not many days left for christmas shopping, eh? need help, do ya? welllllllllll, okay. here are a list of ten things to buy someone with christmas breathing its hot, cinnamon-sticky breath down you neck:

1) "the Historian" by elizabeth kostova. this debut novel (ten years in the making....no, really. the research and attention to detail are AMAZING) takes an academic spin on the vampire thriller. very engaging.

2) "Fantasyland" by sam walker. this book is for baseball fans, fantasy leaguers, and fantasy baseball geeks (much like myself). or if you normally enjoy nonfiction about cocky new york writrs getting schooled by middle-aged men who play fantasy sports. i LOVED it.

3) "Neverwhere" by neil gaiman. take the alice and wonderland story, add in london underground, throw in a timid male lead, dash of frantic psychosis, blend, and BOOM! one hot story.

4) "I Like You" by amy sedaris. an entertainning book (hosting and such) by an entertainning lady (absolutely hysterical).

5) "Best of James Taylor" by james taylor. how can you not love james taylor? you can't. so don't even try, brosef.

6) "Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich" by adam rex. a kids' book with beautiful artwork and child-friendly (and highly hilarious) stories.

7) "Life of Pi" by yann martel. i know, i know. everyone's read it already....but what if YOU haven't? it's a great read, with the first part admittedly being slow, by the second part burns its candle at both ends.

8) "St. Elsewhere" by gnarls barkley. infectious beats, unique vocals, awesome name. can't go wrong, sandy-mae.

9) "Manhunt" by james swanson. a riveting yarn about the 12-day chase for john wilkes booth. still more amazing when one stops to realize it all actually happened!

10) any calender we got on the ol' shelves. dude, let's get serious: everyone needs a calender. for rizeal.

i distinctly remember sitting in my geometry class in high school (or was it pre-algebra? math isn't really something i recollect fondly...) and hearing that OJ simpson was innocent, and feeling both irritated and indignant. those feeling erupted because here was a man who the majority of the public viewed as guilty, and also because THE TRIAL WAS BEING SHOWN AND SUBSEQUENTLY DISCUSSED ON EVERY MEDIA OUTLET KNOWN TO MAN. in fact, i think there are martians who are just now getting the verdict. they must be incensed.

i bring this up not because i'm a masochist and like to rehash the past, but because recently mr. simpson was set to release a hypothetical confession of a book called "If I Did It" as well as an interview special on fox. luckily, this book and special were nixed by media mogul Rupert Murdoch in the following statement:

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project. We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson."

y'think?! it gets better when the publisher admits that this book is practically considered simpson's "confession."

to publish that book would have been revolting to both the reading public and especially to the families of nicole brown and ron goldman. the man wrote a book on how he hypothetically killed two people and is passing it off as a work of fiction. and his poor kids would have to hear about it ALL THE TIME! do you think their lives are hard enough as it is? now they'd have to read a book (because you know they would) about how their dad may have killed their own mother and got away with it. pathetic.

sure, this book would have sold off the charts, but that would be catering to a soulless public scrambling for bits of gossip. would you want to purchase a book filled with macabre "theories," which serves as a "Nyah nyah nyah!" to two families who are missing loved ones they will never see again? i know i wouldn't.

i'm just glad that everything got cancelled, because i'd feel like a shmuck for having to peddle that trash, which is hopefully how mr. simpson felt selling his heisman trophy. if you'd like to know more you can look up any major news website. also, please let us know your thoughts on the matter.





Smile! consider this your legacy!

did you know that christmas is about a stone's throw away? like, a small child's stone throw? a small child who doesn't know how to throw? yeah. pretty close. i can hear you now, "Oh dear! Close enough to poke with a crayon? Whatever shall I get my loved one??" do not fret, for we, your adoring urban bookstore, can scratch you where you itch. currently, on our big ol' bookcase opposite the cafe counter, we have quite the doozy of a selection with books that would make tremendous christmas gifts, and they're all big enough to sled on. we have musical books (Gorillaz, Bob Marley), sports books (University of Michigan, Sports Illustrated), and books that you yourself might get a hankerin' for (Vogue, Star Wars, Custom Choppers). i highly recommend swinging on down and perusing your respective hearts out, making special note of these delightful coffee table-type books. and, y'know, we also have an entire store full of goodies.

just so you're aware.

x0x0

now, i don't know if any of you are aware, but ABC has a little program that's been gaining some momentum, been something of a "water cooler" show, caused some ripples in the murky pond that is television. gained a small following if you will. it's called "Lost." how does that relate to this bookstore here, you ask?

today i was working on shelving and pulling (or as i like to call them in my head, the "Dual Pistons of the River Bank Engine") i was reading the backs of the books, as per my usual proclivity. one book caught my eye with a shiny little sticker stuck to the bottom. i gobbled up the synopsis and percieved nothing remotely unusual, until i got to the end and reached the author bio: Gary Troup, lost on Oceanic Flight 815. this book, "Bad Twin," was supposedly penned by a character that went down on the plane in Lost.

say it with me now: "Whaaaa?"

it speaks volumes for marketing and whatnot with this little ploy here. of COURSE it's not written by one Gary Troup. of COURSE there was no real Lost plane. of COURSE it was actually written by Laurence Shames (....okay, not "of course, per say. it was divulged in a Daily Variety article...but still), but it's still fun to take part of, especially if you're one of the metric bazillion tons of fans who really, thoroughly enjoy the show. give the name a Google if you haven't yet. this is all a neat thread in a clever tapestry.

the troupmeister himself

do you like music? i know i do. in fact, i would say i like it as much as an ADD chimp likes an audience. a few musical things that are currently putting me in a fabu mood are the Arcade Fire and James Taylor CD's we're currently playing overhead. that's not to say that the Norah Jones and Innocence Mission CD's aren't good, it's just that they're good in a different way (meaning that they make me kinda sleepy, which, again, isn't bad, because quite frankly i love sleeping. ergo, if this was a bed store instead of a book store, and my primary function was to be an example of how hardcore i could sleep on certain beds, then those CD's would be my favorites for the given scenario. that was a hideously strange tangent). another thing that's also pretty fun here is when the weekend comes rolling in like an elvis impersonator in a shiny pink cadillac and musicians actually play up on the Steketee stage. we keep a list of who is playing when on our main website under the "Live Music" section, which is really worth checking out. there's nothing quite like working on a saturday night when Tinker's Tea is rocking their celtically delicious diddies, or those friday nights when Duke Greene enhances the already awesomely chilled ambiance. i'd go on to mention all the different acts that grace us with their presence, but i've got anthony bourdain to catch up on.

so seriously, from me to you, come on in for a nice autumn evening on a friday or saturday for some coffee, books, and delightfully live music.

and beware the Great Pumpkin, charlie brown.

i think it was theodore roosevelt who said it best, "my good chums, let's start us a book club! BULLY!" or maybe it was agatha christie. i dunno. however, the underlining principle of the above quote is that hey, man, book clubs are the new black. they're the new kangol hat or the new high top. i can garauntee you right now that you will be the coolest kid on your block (or rather, "kids") if you join in a book club, which are springing up like warts on a toad-licker. gather your compadres together, pick a book, and go to town (proverbially speaking)! what's better than sitting around with your buddies saying, "yeah, arnold was an interesting supporting character for the subplot, but he's still a moron." stuff like that. plus, if you register your book club here at your local urban bookstore (OH MY GOSH THAT'S US) you get a whopping 20% off your group's book. of course, that's only if you like awesome deals. i know i do. quite.

also, there's a book coming out in october called "Fanboy and Gothgirl" by barry lyga, and it is just fabulous, especially if A) you are a comics geek, B) you are a gaiman goth, or C) you were a wallflowered geek in high school. how do i know how it was good if it hasn't been released yet? 'cause i gots advanced reading copies, chums. w00t.

tomorrow we are having our big Red Hat Ladies event, and to tell you the truth, i'm kind of excited, which is a big deal considering i am neither a lady nor do i sport any sort of scarlet headgear. the reason is, due to my mother's undying allegiance to the ladies of the crimson headdresses, i am fully aware of what those ladies get up to when they get down. tea parties? crumpets? bridge? nay, i say to you, chumly chummerson. NAY! these women go OUT on the town, they take field trips to crazy locations, and they just in general bring a kenetic bundle of tangible enthusiasm with them on whatever adventure they choose to embark upon; these kids have FUN. i fully anticipate yukking it up tomorrow with these gregarious gals. in fact, i plan on them being full-on rowdy, and i will be encouraging that behavior quite completely. unfortunately, the ladies out in lansing (all couple thousand of them or whatever....i'm looking at you, mom...) will be missing out on the good time here in the ol' bookstore.

also, the Klosterman book did not disappoint. if i could make three wishes in this wacky world, they would be thus, in precise order:

1) to win every fantasy football matchup i have for the next 5 years
2) for everyone to read Mr. Klosterman's books and tell me how smart i am for recommending them
3) seven more wishes