We had a lovely lady in the other day asking if we had any jobs going. We don’t but if we do, we tend, like most booksellers to hope you have retail experience. This lovely lady was keen and enthusiastic and had various English/literature studies from university plus she loved reading. Great! But did she have a strong back, an ability to sell fridges to eskimos, research capabilities, the patience of a saint, a love of spreadsheets and an aptitude with numbers, not to mention a strong alphabet ability and did she mind terribly if her reading for pleasure was usurped by reading for necessity, often last thing at night, exhausted and desperate for sleep? You see, whilst it is lovely working in a bookshop, it’s also retail and at the risk of debunking a favourite myth of non-booksellers…we don’t get to ‘read all day’. Shock horror. You see we’re too busy keeping a business afloat. We also read the ‘rubbish’ so as you, dear customer, don’t have to. With more than 120,000 books published each year, there’s a lot of sifting to be done.

So with all this in mind, I thought it would be fun to do a ‘Day In The Life Of A Bookseller’ post. Coming soon, I can assure you!

So what bookish stuff have I been up to since we last met? Well selling them mostly, and worrying about the state of the nation’s reading and attitude to books. Thankfully, my wonderous book clubs are still going strong, still loving books and still keen to meet four years on from our initial meeting. We all met in January and rather than try and bring you up to speed on last year’s meetings and favourites I thought I’d start in January, with January. I’ll splice snippets of last year here and there as the year progresses. January’s reads coming soon (as soon as I can find my notes under a mountain of stuff marked for my attention. Eep.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/juliafosters/m.html?_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A5251&rt=nc&_ipg=&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14.l1513&_pgn=1

You would think this frenzy of activity normal for a book shop in Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Book Festival, but actually August has the potential to reverberate from the echoes of tumbleweed if you run a bookshop during festival time. You see, everyone tends to go to the festival during festival time. Ah the funny quirks of people! And with the book festival running its own shop it is no surprise that the book sales go there rather than to other bookshops. So there are two options: shut up shop for a couple of weeks and take a well earned holiday or Get Involved. We opted to get involved, or rather, we were contacted by some lovely people who asked us to get involved.

It all started with a tweet from Neil Gaiman, musing about doing something with The Edinburgh Bookshop. Then David Sedaris asked if we would run his book sales at the International Edinburgh Conference Centre. Then the lovely Guardian got in touch to ask if we would get involved with a pod cast featuring Down The Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos, then there were events to chair, meetings to be had including dinner with Robert Muchamore and his fabulous team at Hodder, meeting Puffin delightfuls Cathy Cassidy, Maggi Gibson, Ed Vere, Meg Rosoff and Curtis Yobling over nomnomnom. Sadly I didn’t get to the Oxford dinner with Ali Sparkes which upset me a lot, cos I’d love to meet her and tell her how much my nephew loves her S.W.I.T.C.H. books. And let’s not forget the brilliant Gillian Philip and the launch of Bloodstone. I’m sure there are other delights which I have omitted but the one sad fact about all this book business…I never once made it to an event at the Edinburgh Book Festival. Oh the irony.

So, coming up over the next few posts…August. *deep breath*

I am reminded what this post is aiming at with the word diversity. It keeps springing to mind when I think of World Book Night (WBN). Acknowledging diversity for me means to recognise the vast array of difference that exists. In this instance recognising readers, non-readers, book-lovers, non-book-lovers, who is affected by books (sellers, libraries, authors etc),  the vast range of book choices out there (and not just the ones that, to quote a friend, “posh papers think are clever”).

But first what the heck is WBN? Okay here is the link that gives you more information. Essentially it is an idea that comes to fruition on Saturday when one million books are handed out in a celebration of reading. It sounds good and in essence it has the potential to be so. However it has not been without miscommunication, disorganisation, and someone clearly forgot to send round the memo marked “Practicalities.” There are criticisms about it which you will find here and here and here and here (I really urge you to read this last one) which I agree with. But I also like the awareness these criticisms have raised and the communicating that is now going on around how we improve it for next year  – here and here (particularly this second idea from author Nicola Morgan that I urge you to participate in RIGHT NOW) are some very good ideas.

The thing that has bugged me the most though is what feels like a lack of consideration for the potential diversity of this project. It claims to represent, and I quote “ the most ambitious and far-reaching celebration of adult books and reading ever attempted in the UK and Ireland.” Ummm, maybe not to be honest. Ambitious yes. Far-reaching no. It’s on BBC 2 for a start. On a Saturday night advertised alongside much trumpeting of the first showing of the remake of Brideshead Revisited. If that combination is not sticking yourself in the corner with a tiny proportion of the general public then I’ll eat your silver spoons!

What is potentially diverse is the fact that the general public were invited to be the givers of these million books. When registering you were asked to describe how you would give out these books and I hope to goodness givers were chosen from a wide range of areas and selected for their diversity in ideas. I do know of some givers who have put a terrific amount of thought into their giving and will be standing outside stations, donating to hospitals, charities etc. Brilliant! But sadly I also know of some who have shrugged their shoulders and mumbled that they are just giving them to family and friends. I’m also aware that some givers have vocally protested that the criticisms laid at WBN plans are feeling like personal attacks on the givers. No way. The givers are to be applauded for giving up their time to do this. Definitely. I just hope that they also use the criticisms to think a little outside their own boxes and really, really think about why they are doing this. Presumably because they love books. Great! Now turn that passion into really getting to know books – by understanding the book industry and all the problems it faces. Then you are in a great position to think of ways to promote it and defend it and potentially save it. For example, think about the nine million pounds worth of freebie books  –  consider why publishers/wholesalers are now selling WBN titles as firm sale. Firm sale means you can’t return any books that don’t sell. This usually happens when a book has shown a drop in sales or has flooded the market – presumably the notion being that everyone who wants it has it so sales are not going to improve. Just something to consider…

However, as one blogger/giver who took the time to consider the criticisms with a fairly reasonable mind stated, book retailers whilst recognising the damage this may do should try and use it as an opportunity to do what they love best – passionately talk about books, celebrate reading, prize the value of writing and encourage the public. Absolutely but why can’t that also include highlighting the plight of the industry and the potential downside to giving away stock? It’s just the other side of the coin so don’t mock the critics, understand them and learn. Book retailers spend every waking moment of their livelihoods promoting reading and selling books, attempting to instil passion and yet find themselves overlooked and ridiculed when vocalising their concerns. Sure the gift of giving is a lovely idea but in today’s society where something-for-nothing is becoming the expected norm I’m not sure nine million pounds worth of free books is going to have a completely positive impact on the reading world.

Booksellers particularly need to make the most of the quite frankly limiting selection of titles produce by a “wide-ranging editorial committee” and here is where my diversity issue comes in again. If this is really about celebrating reading with the public then where was the public involvement in choosing books? Imagine how well the word about WBN could have been disseminated long before Saturday if the general public had been invited to choose what book they loved, what book got them reading, what type of book they would love to read if they are non-readers, to poll the public on why they don’t read, to really, really look at reading in the UK. A year of activities designed to understand the UK readership and non-readership because let’s not forget that the UK has a serious literacy problem. You can find out more here and here.

One blogger wished we’d all stop moaning about WBN particularly with regard to the lack of measures put in place to determine the success of the project because it was just an “experiment” and what was wrong with that? Well experiments go wrong and when there is around nine million pounds worth of potential wrongness that’s a worry. Again, this is an exciting project that has far-reaching positive potential if done properly. I come from a background that audited and measured everything and I wish time had been taken to really ask the question “how do we know if this will be a success?” Having said that, the fact that people are blogging about it and are talking about it albeit in a small community and in particular about everything that is wrong with it suggests that it has had some success already although not perhaps in the way anticipated and hoped for. But it has got people talking and thinking and coming up with, quite frankly MUCH BETTER ideas. Which brings me back to diversity. If you look here you will see the list of people involved in this idea.  Where is the general public represented? Author representation? Delighted to see at least that the Reading Agency was involved but it could have used a few other literacy support agencies in my honest opinion. This had so much potential to be a truly diverse project. I suspect I know why it’s not but it’s not for printing here although it does involve the words “ivory towers”. However, it is WBN’s first foray into the real world so let’s cut it some slack and fingers crossed we all learn for next year because yes I like the potential enough to hope that there’s a WBN 2012.

Despite the stress and worry I’ve already witnessed first hand thanks to this idea I am going to support it’s potential. I’ve been impressed by the ideas it has generated from booksellers and authors so get them on board next year for goodness sake. I like that the givers are members of the public but let’s generate more public involvement next year by thinking about diversity.

So putting my money where my mouth is – let’s start. Have a think adults and children (yes children because reading starts or stops with them) about the following questions. I’ll be blogging throughout 2011 about them so let’s see if we can turn WBN into a truly year round celebration of books and reading that touches the entire nation and not just book loving BBC viewers.

What book/s got you reading?

If you consider yourself not much of a reader, why is that?

What do you consider are the reasons children grow up as readers and non-readers?

If you could give books to someone what would they be and who would you give them too?

How would you like to share your love of reading with others?

Do you have good/bad memories around reading? What are they?

The book industry is struggling – companies and independents are closing – what do you think the reasons are for this? What do you think are the solutions? How can booksellers adapt and survive?

Library services are being cut. Many protests are going on. Why do you think the government believes libraries should shut? Do you think libraries do enough? How can libraries adapt and survive?

You’ll find them all on the right hand side under pages. With the exception of Sirens and Entangled which are YA fiction, the rest are for confident readers.

In Search of WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi

The Cat Kin by Nick Green

A Most Improper Magyck by Stephanie Burgis

Entangled by Cat Clarke

Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Hafling by Rebecca Lloyd

Wishful Thinking by Ali Sparkes

Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Meteorite Strike by A.G. Taylor

Arch Enemy (Looking Glass Wars 3) by Frank Beddor

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The Radleys by Matt Haig

Blade 3: Breaking Free by Tim Bowler

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Book Club Delights

There have been many things in 2010 that have kept me happy: my job, university, Active-x and of course friends and family but there are a group of children to whom I am indebted. They are my book club kids, that merry band of bookworms who cared enough about the book club I set up at Borders Books in 2007 to continue attending it despite the end of the UK company in 2009. We have met twice a month this year in a café to chat about books, share what we have been reading, write reviews and generally have a terrific time. It is their reviews that you read on this blog.

I confess there have been times when I have been so anxious about life, so down about money, health, the future and the present that the last thing I have wanted to do was be cheerful. Experiencing redundancy, despite your best efforts otherwise can leave you feeling worthless, useless and pointless in varying degrees, even if you are lucky enough to get a job fairly quickly. However each time I felt this way book club seemed to lift me up, give me hope and joy and remind me that actually what I do is quite important, that I have a role in life that is not as trivial as it sometimes feels.

I find myself wondering why the club has been so successful. I have been told it has something to do with my genuine passion for books which is a lovely thought. However the children make the club, they really do. They are willing to take a chance on a book. They see past the fugly covers, the odd publishing decisions and journey with the little known writers in the book world as well as the big names, reading prolifically and delight in sharing their enjoyment about the latest discovery with the group. They are loyal and curious, passionate and courageous. They are fun!

Our book club isn’t like a traditional book group where everyone reads the same title and discusses it. You simply cannot do that with a children’s group. I tried and failed three times to develop a book club in this way. Each child even if their ages are similar reads at a different pace, they have different comprehension levels and are less tolerant of genres, themes and ideas that don’t immediately grab their interest. They’ll switch off, lose interest and start associating reading with hard work and suddenly reading is a chore not a pleasure. I also think to insist on everyone reading the same book denies children the opportunity to explore the wonderfully vast reading world that exists with each other. No, in our book club everyone reads what they like, brings it along and talks about it. Some members bring along three books they have finished others bring along the same book for a couple of months but despite the differences everyone talks happily about reading! It’s wonderful to watch one of the members talk enthusiastically about a book they have been reading and see others in the group express an interest in reading it. You can help children explore the idea that opinions and tastes differ and that difference is okay. You can hold their hand figuratively speaking as they take the first hesitant steps towards trying a book that is tough or not their usual read. They will take that step if their peers have enthused passionately enough. It has been a joy to watch particularly some of the younger members try new genres and discover with a thrill a whole new bookshelf to read! My youngest member has been four, my oldest 21. As soon as I changed the format of the book club membership rose to 25 children!

I have also been delighted in the willingness of authors to come along and

the gang with Barry Hutchison, author of the Invisible Fiends series

meet the club members. I did think that after Borders the opportunities for the children to meet authors would disappear but this has not been the case at all. In 2010 they met Nicola Morgan and Barry Hutchison. Others have expressed an interest in meeting the children and I am thankful for this as there is nothing that tempts a child to read more than meeting an actual writer. There are many things I am grateful for in life including the experience of seeing a child’s face light up as they meet an author and literally devour that author’s book as a result. If any authors out there wish to experience this please do get in touch either with me or The Edinburgh Bookshop. We never tire of the experience!

Buoyed by my book club experiences this year I have recently started a second club for children in the Brunstane/Morningside area where The Edinburgh Bookshop is located. We have had two meetings already and that familiar thrill of getting to chat about books was all too apparent.

In 2011 the original gang are going to attempt to regroup in the newly re-opened Starbucks in the former Borders store where I worked. This will be tough but I have faith in the book group. They will giggle and gossip their way through and pull me delightedly along with them. 2010 has been a tough year but my book club gang have cushioned the blows for sure.

Here’s to 2011 and readers everywhere!

2010 meets 2011: a selection of my top 2010 reads alongside some January 2011 reads.

Obviously there comes a point in a blog about books, as the year approaches its end where one simply has to reflect on the books of 2010 that personally stood out and that is what I am doing today. I set myself a limit though because there are many, many good books that I enjoyed reading this year (when I could) and many that the book clubbers loved too. What does a stand-out book mean to me? Well it could be anything from a refreshingly new storyline or style to a thought-provoking theme to simply gripping me from beginning to end due to the storytelling or being really quite clever and funny. Oh and not having any vampires in it whatsoever.

It has been a somewhat frustrating year for me in researching titles to sell from the bookshelves. Time travel has been a big theme in books this year. The success of The Hunger Games has given the dystopian genre a new lease of life. The focus on YA fiction feels like it has neglected younger readers particularly girls and I look forward in 2011 to finding some really good reads for girls aged between 9 and 11. I have definitely become more than a little irritated by the plethora of Young Adult vampire/love fiction out there. Some of it has been vaguely enjoyable to read, none of it has been refreshing or unique and much of it has sadly for me read like a jump-on-the-Twilight-bandwagon. My heart sank when publishers started talking about angels as the new vampires and I have steeled myself for the influx of badly written love trysts between humans and angels but that hasn’t actually happened. It’s mermaids for 2011 and I have to confess, the one to watch is Siren by Tricia Rayburn which is due out in February. Recommended to me by The Edinburgh Bookshop owner Vanessa I borrowed her proof copy and looked forward every day for a week to getting home from my daily business to settle down and read some more of what proved to be a good if somewhat clunky story. More about that when I get round to writing the review.

I am also really looking forward to the third Gallagher Girls book: Don’t Judge A Girl By Her Cover. Ironically given this title, the series has really bad cover designs and I have to do some brilliant hand selling to convince readers to take a chance on them but they are terrifically funny stories about a boarding school for female spies. And the second offerings in The Maze Runner (James Dashner) and Matched (Ally Condie) trilogies can’t come quickly enough alongside book three in Barry Hutchison’s Invisible Fiends series: mostly because I have a copy of the chapter his editor asked him to “tone down”! I’m also interested to see what Steven Spielberg does with the most excellent I Am Number Four by Pitticus Lore on the big screen in February. Lots to look forward to.

I have currently 31 new proofs to read eight of which are out in January (guess what I am doing for the next four days of my holiday). I am pretty sure there are many more new releases out there for January and I would very much like it if publishers would send more proofs. Actually getting my hands on the books before publication really helps me to put the book out there. Many people ask me for recommendations and if I can wax lyrical about a book long before it’s published then the customer base for that book goes skyward. I’m also more likely to take a chance on a children’s hardback if I have been able to read a copy first. Children’s hardback books are the bane of my life and I think one of the first blog posts of 2011 will have to be me ranting about the decision to produce expensive, clunky, heavy hardback books for children, particularly halfway through a series. Just because it worked for J. K. Rowling does not mean it works for other authors. But I digress.

My stand-out titles of 2010 in no particular order are:

Young Adult fiction:

Matched by Ally Condie: gentle love story wrapped up in a superb dystopian tale and one family’s realisation that all is not as it seems.

Time Riders by Alex Scarrow: terrific storyline, action, adventure and timetravel.

Wasted by Nicola Morgan: unique style, intelligent, a breath of fresh air.

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson: love story that deals beautifully with sibling death/grief.

I’d Tell You That I Love You But Then I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter: very funny action adventure series about an all girls boarding school for trainee spies.

Confident Readers:

The Maze Runner by James Dashner: terrific action adventure set in a Dystopian-type world.

Beswitched by Kate Saunders: good fun boarding school story with a timetravelling twist.

Invisible Fiends: Mr. Mumbles by Barry Hutchison: fantastically scary edge-of-the-seat adventure with a clever back story.

Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne: beautiful fairy tale sprinkled with magic about a young boy who finds a toy shop and a rather familiar toy maker. Deals with parental loss.

Wishful Thinking by Ali Sparkes: hilarious adventure about a boy who finds a god. Clever sub plot and a race against time finish.

Developing Readers:

Ottoline At Sea by Chris Riddell: beautifully illustrated third and long-awaited book in the Ottoline series and one I don’t mind being a hardback as it is a sumptuous gift for any lucky young reader.

The Pasta Detectives by Andreas Steinhafel: two unusually gifted boys become friends, one is kidnapped and the other must put his detective skills to the test. Refreshingly different. This one sells well from our confident and developing readers section which makes it ideal for older reluctant readers.

Letters From An Alien Schoolboy by Ros Asquith: an alien who disguises himself as a school boy to help his father’s research. This book is a series of letters to his best friend describing the strange behaviours of earthlings. Brilliant!

Time Train to the Blitz by Sophie Mackenzie: super adventure about a brother and sister transported by a time travelling train to the blitz to save a young boy.

The Clumsies Make A Mess by Sorrel Anderson: brilliantly funny stories about two mice under a desk who try to help but end up…you guessed it, making a mess!

Picture Books:

Hugless Douglas by David Melling: gorgeous and funny illustrations accompany a story about finding the perfect hug.

Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers: boy and penguin are back (Lost and Found). This time penguin wants to learn to fly.

Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates: quirky and fun. A book about a dog who owns a bookshop? Of course we love it!

Emily Brown and the Elephant Emergency Paper back by Cressida Cowell: we love Emily – a strong female character who has lots of adventures and fun.

The Ice Bear by Jackie Morris: stunningly beautiful illustrations as ever wrapped around a magical story about a lost bear-child.

Happy reading and don’t forget you can buy them all at The Edinburgh Bookshop and we’ll happily recommend many, many more!

You may wonder how back pain is related to books and reading and this blog. Well the fact of the matter is that for 14 years I have endured chronic back and neck pain following a car accident. This has prevented me from doing even the most basic tasks with ease which include sitting for any length of time i.e. writing blog posts or curling up to enjoy a good book. I first blogged about it here. In February this year the pain got so bad (I blame snow shovelling in January 2010 and sitting around feeling sorry for my redundant self) that I finally took myself off to see a private specialist. I had been reluctant to seek private care because as a former NHS therapist I try to have faith in the NHS system but for me if truth be told they simply didn’t have the resources to really make a difference. I had personally seen six NHS physiotherapists, none of whom had been given the time, resources or training to help me get back to full fitness. The consequences were more pain and further injury. I did my best but it was a wonky and dysfunctional best in need of  well-resourced specialist care.

That care came in the form of Active-x clinics. Run by Osteopath Gavin Routledge I initially got in touch because he had been recommended by many satisfied customers. Ironically it turned out he was also the dad of one of my former book club members at Borders Books – see I can make a connection to books from backs!!!

Before Active-x Clinic's intervention and after. Extremely fit and well and not a diet in sight!

Several months later, I was exercising for the first time in years with the Director of Exercise Ollie Jessop. Thanks to Gavin’s interventions accompanied by remedial massage therapy, sessions with Ollie using Vibration technology and carefully considered and adapted exercises the back pain disappeared. I’m saving a fortune on pain killers I can tell you! I also lost three stone, dropped four dress sizes WITHOUT dieting and started circuit training twice a week. And yes you bet I am shamelessly plugging Active-x whenever I can for they are miracle workers!

This new pain-free life meant I could finally go back to University and study because sitting for long periods was no longer an endurance. I am now enrolled and halfway through my first year as a Master of Counselling. The downside to this is I haven’t quite managed to juggle the time spent reading academic texts with reading for fun and pleasure and thus have a very expanding pile of proof books and reading gems to discover. Alas university study has also meant that the blog has been woefully neglected.

Which leads me nicely to New Year Resolutions: firstly in 2011 the remnants of my Buddha belly will disappear courtesy of Active-x Clinics while I maintain my most awesome fitness levels. I also plan to balance text book reading with children’s fiction reading far more effectively and write about it here on a more regular basis with the help of my merry band of bookworms of course.

If your New Year resolutions involve getting fitter why not contact Active-x about their Fit In 14 scheme?  They definitely come with a personal recommendation from me. If your New Year resolutions also involve doing more reading then come and chat to us at The Edinburgh Bookshop. We can recommend some fantastic books for all ages. Happy New Year when it arrives!