Roseledge Books is officially OPEN, which means that the corner sign on the horse chestnut tree has been switched to open and the weathered porch signs are out and usually readable if it doesn’t rain and the rhubarb is pulled.
Two groups of customers have been by which is a good first half of June. One was happy to find buyable known and unknown authors. The other wanted only new American fiction in hard copy which, of course uninsulated RB does not have because mildew is a seasonal oceanside hazard. Also, a sailor pointed out that a heavy bag carried back to the boat by dinghy is more likely to be a six pack of beer or bottle of wine than a hard cover book. RB strives to please.
Fig. #85. Early blossoms this year. Hurry if you want to see the roses of Roseledge.
Webcam Alert! It is a bigger and better picture and features the ripening blueberry bush with an occasional wave from the cut-leaf maple. Sometime next week, the ever larger and invasive euonymous bush will be a thing of the past and your harbor view will be bigger and even better. Charlie also added a better weather site, always a good thing when changeable weather and appropriate layers of clothing are facts of life for happy Sea Street walkers. (Click on Webcam Page for a good time.)
Roseledge Books’ big summer book order is in and will start arriving piecemeal next week. Such fun deciding what to read next and what to put where on the shelves. Does Martin Gruber’s A Forgery of Venus belong with the currently decimated art section or with other G’s in fiction? Should the one Ian Samson Mobile Library mystery title sit on the top shelf with Series or with other S’s? Should Paul Harding’s prize-winning Tinkers be shelved with Maine or with H’s? Does Barry Unsworth’s Land of Marvels belong with RB’s few, but very fine, Middle East books or with U’s? Some of these beg a favorite question: what separates documented fiction from speculative non-fiction?
The RB Master List will reflect this order and those of the past two years, but so far it is only sortable by author and title. I’m working on adding columns for the year(s) books were ordered and sold because I think that stuff is interesting. I can spend a lot of time on the St. George annual property tax lists, too. I can practically hear your yawns.
It is so good to be here. Charlie makes it even better, but he leaves next week. I am already bereft.
As the mother of an only son, I concur: everything goes better with the boy.
Wish I could visit Maine again this summer. If I win the HGTV green home, I’ll stop by.