The Keeper of Secrets

I don't blog. It's been a year since my last post. I leave the blogging to the people who are much better at it than I am like The Book Lady's Blog.

But once in awhile, like in my last post, I feel a need to talk about what it means to be a bookseller...and what it means to create a place, a bookstore family, where people feel at home. Maybe they feel more at home with us than they do with their own families.

For probably the tenth time in my bookselling life, a customer came up to me with a question she couldn't even share with a family member: Where are your books on abusive relationships? I gently said "We don't have a bunch, but what kind of abuse are we talking about? Physical? Verbal?"

"Everything", she said. She was shaking.

I gave her a list of books I recommend. I gave her a list of hotline numbers to call. I gave her directions to the library nearby and the women's shelter. I touched her shoulder.

People will go look for a book sometimes before they call the cops, seek a shrink or talk to a friend. It's a first step. And a reminder that all of us as booksellers are doing an important job every day.

If it's placing the trashy vampire book in the hands of a stressed-out corporate executive, selling a book on pregnancy to a single mom, slipping some silly sci-fi to the supreme court judge...it's all safe here brothers and sisters.

Your secret is safe with me. And all my staff.

Want to know what Sir Anthony Hopkins reads? I ain't tellin' ya. Wonderful customer for a couple of years when he was filming here, but his reading choices are his business.

Besides...if I told you...he might eat my liver.

All kidding aside...

Want to keep your reading privacy safe? Indie bookstores and libraries are the only places with a record of caring about that. Consider a donation to ABFFE, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. They protect your privacy in the age of the Patriot Act...which has a lot of good things in it, but a not good thing is access to your book purchases and library loans. Reading a book is not a crime. No matter what that book is about.

And with regard to my customer from Friday...I hope she got a start to some answers. I hope I made a difference. I'm glad she felt that she had walked into a place where there was someone she could trust. And that moment makes every minute of the last 22 years worth it and important.

1-800-799-SAFE (National Domestic Abuse Violence Hotline)

The Fountain Bookstore Family

I talk a lot about "The Fountain Bookstore Family" in the shop. In the last few weeks I've had a chance to really think about what that means to me.

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of one of our customer family members. I didn't know Mark very well...mainly through her orders which were delivered to her out in the country by the former owner of Fountain, Boo Smythe.

She was one of my favorite kinds of readers: she'd find out about an author and then immediately have to have all of the author's collected works. Loved series writers, excellent taste in mysteries. Her orders and the obvious thirst behind them always made me smile. I'll miss her.

It was unseasonably cold at the Fork Church cemetery, but the warmth of the small congregation (its own family) welcomed me as we said goodbye to someone much loved and respected. Fork Church celebrates its 275th anniversary this year. That's something special.

Boo and Jim Smythe belong to this church. While I've thanked them privately for the space they gave me in the Fountain Family back in 2000 when they first brought me in, I'd like to make a special thanks to them now publicly for showing me what it can mean to own a community bookstore, to make it a place that is welcoming, nurturing and playful. A place that provides solace, a needed respite, a good belly laugh. A place you belong.

Joyce Clay was the first owner of Fountain in 1978. I owe her a debt of thanks as well for recognizing Richmond's need for a good independent bookstore. The Smythe's took over in 1985. They passed the baton in 2008 to me.

I hope they made a good choice. On my best days, I feel up to the task.

I delivered a few books to Kuba Kuba the other day: my "first baby" present to Manny Mendez for his boy Noah. Manny's the owner of Kuba Kuba...and if you haven't eaten there, well, you're missing something. (Yes, I'm a year late, I know). Among the selections was Me Hungry! I picked it because I think the caveman daddy looks like Manny...just a little.

Another group in the Fountain Bookstore Family is the Anderson-Ellis clan. Three generations of wonderful readers. I had the pleasure of knowing little Sophie's parents before they even met and now she's reading. It's a beautiful thing.

The Family extends outside just the customers and my wonderful staff (who deserve their own blog post...stay tuned) to the authors. Far too many to mention, but I will mention Gigi Amateau (and her great mom, husband and daughter). Again, our author friends deserve an entire post...probably several

And we get new family members all the time! We recently welcomed Rebecca Schinsky to the family. She's an exceptionally sharp book blogger. Find her at The Book Lady's Blog . One of those people who instantly "got it".

My point in bringing up individuals (Mark, the Anderson-Ellis's, Manny, Rebecca and Gigi) is not to single them out to the exclusion of the rest of the Fountain Family, but to illustrate that you are individuals to us. To me.

Every time you walk through the door: you're a part of it.

Every time you share with me a book you love: you feed it.

Every time you tell someone else about us: you build it.

I was tempted to end this post with "Amazon: Bite me." But they're a fact of life and I don't begrudge any business's right to exist. Besides, Boo would be very, very disappointed in me. (I am trying to clean up my trash mouth and my attitude Boo, I promise.)

Instead, I'll imagine Mark up in the sky with all the books and all the health and time she needs to read them. I'll think about Noah and Sophie and storytime. Who knows? Maybe they'll meet in 25 years and have little readers of their own! And if I'm very, very lucky, maybe I'll get to buy them their "first baby" book then.

You change the world every time you step through our doors. My gratitude is beyond measure.

Thank you for being part of the Fountain Bookstore Family.

Thankfully Reading Weekend

This is the best idea I've seen in awhile...

The Fountain Bookstore is a little wonky as a retail establishment as we're not all that busy on the weekends being in a downtown business district.

That means that I have weekends off most of the year to read!

So, unlike my fellow retail warriors, I will be able to participate in this event enthusiastically and without guilt for not being in the shop.

Join me!

"Welcome to the very informal Thankfully Reading Weekend. Jenn from Jenn's Bookshelves gets full credit for coming up with the idea. She happened to tweet that she was going to have a fairly quiet U.S. Thanksgiving weekend and was hoping to spend much of that time catching up on her reading. Almost immediately Jen from Devourer of Books and Beth from Beth Fish Reads chimed in, saying what a great idea that was. And thus the birth of Thankfully Reading Weekend, which will start on Friday, November 27 and end on Sunday, November 29." Read More Here...

I'm looking for suggestions for a big, fat, new novel to swallow whole that weekend. I've already read Wolf Hall and loved it, so that's out as is the new John Irving which is great if you're a John Irving fan...probably not as fun if you're not.

So, post here or come by the shop and tell me what you'll be reading. I'll post to #thankfulreading on Twitter.

Now you have an excuse to spend a few moments away from your family (they'll be watching football anyway) and have some quality YouTime. Your bookseller approves.

Lee Bros.: Will You Marry Me?

...or (in order to keep from violating several state laws and generally accepted social conventions) maybe you could just come sign at my shop?

I got a preview copy at the store a few months ago and have since purchased a hardback for myself and it is definitely my present of choice for this holiday season.

Perhaps I should just list the top 10 reasons for my devotion....

1. Lemon and Cucumber Pickles
I think I went through about 8 quarts of these myself this summer. I also took jars to garden parties for friends. (great on a grilled burger!)

2. Celery Julep
Refreshing! About the only summer libation I prefer as much is The Green Lantern.

3. Cheese Relish
A variation on pimento cheese made with Swiss, capers and banana peppers rather than cheddar and roasted red peppers. Is it good for me? No. And I don't care.

4. Radish Butter
So weird I had to try it. Lovely on rye toasts. Pretty as the magenta picture you painted. Stunner for entertaining.

(have I said thank you yet for the fact that none of the recipes so far take more than 10 minutes to prepare?)

5. Oyster Soup
While it will never replace the traditional oyster stew that I eat every Christmas morning (a deeply simple recipe from my mother that just means Christmas to me), this charmer of a dish will be a staple for the rest of the year's special occasions.

6. Skillet Green Beans with Orange
Boring old green beans for dinner? Not anymore! Inexpensive and gorgeous in a plain white bowl.

7. Pimento-Cheese Potato Gratin
Say goodbye to mac and cheese. This is my new comfort food. How do you two stay so svelte? Dancing on that porch you're always mentioning, I guess.
Whoa! Just checked my Facebook mail and there's a thumbs up there for this recipe from an editor of Blackbird Magazine (and confirmed foodie). That's almost a little creepy.

8. Smoked Shrimp with 3 Dipping Sauces
Now I know why I bought that stovetop smoker!
(It's an illness...I know...I'm trying to stop...but honestly a stovetop smoker is absolutely a necessary item for any kitchen...along with the 10s of dozens of other random items I seem to have accumulated....well, maybe not the quesadilla maker with the handle shaped like a chili pepper...I told you...I'm sick.)
And you're so conscientious for kindly giving instructions to make your own MacGuyver-style if people don't have one.

9. Fig and Bourbon Compote
Equally versitile as a dessert topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream or as an condiment for roast pork. Yum.

(cue the angel chorus)

10. Whole Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Onions
Sounds boring, right? I thought it did, but the true test of any cookbook (or any cook) is the humble roasted chicken. Mainstay entree of the suburban family and the single bookseller. Affordable, available, and so, so easy to $#&* up...usually by trying too hard.
My 99 year old Eastern Kentucky Granny gave me her cast iron skillets when she quit cooking (and you fellas know how important a gift like that is...it was the only thing I asked for when she moved to the home). The bird sits proudly in one of those coal-black, seasoned beauties and looks (and tastes) like a million bucks. Genius.

So, I apologize for missing our two first dates:

• BookExpoAmerica 2008 Fried Chicken Party (I was stuck in a cab on the Brooklyn Bridge)
• SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Trade Show 2009 dinner...I was supposed to be at your table, but I got the flu

Let me make it up to you by hosting a party for you and every foodie in Richmond. Trust me. I know them all.

Cheers, Boys. And thank you.