Algren, The Movie

The Soul of a Book

“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.” 

                                                           ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

Pulitzas! Getcha Pulitzas!

Smell of an Earlier Time

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"The books in the shelves in front of me, sure enough, are. . .mainly books of Japanese poetry. Tanka and haiku, essays on poetry, biographies of various poets. . . .When I open them, most of the books have the smell of an earlier time leaking out between the pages-- a special knowledge and emotions that for ages have been calmly resting between the covers." 

                                                 -- Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

180 Years of Socialist Reading!

Here at the bookstore, we're good, cut-throat capitalists, but as the public library system bred most of our customers into the insatiable readers that can't seem to stop exchanging their hard-earned cash for our well-worn texts, we figure even socialists deserve a shout-out. Today in 1833, the Petersborough Public Library was opened as the first of its kind, and has continued to run as a free (gasp!) service to its patrons. We don't know how they do it. Magic probably. But props to this original gateway of book addiction.
-the oracle in residence

Read the text of this postcard from 1916