Gratitude

Thank you. Yes, you.

2010 was an easy year in which to worry. About the economy, about the advent of the e-reader, about many larger and more pressing things in the world. As an independent bookseller, Lucy's is one of about 1400 left standing in the United States. A staggeringly small number, in all our 50 states. This holiday shopping season has been, counter to everything it should have been in this "brave(?) new world" we live in, wonderful. Being in downtown Astoria is a joy. I have never encountered so many people out and about, determined to patronize their very own small, local businesses. I feel sure that my neighbors downtown would agree. This has been a season of immense good will, and good cheer, every day.

Mr. Mattson, as you know, is regrouping after fire took his entire home, one of his beloved dogs, and his vast book collection. I have rarely seen such generosity as in the dollars (for books) and books themselves that have found their way here for him. At least one other local family has been temporarily displaced by fire, and the loss of #1 and #10 6th Streets to fire, and everything irreplaceable within and without, have given me pause to consider my blessings.

For my family, of course, and for Lucy's Books, which has given me another kind of family and community, I am profoundly grateful. My co-bookseller Brie is another source of my gratitude. She has been steadfastly present in my life for several years, and without her I honestly don't know what I'd do. I have found in my almost two decades living here, that this community cares for each other like no other place I have ever experienced.

I could go on, and it would just get sappier. Suffice it to say, I thank my community for the place and the people you are. Happy holidays, whatever those are for you, I hope for you peace and calm, health and happiness in the new year and all the years to come.

Laura, and Lucy's Books

Top Ten for 2010

Mind you, these are the very best books I read this year; I don't require that they were published this year to include them. I'm not a huge new release reader. I choose based on my mood, and what is on the table! I know I'm jumping on the bandwagon here, doing something that I find the tiniest bit annoying. I guess my family can confirm that I have the capacity to annoy...



In no particular order:



1. Anything by Jean Hanff Korelitz. She wrote four novels: Admission, The White Rose, The Sabbathday River, and A Jury of Her Peers.

2. Where Men Win Glory, by Jon Krakauer.

3. How to Leave Your Hometown for Good, poetry by Tim Sproul. If you know how to reach him and get more books help me! I can't seem to track him down!

4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.

5. Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand.



(OK, I know that 4 and 5 are on lots of lists, but many people know a good book!)



6. The Nine, by Jeffrey Toobin - if you are as thrilled as I am by Supreme Court doings...

7. Making Toast, by Roger Rosenblatt - the saddest and loveliest memoir.

8. Just Kids, by Patti Smith.

9. Faithful Place, by Tana French.

10. Gimme Refuge, by Matt Love - really one of the spectacular teacher memoirs ever.

Bonus #11. My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor, accompanied by her amazing talk on www.ted.com.