used books

I Hate February! So, Let’s Have a Sale!

/ ocub / Leave a comment

All the evil hate in the mad heart of February was wrought into the forlorn and icy wind that cut its way cruelly across Central Park and down along Fifth Avenue. – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned

February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead, the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots two months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long.” – Anna Quindlen

I think you all know that I hate February. And yes, I truly do. The reason is legit.

One day several years ago I was having a very melancholy day and being in the bookstore, I knew I couldn’t have that. Owning a used bookstore is supposed to be fun. Right? So, I asked myself how could I turn it around to make it a great day? A sale! But what do I offer as a discount? 10%? 20%? What? Then I remembered what Ben told me. That would be Ben from the Country Bookshop in Plainfield. He said if you have a sale make it a 50% sale! That way everyone has fun. Customers will enjoy the savings and well, you’ll start seeing holes on your shelves and that’s always good because heaven knows there will be more books you can unbox to fill those holes. And it’s good for the cash register. So, from that conversation in my head, I came up with the I Hate February Sale.

And it actually starts Friday, Feb 14. Why not? I have chocolate!

Recap of 2024 and Looking Towards 2025

/ ocub / Leave a comment

 If one is not careful, one allows diversions to take up one’s time—the stuff of life. – Carl Sandburg

Goodbye 2024. Hello 2025. What a year. 2024 is soon done and ready to be put away. I’m looking forward to 2025 and see what mischief it’ll cause.

I was caught. I couldn’t read. Couldn’t embroider. Couldn’t wrap my head around anything but doing nothing but cleaning, sorting, shelving. In the bookstore and at home, too. It’s winter and for me that means piles of books I want to read, and stacks of material and baskets of embroidery floss to work through.

So, I didn’t finish many books, but I started a lot. I read nine books. Three about Ulysses S. Grant, soldier and president. Two by local author, Steven Kiernan. Also, Dodie Smith, Amor Towles, and Fiona Davis. I’m once again participating in an online book club hosted by the Grant Cottage State Historic Site in New York. This year we will be reading two books on Grant.

Thanks to Goodreads I see I have started fourteen books this year. Almost finished Kevin Graffagnino’s , Ira Allen: A Biography. It is jammed packed with Vermont history. I already know I have to reread it so I can absorb it all. Highly recommend it. Plus, his newest, Vermontiana: An Annotated Checklist, 1764-1899. And I’ve started several on the Revolutionary War as well as the French & Indian War. Trying to familiarize myself particularly on our area of Vermont and New York. Also a historical book on Salamanca, NY where I once lived as a little girl. Novels? I have started a few: Seize the Day (Saul Bellow), The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky), The Nightingale (Kristen Hannah), Barkskins (Anne Proulx), The Moon and Sixpence (W. Somerset Maugham), plus, plus, plus. Crazy. But I must get going on Grant at 200: Reconsidering the Life and Legacy of Ulysses S. Grant. Fortunately, it’s just 40 pages before our first meet-up so I must get cracking.

I’m not going to beat myself up for not completing books but marvel on how many I started and work on trying to finish them during 2025. There wasn’t a lot of porch rocking and reading this past summer as the gardens were always yelling at me. I’m going to be looking for my creativity spark to come alive again. Heaven knows I’ve got floss enough and vintage material and spools that I like to work with. And books. I’ve books galore!

Before I forget, I am going to take time at the start of the year to take care of me: reading, b&w movies, embroidering and start 2025 refreshed and renewed. I think I deserve it. So, see you Thursday, January 5, 2025.

Celebrate 18 Years!

/ ocub / Leave a comment

I finally cleared off my stool and moved the stacks that were hiding the laptop. All so I could add a new post. Oh, it really has been a while.

Life has been good to this used bookstore. Busy, busy, busy. From accepting books, purchasing from various book scouts, and viewing collections. To cleaning, sorting and shelving. Shuffling boxes around to go through, or to place out of the way to go through later. Trying to keep up with the errant leaves making their way into the store. All’s been good and as it should. No complaints. And, of course, sales.

Here it is, the last days of November. Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving are special days. I have owned Otter Creek Used Books for eighteen years. 18! And that means, books are 50% off.

Eighteen years of being a used bookstore owner is blowing my mind. I am not sure why this number means more than say, five, ten or fifteen. But eighteen is blowing my socks off. Maybe because I feel I’ve done it.

Thank you all! In much appreciation. To The Vermont Bookshop. MarbleWorks Pharmacy and Costello’s Market. And especially to all my customers throughout the years. Now, come in and enjoy the 50% Sale Friday and Saturday, November 29 and 30.

I Hate February Sale! 50% Off Books

/ ocub / 1 Comment

…I hate February. So there. I know hating allows bias and bigotry to distort good judgment but consider February. It begins with Groundhog Day, an observance devoted to predicting how rotten the rest of the month is going to be. And the prophet for that forecast is a fat rodent who specializes in harvesting gardens before the people who plant them think the crops are quite ripe.

Now consider the name: February. You can’t even pronounce it. Who tucked that “R” in behind the “B” anyway? Feb-brew-airy. Right. How often do you hear it that way? Feb-you-airy. Feb-wary. And for those with the British speech defect, even Feb-bry. - Steve Delaney, Vermont Seasonings: Reflections on the Rhythms of a Vermont Year.

A kindred spirit!

In a newly arrived stack of books, I found Delaney’s book and started to skim it. It’s divided by months, and I’m not sure why but the author begins the year with March. Ends with February. Thumbing through the February essays I couldn’t stop laughing. I one hundred percent -100%! – agree with him on disliking February. We have different reasons but we each do not like the month, and I have to say, I feel vindicated. I wish we could commiserate over a cup of coffee or tea or a shot of bourbon.

I will celebrate my dislike for the month by having a fun 50% sale on all books. (Ben, owner of The Country Bookshop recommended, if you have a sale make it fun!) And a big bowl of chocolate. Starting Wednesday, February 14 the sale will begin, and end on the 29th. We will get through this ridiculous month.

But think, fast, because the sole grace of February is that at least it’s short, even in Leap Year. – Steve Delaney, Vermont Seasonings: Reflections on the Rhythms of a Vermont Year.

February – Just A Month to Get Through

/ ocub / Leave a comment
Poetry Section

Stranger, pause and look;
From the dust of ages
Lift this little book,
Turn the tattered pages,
Read me, do not let me die!
Search the fading letters finding
Steadfast in the broken binding
All that once was I!
-Edna St. Vincent Millay, Collected Poems

Here we are….February. Closer to spring. But the first order must be to get through the month. How are you doing it? Me? I’m in an online book club, part of the 2024 Literary Landmark Virtual Book Club hosted by the U.S. Grant Cottage State Historic Site located in Mt. McGregor, NY. Our first book has been John Reeves’, SOLDIER OF DESTINY: SLAVERY, SECESSION, AND THE REDEMPTION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. Then onto KLAN WAR: ULYSSES S. GRANT AND THE BATTLE TO SAVE RECONSTRUCTION by Fergus Bordewich. Plus, my side reading which currently is Steve Martin’s SHOPGIRL because when shelving it jumped out at me.

Tea & A Book @ MNFC

Since I’ve been having bookcases built for the store I’ve cut down on my Dinner & a Book outings. Instead, I’ve been enjoying Tea & a Book working it in whenever I can. Stone Leaf Teahouse and the Middlebury Natural Food Co-op are two places I frequent. Both cozy and familiar.

Check out the newer bookcase found in the Children’s Room. Note: no more baskets or apple boxes on the floor. Books all up on shelves. Still working on reorganizing. One more bookcase and some wall shelves to still be made. Then OCUB will be amazing. Oh, paint, or no? So far, no but always welcoming suggestions.

New Bookcase in the Children’s Room

A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.
-C.S. Lewis

I HATE FEBRUARY! Sale…all books 1/2 off

/ otterbooks / Leave a comment

The most serious charge that can be brought against New England is not Puritanism, but February. – Joseph Wood Krutch

February – the month of love..?!! No wonder the shortest one in the calendar. – Dinesh Kumar Biran

Even though February was the shortest month of the year, sometimes it seemed like the longest. – JD Robb

I used to try to decide which was the worst month of the year. In the winter I would choose February. I had it figured out that the reason God made February short a few days was because he knew that by the time people came to the end of it they would die if they had to stand one more blasted day. – Katherine Paterson, JACOB HAVE I LOVED

Okay, one more!

Terrible, dreepy, dark February weather I remember, and the worst, most frightened days of my life. – Sebastian Barry, THE SECRET SCRIPTURE

So, before anyone says anything at all just know that I truly do not like February. I have always felt it was the worse month in the whole year. Fortunately, it is the shortest, so it does have that going for it. And chocolate. Because one cannot get through the month without a pocket of mini chocolate bars.

And what do I do when faced with a negative? I turn it into a positive. So… the positive here is a Half-off Sale! Yes, all books are 50% off.

I attended a Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association meeting a number of years ago and asked the group a question regarding pricing for an upcoming sale I wanted to have. 10%? 20%? What about 15%? Well, Ben, owner of The Country Bookshop in Plainfield, piped up and said have a 50% sale and have some fun. Customers love a 50% sale and it’ll be fun for you. Well, it is easier on pricing. Just deduct half off the penciled price… SOLD! So that began my Half-off Sales that is offered several times during the year. Especially in February. Who needs fun in February? Me!

The sale begins Tuesday, February 14 and goes through the end of the month. Books are all 50%. And there will be chocolate.

February is the border between winter and spring. – Terri Guillemets, YEARS. Well, it’s got that going for it.

And Now Here is April

/ ocub / 4 Comments

businesscards_ashtrayGreat news! I now have the ability to sell gift cards through Square on the OCUB Facebook page. Check it out, if so inclined.

Honestly, it has been quite a time for me and the store. I ended 2019 on a strong note with January and February equally strong. I was in the process of readdressing my marketing plan to prepare for an uncertain summer due to the upcoming Main Street construction. I took my books offline to reevaluate what I was offering. I purchased several collections to recharge the shelves. And then BAM! everything was turned upside down and I feel like I got caught unprepared for what was to come.  Fortunately I know I wasn’t alone but I have to come up with another plan.

You see, when I purchased the store I had to turn everything around – the physical space, the inventory, the reputation. It was a process that, at the time, was exciting because I knew there was only one direction to go in and that was up. I worked an extra year at my employment to carry the lack of business that store was experiencing. Then I took a huge leap of faith to leave that job and devote my time fully to the store. It took five years but I got there. The store became financially sound. Then I had to look at the future of the location the store was in. I knew from my previous employment that the building was going to eventually come down. And I knew the condition of the train overpass next to the store was in a bad way. The state could condemn it at anytime and that would obviously affect my business. So I decided to be proactive and started contacting landlords of spaces currently available in town. That led me to here, the historic MarbleWorks. That also meant I had to once again put my nose to the grindstone and work to get my business back. I almost didn’t make it but I did. So that was twice I had to turn the business around. 

Now I am faced with the very possibility of turning the store around for the third time. Frankly, I don’t know if I have it within me. When we were told to close I stayed away for a few days. Then I would come in to check the mail and the answering machine but I would leave because I just couldn’t deal with whatever was going on with the world. Here it is April 7 and I’m trying my best to address things I’ve wanted to do but couldn’t seem to get to it – change displays, go through shelves with a better eye and weed, clean, and other used bookstore chores. I’m trying to not be discouraged. All I can say is that once we are given the okay to reopen I will have one hell of a sale to try to keep the store going. But honestly, I am going be realistic.

For now, I wish all well. I look forward to reconnecting with everyone real soon.

“To wish to be well is a part of becoming well.” – Seneca

tennyson_shelf

“Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?” – Lord Alfred Tennyson

And now it’s March!

/ ocub / Leave a comment

2020vaba_fair“Time passes. That’s the rule. No matter what happens, no matter how much it might feel like everything in your life has been frozen around one particular moment, time marches on.” – Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye

In this case it was February. And now it’s March.  A big sigh of relief. Thanks to all who stopped by to check out the I Hate February Sale. It proved once a gain to be a lot of fun.

March brings changes to the store. Hannah will now only work Mondays and every other Saturday. She has taken a position at Oxford Company in Cornwall. I’ll miss her and our routine but I’m very happy for her. She’ll now be surrounded with art and the ability to put her college degree to good work. I’ll be in the store Tuesday-Friday with every other Saturday off. Monday’s I still have charge of my grandsons.

Also March presents me with some down time. I’ll be getting away the week of March 23-27. The ocean calls me. Fried clams and the most delicious clam linguine on the planet. I’ve already started my pile of books to bring. Have my coffee houses picked out to put my feet up in and hunker down with a juicy novel. And Thursday evening of that week, author Erik Larson will be speaking of his new release, “The Splendid and the Vile”. Very excited to hear him and to dig into the book as I’m currently reading, “In the Garden of Beasts”.

On the last Sunday of March the Vermont Book, Posters & Ephemera Fair will be held in Burlington at the Hilton Burlington on Battery Street. This fair is sponsored by the Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association (VABA) and is the 27th annual. The hours are 10-4 and it is free! I will be there this year as well as many of my used bookstore friends and mentors. For nothing else, it will be great to hang out with them. And to check out their tables and shelves. It’s always a great time!

One more March thing. Look for some store happenings on the 13th. I have owned OCUB for thirteen years and the on the 13th of each month I will host some kind of surprise. Or a sale. Maybe even both! Watch for an announcement on Facebook.

“My father was often impatient during March, waiting for winter to end, the cold to ease, the sun to reappear. March was an unpredictable month, when it was never clear what might happen. Warm days raised hopes until ice and grey skies shut over the town again.” – Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring

 
corner_shelf

 

 

 

Used Bookstores

/ otterbooks / Leave a comment

She had a kind heart, though that is not of much use when it comes to the matter of self-preservation. – Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop

‘Why do you buy books you don’t even read?’ our daughter asks us. That’s like asking someone who lives alone why they bought a cat. For company, of course. – Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen

I’m back from having a few days off from the world. Cleared my head. Read a few pages. Had my fav dish in the whole world or at least in my part of the world. I live for this meal and I’m never disappointed. I eat it with my eyes closed so I can enjoy each and every mouthful. And then walk it all off! Not a beach but in this case to the local theater to hear author, Lee Child. I have never picked up his books except to shelf but now I have to. What a down-to-earth author. He came across as clever and fun. So I need to look through my stock and see what I have of his and start in.

During this trip I stopped in a number of used bookstores. This trip was different as I cut the number down to just three. I’m a shop owner who sticks to a budget and I met that amount with the three shops. One store is in the middle of closing his physical shop, one recently moved to a smaller and less rent space (his third such move in fifteen years), another has changed its focus and concentrates on only one subject matter. All are trying to survive and live their used bookstore dream. It is certainly a time to readjust one’s business plan. Actually I’ve changed my plan multiple times throughout the years. One has to in this market. I’m in the middle of adapting another change but frankly I’m not sure which way to go or how to handle things.

OCUB has met multiple goals that I set over the years. Many were simple such as keeping it open my first year. The early days were a struggle because no one was coming in. I constantly changed the Main Street window display so those passing by would notice that someone different is running the store. I constantly added inventory. Daily. Something I still do. I had to work an extra year at my previous employment to cover store bills. That was hard because I was leaving a job I loved but it was time to move on. It was a leap of faith to believe the store would start paying for itself. But it did!

We recovered from moving from Main Street – no one wants to leave Main Street! – to the MarbleWorks. It took several years for customers to find the store but they did. We could expand and by rights we should. But it would mean higher costs. I don’t want to make that jump. The store is maxed but yet the size is doable when I’m working alone.

We are hanging in. But soon a decision will need to be made.

Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world! – Neil Gaiman