News Princeton Shuffle: Micawber to Close; Labyrinth to Transfer Einstein would be proud of this equation.
In a major reshuffling in book retailing in Princeton, N.J., Micawber
Books is selling its business to Princeton University and will close in
March; next fall, Labyrinth Books, which has scholarly stores near Columbia University and Yale University, will open a store
called Labyrinth Books at Princeton, which will be near but not in
Micawber's location downtown; and the U-Store, Princeton's coop,
will phase out its book business by next fall, leaving book retailing
to Labyrinth, and will open a satellite store selling apparel next to
Labyrinth. The changes were reported in today's Daily Princetonian.
"We're extremely pleased to come to this agreement, so that now we can
pursue other dreams and interests," Micawber co-owner Logan Fox said at
a press conference yesterday concerning the changes. "This ensures the
presence of a scholarly bookstore on Nassau Street for years to come."
Micawber has been in business 25 years.
Princeton president Shirley Tilghman said, "It is virtually
impossible to be a world-class university without a world-class,
scholarly bookstore. We're so lucky to have had Micawber, which is
beloved by so many on the faculty. We have depended on them [to
provide] the intellectual community that we seek." She also welcomed
Labyrinth, saying, "I can't imagine a better successor to Micawber."
The new Labyrinth, which at 7,000 square feet is larger than its
branches in New York City and New Haven, Conn., will stock 70,000
scholarly and general books and have an "extensive" children's book
section. It will also handle textbook sales for the university.
"We are very fortunate to come to a school that's bucking the trend of
bringing in chain stores," Clifford Simms, Labyrinth president, said.
"We aspire to perpetuate a culture of reading. We want to become a part
of the fabric of this community."
A U-Store board member said the store did not have as much book
expertise as Labyrinth, and a Princeton administrator indicated that
the U-Store would now "focus on being the best student department store
at any college or university." Besides apparel, it will continue to
sell supplies and dorm furnishings and operate its pharmacy service and
the U-2 convenience store. U-Store president Jim Sykes said that
"probably six to 10" of the store's more than 60 full-time employees will be
affected.
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* * * Notes: Recognitions and RecommendationsCalling it "a touching story
of friendship--and just about as close to perfection as a reader can
get," Costco book buyer Pennie Clark Ianniciello has chosen Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See (Random House, $13.95, 0812968069) as her December book
pick. She has highlighted the title in the current issue of Costco Connection, which goes to many of the warehouse club's members.
Unusually Ianniciello spent more space on the writer than her book, saying, "Every
now and then I come across someone who is so talented in so many ways
that I can't help but feel a bit envious. Author Lisa See is that kind
of person. Not only has she designed a walking tour of Los Angeles'
Chinatown, created a museum exhibit and written the words to an opera,
she is also skilled in writing across genres."
--- Terri Schmitz, owner of the Children's Book Shop in
Brookline, Mass., was recently recognized on the fifth anniversary of
collecting books for Reach Out and Read, the national literacy program that aims to make reading and books a part of pediatric care. Customers
either bring used books to the store or purchase new
books, which are given to medical clinics
in underprivileged areas in metropolitan Boston. Because of Children's
Book Shop's contributions, thousands of books have been given to
children who otherwise
would not have books in their homes. --- Congratulations
to Koen-Levy Book Wholesalers, which last week quietly celebrated a
year since it took its first order as a successor to Koen Book
Distributors. In a note, senior sales and marketing manager Jim DiMiero
said, "While we've retained the old Koen flavor, we are continuing to
make new and great strides as one of the best book wholesalers in the
business." The company has "hit our sales forecasts," and added,
"Thanks to all of our customers for your loyal support."
---
Next September Barnes & Noble plans to open a store in the
Shoppes at Chino Hills at Grand Avenue and Peyton Drive in Chino Hills,
Calif., near Los Angeles. The store will stock close to 200,000 book,
music, DVD and magazine titles. Share This 
* * * Holiday Hum: Seeking Wisdom at the Bookworm of EdwardsSo far the title of the season at the Bookworm of Edwards in Edwards,
Colo.--a 750-sq.-ft. store near the Vail and Beaver Creek ski
resorts--is The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class
by David Kidder and Noah Oppenheim. The book consists of 365 daily
doses of wisdom drawn from seven fields of knowledge: history,
literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts
and music.
"It's a wonderful gift book for people of all ages, anywhere from 15 to
95," said Nicole Magistro, who owns the Bookworm with Neda Jansen.
"It's perfect for those people for whom you just don't know what to get."
Magistro is handselling the title, and customers often purchase
multiple copies. "Yesterday I sold 10 copies to two people," said
Magistro, who is hoping she can keep the Rodale book in stock through
the holiday season. (The title is on back order with a third printing
apparently scheduled.)
"For us the hand sell is the most important thing, and I think that's why The Intellectual Devotional is doing so well," said Magistro.
Some customers, of course, come in looking for big books like "the new
Patterson," and she anticipates some sales from books like For One More
Day by Mitch Albom and French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets,
Recipes and Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano, but generally national
bestsellers "don't sell that much for us. People can get those
everywhere." The store's customers tend to "want something different,
and we feel really comfortable with that."
Children's book sales "are enormous for us at Christmas," Magistro
said. Robert Sabuda's pop-up books are perennial favorites, and this
season Magistro cited the author's recently published The 12 Days of
Christmas Anniversary Edition: A Pop-up Celebration as a likely
customer favorite. Boxed sets of classics by Dr. Seuss and Little House
on the Prairie books are also popular choices. "The Night Before
Christmas is usually the top-selling Christmas book," Magistro said,
surpassing even The Polar Express and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Along with traditional sidelines such as bookmarks, journals, calendars
and children's puzzles and games, the store sells Veritas Chocolatier's confections, made with all-natural
ingredients and on prominent display. The store began selling the chocolates over the summer and has
since tripled stock.
An emphasis on target marketing has proven to be a boon for business.
Earlier this year, customers who had not shopped at the store for six
months received a handwritten note. And in an effort to increase
business-to-business orders, 500 cards were sent to local businesses in
October to encourage bulk ordering for seasonal client and employee
gifts. "Vail is very fortunate in that we have a strong independent
business community," said Magistro. "We try to support one another."
The direct marketing effort has resulted in "a good increase,
especially for our pre-holiday sales," Magistro said. The campaign also
included schools, and "a lot of teachers have increased their orders
with us," she added. Bulk b-to-b orders included a Christmas CD by a
local musician and The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty by Kenneth G.
Libbrecht.
On December 9, the store is hosting an author signing with the
Snowboard Outreach Society. The event will take place at a restaurant
in Beaver Creek and feature Danny Martin, the author of No-Fall
Snowboarding, and Jim Smith, the author of Art of Snowboarding. "It's
the first on-mountain event we've done," Magistro said, and it's a way
to bring the store to the attention of potential holiday
shoppers--visitors who might not necessarily be planning to venture
beyond the confines of the resort.
The Bookworm receives "a decent amount of tourist traffic," noted
Magistro, but the store's clientele is primarily year-round residents
and second-home owners who spend three or more months a year in the
area. "We have a very consistent group of readers," said Magistro. Many
of these readers have been avidly awaiting the release of Philippa
Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance (on sale today), which Magistro
expects to sell not only through the holiday season but well into the
New Year.
Historical fiction is one of the store's strongest categories, and
Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl is the bestselling title in the
Bookworm's history. Gregory has visited the store twice in recent years
and has garnered such a following that she's the store's top selling
author. "She beats out everyone," said Magistro, "even J.K.
Rowling."--Shannon McKenna
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* * *Media and Movies Media Heat: Money, Food, Faith, CultureThis morning on the Today Show for those watching TV: James J. Cramer offers advice from Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich (S&S, $25, 1416537902).
Also on the Today Show: Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food (Wiley, $35, 0028610105), who will do a cooking demo.
---
This morning on the Early Show: Bill O'Reilly with more of Culture Warrior (Broadway, $26, 0767920929).
Also on the Early Show: Food Network franchise Rachael Ray.
---
Today on the Martha Stewart Show: Rob Kaufelt, owner of Murray's Cheese Shop in New York City and author of The Murray's Cheese Handbook: A Guide to More Than 300 of the World's Best Cheeses (Broadway, $12.95, 0767921305).
---
Today on the View: Jenny McCarthy, actress and author of Life Laughs: The Naked Truth about Motherhood, Marriage, and Moving On (Dutton, $23.95, 052594947X) and Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth (Da Capo, $12.95, 0738210072).
--- Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: John Danforth, Episcopal priest, former senator and author of Faith and Politics: How The 'Moral Values' Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together (Viking, $24.95, 0670037877).
---
Tonight on the Colbert Report: Stephen Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics (Morrow, $25.95, 006073132X).
Share This Books & Authors Mandahla: The Apron Book, Talking With My Mouth FullThe Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort
by EllynAnne Geisel (Andrews McMeel, $16.95, 0740761811, September 2006)
 "Wearing an apron is just good sense . . . It's your armor against the
splatter. It's your oven mitt, ingredient gatherer, jar opener,
dishrag, counter wiper, window defogger and smoke swatter." EllynAnne
Geisel's cheery book pays tribute to the homey aprons of our
grandmothers, the fancier ones moms used for company, holiday aprons,
housework aprons, barbecue aprons and others. For a later generation of
women, "the apron was a relic of values and a lifestyle that no longer
applied," and many of those women tossed the garments out. But aprons
have made a comeback, along with sewing and crafting, and women who
hadn't saved family aprons are now combing thrift stores for them.
The author describes in great detail how to construct an apron,
assuming that the reader is a rank amateur, even explaining what "right
side up" means for fabric. This is not overkill for people new to
sewing or those with a sad sewing history (the bib apron pattern
enclosed with the book brought back memories of home ec class
humiliations, although apron-making was snap compared to zipper
installation). Spread throughout the book is a feature called "Every
Apron Tells a Story," with people's reminiscences about and photos of
beloved aprons, including a paean to ironing that almost makes you want
to sprinkle clothes again. One woman's story about her father's
barbecue apron includes his sauce recipe; another's features Coke and
Cherry Jell-O Salad. Harold Sasaki remembers his grandmother, whose
apron was her purse: "She wore it all the time. It was quite plain,
full-length, with crossed straps in the back and front pockets, which
always held Bull Durham tobacco, cigarette paper, and matches. She
rolled her own cigarettes, so her fingers were stained brown from the
tobacco--not exactly a ladylike image, but she smoked like a lady,
taking tiny puffs of her cigarette." Jean Rather's grandmother ran a
country store in Texas and carried penny candies in her apron pockets
to give to laborers' children.
Filled with recipes, household hints, patterns and above all, a
multitude of charming aprons, this is a book that warms the heart and
kindles memories. The Apron Book also has one of the sunniest,
prettiest covers around, and in the dark days of winter deserves to be
displayed in the kitchen for its healing properties alone.
Talking with My Mouth Full: Crab Cakes, Bundt Cakes, and Other Kitchen
Stories by Bonny Wolf (St. Martin's, $24.95, 031235357X, October 31,
2006)
Bonny Wolf is an apron fan and can't go into the kitchen without hers,
saying that for her, wearing an apron has always been empowering; the
secondary dictionary definition is "protective shield," and she feels
incomplete without donning hers. Like EllynAnne Geisel, she has a
cherry Jell-O recipe, but it's a dessert made with red wine. Her
chapter on this jiggly food highlights her witty style: "There's no way
of knowing how long the Jell-O renaissance will hold its shape. Like
all culinary trends, it may dissolve at any time. It will, however,
probably come back. Whether it's nouveau or retro, there's always room
for Jell-O."
After carefully collecting recipes in a binder, then stashing recipes
in between the covers, Wolf had to move the entire collection to a bag.
Deciding finally to sift through the bag, organizing and culling, she
"found the story of [her] life," and a rich, friend- and family-filled
life it is. It's also, in a way, the story of American food--German,
Mexican, Hungarian, Chinese, Italian and all the amalgams that make up
our culinary heritage. Every chapter has at least one
recipe--Oven-Roasted Ratatouille, Real Texas Chili, Stephanie's Fried
Chicken (a two-apron affair), Ann's Chocolate Sauce--that will have you
amending your shopping list. And every chapter is a delectable
mini-memoir, with opinions: "New Jersey is perfect in at least one way.
You can get breakfast all day almost anywhere . . . for me, the
required ingredients are bacon, eggs, and starch." A woman after my own
heart, and stomach.
The chapter on family recipes makes you realize what has been lost with
the profusion of cookbooks today--the treasured few cookbooks of mom
and grandma were filled with notes in the margins and additional
recipes written in cherished penmanship, in the days when one or two
cookbooks was all that was needed. In "An Ode to Toast," it's
gratifying to read that M.F.K Fisher was fond of milk toast (toasted
bread in a bowl with warm milk, butter, salt and pepper), which my
grandmother prescribed for any out-of-sortedness. Wolf says, "There is
an innocence and purity about toast that you turn to in times of need.
You smell toast and you feel better. Let it snow. Let it get dark at
4:30. You're in a warm house, wearing fuzzy slippers and a warm
nightgown, and you're making toast. If you're really lucky, you have a
shaker filled with cinnamon and sugar." A recipe for contentment:
toast, butter, a soft apron, strong coffee, maybe a warm cat--and this
satisfying book for a companion.--Marilyn Dahl
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