Archive for February, 2010
Friday, February 26th, 2010
This past week I read two short story collections back to back: Neil Gaiman’s “Fragile Things” followed by Kim Edwards “The Secrets of a Fire King”. Though its tempting to compare the two volumes, I will refrain. Both Gaiman and Edwards are accomplished authors in their own right but the striking contrast between their writing styles assures that a fair comparison is unrealistic.
“Fragile Things” opens with “A Study in Emerald” in which we are introduced to an ordinary man living an ordinary life whose moderately interesting roommate reveals his very Sherlock Holmes like talents. In typical Gaiman fashion the story takes a turn for the odd rather quickly. The remainder of the novel is rollicking weird fun with similar twists & turns. However, characters remained shallow representations of personalities and the odd storyline details became so expected that it no longer provoked a reaction. By the time I encountered the woman who thrives off living flesh and the man slowly being consumed (“Feeders and Eaters”), I cringed a bit at the imagery but felt no visceral response.
As is expected in any collection, a couple of items stood out. “The Problem of Susan” and “Inventing Aladdin” were especially delightful. However I would have enjoyed the collection more if I’d read it one a bite at a time. Reading several entries in one sitting exceeded my daily allowance of weird. Overall I prefer Gaiman’s longer novels, where he has the opportunity to lead the reader on a tangled journey filled with the deep characters that leaves one trembling and satiated.
“The Secrets of a Fire King” contains an assortment of literary windows. Each story opens the curtains just long enough to allow witness of pivotal life events. There are few plot twists or surprises within these pages. These are character driven tales and the gap between print & reader is bridged with emotion. Though there are precious few words to develop each persona, most still convey a richness & depth that can only be accomplished by striking a chord within the audience. It’s easy to relate as each personality struggles with acceptance, love, betrayal and self discovery.
Again, I had my favorite pieces. “Balance” settled firmly into my top ten list. I must confess, I have never read a full length novel by Edwards though I intend to rectify that omission. What do you suggest I should start with?
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
We take for granted that many “must reads” are translations – Tolstoy and Homer, even the “Beowulf” we read today is translated from the original Old English. However we are guilty of not reading modern translated books. At least I am. It’s not a deliberate omission on my part. I’ve just never considered the many options. However, after reading about the various works vying for the University of Rochester’s Best Translated Book Award, I think it’s time to expand my horizons! Consider these descriptions:
“The Pulitzer is all well and good, but does it have a Russian surrealist writing about a commie Eiffel Tower that runs away and commits suicide? Or how about an asshole B actor on a Brazilian soap opera who gets his kicks by giving graphic interviews to innocent female journalists? Does it perhaps have a metafictional novel told in the form of an interview about said novel? Or even a comic, quasi-philosophical romp about an Argentine high-rise apartment building that’s under construction and infested with ghosts?”
I admit, I’m intrigued. Have you read any translated books? Would you consider putting any of these on your To Be Read list?
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
You’ve seen the pictures. You’ve talked with us on Twitter or Facebook. But what is involved in a transaction with CKY?
CKY Books has been buying books for over a decade. This is our primary business. There are a few specific requirements before the purchase process can be completed. (1) The book must have an ISBN. This number is located near the barcode usually located on the back of the book. If there is no ISBN, the transaction cannot be completed. (2) A successful purchase cannot be processed if there is noticeable damage. This includes water damage or stains, missing pages or covers, broken bindings, or excessive highlighting. If any of these conditions exist the purchase offer will be revoked or reduced.
There are also some books CKY Books cannot accept. These include advanced reading copies, Foreign Edition Textbooks and Teacher’s Editions or Solution Manuals. We are generally interested in non-fiction books and textbooks. This includes Self-Help, Foreign Language, Art and Travel books. While fiction books are accepted, the genre spectrum may be a bit narrow, depending on current needs. Customers should keep trying if the first titles are not accepted.
To make it worthwhile for customers as well as CKY Books, there are a few minimum requirements. There must be at least five books in the check out cart or a total of at least $8.00. Special arrangements can be made for a purchase that includes multiple copies of the same book, or a bulk purchase. Once the packing slip is printed and the books have been packed and shipped, it takes approximately fifteen days until payment is issued. During that time, emails are sent informing the customer of the status of the order. Each step of the process will be displayed from Pending to Paid.
We make every effort to be prompt when communicating order status and any issues that may affect discrepancies in order totals. Payment is sent via check or deposited into a PayPal account approximately twenty-four hours after receipt and inspection of the books. We are one of the few companies that will hold or return the books if customers change our minds about the sale or if the books are damaged and not acceptable for sale. Shipping is always free, checkout is simple and payment is fast.
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Every Monday morning I check the bestseller lists at New York Times and the Wall Street Journal because I usually end up adding something to my TBR list. Here’s a comparison of the Hardcover Fiction list. (Wall Street Journal only covers hardcover.)
Both lists have the following books in their top 5:
- “Worst Case” Patterson/Ledwidge (#1 on both)
- “The Help” Kathryn Stockett (#2 on both)
- “The Lost Symbol” Dan Brown (#3 on NYT, #4 on WSJ)
- “Winter Garden” Kristin Hannah (#4 on NYT, #5 on WSJ)
The differences - “Flirt” by Laura Hamiliton is # 5 on NYT & #11 on WSJ. The WSJ rounds out its list with “The Last Olympian” by Rick Riordan at the #3 spot.
The other fiction categories on NYT are Paperback Trade Fiction and Paperback Mass Market Fiction. I’ve added “The Lovely Bones” (Alice Sebold) and a couple of Nicholas Sparks titles to my To Be Read list. What about you? Do you see something that you’d like to read?
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Cynthia Fendel, the author of Novelty Hand Fans, Fashionable Functional Fun Accessories of the Past, has been collecting and researching hand fans for three decades. I spoke with her recently and was amazed there’s so much to hand fans! I peppered her with questions about her personal collection, where her interest in fans started, what her favorites were and she was gracious enough to answer everything. It’s a great story. I hope you’re as fascinated as I was!
“I love hand fans! I have been collecting hand fans since 1974 when I was an actress in New York City. I was rehearsing for a show in which I played a 19th century lady and held a fan. I knew nothing at all about fans (even how to hold one!) but went down to Chinatown in New York to buy a prop example. The show was the Noel Coward Operetta Bittersweet and we performed it at the St Louis Municipal Opera, the largest outdoor theatre in the United States. At the closing night party a character actress cast member surprised me with a gift of an actual antique fan. I was thrilled with the large ivory and silk fan. Since then, wherever I go, I look for antique or collectible fans. I now know that fans were not just Chinese or Japanese but fans were made in countries all over the word and have been made since the beginning of time. France was, however, source of most of best and most beautiful fans during the 18th and 19th century. I have found antique fans for a few dollars but fans are considered great artifacts in Europe and auction houses there often sell fans for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Wherever I go I always look for fans. My personal collection varies from 18th century European fans to American 1950’s advertising cardboard-on-a stick fans. I especially love novelty fans and unusual fans. While writing Novelty Hand Fans, Fashionable Functional Fun Accessories of the Past, I purchased a fan from the 1870’s that appears as if it is a six shooter pistol with two triggers. When you pull the trigger, a pleated silk fan painted with birds and flowers appears. The fan and its patent drawing are pictured on page 58 in the book. I love the pistol fan so much but it was just impossible to show to fellow collectors! Since it mimics an actual pistol I could not bring it on the plane without security thinking it was an actual pistol! Because of this I recently sold it to a fellow collector from California. The pistol fan will be on exhibit sometime this year at the Hand Fan Museum in Healdsburg CA where I am on the board of directors.
Of course I have lace fans, feather fans, silk fans and fans made of leather, rubber, mica, silver, cork and all kinds of materials. I have fans that pop out of bouquets, fans that pop out of cigars and even a fan that appears like a fish! I have fans that double as parasols, fans that go in sets with purses, fans with maps, autographs and photographs on them. I have perfumed fans, fans with perfume bottles hidden in their tassels and fans with compacts hidden inside them. There are just too many interesting fans so I had to write a book about them. Novelty Hand Fans, Fashionable Functional Fun Accessories of the Past is a labor of love. There are over 200 beautiful photographs in the book along with patent drawings (fans were patented!) and photographs of 19th century men, women and children using fans. Yes, men used fans too!
When I tell people my involvement with fans they always ask “Do you know The Language of the Fan?” My answer is, yes. I spent a year researching the Language of the Fan. Did people really communicate with the movement of a fan? Find out all about it in my book where I devoted an entire chapter to it. There was even a Broadway show tune called “The Language of the Fan!”
Don Johnson, book reviewer from Antique Week said Novelty Hand Fans, Fashionable Functional Fun Accessories of the Past is a “New fan book provides shining content, variety.” He loved it, and so will you!”
You can find out more information and order the book at http://www.handfanpro.com
ISBN 978- 0-9708852-1-0
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
MTV is reporting producer Jon Landau has stated that James Cameron is working on a prequel to “Avatar”. That in itself doesn’t surprise me. “Avatar” is the highest grossing film of all time and is certainly not Cameron’s first mega success. Why WOULDN’T he write a prequel?
But wait.
It’s going to be a…novel. Landau quickly emphasizes that Cameron does not want to write a novelization of a movie. No, they’re talking about an epic story to be conveyed via the written word.
I certainly wish Mr. Cameron all the best in his foray into this new realm. I believe he has the vision (and the resources) to pull off this newest project. And I definitely intend to read it!
But what about you? Do you think James Cameron can make the jump from screenwriter to novelist? Will this novel catch your attention?
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Laissez les bons temps rouler. Let the good times roll. Those of you who actually speak French are cringing and I know. I know. But that’s Cajun French and for today, that’s appropriate.
Mardi Gras has been celebrated in the US since 1699 although it only began to evolve into the festivities we know today in mid-1800s when the first Krewes were formed and parades organized. It’s always the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, always 46 days before Easter, always the last day of indulgence & extravagance before Lent.
Mark Twain had quite a bit to say about Mardi Gras in his book “Life on the Mississippi” (chapter 46). He describes his memory of a parade as such:
“I saw the procession of the Mystic Crew of Comus there, twenty-four years ago–with knights and nobles and so on, clothed in silken and golden Paris-made gorgeousnesses, planned and bought for that single night’s use; and in their train all manner of giants, dwarfs, monstrosities, and other diverting grotesquerie–a startling and wonderful sort of show, as it filed solemnly and silently down the street in the light of its smoking and flickering torches; but it is said that in these latter days the spectacle is mightily augmented, as to cost, splendor, and variety.”
Have you ever been to Mardi Gras? What was your experience?
Monday, February 15th, 2010
The other day a few of us were discussing things that occur occasionally that can upset our customers. The first thing we noticed was that all of the main issues we discussed had to do with money. Not really surprising if you think about it. CKY customers utilize our service for two main reasons. One is to get paid for their used books; the other is to recycle their books.
The theory behind what we do is simple — offer a fair price for quality items in good condition. Like a lot of theories, things can and will go wrong with the reality. For example, getting the books from point A to point B sounds fairly simple.
We realized there is nothing we can do to prevent the occasional customer from having a bad experience, it just can’t be done. We are committed, however, to trying to limit this number to the smallest possible amount. We have taken the top five most common issues that are likely to upset a CKY Books customer and are exposing them for all to see in a series of five blog posts. We hope you take a few minutes to read them and some preventative measures you can take to make sure they don’t happen to you.
1) How do my books go missing in the mail? How did they get damaged? How did only half of my books arrive?
Ok. This is a no brainer. This would tick off anyone. We get upset when it happens to a customer. We look bad even though it is not our fault and we never touched the shipment. This is mostly because people find it easier to blame us than the United States Postal Service.
The cold hard fact is that while CKY Books pays for the FREE shipping to our warehouse it is your responsibility to make sure that your items arrive and they arrive in the condition we require.
To prevent or limit the chances of the scenario below from occurring to you we suggest you PACK YOUR BOOKS WELL and PURCHASE POSTAL INSURANCE.
The most common scenario: You pack your books in a box and you drop them off at the post office. As soon as you are out the door the post office begins to work its magic. Your shipment is loaded and sent on to the next stop, usually a regional station or bulk mail center. This is where 90% of all damage or loss will likely occur. Your shipment is now part of a long conveyor line of packages. Hundreds of thousands of packages a day will travel through a Bulk Mail Center (BMC). Packages will fall off conveyors, they shift, they fall off carts, they are thrown on trucks, they have other packages stacked on top of them.
It does not take a lot for a box to break open and the contents to spill out, either entirely, or partially. These facilities utilize an assembly line process. If your shipment is unfortunate enough to come open they don’t waste time trying to figure out whose books belong to which box unless it’s obvious. It is very easy to see how books can become damaged or lost while in transit. Also remember mail is subject to inspection. This means they can open your package at any time to look inside, which means if they don’t tape it closed good enough…well they aren’t going to take responsibility for it.
Here is a little known fact about the United States Postal Service (USPS). They do not have any standardized procedure for dealing with incidents like this. Each BMC makes its own internal rules or guideline with how to deal with damaged shipments. There is no Post Master or official USPS form that is filled out for your damaged shipment. We know this because we have received damaged shipments from all thirteen of the BMCs and they all handle damaged shipments differently. If you are lucky you get what we call the “sucks to be you letter”. It goes something like this: “we regret to inform you we damaged your package while it was in our care…sucks to be you…we’re sorry”.
If you are unlucky you get nothing — no note, no contact, no apology. Your shipment just goes missing in the mail. Eventually missing or loose in the mail items are routed to Atlanta, GA where at some point they are put up for government auction.
There is a form that you can fill out, and request they look for your item at the Atlanta site. I personally have no knowledge of any customer ever having their item returned as a result of filling out this form nor have I ever heard of any person ever having their items returned.
If your books do get damaged or lost in the mail and you go to a postal window they will essentially tell you “sorry about your luck”. Your only recourse to prevent this from happening is to purchase postal insurance prior to mailing your package. If you pay extra money they will actually attempt to take care of your package and with that little bar code on the shipment they do a good job.
Interestingly enough, we have never had to file a postal insurance claim for a customer. There was one instance where we could have but the customer decided he didn’t want to mess with the hassle.
Delivery Confirmation (DC) is a cheaper alternative that does help. It is a little green sticker with a bar code that is put on your shipment at the post office when you mail it. Statistically these packages arrive in better condition than packages without DC. They also go missing less often. Most likely this is because the USPS requires they be accounted for in a more stringent manner.
Remember to pack your shipments well and purchase postal insurance if you think the value of your shipment warrants it. We get really upset when the USPS loses or damages a CKY Books customer’s shipment. When I have to send out an email notification that this has happened I get a bit overly emotional because I know that our customer is going to be disappointed and upset. And I hate that.
By Todd Bradley
CKY Books
Account Manager
Friday, February 12th, 2010
I hurried into a big box store today and was promptly waylaid by pink and red and glitter. I’m still not sure why there were swimsuits prominently displayed among the February flamboyance but there is no doubt that Valentine’s Day is upon us. So in the spirit of the season, I thought it’d be fun to discuss our favorite love stories. Here are five I thought of immediately and in no particular order — except “The Thorn Birds”. There was no doubt this had to be first on my list. I have followed Maggie’s life and heartbreaks so many times my copy is falling apart. This novel delivers more tears than joy yet the tumultuous relationships remain some of my favorites. Actually that seems to be a theme in my list…
- “The Thorn Birds” Colleen McCullough
- “Gone With The Wind” Margaret Mitchell
- “Wuthering Heights” Emily Bronte
- “Anna Karenina” Leo Tolstoy
- “Tess of the D’Urbervilles“ Thomas Hardy
Bonus! I had to include this short story. The relationship recounted is so compelling I found myself with chills clutching the book.
- “Balance” Kim Edwards (published in “The Secrets of a Fire King”)
So what about you? What would you include on YOUR list?
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Recently CKYbooks was able to move into a new space with more room for inventory.
Considering these are the packages that came in on February 3rd alone, it seems to be a very necessary move!
And here is the other side of CKYbooks - the side that interests their customers. Here are the checks sent out that same day (February 3rd).
Not too shabby. We’re excited about the new space and the opportunities it will give us to continue to provide excellent customer service.
