Marias Bookshop's blog

We're happy to welcome back Felicia Libo, who reviews books for us from time to time.  Felicia provides holisitc health counseling locally, and blogs at One Word at a Time.  You can reach Felicia at felicialibo@gmail.com.

We are noticing several books about the Paleo diet flying off our shelves, including Paleo Comfort Foods and Everyday Paleo.  We recognize that there's plenty of interest out there in following the Paleo diet, and we were pleased to hear that Felicia wanted to review Dr. Loren Cordain's latest book, The Paleo Answer.  Cordain is also the author of The Paleo Diet and The Peleo Solution.

I have been experimenting with a Paleo based diet to address autoimmune challenges, and came across Dr. Loren Cordain’s newest book, The Paleo Answer in the process.  Cordain, “founder of the modern Paleo movement” and a top global researcher in evolutionary health, has written several best-selling books about the Paleo diet and its benefits for people with autoimmune disease (and for its health benefits in general).

The Paleo Answer: 7 Days to Lose Weight, Feel Great, Stay Young is about a “lifetime way of eating to maximize health and well-being,” based on the diet of our Paleolithic ancestors (and fine tuned to meet our modern day and unique individual needs). The Paleo Answer is based on extensive updated research, including recent findings from scientific studies throughout the world as well as stories from people who have implemented the Paleo diet with successful results (including Cordain and his family).

Cordain says that research confirms “our Paleolithic genomes have barely changed in the last ten thousand years” and that the Paleo “way” is about “adopting a modern healthy diet and lifestyle consistent with our genetic heritage as hunter-gatherers.”

I didn’t realize I was starting on a Paleo path when I gave up gluten eight years ago for health reasons, but it made a significant difference in my health, as does some of the other suggestions Cordain makes in his books. I also work with a health practitioner who supports the Paleo approach, and I feel better, my test results continue to improve each year, and I’m more easily able to handle health and other challenges when they arise.

Some of the suggestions in this book and others that are “Paleo based” may be counter to how you were raised or conditioned, so it may take time to see if it’s correct for you or not. This is not a fad diet but a lifestyle change that can be significant. I encourage you to read Cordain’s other work as well as the growing body of Paleo based work by other authors and researchers. Cordain writes:

“Not only have Paleo dieters written to me — so have their physicians. These medical professionals have repeatedly informed me that when they put their patients on Paleo diets, many of their clients experienced improvements or even complete remission of various autoimmune disease symptoms.”

I seem to be one of them, and time will tell, since I am fairly new to the Paleo approach and am looking forward to seeing what happens with it over time.

Thank you to Maria’s Bookshop, who loaned me a review copy of the book for this post.

“Gratitude, I’ve learned, can fish us out of the deepest reservoir of despair. I didn’t know that before.” -Leigh Fortson, Embrace, Release, Heal: An Empowering Guide to Talking About, Thinking About, and Treating Cancer.

While I unfortunately missed the recent event at Maria’s Bookshop called Cancer as a Springboard for Cultivating Inner Power: A Panel Discussion, I did learn about author Leigh Fortson’s book Embrace, Release, Heal: An Empowering Guide to Talking About, Thinking About, and Treating Cancer. Thank you to Maria’s Bookshop, who graciously loaned me the book so I could share Fortson’s powerful message with you here.

Fortson had three cancer diagnoses in three years, with “few options and little hope,” and yet today says she has a clean bill of health. She wrote the book to be an inspirational and in-depth resource, including stories of people who transcended terminal cancer and interviews with allopathic and integrative medical experts. It’s an informative compendium of resources as well as an empowering collection of personal stories of healing.

Fortson devoted a chapter of her book to the topic of gratitude, and talks about it as an important part of the healing process.  She writes: “The shift took place when I understood that I might fall into the great abyss. This is the vantage point that rocks the hell out you.” She writes about her personal experience with gratitude and appreciation in the healing process:

“As I continue to heal (because the layers of the onion will always present us with something more!), I have come to know that being grateful or appreciative and paying attention to the bounty of blessings before us is, along with forgiveness, perhaps the greatest key to inner peace and freedom.”

Her message applies to anyone facing a chronic illness, and she emphasizes the importance of dedication, saying that redefining life and recovering health as a possibility is “more readily achieved if you are 100 percent dedicated to becoming well.” Part of that process is to have hope when that may seem impossible. “I have met and spoken to many people who have either healed themselves of cancer or who know of someone who did. It happens all the time. You need to know this,” Fortson writes.

She emphasizes the profound importance of how thoughts and emotions influence every cell in our bodies, and how practices like gratitude, appreciation and forgiveness can truly transform one’s health.

I highly recommend this book, and also encourage you to check out Fortson’s website: http://www.embracehealingcancer.com

Felicia A. Libo is a writer and blogger based in Durango, CO. She started The Gratitude Project blog in 2009. Libo can be reached at felicialibo.com or at felicialibo@gmail.com

Hey folks, spread the word--we're looking for a great new bookseller!

We are currently hiring for a part-to-full-time bookseller to join our staff.  Closing date for applications is Wednesday, February 9th, and we plan to have a hiring decision made no later than Monday, February 21st.

Maria’s Bookshop has served Durango and its surrounding communities since 1984.  Our customers count on receiving outstanding service every time they walk through our doors. We trust our employees to ensure that this expectation is met and exceeded with each customer interaction. 

We are seeking enthusiastic readers with previous experience in bookselling or a desire to learn. General skills we like to see in our new employees include: prior retail or public relations experience, Windows computer experience, an ability to be attentive to details while keeping an eye on the big picture and a constant desire to learn and solve problems.  Flexibility and a sense of humor are a must.

All booksellers are required to work a variety of shifts including weekdays, weekends, and evenings. Time-off is restricted during our busiest seasons as follows: during July and August one week is available, and between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day no time off is available. Outside of these times we attempt to be flexible and accommodate employee-scheduling needs. 

This position is physically demanding. In addition to being on your feet six to nine hours per day, it also requires the ability to lift heavy boxes, take out trash, shelve books, climb ladders, sweep floors and sidewalks, shovel snow and clean the shop.  We try to maintain a comfortable atmosphere for our customers.  It is commonly overlooked that our staff works very hard to maintain this atmosphere.

Maria’s Bookshop offers competitive wages and benefits.  Starting pay is $9.00 an hour. Benefits include a 40% merchandise discount, and company-matched IRA contributions. There may also be an opportunity for advancement to higher responsibility jobs including managerial positions. 

You now know more of what this job at Maria’s Bookshop entails. If you believe you are a potential candidate, we invite you to contact andrea@mariasbookshop.com for an application or stop in the shop to pick one up. Include a resume and any additional information if you feel it will help us in making a decision about your qualifications for this position. 

Has the announcement about the new availability of Google eBooks got you scratching your head a bit?  Have a look at this funny new video from our friends at McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petosky, Michigan:

What's the word?  This time around, it's "legerdemain" from Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes, one of Shay's all-time favorites.  Brock Clarke, who wrote An Arsonist's Guide to New England, has a new book out called Exley in which the real dead author plays an imagined role within the fiction.  Got that?

We are visited by authors nearly every day who have recently finished a new book and would like us to stock it on our shelves.  Sometimes, their book has been picked up by one of the big publishers, but more often than not, it's a self-published project they come through our doors carrying.  We're living in interesting times in the book world; print-on-demand technology and so-called "vanity" presses have made it possible for practically anyone to publish a book.  In some important ways, this is a great democratizing trend, a way for us all to have access to an incredibly rich and diverse collection of voices and ideas.  In other ways, it makes selecting "good" books--books we think you'll want to read--even more challenging for us, as there's more and more to sift through every day.

We love it when we can share a success story about self-publishing. 

Stan Dunlap, who was principal at Miller Middle School here in Durango from 1990 through 1994, has written a really useful little book.  It's called Words of Wisdom: Four Minutes a Day to a Richer and More Powerful Vocabulary, and we have sold a bunch of copies.  Ted Holteen wrote a nice piece about Dunlap's book in the Durango Herald a few months back, which certainly helped spread the word. In it, Holteen praised the book for its ability to turn its reader into a genius...or at least someone who sounds like one.

Self-publishing can be a tricky business; we've heard from lots of authors over time that they didn't realize how much of their time would be spent marketing their books once they were finished writing them.  The skill set that goes into getting a book into other people's hands is pretty different from the skill set it takes to be a great writer; sometimes they overlap, and sometimes not. We're glad to see that in Dunlap's case, they do.

Read more about Words of Wisdom here, or stop in and we'll get it in your hands.

Some of us from the shop were lucky enough to travel to Denver last weekend to attend the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association's Fall Trade Show, where we heard author Jonathan Evison (there to talk about his new epic historical novel West of Here, due out from Algonquin in February 2011) wow a packed room with the most exciting bit of indie bookseller-love we've heard in a long time.  Had to share it with you all.

A Bookseller's Love Story by Jonathan Evison

For thirteen years I've been stocking the shelves at The Book Cathedral, and it is my love story.

You will probably not remember me by my name, but call me Ishmael. Or Tom Jones, or Tom Sawyer, or Elmer Gantry, or McTeague, or The Idiot, if you like. You may not remember me for my wispy hair, or brick-shaped loafers, nor for the wealth of cat hair clinging to the seat of my faded dockers. I distinguish myself by my love of books, and by never using the search function--I've no need of it.

Ask me who's between Allende and Sherwood Anderson, and I shall tell you without pause, Martin Amis, between Sarte and Schulberg, Saunders, and at the end of the line, you'll find Zusak, unless of course we're out, in which case you'll find Zafon. Blindfold me and spin me around in circles, then set me straight and run my fingers down the spines, and I'll tell you when we get to Proust, or the shorter novels of Melville. Ask me where to find Silas Wegg and I shall point you to Dickens. Ask me where is Oskar and I'll tell you he's banging his tin drum between Golding and Graves. And if it's Sancho Panza you're after, you'll find him chasing windmills with Quixote just to the left of Chaucer.

Ask me All About Lulu. Ask me For Whom the Bell Tolls. Ask me where A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, or What Makes Sammy Run, and I shall tell you without hesitation, that the answer to the universe is 42. Or that it's never too late to have a happy childhood. Or that A Good Man is Hard to Find. Or that The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Or that You Can't Go Home Again. I will show you the beating heart of Ragtime, drag you kicking through Hard Times, In Our Time, to Places I've Done Time. Through The Age of Innocence, The Age of Reason, to The Winter of Our Discontent. You'll meet The Sleeping Father, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Bigamist's Daughter, and Wittgenstein's Mistress. I'll lead you to the Shining City, beneath The Sheltering Sky, past Lions and Shadows, to The Dark Side of Guy de Maupassant-and if it pleases you, to the very Heart of Darkness, itself. I will tell you The History of Love, The Brief History of the Dead. I will tell you The Secret Life of Bees. I'll tell you A Tale of Two Cities that will make All the Pretty Horses whiny and All the King's Men weep. I will explain The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, How the Dead Dream, and The Way of the Pilgrim, I will talk Of Mice and Men, Of Time and the River, of Leaves of Grass, until finally, at the end of night, when The Moon is Down, the sun will also rise, and everything will be illuminated.

Now, ask yourself: are you going to get this kind of service on Amazon?

Fortune telling? With animals?  Check it out: Shay lays down a new Word:

Rarely a day goes by without someone wandering in the shop to ask if we're hiring.  More often than not, because the folks who work here enjoy working here, the answer is, "Not right now, but you're welcome to fill out an application."  Sometimes, however, new and exciting opportunities arise for one of our staff members, and a coveted spot opens up.  Like now.

We are currently hiring for a part-to-full-time bookseller to join our staff.  Closing date for applications is Sunday, July 25th, and we plan to have a hiring decision made no later than August 6th.

Maria’s Bookshop has served Durango and its surrounding communities since 1984.  Our customers count on receiving outstanding service every time they walk through our doors. We trust our employees to ensure that this expectation is met and exceeded with each customer interaction. 

We are seeking enthusiastic readers with previous experience in bookselling or a desire to learn. General skills we like to see in our new employees include: prior retail or public relations experience, Windows computer experience, an ability to be attentive to details while keeping an eye on the big picture and a constant desire to learn and solve problems.  Flexibility and a sense of humor are a must.

All booksellers are required to work a variety of shifts including weekdays, weekends, and evenings. Time-off is restricted during our busiest seasons as follows: during July and August one week is available, and between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day no time off is available. Outside of these times we attempt to be flexible and accommodate employee-scheduling needs. 

This position is physically demanding. In addition to being on your feet six to nine hours per day, it also requires the ability to lift heavy boxes, take out trash, shelve books, climb ladders, sweep floors and sidewalks, shovel snow and clean the shop.  We try to maintain a comfortable atmosphere for our customers.  It is commonly overlooked that our staff works very hard to maintain this atmosphere.

Maria’s Bookshop offers competitive wages and benefits.  Starting pay is $9.00 an hour. Benefits include a 40% merchandise discount, and company-matched IRA contributions. There may also be an opportunity for advancement to higher responsibility jobs including managerial positions. 

You now know more of what this job at Maria’s Bookshop entails. If you believe you are a potential candidate, we invite you to contact libby@mariasbookshop.com no later than Thursday the 22nd for an application or stop in the shop to pick one up. Please pay particular attention to the questions on the back of the application. They help us to get to know you better. Include a resume and any additional information if you feel it will help us in making a decision about your qualifications for this position. 

Shay discovers a great word from Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces.