Short Takes 4/2/2018

Mystery writer Louise Penny has been publishing a new title in her Inspector Gamache series every August. This year will be a little different. With the death of her husband, she initially decided to take a break, but she quietly began writing again with the result that KINGDOM OF THE BLIND will lay down November 27, 2018. Her many fans are relieved!

I just beginning to explore the idea of bullet journaling when I found this information at Beth Fish Reads blog. There's an introductory video by Ryder Carroll, the brains behind the system and owner of Bullet Journal and BuJo trademarks. Check it out if you are curious.

Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore in Ann Arbor is closing after 26 years.

April 2, 2018
Dear Beloved Customers and Readers,

We are regretful but ready to announce that we will be closing Aunt Agatha’s in August of this year. We have enjoyed getting to know many of you, discussing books with you, sharing author events with you and sharing the love of mysteries with you for 26 years. Many of you we are happy to think of as friends. It’s been a wonderful journey.
As in the great Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express there are many culprits for our demise – we are getting older; constant street construction; Amazon; and fierce local competition. We hope you will keep local bookstores vital and alive by patronizing the many exciting stores that remain open.

And please come by to say hello, fill out your collection, or plan to attend one of the wonderful events we have remaining on our schedule this spring and summer. However, we can no longer take your books for store credit. We suggest the library, the PTO thrift store, and the recycle center.
After we close we plan to continue selling our remaining inventory on ABE books online, and under construction is a review blog focusing on first mystery novels by women. We also have some future events planned at the library. But for now, everything is for sale!
April - 15%
May – 20%
June – 30%
July – 40%
August – 50%

We will also be selling shelving, tables, our front counter, and posters. If there’s something you are interested in please make us an offer. We also have quite a few 6’ banquet tables & folding chairs.
We have a closing event scheduled on August 26 with William Kent Krueger, and we hope you’ll join us for a final gather round the communal mysterious hearth.

With much gratitude for your patronage,

Robin & Jamie

Book Journals

I have been keeping track of what I read since November 10, 1986 (over 21 years!) when my friend Ann Marie gave me a journal as a gift. It was called The Cat Notebook and was illustrated with felines throughout. The last entry was October 30, 1994.

My next journal was chosen by me and is fabric covered with a small print that reminds me of a guest room I frequently slept in as a child. Begun in November of 1994, it ends in October of 2005. In it, especially, I commented on other events in my world from time to time.

My third and current journal has room for three more titles. I purchased it in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin in a charming bookstore when I was on vacation with my daughter Lynn. The book is called Books I've Read: A Reader's Journal, which has specific places to list the author and date published and such and asks how you felt when you finished the books, who you would recommend it to and so on. I've enjoyed having it to guide me.

However, I realized looking back at the earlier journals that the information I wrote down when I was not prompted to answer certain questions was far more interesting and entertaining. I am looking forward to choosing a new journal with blank pages or nothing more than lines to guide my writing!