Passionate about books

Passionate about books. One of our favourite pastimes is visiting Pickwick Books, a corner bookshop in Waterdown, Ontario. Owner, Des Brady, is barely visible behind a counter of endless volumes that are waiting their turn to be shelved. There is sufficient space to maneuver around displays of rare and fascinating books. One of Des' favourite quotations is, "Can anything be finer or more delightful?" (Chapter IV Pickwick Papers.)

When asked why he opened a bookshop, his only comment was, "I've always been passionate about books."

Pickwick Books is located at 325 Dundas St. E., Waterdown.

Tel: 905-690-0632

Fax: 905-632-0329

Nature is painting for us, day-after-day pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them.

~ John Ruskin, English Art Critic 1819 - 1900

Flowers are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul.

~ Luther Burbank American Botanist 1849 - 1926

Flowers take the tears of weeping night,

And give them to the sun for the day's delight.

~ Joseph S Cotter Jr. Author A White Song and a Black One 1861 - 1949

The best things that can come out of any garden are gifts for other people.

~ Jamie Jobb, Author My Garden Companion

Photo: my veranda where we spend our days ~ and evenings.

The Inevitable Espresso Machine

Booksellers have acknowledged the arrival of the espresso machine. No, not the coffee! The books-on-demand machine that produces your book while you go out for espresso. No more packing, shipping, shelving. No more unsold remainders -- books returned to publishers, to be shipped again somewhere else. Costs mounting.

There are only four of these marvels in Canada. (Or is it three?) Titles, the McMaster University bookshop in Hamilton, Ontario, has one of the latest models.
We excitedly purchase a book. $25. Attractive cover graphics and clean type. Tightly bound soft cover. Can't beat the delivery.

We are still fondling our book a week later. We could not do this with an e-book. It is going to take time to weigh the pros and cons. Meanwhile, thank you Mark, Titles Manager, for bringing this latest wonder to us. We have been asked how long the process took; I will have to ask Mark but it seemed like less than a couple minutes.

Writer Lois Marlatt

Kids, hold onto your hats! Lois is bound for another adventure ~ travelling with Brock and Becca is always fun. Where will it be this time?

October 3, Saturday, 11 - 3, join Lois at The Neat Little Bookshop for another adventure. Where did Lois take the kids this summer? (Last year it was on the tall ships.)
Sometimes it is hard to tell whether Lois is describing her holidays with her real family or with her imaginary characters. (Sh-h-h, don't tell Lois.)
Author of Canoeing on the Grand River, Saddle Up In Saskatchewan, Vacation In Vancouver, At The Calgary Stampede and RV To Edmonton, among other titles, Lois always entertains. Parents, Grandparents, big "kids," expect to be whisked away on a plane, train or automobile ~ always to Canadian places. Free admission. Books for Sale.

Resume Clinic

The Neat Little Bookshop is considering hosting a series of workshops on resume writing, the modern workplace, interviewing techniques ~ and of course, whatever discussions may come up. We are easy!

Let us know if you are interested.

For those of us who have had to reenter the workplace, the trauma of writing a current cover-letter or anticipating the buzz words -- or what are they called? -- keywords that trip a computer, a little help from somebody in the business can mean the difference in getting a job.

905-577-5635 Give us a call or e-mail us: lwalker@mountaincable.net.

We have lined-up a dynamic personality; we know you will enjoy.

Wednesday Storytime

If Ace could read...

This week's storytime book was to be Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors but when Ace showed up, we switched to Benjamin Bunny.

After school, every Wednesday, is Storytime. Everyone welcome. Free Admission.

We usually have cookies, if they are allowed.

Contact us at 905-577-5635 or lwalker@mountaincable.net

Step into a 1925 Rural Classroom

"Step into a 1925 rural classroom at Wilson MacDonald School," the glossy brochure reads! Or into an 1835 log cabin at the Haldimand County Museum in Cayuga.

There are ten historical sites officially opening their doors for the annual DOORS OPEN HALDIMAND on Saturday, September 19,

10 a.m. 'til 4 p.m.

Volunteers are revving up to share with you their experiences in rural Haldimand County.

The theme this year is, "History and heritage of the area's fertile fields."
Visit the website http://www.doorsopenontario.on.ca/ or call 905-772-3790 for more information.

Photo: by Lorna

Haldimand Heritage

Anyone visiting the Neat Little Bookshop knows that chances are they will meet interesting people. (We stop short at labelling them "characters.") Norma, we are not suggesting that you are a character. You are certainly interesting.

Norma Mowat is well-known in historical circles. She is seen here with writers, Cheryl MacDonald and Bob Blakely. The gentleman in the middle is Haldimand M.P.P.Toby Barrett. The lady in the background (rt.) is Dana, Curator of the Wilson McDonald School. The photo was taken a few years ago at Selkirk Heritage Day.

Norma, whose hat are you wearing? The colonel has his.

Photos: lbwalker

(Click on Photo for larger image.)

Backlists, Out-of-Print and Current Publications

Used bookshops generally sell the books that are on publisher's backlists (best-sellers published before the current season and still in print), out-of-print books, antiquarian books (rare books) and, of course, current publications when available. We pride ourselves on bringing to our shelves, books that give the visitor a sense of never knowing what he might find. The Neat Little Bookshop also sells new books by local authors.

We struggle everyday with the question of accepting literally truckloads of musty boxes of books -- will there be that one book worth rescuing? Households can accumulate an unmanageable volume of books that end up in unfriendly environments like garages, basements -- even barns. Eventually, the inevitable question arises: what to do with this abandoned (not to mention, heavy), bulk of paper! The consensus seems to be, to take it to the nearest used book store! Musty books are not only unsalable, they are unhealthy and end up in the recycle.

The Neat Little Bookshop has posted a notice that we no longer accept books for credit, other than those purchased in our store; however, well-meaning donors continue to bless us. Meanwhile, our commitment is to make available good, clean books of literary value at affordable prices.

Cayuga and District Chamber of Commerce

Janet Wiaderny, Treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce, designed and maintains the Chamber website. Check it out:
http://www.cayugachamber.ca/
Monthly breakfast meetings are held in area restaurants the first Wednesday of every month. The office is located at 6 Cayuga Street.
Janet is president of Anet Computer Services, also located on Cayuga Street above the library.
http://www.anetcs.com/

Neat Little Bookshop ~ Wednesday Story Hour

When a book opens, children's natural curiosity and enthusiasm transports them into unknown and distant places. They meet new friends and travel different worlds ~ and they love to share the experience with a parent, an adult or their peers.

Story hour at The Neat Little Bookshop ~ Adventure and fun ~ Wednesdays after school 'til 5:00.

Update: Today we had a visit from Acer the rabbit.

"The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
and all the sweet serenity of books." ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Photos: by Lorna

The Twisted Lemon ~ Munsee St., Cayuga

The Twisted Lemon Restaurant brings a whole new dimension to the village of Cayuga-On-The-Grand.

In comfortable surroundings, visitors can savour at affordable prices the finest in cuisine.

Dan Megna and Laurie Lillman's years of experience in the business is evident in their new restaurant ~ an establishment that is for the husband and wife team, the culmination of a "dream, passion and a vision." Telephone: 905-772-6636. Congratulations, Laurie and Dan.

http://www.twistedlemon.ca/

Lunch - Mon. - Fri. 11 - 2

Dinner - Tues. - Sat. 5 - 9:30

Photos: by Lorna. Click to view larger image.

Solitude

Solitude is a luxury these days, I think. Try to sit fifteen minutes in a quiet place without any interruptions. (Time it!)

It is not only writers who occasionally need quiet surroundings. Sometimes being close to nature ~ a walk in the country, a few moments along a river bank or, if you can arrange it, sitting in the garden gives one a new perspective.

Photos: by Lorna ~ The Carousel Bed and Breakfast, Cayuga, Ontario

Click on photo to view larger.

Shiko's Dance for Peace Photos: Shiko
We wish you strength Shiko. We wish you health.

Shiko

Our Friend & Follower

Shiko. Reiki by Shiko

Photos: Reiki by Shiko

To beautiful Shiko ~ Peace and Love from beautiful Cayuga-On-The-Grand.

Photos: lbwalker

Doors Open Haldimand

This year, Doors Open Haldimand, focuses on the "history and heritage of the area's fertile fields." The buildings, museums and organizations reflect the active agricultural community.

On Saturday, September 19, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Haldimand County will open its doors in customary, friendly fashion.

For a complete list of participating sites and local maps, go to http://www.doorsopenontario.on.ca/ Visit the Haldimand County Photo Album. For more information, contact Catherine Stidsen catherine.stidsen@hwcn.org Telephone: 905-772-3790.

Photograph: Linda welcomes visitors to Grand Treats and Treasures on Cayuga St., downtown Cayuga-on-the-Grand.

Photos: by Lorna

Childhoods of Writers

A young man -- taller than the bookshelves -- declares that he has "never read a book." He seems proud.
In Negotiating With the Dead* -- a series of lectures on writing -- Margaret Atwood muses that the childhoods of writers often contain "books and solitude."
"There were no films or theatres in the North, and the radio didn't work very well," she writes. "But there were always books." Her mother liked quietness in children, and "a child who is reading is very quiet." Atwood read everything she could get her hands on.

We don't know whether the young man in our store had books while growing up. We do know that when he had a book report to write, he had his mother do it for him. He told us that. We expressed shock and did our best to lure him into reading. Someday, perhaps something in our store window or more likely someone of influence will lure him back.

*Margaret Atwood, Negotiating With the Dead, A Writer on Writing, Cambridge, 2002, p 7.

Photos: by Lorna. Click on photo to view larger.

Words of Wisdom on Writing

If we were asked what our biggest surprise has been in the used book business, it would have to be the number of published local writers there are. Poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction. The arrival of self-publishing has made much possible.

The great short-story writer, Mavis Gallant, said, "I still do not know what impels anyone sound of mind to leave dry land and spend a lifetime describing people who do not exist. If it is child's play, an extension of make believe -- something one is frequently assured by people who write about writing -- how to account for the overriding wish to do that, just that, only that, and consider it as rational an occupation as riding a bicycle over the Alps?"*
Gallant was once asked, "Yes, but what do you really do?" ~ A question which she concludes expresses an adult opinion. She then surmises, "Perhaps a writer is, in fact, a child in disguise, with a child's lucid view of grown-ups, accurate as to atmosphere, improvising when it tries to make sense of adult behavior."

Whatever the aspiration to be an author, we encourage and love our local writers.

*Mavis Gallant, Preface, Selected Stories, McClelland & Stewart, 1996

Photos: by Lorna

"Seeing or Hearing Clearly and Then Transcribing"

Best-selling author, Stephen King, refers to these core ideas on good storytelling: "...that practice is invaluable (and should feel good, really not like practice at all) and that honesty is indispensable. Skills in description, dialogue, and character development all boil down to seeing or hearing clearly and then transcribing what you see or hear with equal clarity (and without using a lot of tiresome, unnecessary adverbs)." p. 195* One might add "or unnecessary adjectives."

He states that, "...good writing consists of mastering the fundamentals (vocabulary, grammar, the elements of style)" and with "hard work, dedication, and timely help," a good writer can be made out of a merely competent one. "

Stephen King also wrote, "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write."

* Stephen King, On Writing ~ A Memoir of the Craft, Scribner, 2000.

"Twist Them Up in Hard Punishment"

Seventy-eight year old, Alice Munro, has withdrawn her latest book, Too Much Happiness from running for the Giller prize this fall. Arguably, "Canada's greatest living writer" (Toronto Star, Sept. 1, Front pg.), Munro has won the prestigious Scotiabank prize twice in the past. In 1998 for The Love of a Good Woman and in 2004 for Runaway. Whatever her reasons for withdrawing, the fact remains that she has arrived at a resoundingly successful stage in her professional life.

This is a woman who wrote, "...it seemed that I had to be a writer as well as a reader. I bought a school notebook and tried to write -- did write, pages that started off authoritatively and then went dry, so that I had to tear them out and twist them up in hard punishment and put them in the garbage can. I did this over and over again until I had only the notebook cover left. Then I bought another notebook and started the whole process once more. The same cycle -- excitement and despair, excitement and despair." *

*Alice Munro, "Cortes Island" (1998) The Love of a Good Woman, p. 143.

Photos: by Lorna

The Blank Page

Prolific romance/suspense writer, Nora Roberts, said, "The most important thing in writing is to have written. I can always fix a bad page. I can't fix a blank one."
In a bookstore, one hears many personal theories on writing and the intimidation of the blank page.
Margaret Laurence left a husband and a home in the U.S. to live in a remote part of southern England in order to focus on her writing. The view from Robert's desk is the hills of rural Maryland. As important as the writing environment is the chosen genre. We hear, "Write what one knows."
"It is a mistake, a really big mistake," according to Roberts, "to believe that you can write what you wouldn't read for pleasure,"
And on making time, "A writer never finds the time to write. A writer makes it. If you don't have the drive, the discipline, and the desire, then you can have all the talent in the world, and you aren't going to finish a book. All the talent in the world isn't going to do you any good."
Tomorrow: More words of wisdom from writers.

Photos: by Lorna. My backyard.