Village Books Maine

Holiness and Some Mistakes About It

2011-05-11T09:42:00.000-04:00

Every once in awhile, I get an oddity in - a book that is old and strange and COOL. This is one of them.

David Caleb Cook, who was born August 28, 1850, started work for his father Ezra as a "printer's devil" (an apprentice in his father's printery) as a boy. He later founded a large religious publishing company.

During his lifetime, David C. Cook repeatedly proved his skills as an entrepreneur and as a civic and religious leader.

David C. Cook is primarily remembered as the founder of the David C. Cook Publishing Company, which grew out of a sewing machine apparatus business he started in his father's printery. After the Chicago fire destroyed his business, he started it again and then established the publishing company. Its first printing plant was on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.

Press operations outgrew the original plant, and another was prepared in an old woolen mill in Elgin, which later became the town's YMCA building.

Again the building proved too small, and a modern factory was built about a mile north on on Elgin's South Grove Avenue.

The book is about 4 " square, printed on good (if yellowing) stock. Cover is worn & rubbed (So am I but I wasn't made in 1898!) In the book world we would call it's condition Fair-Good. Price on request.

This book and others like it may be purchased at Village Books each Saturday & Sunday from 10-5 pm or by going to our website at www.villagebooks.info.

Meanwhile, watch out for ZOMBIES!

DPN'S!!! And lighter stuff

2011-05-10T14:31:00.001-04:00

I know, I know, you want pictures. Believe me when I say YOU DON'T. Knitting has become an ugly thing, full of slippery sticks, twisty fingers, gnarly words & distinctly bad manners.

The books never tell you not to try to cast on with a crocheted afghan on your lap.

Meanwhile, happier events are taking place at the spinning wheel. AND I just bought a used Louet Jr. drum carder. Yay! My own doffer! I'm wielding it like a pro.

SHETLAND! Lovely, lovely, romantic, soft Shetland. I'm processing it and spinning it myself, small batches at a time. All from Maine farms. The natural color of this gorgeous stuff just won't show up in my pictures!
A milky tan. A cup of cream someone passed a coffee bean over.

How We Know...

2011-03-23T14:06:00.000-04:00

FIRST DAY OF SPRING 2011

WASHINGTON, MAINE

BUT

FIRST SIGN (ahem!) OF SPRING 2011

WASHINGTON, MAINE

WE FOUND OUR SIGN! (And yes, that's all snow)

VILLAGE BOOKS RE-OPENS FOR THE SEASON

APRIL 9th at 10 AM.

Open 10-5 pm weekends until Memorial Day.

New Website Up & Running

2010-12-05T09:46:00.000-05:00

Go on over here and check out the new, friendly Village Books website. This new site will allow me to post new titles & get news to you faster! Please let me know what you think!

Last day (today) for our Holiday Open House, 10-5 pm. Seasonal closing day (until April): Christmas Eve 3 pm.

New WebSite!

2010-11-30T09:32:00.000-05:00

I'm building my new, more functional website here. I'll be posting pictures and descriptions of books I'm excited about these days.

Random Roving Yarn is making it's debut at my annual Holiday Open House this coming weekend.

Hope to see you soon! And stay tuned! This will be your link to VB after I close for the season (Christmas Eve 5 pm).

Annual Holiday Open House

2010-11-23T11:33:00.000-05:00

YEP! It's time for the ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE! Which of course means I've gotten new stuff in (and tidied). Oh and BREAD BY JEFF! If you are a regular, you know what this means: GREAT FOOD, gifts you won't find anywhere else, and friends gathered around the GREAT FOOD! If you've never been to our store, this is Village Books at it's absolute, shining best. Please come by.

DID I MENTION THE GREAT FOOD?

When: Dec 3 10 am - 7 pm

Dec 4 & 5 10 am - 5 pm

Village Books is open EVERY Fri, Sat & Sun through Christmas. We will shut for Jan., Feb., & March. Watch this space for news on the great books we'll still be finding & selling.

While you're in Washington, plan to stop in at the Downtown Gallery's annual holiday sale. It's jolly, within walking distance and the food is almost as good!

Meanwhile, Happy Thanksgiving! And thanks for supporting Maine small businesses.

Karen

Update for VB

2010-08-20T10:56:00.000-04:00

Friday, August 20, 2010

Village Books will have a new and more user/owner friendly website up soon. In the meantime, stick with us via blog. We've had a great August, despite the economy, and new stuff continues to come in each week, including small collectibles, audio books and books of all kinds. We've had an unprecedented run on CS Lewis lately, so I'll be getting in some more of his works, both fiction and non.

Meanwhile, in the quiet moments...

My first dye job...

if you don't count my hair! Here is the gorgeous combination roving I bought from Guinea Ridge Farm in Union during the Open Farm Tour. I spun it and plied it. I set the twist (yes, I did, Jeannine!) Then I pulled wads of jewelweed from under the apple trees (much to the goats' chagrin - they love jewelweed) and boiled it up. Can't say I cared for the smell much. I soaked my handspun, 2 ply in warm water, with a little cream of tartar dissolved in it. Then plunked it in the dyebath for only ten minutes or so, since I love this light, creamy orange. Et voila!

Village Books has been reorganized to display the gorgeous roving that my friend, Toni, & I have been producing for sale. Currently on offer are Maine Finn, both dyed & undyed, Romney dyed & 2 shades of natural roving, white Dorset, white Border Leicester & some lovely brown llama roving from Eolian Farm down in Newcastle, who also provides me with Shetland roving on occasion.

Since I'm just a neophyte, I'm keeping most of my doings for my private use, but I did sell my first skein of yarn this month! My spinning wheel is busy every day.

Meanwhile, lots of new books have come in, from the latest great fiction to histories to classics in knitting (I use these big hand-forged hooks to hang yarn). The Fiber Side of Village Books will be a book & roving vendor at Fiber College in Searsport, Maine, happening September 9-12. This is a beautiful venue and a wonderful learning & networking opportunity for crafters. Come check it out! And stop by my table to introduce yourself!

0 comments:

Etchings by Jeffrey Jelenfy

2010-08-02T10:06:00.000-04:00

Serpent Gate

etching, 9"x12"

2010

A slightly different sort of blog today. My very dear & talented husband has an exhibit of his etchings opening at Belfast Framers, Belfast, Maine this Friday. The reception will be held from 5-7pm.

Join Jeff & me at this Friday night for this Belfast Art Walk event!

Random Finds

2010-05-30T14:15:00.004-04:00

In this best of all possible worlds, people turn up on my doorstep with exciting and curious books - just the sort for which Village Books is known. In addition to a large new trove of knitting books, some great non-fiction came through the door this weekend.

An Arctic Boat Journey by Isaac Hayes, 1820, hardcover, very good condition (especially for its age) with 2 fold-out maps. Slight tearing on maps. Little foxing. Tight binding with gilt still showing, blind embossed. Exciting old book on one of my favorite topics. Sorry, no pictures yet. $99.00 plus shipping.
Die Pessach-Hagadah, 1929, printed in Austria in gorgeous color. Calligraphic Hebrew text, with German translations. Numerous full-page brilliant illustrations. Third edition. Good - some pages coming loose, tears at top & bottom of decorative cardboard covers. Oversized. $30.00 plus shipping.

Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, Vol. XXIV - July to December, 1887. Good - chipped, brittle leather spine, black & white marbled cardboard covers. Oversized. Lavishly illustrated with both chromolithographs and engravings. A few pages loosening, otherwise intact. Beautiful. $45.00 plus shipping (very heavy).

Frontispiece: Any Port in a Storm

California and the Grand Canyon of Arizona, Fred Harvey, 1914. This lovely, full-color book is softcover and bound with blue cord at the spine. The color photos within show a California most of us have never seen, including an image of the Golden Gate entrance to San Francisco Harbor prior to the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. Those of us with ties to California will treasure this book. Good, cover edges tattered all around, firmly bound & bright. $18.00 plus shipping.

SOLD!

Of course, I always keep more fiction in stock than you can shake a stick at (and that's a LOT, isn't it?) including new titles like The Help, and Homer & Langley (both hardcover); and old favorites like Cranford; novels by Michael Chabon; one of my personal favorites, Water for Elephants; and many other delightful reads. I've got biographies of Edith Wharton & Henry James, memoirs by Jill Coorain & the endlessly amusing Bill Bryson, plus every John McPhee I can lay my hands on.

So stop by! The season for reading is now! Tues - Sat 10-5. Sundays by appointment or chance. IF I'M NOT OPEN, it's that pesky employment again!

A Niche for VB

2010-04-26T11:20:00.002-04:00

Every small business needs to find a "niche" so that it can survive. In my case, I've added two passions together and begun specializing in used books relating to the fiber arts. Included are volumes on knitting, crocheting, weaving, spinning, sewing, embridery, quilting, etc, etc, plus topics like homesteading & goat-rearing.

The Fiber Side of Village Books will be a vendor at The Acadia Fiber Faire in Southwest Harbor, Maine Saturday, May 22 all day. Come & check me out! I'll have some beautiful handspun yarns from the Washington Handcrafters, quilts & pillows by Maryland artisan Kathlene Blake and hand-forged hooks by blacksmith, Jeff Jelenfy too.

See you there!

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

2010-04-13T10:22:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure whether I found this book or it found me. Mrs. Palfrey goes to the Claremont because she is old. The Claremont is what we would call "Independent Living", although it is also a hotel, where, occasionally, a "rather noisy little band of commercial travellers" or other temporary guests will invade. It is economical, well-located in London, and serves sensible, unvarying food. The regular inhabitants, including Mrs. Palfrey and the one male resident, Mr. Osmond, are tenderly drawn by the author. There is comedy, but these are not comical characters. Dignified and idiosyncratic, the Claremont regulars pass their days waiting for the daily menu, gossiping about one another, knitting (oh yes!), awaiting visits from relatives and walking about the neighborhood.

The novel was originally published in 1971, so that the setting is a London where the young are discovering freedoms that no generation before them has enjoyed. It was republished by Virago Modern Classics in 1982. The author, Elizabeth Taylor, was an aclaimed British novelist who wrote thirteen novels and four volumes of short stories before her death, at age 63, in 1975. The introduction to the Virago edition I am reading describes Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont as Taylor's "penultimate" novel.

I needed this book. At my regular Thursday knitting circle, I was browsing the used book shelves of our library, as I always do, and it dropped into my hand. At home, the email inbox on my laptop was stuffed with lacerating messages from several of my siblings accusing me of incompetence in the management of my elderly father's affairs. I didn't (and still don't) know where this outburst originated, but understood clearly enough that what my brothers, at least, were advocating was Dad's removal to his own "Claremont Hotel".

I began to read my "new" book that night, to try and slide my mind toward sleep. I expected a light comedy of manners. Instead, I got insight into the elderly mind - not insistent information as in a nonfiction "help" book or a doctor's summation, but the interior of Mrs Palfrey's mind, described by Taylor in a compassionate, no-nonsense, often rueful murmur.

My heart simply contracts with love and pity as I continue to read the book each evening. This passage, from Chapter 10, particularly struck at me:

Full summer; and Mrs. Arbuthnot left the Claremont. It was going downhill, she said. Trippery people coming at random. It was not the place she had once known. "We used to have bridge," she said wistfully. "A dowager countess stayed here." In truth, Mrs. Arbuthnot had become incontinent, and in the nicest possible way, which in the circumstances could not be very nice, had been asked to make some other arrangement.

We don't understand the old. We begin to, at around age 50. But as long as we can move freely without pain and the intimate fear of it, remember most things easily and have control over our own bodily functions, we cannot understand them.

I don't know where Ms. Taylor is taking her Mrs. Palfrey. I haven't finished with her myself yet. But I do know that my father will remain with the people who he loves & who love him for as long as I am able to manage it.

This book is highly recommended.

Books: DEAD or ALIVE?

2010-03-30T09:42:00.000-04:00

Karen Jelenfy via Maine Magazine: This is absolutely wonderful! Share it!

Penguin turns traditional thought on its head: "The Future of Publishing" - 5 Blogs Before Lunch

daveibsen.typepad.com

The folks at Penguin books had a video produced for an internal presentation that's truly brilliant in its message and how it is presented. The intent was to make viewers think differently about the future of the publishing industry. It...

Re-Opening news!

2010-03-05T11:14:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow, March 6th, Village Books will be open from 10 am - 2 pm to celebrate Saturday's great weather! Come & visit! Winnie & Lucy love company!

NOTE CHANGE:
GRAND RE-OPENING 10 am, Saturday, APRIL 10th!!!

Not a Gardener

2010-02-17T08:39:00.007-05:00

Although a large percentage of my very favorite people are avid gardeners or even farmers, I, alas, am not. This is the time of year when all my loved ones urge me to join in. The husband saves every cardboard coffee cup, collects seeds from neighbors & eventually begins to litter every windowsill in the house with cups of soil. Cookie sheets become plant watering trays. There is peat moss in the bedroom.

I grumble and retire to The Comfy Chair, where Vita Sackville-West and Gertrude Jekyll join me for quiet afternoons of fireside gardening. The Book Lady may not like scrabbling about in the dirt, but she certainly has her priorities straight! For there is nothing more charming than a well-written gardening book. Not the large, flashy kind with glossy photos of mouth-watering flowers! No, the gardening book for me is small and chatty, as in this lovely excerpt:

At this time of year, or even earlier, a few pans of small, brightly colored flowers give vast pleasure. No need to be ambitious, for even half a dozen pans on the staging of a small greenhouse produce an effect of clean brilliance...because each bloom is unsmirched by rain or soil-splash, unnibbled by slugs, and unpecked by birds...Ideally, the pans should be whitewashed, for no one can pretend that the red of a flowerpot is pleasing, or of an agreeable texture.
-Vita Sackville-West
A Joy of Gardening, 1958

Remember when people wrote such decided things?

You may not have my Sackville-Wests or my Gertrude Jekylls, for I will not sell them to you. However, Village Books just happens to have a sweet assortment of such books for your armchair delectation. Here are some of them:

The Lazy Gardener's Book by William Morwood
For those who hate garden work but love to be surrounded by beautiful growing things - garden maintenance with maximum efficiency and minimum effort.

Gardening on Mainstreet by Buckner Hollingsworth, 1968
...Words, like flowers, are delightful. Like flowers they have color and texture. Like flowers they can evoke the atmosphere of an earlier time. "Posy", for instance...To hear the word used entirely without affectation as a commonplace noun both entertained and surprised me.
The first time it happened was on a bitterly cold day in March.With my mind full of the gardening that I hoped to begin the following month, I went out into the hall to speak to our plumber...
We talked of the weather, but he did not share the usual pessimistic attitude of most Vermonters..."Five below at my house this morning," he said cheerfully, "but it's bound to break soon...It'll be good to see the posies again, wun't it," he added - and was on his way.

1001 Garden Questions Answered by Alfred C. Hottes, 1926
...What shall I do in February?
In the Library or Living Room:

Read January Suggestions, they also hold good now...
All ornamental trees can be pruned...Remember the familiar lines:
"poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree."

A Cook's Garden by Jan Mahnken, 1985
All you need is a kitchen and a garden...

A Journal in Thyme by Eric Grissell, 1994
For nearly as long as gardens have existed there have also been garden writers and gardening readers. The role of the garden writer has always been to nag, while that of the gardening reader has always been to work...

NOT ME! I am the gardening reader who reads and puts OTHER PEOPLE to work. We like to call ourselves designers.

In any case, these lovely titles and more can be found used here at VB. As usual, they are crisp & clean and well-priced. Call us at 845-2133 or email kjelenfy@fairpoint.net if you'd like any of these.

Meanwhile, I'll whisper this to you. There is a horrid patch of ground between my friend Cindy's fiber studio & my dooryard. Something tells me it would make a lovely...garden...

More on this as soon as I recover from the shock of the idea.

After a long hiatus...

2010-01-25T09:51:00.009-05:00

A splash of color on this unseasonably warm, torrential & dreary Monday. Slush on the steps. Cold & dark in the store. Hmmm... But new books coming in all the time!

Latest acquisitions include:
Audio Books (yes, I have those!):

Knitting Yarns & Spinning Tales (new) from Knitting Out Loud

Summerland by Michael Chabon (used)

Diary by Chuck Palahniuk (used)

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (used)

The Secret Life of Bees (used)by Sue Monk Kidd

The Full Cupboard of Life (used) by Alexander McCall Smith

The Devil Wears Prada (new) by Lauren Weisberger

Cool, old books include:

A Cynics Meditations by Walter Pulitzer (1904) Random (I swear!) sample:

If woman makes all the trouble in life, it's woman who makes life worth all the trouble.

Leftover Life to Fill by Caitlin Thomas (1957) widow of Dylan Thomas

Knitting Illustrated by M. Murray & J. Koster (1949)

The Story of the Bible (two vol., 1863, leather )w/800 color illustrations

About Maine:

My Window Looks Down East by Elinor Graham (1951)

Pie for Breakfast by Lawrence & Marion Averill (1954)

Yankee Coast by Robert P. Tristram Coffin (1947)

The Interrupted Forest: A History of Maine's Wildlands by Neil Rolde (sc, 2001)

Poet Dave Morrison of Camden just published a new collection, Black Boat, Black Water, Black Sand ! Highly recommended! We have it signed!

Winnie & Lucy, our cashmere goats, say:

TURN OFF THE WATER!!!

Stay tuned,

Karen

On the Nightstand

2009-10-20T11:16:00.003-04:00

"On the nightstand" is such a silly phrase in my case. Let's just say that the piles have spawned other piles and the Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things
would be proud if not downright bowled over.

In any case, here's what's currently on top in the The Book Lady's pile:

The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England by Antonia Fraser (because The Tudors, while sexy & entertaining as hell is historically inaccurate)
The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith (a re-read of the 5th in the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency series)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (irresistible title & a bestseller to boot)
Knit Two by Kate Jacobs (weaker KnitLit sister to The Friday Night Knitting Club)
The Year of the Flood Margaret Atwood's brilliant, dark new novel
The Children's Book by AS Byatt. Rumored to rival Possession (just got it so don't know yet!)

Plus The New Yorker, the New York Times Book Review & The Free Press, that last publication being one of my personal top 5.

What's in YOUR pile? (That sounds soooo wrong!)

Karen

NEW BOOKS, NEW BLOG

2009-10-15T06:45:00.004-04:00

A huge number of "new" books have just tumbled (along with the leaves) right through my door, including a mint copy of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, a fascinating novel & best-seller currently being read by Washington's book group.
Two "new" audio books are in: The Secret Life of Bees and Morality for Young Girls (a #1 Ladies Detective Agency book).
Brand new titles from Knitting Out Loud include The Secret Language of Knitters and Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines, both warm & funny. These are well-priced at 14.95 & 19.95 respectively and make great gifts. You don't have to be a knitter to listen to and laugh along with these wonderful audio books.

More titles:
Praying for Sheetrock by Melissa F Greene (non-fic), "a beautiful & compelling story of a small Southern town's awakening to civil rights and the courageous black man who led the call", $6;
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott, one of my personal favorites - Lamott writes about the "soft" topics - spirituality, motherhood - in an uncompromising, rueful voice, $4;
Selected Poems of WH Auden, anything by Auden is a score!, $6;
The Flame Trees of Thika and it's sequel The Mottled Lizard by Elspeth Huxley, classic autobiography of Huxley's African childhood, $6 each;
Collected Stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, stories that are "rich & startling" by one of the world's greatest writers, $4;
and a bunch of cool additions to our mystery section.

I am currently looking for: anything by Annie Proulx; Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo; vintage knitting & spinning books; current audio books in great condition; anything about small farms, off-the-grid living, goats & such-like.

Lastly: I am starting a NEW BLOG, called My Life With Knitters, inspired by the many wonderful, creative, hard-working people that I've met since I re-entered the fiber world
about 2 years ago. I will be profiling designers, small business owners, mentors & friends who have helped to propel me on my way. These are fascinating people, making inspiring choices with their lives (and their dollars). Please read along & comment!

Bookstore hours are CRAZY: call ahead (845-2133), email (kjelenfy@fairpoint.net) or stop by on a Saturday or Sunday between 9 am & 3 pm, the surest times to see me. Don't forget to say hi to Winnie & Lucy, our adorable cashmere goats!

Strange Mom Experience

2009-09-24T07:46:00.004-04:00

So the Daughter is off in DC learning how the President makes his decisions, meeting politicos and otherwise having a time I cannot even imagine having. The first (and only) communication was late at night. I was half-asleep, she was jazzed. Now announcing she wants to go to (wait for it) LAW SCHOOL!!! (So, Bo...)

Around here, my poor bookstore is open erratically due to my part-time "real" job, about which I will write next time.

Meanwhile, I just got in two large boxes of miscellaneous non-fiction, which look promising & will be affordable: WWII history, theology & some philosophy -NOT TEXTBOOKS-good authors like Barbara Tuchman (Bible & Sword), and The Travels of Marco Polo with 25 full color illustrations (Orion Press), in very good condition. New knitting books continue to arrive, most notably Elspeth Lavold's Viking Patterns, and a lovely book for all artists (especially fiber) called Approaching Design Through Nature: A Quiet Joy by Grace Martin. Gorgeous too is Handmade Lace & Patterns in hardcover, by Annette Feldman, a history with plenty of pictures.

Look for Village Books at the Knitting Out Loud booth during Fiber Maine-ia at U of M, Orono, October 10 & 11.

During these beautiful fall days, I'm able to open all the doors and enjoy the mingled sounds of the brook and the occasional goat bleating. Very peaceful!

Watch for the open flag & drop in! We will be closed Friday a.m. for Common Ground, open Saturday 9-5, and open Sunday 9-2.

Warmly,
Karen

Village Books Maine: Knitting in Color

2009-09-24T07:45:00.000-04:00

Village Books Maine: Knitting in Color

Knitting in Color

2009-09-22T16:22:00.000-04:00

Knitting in Color

Happy Goats, Happy Husband

2009-09-21T08:23:00.006-04:00

Welcome LUCY!!

Winnie has a roommate named Lucy! She's also a cashmere goat, about a year and half old. There is no more loud complaining coming from the goat pen!

Winnie, as she gets comfortable, has become very BOLD! She's climbing me, butting Roxanne & Dixie (lovingly) and doing some lovely, elegant rear-ups for Lucy's benefit.

Winnie has a morning wash.

Meanwhile, Jeff had a birthday, which the goats were part of, and spent it building goat-y things, like fences. Both ladies followed him around the yard all morning. Roxanne has discovered that they love the Simon & Garfunkel song "Cecilia", so she & I sang them a verse or two.

In other birthday news, Jeff also received a ticket to go see The Decembrists in Orono with his daughter, and the strange thing pictured below.

Best friend Scott assured me that Jeff NEEDED this! Thanks, Scott!

In the Book World (where I rightfully belong), there were great finds to be had in Searsport on the way home from picking up Lucy: 2 volumes of Ridpath's Universal History; vintage baseball by Arthur Stanwood Pier called The Captain; a lovely vintage copy of Stevenson's Child's Garden of Verses; a diapidated but utterly charming book called Knitting Work: Web of Many Textures (1859)by a man named BP Shillaber under the pseudonym Ruth Partington; and a bunch of new-ish cookbooks from many cultures, and a replacement copy of the perennial favorite Straight Man by Richard Russo. (Really want to read his new one!!!)

More soon,
Karen

Meet Winnie!!!

2009-09-14T09:44:00.003-04:00

September 14, 2009
Post-Fiber College

I blame this entirely on (in this order) Kathy, Astrig & Hatie - none of whom stopped me!!!!!

The Jelenfys are thrilled to own Winnie, the cashmere goat!

More when I get over myself....

Web Site Up, Book Woman Down!

2009-09-02T09:10:00.002-04:00

Sooooo happy to announce that the Village Books website is much more functional. With the help of web designer Kathleen Kearns, I've added a database that will allow me to post more books (and remove them as you buy them). Pictures of the chosen volumes will be up soon. All shipping is free - so have at it!

Meanwhile, my left arm & shoulder are screaming (everyone blames knitting but how could sweet, darling knitting ever hurt me?) and I'm taking it (relatively) easy. Took the time to listen to Knitting Out Loud's latest audio book, Mason-Dixon Knitting, which is truly a joy. When authors Ann & Kay read to me, I want to jump in the car with my knitting bag & drive to Manhattan & Tennessee simultaneously. Or have them over for tea. Or something. It's a joyful and soul-warming experience, spending time with these two. Highly Recommended! (The books ain't bad, either.)

With the start of junior year of highschool for the 16-almost-17-yr-old girl, bookstore hours have become peculiar again -- BUT, I'm going to try to stick to

TUES, WED 9-3; Thurs 12-3, FRI, SAT 9-5 and Sundays by chance. (Mondays: don't even think about it!)

This will give me the chance to drive said daughter all over the universe and maybe attend a few of her soccer games. There will be days, too, when I'm actually off somewhere else working for pay, so Autumn is a good time to look for the flying OPEN flag before trotting up to my door.

Hey, these new anti-inflammatory pills are good! Maybe just a few rows of rib stitch....

Love, Karen

PS If you haven't read Annie Proulx's novels, I suggest you get started. Reading Postcards right now - it's totally absorbing and alive with detail. Highly textured writing from one of America's best writers! Pick up anything she's written (in my store, of course) and settle down for an intense ride.

Village Books at Eolian Farm

2009-08-10T09:49:00.025-04:00

This past weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to be a vendor at Eolian Farm in Newcastle, Maine during the '09 Fiber Tour. We enjoyed gorgeous weather (other than the Wizard of Oz style storm that hit us briefly) and met lots of great people.

Kate Nichols shawl & scarves

I packed up all my fiber-related stuff (heavy emphasis on knitting!) and joined Linda of Fiber Nation, Anna of Barber's Bunnies, Jenni of Eolian and her mom, Edna for two days of demonstrations, talk and delicious yarn. In my booth I also represented the usual suspects: Jeff's hooks, my Knitvision landscapes, Knitting Out Loud Audiobooks (new title: Mason-Dixon Knitting) and textile designer Kate Nichols' hand-woven accessories.

Knitvision by Karen Jelenfy

As both a bookseller and as an artist, I'm getting steered inexorably toward the fiber world. Not so surprising when I remember that I started out (art-wise) as a weaver!

Look at all this beautiful stuff!

Fiber Nation Wool/Mohair blend

Eolian Farm Shetland Wool

Barber's Bunnies Angora/Merino Blend

These are gorgeous, soft artisan yarns from Maine. All of them knit up beautifully, especially on large needles.

More shots of the event:

Edna Brown at her loom

Anna & Ivy
Barber's Bunnies

Jenni Johnson of Eolian Farm

Linda sets up

Fiber Nation

Knitting Out Loud

Meanwhile, in the bookstore, I'm completely re-organizing the shop AGAIN. Whoever guesses what I'd like to add as inventory, will get a free book! (retail value: $6.00)

More soon,

Karen

The Sun is Back!

2009-08-04T08:46:00.008-04:00

Antique lace bobbin made of bone

Needle felted landscape in progress

Pony Express

Summer has begun! (NOTE: DATE IS AUGUST 4th!!!) Maine is in full swing with festivals and happenings all over the state.

As you can see (above) I'm working on my felted landscape piece, which may take me the rest of my life but WTF! Loving the colors and textures. Cheaper and cleaner than oils and I can roll around in it! (I know they did that with paint back in the day but my dignity has always said no.)

The book business is up and down as it always is, but new people continue to find me - many more so here than at the old location. So lemonade has happened whether I saw it coming or not. New/old stuff includes an antique lace bobbin from England and a lovely old book from the 1850's called Salad for the Solitary, a group of charming essays on life by F. Saunders & signed by him. A rare, first edition copy of The Pony Express by Alexander Majors (1908) has also come in, complete with dj. The book is in very good condition with the dj good.

New to the contemporary non-fiction collection I have a brand new audio book from Knitting Out Loud: Mason-Dixon Knitting, read by the authors. Author Kay Gardiner says that the book expresses the "crazy joy we still feel about knitting". So if you're one of these crazy joy people or know one of them, Christmas or birthday or anniversary or be-nice-to yourself-day is surely just around the corner! Knitting Out Loud audio cds make fabulous gifts.

New in the cooking section we have an almost-new copy of Marcella Hazen's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Hazen is one of the best in Italian food, so stop by & pick it up.

Finally, in our miscellaneous-and-wonderful section (on top of the cardboard box to the left) I've received some gorgeous, vintage Latvian textiles from my lovely c0-conspirator, Ieva. These are unique and beautifully made, many in linen, both by hand and machine.

More later on this weekend's Fiber Tour, when I will (gulp!) be an exhibiting artist!

Enjoy these few minutes of summer, friends!

Karen

THIS JUST IN! MUSHROOMS!

2009-07-22T10:59:00.010-04:00

EDIBLE & MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS

Washington, Maine resident David Spahr has this gorgeous book out right now! This important new source book for anyone who collects or cooks or dyes with mushrooms is available now from Village Books! $20 (plus shipping, if applicable)
Please call to reserve your copy! Signed books are available! Call 207-845-2133
or stop by Tues-Sat 9-5.

OR you can support the author directly by contacting him at dspahr3d@stereoviews.com. Either way, you're supporting Maine!

A Little Glimmer

2009-07-21T12:46:00.002-04:00

Of sun, folks! A VERY LITTLE glimmer. But we'll take it, eh?

"New" in shop:
Fabres Book of Insects - lovely color illustrations & highly collectible;
Relax, Company's Coming - a beautiful, reassuring cookbook for all you entertainment weenies;
Very Valentine - Adriana Trigiani's new novel about Italy, love, dysfunction & shoes;
collectible copy of the Life of Crockett - as in Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the...oh you know;
The Celtic Collection of Alice Starmore for your knitting book collection

and the usual odds and ends: linens, patterns, & art.

Village Books is proud to be a distributor for Maine's very own Knitting Out Loud Audiobooks (watch for the new line of the best in food writing). We also feature handwoven garments by Kate Nichols of Somerville and handmade jewelry by Sue Morrison of Washington.
All make great gifts!

What's on my bedside table:
A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan (Omnivore's Dilemma), a well-researched account of one man with no skills attempting to build himself a "writing shack"...
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, my first serious attempt at Poirot (Miss Marple's my girl);
The Retrieval System - poetry by Maxine Kumin;
Monkeys by Susan Minot - a Catholic family & their various doings;
Flesh & Blood - novel by Michael Cunningham (The Hours) (have to confess I haven't opened this one yet)
and
Colorwork Stitches, Interweave Press, edited by Susie Johns - which provides part of my daily knitting lesson in knitting with multiple colors.

Outside, the apples are small & green, the hardy geraniums sprawl in purple waves and the lavender is flowering as if we're having an ACTUAL summer.

Almost everything is shelved - stop by!
Tues-Sat, 9-5, Sundays by chance, closed Mondays.

K.

Wise Words II

2009-06-30T11:26:00.002-04:00

If you cannot read all your books, at any rate...peer into them, let them fall open where they will, read from the first sentence that arrests the eye, set them back on the shelves with your own hands, arrange them on your own plan so that you at least know where they are. Let them be your friends; let them be your acquaintances.

- Winston Churchill

Summer!

2009-06-23T12:03:00.003-04:00

Village Books looks full-ish, but I'm told we have 23 boxes yet to unpack! I blather on about a book and reach for it (to show a customer) and (wait for it) IT'S NOT THERE!

Just now wondering how long I can use the "just moved" excuse for my general disorganization...

A large cache of great stuff just came in (Thanks, Dave!) including a couple Chuck Paliahniuks, Bang the Drum Slowly (for you baseball types) and a pile of Richard Price. I just got a lovely (and strange) vintage booklet, Aunt Lydia's Rug Yarn Collection, for those lovely (and strange) knitting folk. Jeff made six new iron hooks, so anyone who has been looking - we're re-stocked for now.

I just finished watching a BBC version of Little Dorrit (Dickens, you know) and think that might be my next re-read, while A Place of My Own, by Michael Pollan (Omnivore's Dilemna) is my "new" read. Along with four or five others, as usual.

Come & see the peonies!

Karen

Wise Words

2009-06-18T10:38:00.001-04:00

A friend posted this, which I take greatly to heart:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
-Philo of Alexandria

That's enough for today, I think.

Village Books Rebirth

2009-05-26T09:41:00.008-04:00

We're beginning to settle in! Mrs Tim approves of the move, since it means more time with the Four-Legs. Dixie may finally get to be a real bookstore dog. And there is already one cozy seat for reading - particularly nice in the late afternoon light, with the sound of the brook rushing along just down the hill...

On schedule for re-opening Saturday, May 30th at 10 am! OPEN HOUSE until 5 pm with food (maybe even lobster) and drink!

Come celebrate with us!

Oh, and our regular hours start this weekend - Tues - Fri 9-3 and Saturdays 9-5. Closed Sundays & Mondays unless the flag is out!

Village Books Tags Along

2009-05-12T10:00:00.007-04:00

Village Books went along for the ride as Knitting Out Loud hit the streets of Long Island, NY and the sawdust and straw of the NH Sheep & Wool Festival this past week.
KOL genius Kathy Goldner and I spoke to hundreds of librarians (in NY), knitters, spinners, readers, farmers and other wonderful people for five days, extolling the virtues of listening to the history, sociology and personal essays of knitting on the cds produced by her new company.

Below: Our booth in Barn 33 at NHSW;
the baby goat Roxanne can't have;
Homer, the pigeon who escaped certain death in NH and chose a permanent roost outside our funny motel room;
Kathy doing what she loves!

We sold a bunch of cds, bought too much yarn and had a lot of fun!

More Construction!

2009-05-05T09:21:00.006-04:00

Dear Friends,

Merrily we roll along to our planned re-opening May 29th!
Jeff, Nick, Michael & now Keith are all contributing their skills to the project.
Book collector deluxe, Bud Sloat, assisted by starting in on next year's firewood pile.
My dear friend, Lori Lammas, from SF was this past weekend's gourmet caterer.
Thanks for the extra 20 pounds, Lori!

The walls are going up!

Meanwhile ye olde Village Books had a very profitable Saturday, with the 50%
off sale continuing through May 16th.

Head to Washington that weekend! The renowned Gibbs Library Book & Plant
Sale will be on the 16th, our Farmer's Market at the Grange returns that day and
Sweet Seasons Farm Cafe is serving great food! Check out their store too for Maine-made food products.

Supporting local businesses is not just a bumper sticker.
It's a revolutionary act.
Join in!

Cheers!
Karen

A House Trashed by Books

2009-04-27T06:27:00.008-04:00

This foggy morning I'm sitting in what was once a lovely room. All around me huddle stacks of books, unlovely, in that I can't read them or even properly see most of the spines & titles. Village Books is moving all right and it's re-located into every nook and cranny of my home, awaiting its new space.

It occurs to me that used book dealers should be in vogue these days - after all, we recycled long before most people. And we recycle the best of what humanity has to offer - our stories, our observations, our musings; whatever, in fact, comes into our heads and can be written down. This is how we learn from each other and from other eras; this is how we are reminded that we can triumph as we have before.

In this spirit, I'd like to remind you of or introduce you to some older volumes that you may have overlooked or forgotten. All of these titles are favorites and, of course, all are available from Village Books.

Parnassus on Wheels & The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley, 1917, 1919
These two charming books are often available at your local used book shop or even Goodwill.
I've always been envious of Parnassus, a little book caravan that travels the American countryside selling what people truly need. That's the life for me! And what better place to browse (maybe minus the pipe smoke), than The Haunted Bookshop, where the owner, Roger Mifflin, now married in Brooklyn and a stationary rather than rolling purveyor of books, becomes involved in an urban-sized mystery and the lives of two young lovers.

Herself Surprised, The Horse's Mouth, and Prisoner of Grace by Joyce Cary 1941, 1944, 1952
Many people have read Horse's Mouth or seen the movie version starring Alec Guiness as the redoubtable painter, Gulley Jimson. The Horse's Mouth is a classic and rightfully so. It's both poetic and rollicking, a difficult combination to achieve. But did you know that Sarah Monday has a book all to herself and is Surprised (perhaps the most entertaining of the three) and that the whole, complicated mess is sorted (and philosophized about) in Prisoner?

And finally (for today), nothing can beat the Mrs. Tim Christie series by D.E. Stevenson (1934 & on). These witty stories are written in diary form by Hester Tim, wife of a British Infantryman between the wars. These are light reads; but they convey a stalwartness (particularly in Mrs. Tim Carries On, which takes place as WWII begins) and courage that we desperately need in the US today. Charmingly told tales of frugality, perseverance and charity to one's neighbors are just what we need these days. The Mrs. Tim books have become collectors' items, but you may find them (as I did) in a library that doesn't "cull" its stacks every five seconds or, of course in a truly good used book shop. Like Village Books.

More soon,

Karen

New Finds

2009-04-22T14:22:00.003-04:00

Some great "new" books have come our way this week:

Africa Adorned by Angela Fisher, Abrams 1984, First Edition
Slightly worn copy in dust jacket of this gorgeous overview
of African jewelry, sculpture, masks and clothing, with glorious
color photos throughout. Over-sized. $110-

French and Spanish Painters, by James Stothert, Wm P Nimmo 1870.
Very good for age, steel engravings throughout; all tissue protection intact.
Artists include: Ingres, Prudhon, Velasquez, & Murillo. Ex-library, Western Reserve University.
$50-

Plus reading copies of some favorites: The Secret Life of Bees; #1 Ladies Detective Agency; Sternmen by Elizabeth Gilbert; I See You Everywhere and Three Junes by Julia Glass; We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates; and the latest from Robert B. Parker, Tess Gerritsen and Patricia Cornwell (3 of my guilty pleasures!) $4-8 range each.

Shipping on most books is Media Mail which averages around $3.99 US. The larger volumes listed above would be more & would be priced according to buyer's location.

If you're interested in these or any of Village Books' inventory, email us at info@villagebooksmaine.com.

Cheers!

Village Books Re-Born!

2009-04-22T09:15:00.003-04:00

Here we go!
The move to the house (just down the road from the original Village Books) is already proving to be a great idea! I got to meet Michael, the carpenter, and I also got to remember how much I am loved, when all my friends started pitching in. The only bad thing about books is that they are HEAVY!

The new door is in. Still thinking to open up last week in May. Thank you, Greedy Landlord!
Stay tuned, everyone...