, packed the book up with its siblings, and marked the box "fragile" so that the package delivery person would know to be extra-nice to it.

Then, all of a sudden, the answer dawned on me: I had failed myself by thinking that I hadn't found the "right person" to send the book home with. What I really needed to look at was that anyone can be the "right person" if you can accept the purest, least-mentioned fact of the book world: all books are good. My job, as a bookseller, is to help other people find the good in each novel, anthology, cookbook, and reference book that they see, so that they can pass on the message.

-Whitney

A local blogger likes our coupons!

So, a blog has been brought to our attention that talks about the amazing Think Boise First coupon books.

I'll re-post it here or you can follow the link below.

"Lookin’ to save some money this holiday season? Want to support locally owned businesses? Then make sure you pick up the Think Boise First Coupon Book, for $10 you get over $3500 in savings! I’m no math wizard, but that sounds like a bargain to me.

From discounts at the Record Exchange, two-for-ones at Pengilly’s or the Neurolux to a free “Drink Local” growler from Bittercreek Alehouse there is a coupon for everyone. There are sections devoted to Arts & Culture, Dining and Food, Health and Wellness, Nightlife, Entertaining and Lodging, Retail and Shops and last but not least, Services. The free haircut that you can get from Euphoria Salon (voted #1 Salon in Boise) alone covers the cost of the book!

Not to mention the thing has to be the prettiest little coupon book I’ve ever seen — this coupon book won’t be hiding under my car seat. And remember when you’re out and about shopping this holiday season to think local first.

You can pick up your Think Boise First Coupon Book from the locations listed below.
All About Games
Ashtanga Yoga
Bittercreek
Boise Weekly
Boise Yoga Center
Café De Paris
Edwards Greenhouse
Eyes of the World Imports
Flying M
Newt &Harold’s
Old Boise Guitar
Rediscovered Books
RJM Computers
Think Boise First office (210 N. 6th St.) "

http://treasuredvalley.com/2009/11/go-get-it-think-boise-first-coupon-book/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter