Category Archives: bookstore management

Judging a book by its cover

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Perceptions are powerful.  We are drawn to certain colors and textures, to certain people, but avoid others, often without a conscious thought.  Our brains make a split second decision on whether we want something or dislike something.  Have you ever met a three-year old who has a wavering stance on something?  Nope, didn’t think so.  Our brains are wonderful adaptive masses of tissue and fibers.  Through experiences we learn that appearances and perceptions can be deceiving.  Like that delicious dark purple jellybean.  You were expecting a sweet grape, but no, it is that villain of all flavors, licorice.  You either love it or you hate it; there is no middle ground.

Books are no exception to this rule.  I am a big fan of books with a good summary, a brief bio about the author, and a good cover design.  I don’t pay much heed to the reviews from a major newspaper or periodical, or another famous author.  My perception is more impacted by a great picture with a nicely worded title in a font that is appealing or different.  I like bright colors; I guess that goes to my magpie roots. 

The Little Bookstore is located in a historic home in downtown Big Stone Gap.  To the locals the building has always been “that old house behind the liquor store.”  One of my fellow local coworkers, and dear friend, was unaware of the treasures inside the bookstore until one day I needed to go buy some gifts and she tagged along.  It is hard to change the perception of things that we have known for a very long time.  They become sort of permanent fixtures in our minds.  But when presented with new information, that image is no longer the same.  There is a sense of newness, a small light in a dim room that grows brighter as we really see what is present.  This is the same thing that happens when we realize “that old house behind the liquor store” is really a treasure trove of learning, adventure, and wonder.

What happened to change this perception came from books;  many books.  When we really think about what a book is, it is merely a simple organization of the 26 letters of the alphabet and a few (hopefully correctly placed) punctuation marks.  Yet the power that is contained within that binding is limitless.  They creep into those hidden recesses of the mind, in that deep part that is our self, and grow roots.  Some roots are more troubling than others, especially if it is a horror or thriller that grabs our attention.  Maybe the roots become intertwined with our thoughts and begin to influence our perception of the world.  Like scales falling off our eyes, revealing a new and different picture.   Books change who we are. 

Books can change spaces too.  That “old house behind the liquor store” is now a quaint little bookstore.  But it is more than that.  It’s a local meeting spot, a safe haven for intellectuals to bemoan,  a quiet place to meditate and engage in a cuddle with a soft kitten, a place to weave and knit, a place to laugh and talk, a place to challenge ideas and engage in political banter, and a place to grow.  Wendy and Jack have created their own oasis in the desert with the Little Bookstore.

Dirty Little Secrets of the Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap

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“I smell pee in Self-help.” Cryptic messages like this come to my inbox from Wendy’s outbox each Sunday. I clean the store on Mondays when it’s closed to customers. Cat pee intel is a necessary part of the job.
 
 
Dirty secret #1: Wendy smells cat pee everywhere. I have caught her, ponytail undone and glasses askew, on the floor sniffing books. “Is this pee?” We attempt various methods of ‘scent improvement’ from time to time. There was the recipe for all-natural deodorizer: orange peels marinated for two weeks in vinegar. After much anticipation, it was just vinegar with slimy orange peels. Fail.

Dirty secret #2: There is usually at least one pair of underwear draped over a stack of books. Wendy and Jack don’t use an electric clothes dryer. It’s a perfectly acceptable way to reduce one’s carbon footprint, but when customers start asking the price of the pink panty-shaped book covers in the Christian Fiction section, you have an issue.

Dirty secret #3: The last shop sitter was a vampire. The Grammar Girls suspected it right away. Andrew was a little too perfect. His second Monday in-shop, I got no answer at the front door or on the telephone. He later explained he had “slept in.” We knew he was in his coffin waiting for sunset. On another visit, we discovered a second -story window in the guest room wide open, no screen. Was it an excessive need of fresh air, or Count Von Whalen’s launch pad? Then there was the giant bottle of red “hot sauce” he kept on the table. Andrew never sparkled; obviously he was old-school. He also never admitted to OR denied our suspicions.

Dirty secret #4: I cuss the bookstore cats. Once I receive the weekly pee report from Wendy, I arrive ready for battle, steam mop as my trusty lance.  Should I come across a smelly but previously un-targeted area, I cuss the cats by name and in chronological order by age. They hear me. It’s why they  pee in hard-to-clean places. I hear them laughing. Damn cats.

Dirty secret #5: I sometimes accidentally knock books off shelves while vacuuming. I will apologize if there is an author staring up from the back cover. “Oops! I’m sorry, Ms. Cornwell!” Upon returning the books, I do not… always… alphabetize… them. Somewhere in Turkey, an American bookshop owner just fainted.

Dirty secret #6: One Friday, Jack prepared curry in the counter-top grill that serves as stovetop and pot in the downstairs kitchen. Did I mention Monday is cleaning day? The next week was business-as-usual, until I walked into the kitchen and found a gang of wasted fruit flies hanging out at the grill. As I lifted the lid, there came an odd sucking noise. There, in all its horrifying glory, was… “Eeee!”  I called Wendy at work to apologize for disturbing what was obviously a successful trial of how to grow a Sasquatch from scratch.