Last week’s newzine ran into a buzz saw of problems – spam filters and teeth grinding. As far as we know, very few of the ones we did bother to try to send went through. It appeared to us as if all of them sent to the first groups of addresses bounced back. So we quit trying. We’ve posted last week’s on our blog but will not include any of it in this message.
Special Request to Those of You Who Have Books on Hold
We’d very much like to clear the hold shelves before the end of the year. If you can’t make it in to get what you’ve asked us to hold, please make arrangements to have them mailed to you. - many thanks!
End of the Year Sale!
For the month of December, we are offering 10% off all used hardcovers, including collectibles. Here’s your chance to find something truly special to put under the tree for a booklover on your shopping list! Or maybe you’ve had your eye on something and Santa’s money will make it affordable…
AND TOO! Even more great reasons to come see us!
We got this notice from our local Pioneer Square Association, designed to entice you to come visit us, and not just on the weekends, either:
“Pioneer Square Retailers,
Through December 31, your customers can get 2-HOURS FREE PARKING at the 1st & Columbia Garage!!! Please share this information with your customers via newsletter, Facebook, Twitter or other ways! Here is the link for you to share: http://www.pioneersquare.org/discover/first-two-hours-free-parking-in-pioneer-square.
How to Get Free Parking:
1. Park at the First and Columbia Garage (721 First Ave).
2. Keep the ticket issued from the garage.
3. Shop, dine, and enjoy holiday events in Pioneer Square (at your establishment!)
4. Go to Milepost 31, the SR 99 tunnel project information center at 211 First Ave S (Hours: Tues-Sat, 11 am- 5 pm), to pick up a free two-hour voucher ticket.
5. After retrieving the vehicle, drive to the exit and put the garage-issued ticket into the machine FIRST for balance, then insert the free parking voucher ticket to apply discount.
The Fine Print:
Valid ONLY at First and Columbia Garage (721 First Ave, Seattle, WA 98104). You may park for two hours for free. After that, posted rates apply. Not valid when special events or gameday rates are in effect. Valid through 12/31/2014. No cash value. Limit one per car per visit. No purchase necessary. While supplies last.
We are very excited about this holiday season and hope this promotion helps to draw additional shoppers to your business.
Thank You!”
Holiday Calendar:
For future reference, our calendar of holidays and our hours as we head toward the end of the year:
Sun, Dec 21 – Winter Solstice: Open
Wed, Dec 24 – Christmas Eve: Closing at 2pm
Thurs, Dec 25 – Christmas Day: Closed
Fri, Dec 26 – Boxing Day, Kwanza Begins: Open
Wed, Dec 31 – New Year’s Eve: Closing at 2pm
Thurs, Jan 1 – New Year’s Day: Closed
Fri Jan 2 – Our Regular Hours will change!
The 5-6pm hour doesn’t see much action – very few sales. So, from Jan 2nd to maybe sometimes in March, if then (depends on tourist season and over-all sales):
Sunday stays the same, noon – 5
Mon – Sat: 10 to 5
If there are people in the shop at 5pm, we won’t kick them out. By the same token, if you can be here by just a few minutes after 5, call and we can see if someone can stay. But Call First!
And the Post Office gives these dates for DOMESTIC Holiday shipping:
Dec 23 is the deadline for Priority Mail Express to reach its destination by the 24th
So that means, if you want us to order something for you, speak now!
Gift Certificates:
They’re available in Whatever Denomination You Want; They Don’t Expire; You can Order Them by Phone, e-mail or through the Website, and we can Mail them directly to the Recipient if you’d like. Perfect for all sorts of occasions. And they make GREAT stocking stuffers!
Links of Interest:
Crime Fighters Unite!: Marvel At 75: Still Slinging Webs And Guarding Galaxies
Lost in Translation: The World’s Most Unique Words? (one is a Japanese term for piles of unread books…)
While we specialize in mystery and crime books, we can order virtually any new book that you might want, no matter what its topic.
Signed Copies to Reserve (the authors will not be here for a formal signing or we’ll be getting the copies from other sources):
Gigi Pandian will be dropping by on January 31st at some time to sign The Accidental Alchemist (Midnight Ink, $14.99). Things don't go smoothly when Zoe Faust moves into her fixer-upper Portland home. While unpacking the crates she's had shipped from her storage in France, she discovers that she's picked up a hitchhiker, a French gargoyle named Dorian Robert-Houdin, who needs Zoe's help deciphering an ancient text, the one used to animate him. You see, there's an unexpected side effect to the spell, and Dorian needs a true alchemist like Zoe to counteract it. The problem is that Zoe stopped practicing alchemy centuries ago, so she's not sure she can help. Fran loved this book!
See the calendar of all currently-scheduled events on our website. The website calendar contains plot synopses. At the bottom of it is the updated, complete list of signed copies that we’ll be getting from other sources. Click Here.
Jayne Ann Krentz, Jan 6 –This Event has been Cancelled
Tracy Weber & M.A. Lawson, Jan 10
Jeanne Matthews, Jan 14
Thomas Perry, Jan 16
Pamela Christie, Jan 17
Tessa Arlen, Jan 24
Yasmine Galenorn, Jan 31, drop-by, time uncertain
Burt Weissbourd, Jan 31 at 3:00pm
Cara Black, Mar 2
Glen Erik Hamilton, Mar 3
C.S. Harris, Mar 7
Leslie Budewitz, Mar 17
And there are always more on the way!
Remember, too, that while it is always fun to come in and meet the author in person, that isn’t always possible. So reserve a signed copy to be mailed to you or for you to pick up later. Those who reserve in advance get the copies in the best condition!
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Wish List:
Our website has a Wish List capability. If folks want to know what you’d like for a given holiday or birthday, it is easy to point people to our website. Amber has put together a dandy blog post explaining it and how it works.
Word of the Week:
merry (adj.) Old English myrge "pleasing, agreeable, pleasant, sweet; pleasantly, melodiously," from Proto-Germanic *murgijaz, which probably originally meant "short-lasting," (compare Old High German murg "short," Gothic gamaurgjan "to shorten"), from PIE *mreghu- "short" (see brief (adj.)). The only exact cognate for meaning outside English was Middle Dutch mergelijc "joyful."
Connection to "pleasure" is likely via notion of "making time fly, that which makes the time seem to pass quickly" (compare German Kurzweil "pastime," literally "a short time;" Old Norse skemta "to amuse, entertain, amuse oneself," from skamt, neuter of skammr "short"). There also was a verbal form in Old English, myrgan "be merry, rejoice." For vowel evolution, see bury (v.).
Bot vchon enle we wolde were fyf, þe mo þe myryer. [c.1300]
The word had much wider senses in Middle English, such as "pleasant-sounding" (of animal voices), "fine" (of weather), "handsome" (of dress), "pleasant-tasting" (of herbs). Merry-bout "an incident of sexual intercourse" was low slang from 1780. Merry-begot "illegitimate" (adj.), "bastard" (n.) is from 1785. Merrie England (now frequently satirical or ironic) is 14th C. meri ingland, originally in a broader sense of "bountiful, prosperous." Merry Monday was a 16th C. term for "the Monday before Shrove Tuesday" (Mardi Gras). (thanks to etymonline.com)
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What We’ve Been Reading:
Amber Recommends:
Amber’s project for 2014: My 52 Weeks of Agatha Christie. Here’s her explanation.
This Week: Inconsistencies & Olympics
Fran Recommends:
Stuart Neville does noir in a great way. His latest novel, The Final Silence (Soho hc, $26.95) is, to me, the epitome of the true heart that drives a bleak noir story. Jack Lennon is damaged, and in some ways may not recover, but he’s still got some fight left in him and his guilt will drive him on.
You see, Jack is contacted by an old flame who’s found a terrifying scrapbook in her late uncle’s house, and Rea wants Jack to find out if what’s pasted in there is real. If it is, it could mean the end to her father’s career, but Rea doesn’t care. She wants justice. But when Jack arrives to look at the book, it’s vanished. He’s not sure he believes Rea, and he’s got his own problems – a growing addiction to pain killers and complete denial about his ongoing PTSD, along with the fact that he’s at odds with his daughter’s other side of the family.
But then Rea is murdered, and Jack is the last person (aside from the killer) to see her alive. And he makes an excellent suspect. But to clear his name, he’s going to have to stay clear of the police force from which he’s been suspended, and he’s going to have to face his own demons.
I’ve loved Stuart Neville’s writing from the very beginning, and The Final Silence is just as breathtakingly gritty and powerfully dark as anything he’s ever written. It’s certainly not a book for the squeamish, and if you’re looking for a warm and cuddly protagonist, you’ll need to look elsewhere. But if you love a hard-hitting story about doing the right thing, about families and their secrets, about figuring out that some battles aren’t obvious and are often the hardest to win, then The Final Silence – or anything by Stuart Neville – should be right up your alley.
We have two Tumblr blogs, in addition to our regular shop blog:
Books and Decay, maintained by Amber – interesting photos with literary quotes to match
Hardboiled, maintained by JB – pulp covers, film noir and other images of crime and mystery
On This Date:
Dec 20, 1923 – James Leason was born in Kent. His espionage books were both escapist and realistic
Dec 20, 1932 – John Hillerman, from “Magnum, PI” and Chinatown, was born
Dec 20, 1946 – gravel-voiced scene-chewer John Spencer was born in Patterson, NJ
Dec 20, 1951 – the only author to wear a kilt to a signing here, Peter May was born
Dec 20, 1968 – the first ‘official’ Zodiac killing occurred
Dec 20, 1991 – Oliver Stone’s JFK premiered
Dec 20, 2004 – an unknown gang robbed the Northern Bank in Belfast of £26.5 million in currency
Dec 21, 1903 – one of the creators of the police procedural, Lawrence Treat, was born
Dec 21, 1909 – Japanese mystery master Seicho Matsumoto was born in Hiroshima
Dec 21, 1911 – what is thought to have been the first use of a getaway car, after two men steal a satchel of money about to be delivered to a Paris bank and make off in a stolen limousine
Dec 21, 1937 – Klute actress Jane Fonda was born in NYC
Dec 21, 1938 - poet and novelist John Harvey was born in London and Shizuko Natsuki was born in Tokyo
Dec 21, 1944 - poet, biographer and novelist James Sallis was born in Helena, AK
Dec 21, 1948 – all-around wonderful actor Samuel L. Jackson was born
Dec 21, 1951 – “Dragnet” premiered.
Dec 21, 1965 – Thunderball had its US premiere
Dec 21, 1966 – ‘24’ star Kiefer Sutherland was born Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland in London
Dec 21, 1988 – the Lockerbie bombing
Dec 22, 1894 – Alfred Dreyfus convicted of treason
Dec 22, 1907 – mystery writer Doris Miles Disney was born in Glastonbury, CT
Dec 22, 1974 - The New York Times published an article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersch that detailed the CIA's dirty works over the previous decades - the so-called 'family jewels'
Dec 23, 1911 – deep-voiced character actor James Gregory was born in The Bronx
Dec 23, 1919 – Danish crime writer Poul Ørum was born
Dec 23, 1936 - Frederic Forrest was born in Waxahachie, TX. Let’s go with The Two Jakes and his spot-on performance in Hammett
Dec 23, 1960 – Japanese crime writer Miyuki Miyube was born in Tokyo
Dec 23, 1971 – just in time for the holidays, Dirty Harry premiered: “Det. Harry Callahan. You don’t assign him to a murder case, you just turn him loose.”
Dec 24, 1851 - a devastating fire swept through the Library of Congress, destroying an estimated 35,000 books. Worst library fire since the Library at Alexandria was destroyed around 2,000 years ago?
Dec 24, 1906 – James Hadley Chase, British writer of American hard-boiled noir, was born in London
Dec 24, 1922 – Hollywood siren Ava Gardner was born in Tokyo
Dec 24, 1927 - Mary Higgins Clarkwas born in the Bronx. The “Queen of Suspense” is also a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master
Dec 24, 1945 – Sherlockian writer Nicholas Meyer was born in NYC. Seems to us he’s done a few other things with his life, too…
Dec 24, 1947 – Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai premiered in France. Won’t make it to the US for six months
Dec 25, 1899 - Humphrey Bogart was born in NYC. We could fill the newzine with a list of his movies, but, in keeping with other entries, let’s limit it to 1941 adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon
Dec 25, 1909 - Pierre Audemars war born in London
Dec 25, 1931 - Joe Gores was born in Rochester, MN. A private eye turned writer – like his idol, Dashiell Hammett – Gores makes himself into an authority on Hammett and, in 2009, published Spade & Archer, a thoroughly entertaining and believable prequel to The Maltese Falcon. When Joe was 5, After the Thin Man, the second movie in the series, and based on an original story by Hammett, opened
Dec 25, 1951 – “Bloody Christmas” as LAPD cops beat up five white and Latino men (fictionalized in Ellroy’s LA Confidential)
Dec 25, 1973 – The Sting premiered in NYC and LA – HO HO HO
Dec 25, 1996 – JonBenét Ramsey found murdered
Dec 26 - two tough guys from Hollywood were born: Elisha Cook Jr (1903, San Francisco) and Richard Widmark (1914, Sunrise Township, MI)
Dec 26, 1917 – creator of convoluted “whodunins” Patricia McGerr was born in Falls City, NE. You know who the killer is and the story of the crime but not the identity
And Have a Relaxing and Book-Filled Weekend!
A most Happy and Peaceful Holiday to You and Yours!
Merry Solstifestimaskwanzaakah
or Whatever You Wrap for Boxing Day
HOHOHO and all that Jass
~ the Crew
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