Books Coming & Going

Someone pointed out that Christmas (and summer) is just around the corner. It'll be our second summer in the shop. Sometimes it feels like time really does fly! Before we bought the business, we asked Don several times what the most popular genres and areas of the shop were, his response was always along the lines that it was so hard to say as it was so variable but that everything always sold. And that's so true.

The books on the shelves keep changing, matching the ebb and flow of the so many readers and book lovers who wander through the shop or buy online. There really is no clear favourite genre or best-selling section in the shop. We just watch the books come and go.

Sometimes it's like greeting old friends: new books arrive and in that pile happens to be books that treasured as a child. Just recently for me there were several books from my childhood, including 'Ramona the Pest', 'Mrs Peppperpot', 'The Wombles', 'A Fish Out of Water', and 'Spy Stories for Boys'. (I thought it was so unfair that there wasn't an equivalent for girls!)

In that same pile there was also a modern 'Amelia Bedelia'. If you don't know Amelia Bedelia, check her out! Back in my day Amelia worked as a servant for a rich family and created havoc by interpreting everything literally. For example, she's told to change the towels, so she does - she cuts them up into different shapes so they're changed! Or she's told to draw the curtains (pull them closed), so she gets out her paints and draws a picture of the curtains. I loved those books as a child. And now there's newer ones. After the author Peggy Parish died, her nephew Herman started to make new Amelia Bedelia stories. So I'm glad to see that Amelia Bedelia continues. The playful havoc that can be created with language is fun!

Other times it's hard to say goodbye to a book. Over the last few weeks I've had to say goodbye to 'Calvin and Hobbs' and Tove Jansson. But then there is the delight in seeing them going off to new homes to be read and cherished and the knowledge for us here at Book Haven, that there will always be more coming.

That's one key message to book browsers and customers, if you're after something special - keep an eye on our website as new books are always arriving and we update the website at least four times a week. Check it out.