Since I work in a bookstore, when I have the night off, I like to really live it up.

By, you know, going to another bookstore.  I live on the wild side, what can I say?!

Portsmouth Book and Bar

There were delicious snacks.  

Kristin, enjoying her beer and the delicious snacks.

That's my cider on the shelf.
They have a great selection of books, and that's not just the alcohol talking!

My cider makes another appearance.
Books everywhere!  Even the windowsills.  

The renovation looks great.

The woman in the bottom right is reading on a kindle.  Poor form lady, poor form!

The back half of the store is where most of the books are located.  

The grand opening event was very packed.  It was great to see so many people turn out to welcome the business to Portsmouth, but I'll be hoping that there are a little less people when I go back.  It was a bit hard to browse with so many people milling about and any seats were constantly occupied.  I can hardly blame anyone for wanting to spend a lot of time there as I can't wait to browse more when the crowds have thinned out a bit.  Though that might be wishful thinking on my part.  So far, I've heard positive comments from anyone that has visited, so it might be crowded all the time!  

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I had the chance to go through some old papers at my parents' house.  When I was a child, my mother kept a box that she filled with important papers from my childhood.  Each of my siblings and I had such a box and from time to time growing up, we'd hear, "you'd better put it in your box."  I've scanned through the contents before but I don't think I really took the time to read everything like I did this time.  There was such an array of items in my box: my IEP, a family portrait I drew in first grade, my sash from Girl Scouts, folders filled with writing assignments from fifth grade through eighth grade, an invitation to my high school graduation.  Also included was this:

At eight years old, I was already establishing myself as a bookworm.  About that time, a wonderful thing happened in my life.  A children's bookstore opened in my town.

 

There was no better birthday present than one of their gift certificates enclosed in a red envelope with my name written on the front.  The address was different back then in the late eighties, but I'm thankful to still be able to visit the bookstore of my youth.

That chair out front is a newer addition, too.  

Here's a different angle of the chair, which you've hopefully noticed is comprised of  the A,B,C's.

When Eight Cousins opened, there were multiple other bookstores in Falmouth though none were exclusively for children.  Unfortunately those other stores have since shut their doors.  In their absence, Eight Cousins has evolved into a bookstore for every age in the community, offering books for adults as well as their vast selection for young readers.  I'd love to regale you with tales of me discovering the classics that were stocked on the shelves of Eight Cousins, but I can't.  I was consumed by a love of Sweet Valley Junior High books and the Babysitter's Club.  Was the super edition in stock??  Did Logan like Mary Ann?  Would Jessica continue to be the bad twin?  These were pressing questions in any young girl's life.  And I discovered the answers while cementing my love for reading.

Not only was I a customer, I also had close connections to the staff.  One of my close childhood friends and my sister both worked at Eight Cousins at various times.

My sister, in costume, being led down Main Street by a friend during a First Night celebration.  Its hard to see in those costumes so a guide is very helpful.    

I found my way into their backroom a few times too, folding the newsletters that would grace customers' mailboxes.  Even once I was past the age at which those newsletters were aimed, opening the mailbox to reveal the latest one still excited me.

If you find yourself on the Upper Cape, the book nerd in me can't recommend Eight Cousins enough.  You won't be disappointed.

A Selection of Quotes that I've Enjoyed Recently

"As we rush headlong into the twenty-first century, the physicality of trees seems more vital than ever.  The modern workplace and home are becoming increasingly antiseptic.  Americans now spend their days staring into computer screens that receive information as if by magic.  Daily life seems alarmingly virtual.  Trees provide the antidote.  The smell of pine needles, the crunch of autumn leaves, the roughness of bark are all reminders that we are a part of nature.  Tree hugging, in its most literal sense, offers a reconnection with the physical world, the world of our forefathers.  The forests and their trees are a sanctuary for the spirit.  To enter them is to seek renewal."  

Eric Rutkow

American Canopy

Pg. 347-348

"The most satisfying compliment a reader can pay is to tell me that he or she feels personally addressed.  Think of your own favorite authors and see if that isn't precisely one of the things that engages you, often at first without your noticing it.  A good conversation is the only human equivalent: the realizing that decent points are being made and understood, that irony is in play, and elaboration, and that a dull or obvious remark would be almost physically hurtful."

Christopher Hitchens

Mortality

Pg.  50-51

"I am of Irish descent, and to the Irish, books are as natural and inevitable a feature of the landscape as sand is to Tuaregs...When the English stormed the Emerald Isle under Cromwell in the seventeenth century, they took everything that was worth taking and burned everything else.  Thereafter, the Irish had no land, no money, no future.  That left them with words, and words became books, and books, ingeniously coupled with music and alcohol, enabled the Irish to transcend reality."

Joe Queenan

One For The Books

Pg. 9

"Certain things are perfect the way they are and need no improvement.  The sky, the Pacific Ocean, procreation, and the Goldberg Variations all fit this bill, and so do books.  Books are sublime, but books are also visceral.  They are physically appealing, emotionally evocative objects that constitute a perfect delivery system.  Electronic books are ideal for people who value the information contained in them, or who have vision problems, or who like to read on the subway, or who do not want other people to see how they are amusing themselves, or who have storage and clutter issues, but they are useless for people who are engaged in an intense, lifelong love affair with books.  Books that we can touch; books that we can smell; books that we can depend on."

Joe Queenan

One For The Books

Pg. 27