The Weekenders

At the bookstore we have a division of week and weekend staff members with one of us bridging the gap on Saturdays to fill in the spaces where notes and telepathy fail. On the weekends things fluctuate from dreadfully boring to extremely busy and only sometimes is this a predictable occurrence.

When it is boring, we attempt to do projects, such as culling, that after a few hours lead us to desperation where we must avert our eyes from book spines. This means that we then move to trolling the internet or the alternative looking for funny book covers, author names and other miscellanea to have fun with. Sometimes these things end up on Facebook or other places where we allow our customers to delight in our goofy personalities and habits.

When it is busy, it acts like an average retail location where we serve customers, take in trade books, stock, search for books, take phone calls and go about "normal" bookstore behavior.

Depending on ones mood the preference fluctuates but all around working as a WEEKENDER is rather a treat, we have dedicated "weekend" customer base that delight us with their present and all of their quirks and excitement in books, life and whatever journeys they may be on.

At the bookstore we have a bit of a family here, sometimes we see each other a lot, sometimes it is longer before we see one another, but all around we get together once a month in a staff meeting where we cover business, the book we just read and have a really great time. Overall that is the bookstore, we work a lot, find pleasure in the little things and discuss how madly in love we are with the written word.

~Weekender, Rebecca

The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski Review

    From the first page, readers can never quite know what to expect from any writing that has been crafted by the hands and the mind of Danielewski. 
    Readers find themselves in the midst of a party where Chintana listens along with five oddly named orphans to a dark tale from a mysterious figure.  The story told to these characters and us is one that speaks of a quest to quiet a deep and painful darkness.  However, the further one goes to vanquish this darkness, the more one finds themselves embracing the darkness.  Danielewski and T50YS fulfill the usual promise of taking readers into a realm that contains those essential bits of plot, character, and in one form or another, narrative.
    More important than offering us a gripping tale of a man navigating a forest of shattered sound and mountains echoing solitude in an attempt to gain the perfect weapon, T50YS offers its readers a truly refreshing literary mode of delivery.  A great writer wants language to engage with its audience, and communicate to them a new method for seeing, for reading, and for thinking.  I certainly feel this desire to be at work in T50YS.  On all of these pages I read novella.  I read short story.  I read the lyric of poetic verse.  I read visual abstraction.  I read language and image that are willing to push the limits of genres and their conventions so that they can achieve greater writing.  What I’m reading, here, is Danielewski.   
- Justin

Why You Should Really Give Vampires Another Chance

Review of The Twelve by Justin Cronin, Published 10/16/12

Several years ago, vampires entered the public's conscious in an entirely new way. More popular and sparkly than ever before, they fell upon the United States swiftly, taking up many teenage girls in their path. And since then, their love has been equaled only by their ridicule. Somewhere along the way, the bad ass vampire-- the kind who'd rather eat your face than caress it-- was given up. As the popularity of Edward Cullen grew, the true Draculas and Nosferatus of the world were being pushed away. Some of te most fearsome and amazing monsters of all time were forgotten. I say it's about time that we take the vampires back, and Justin Cronin is here to lead the campaign.

Reclaiming vampires from screaming teenage girls, Justin Cronin brings us The Passage Trilogy. His books tell the story of Amy, a young girl and the final stage of a horrific military science experiment that goes terribly wrong. The experiment, an attempt to create super soldiers, creates a new kind of monster which is very similar to the vampires we know today. When the experiment fails, the original test subjects escape and begin infecting the rest of society and Amy is left immortal and on her own. She continues onward as the world collapses around her, aging only a few months every decade or so. The novel then skips 100 years with Amy, after civilization shattered and has been built anew. As a teenager, Amy meets up with a team of colonists whose way of life is at it's end. Together they travel across the ravaged United States, hunting down the original twelve test subjects as a desperate attempt to save what's left of their world.

Believe me, this book will restore your faith in vampires. Cronin re-imagines the monsters with unique twists that fit with the structure of the world in his book, while remaining true to most of the aspects that made us love vampires in the first place. Not only is the book exciting and suspenseful, but it's very well written as well. The Passage was released this year in mass market paperback for $7.99 and you can pick up The Twelve (second of the trilogy) in hardcover this October! Trust me, you'll be glad you gave vampires a second chance.

Book Colors

Today one of my favorite books, The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta, came in blue. The book was released in a bright fuchsia for its hardcover and (at first) paperback forms. Today, it is blue. A very attractive blue, I have to say, but the color still threw me off. Everything else about the book is the same, from the blurbs on the back to the smoking shoes in front (it's an interesting book-- read more here.) Working in a book store for as long as I have, it's hard not to judge a book by it's cover. For most of the books I interact with each day, this is all I will ever see of them. This is also the first thing any customer sees when they decide to pick up one book, rather than the one directly to its left. The author's name and the title of the book have their role, but the cover itself is crucial.

 So, inspired by this seemingly arbitrary choice on the part of the publishers, I decided to do a little research. What I found what one part expected and one part surprising. I decided to share my findings here with you. Read on if it interests you-- it might make you see your favorite book in a whole new way!

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/color-psychology/

Susan Elizabeth Phillips at the Old Town Library

Join us TODAY at the Old Town Library to meet the talented author SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS who will be discussing her latest novel, The Great Escape. No tickets necessary, just be at the library at 7pm to meet this Best Selling author.



more about The Great Escape...
Perennial "New York Times"-bestseller Phillips follows up her hit, "Call Me Irresistible" with a sequel that brings back the headstrong ex-president's daughter, Lucy Jorik, who's just abandoned her man at the altar. Now she embarks on a wild and hilariously unpredictable road trip.

Goodbye to an Old Friend

We are sad to announce that one of our beloved fellow bookstores, Reader's Cove, will be closing its doors permanently this Friday. If you have time and a hankering for a new book, please visit them sometime this week to say goodbye and help them ease the process of going out of business. They need all the community support they can get.

This serves as a reminder to us all about the tenuousness of local businesses we often take for granted. The cafe down the street or quirky clothing store may be our absolute favorites, but without our support as a community they cannot survive. At times it may be a bit more expensive or slightly out of the way, but these places provide the unique flavor of Fort Collins and give so much back to their community. Over the years, Reader's Cove has joined us in supporting Fort Collins Reads among other non-profit organizations based right in Fort Collins. Please help Reader's Cove now in their time of need, and remember to support local businesses as often as possible and encourage your friends to do the same. Not just Old Firehouse Books, but any locally owned store in Fort Collins! Every purchase you make will give so much back to this town!

Pros... and Cons of E-Books

Not too many people know that we sell e-books. While paper books (the REAL deal) will always be our true love, we're booksellers of the 21st century and we keep up with the times. (Hey, we even have a blog! How hip is that?) E-book do have a lot of advantages-- they're light for travel, fit easily in a purse or backpack, and one day I'll be old enough that the enlarging font will be a godsend. If you're interested in purchasing an e-book from us, check out our website www.oldfirehousebooks.com. One day I'm sure I'll even hop on the technology train and get an e-reader myself, but I'll always be sure to have at least a couple real books lying around. Even you technology addicts out there with your fancy phones that are smarter than I am might want to consider not casting off paper books just yet.While an e-book might be a convenience at times, there are other where it can't compare.

REAL books in our store...
1. Never take time to load
2. Don't require an App
3. Will not run out of battery
4. Never delete themselves
5. Won't put your call on hold as you wait for customer service
6. Are still readable if they get wet