Alina Sayre

Independent Bookstores: Santa Rosa

~ Alina ~ 2 Comments

This is the story of my life.

not to be trusted in a bookstore with a credit card - pinback button badge

Especially at a used bookstore like Treehorn Books in Santa Rosa, CA. My mom and I took a short trip up there last fall and saw the “Books” sign in the window. You know what happened next.

Of course I couldn’t resist going in. In a cheery, pedestrian-dominated downtown just off of Highway 101, this bookstore rubs elbows with public outdoor gardens, international fair-trade shops, coffee shops, and an authentic millinery store–that’s a hat shop to the rest of us.
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My attention was arrested right from the window, where an array of dollhouses and paper constructions, including Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, announces the presence of whimsy and imagination (some of them are dangling from the ceiling).
But of course, as with good books and good people, it’s the inside that really counts. This bookshop is much bigger than it looks on the outside. Rows and aisles and alcoves and crannies of books. No sliding ladders here, but there are some stepstools.
I drooled over books old and new for a while, even chatting it up with the friendly store owner for a few minutes. But what almost got me was the first-edition boxed set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy under glass by the cash register. Gasp. Drool. (For those of you who don’t yet know, I had The Lord of the Rings read to me when I was eight and it’s been my most favorite, inspirational set of books ever since. See my Good Reads page for evidence.)
Unfortunately, those beautiful first editions were something like $250 per book. And since I am a devoted book lover, I majored in English in college. Which meant that that purchase was not happening. So I admired that boxed set like a work of art in a museum and decided to put it on my “when I am rich and famous” list.
Take heart, though! The less rare books were very accessibly priced. So if you’re ever in Santa Rosa, climb a few of the stepstools for me.
Treehorn Books is located at 625 4th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. They don’t have a website, but their Yelp page has all their information. 

Cats, Dogs, and Grammar

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When I’m not writing irresistible blog posts (*ahem*) I actually make a living by fixing people’s grammar. As a freelance editor and English tutor, mostly, but occasionally for free in conversation. I really try to keep that knee-jerk reaction under control, though.

Grammar is descriptive rather than prescriptive, meaning that what is “correct” changes over time, according to the way people really use words in speaking and writing. Unlike in science, there are very few absolute laws in grammar. So anyone who tries to collar you and tell you that ending a sentence with a preposition is a cardinal sin is probably just…overreacting.

Overreacting. Image courtesy of stock.xchng and xvoltagex

That being said, the goal of language is to communicate, and to accomplish that, the way we use language has to be standardized. Publications like the MLA Handbook, the Chicago Manual of Style, and the Associated Press Stylebook exist to teach us how to write standard English (and even write with style). And because of them, here are a few of my pet peeves from the last few weeks:

1. Take your sentences to the gym

I think of a sentence as a person going for a workout. Get rid of all the extra flab, and you’ve got a toned, healthy, athletic body. You can’t get attached to that extra bit of tummy fat; it’s about the health and fitness of the whole body. So for the sake of the sentence’s health, ask yourself, “Can I say the same thing in fewer words?”

Image courtesy of stock.xchng and ctr

2. “The difference between the right word and the almost right word…”

“…is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug” (Mark Twain). I love big words. I am enraptured by big words. My favorite word in English is tintinnabulation. (Go look that one up for a grin.) But every word has a shade of meaning, and you have to choose the one that best suits your sentence. So don’t use incursion when you mean raid, or hirsute when you mean bearded. There’s a time and a place for big words, but they’re not one-size-fits-all. Make sure you understand what you’re really saying.

Image courtesy of stock.xchng and Catrya

3. Be nice to apostrophes

This one’s best explained with a couple of formulas and a picture.

Your=belonging to you
You’re=you are
You’re about to step on your French poodle.

Whose=belonging to whom
Who’s=who is
Whose French poodle is that? Who’s a French poodle? 

(Note: who’se is not a thing…)

There=a place
Their=belonging to them
They’re=they are
They’re picking up their French poodle from there.

Poor poodle.

Image courtesy of stock.xchng and crs_171

Loving the grammar (or need some more help)? Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips is one of my favorite quick-reference websites. I also just found out that Grammar Girl has a whole Pinterest board of hilarious cartoons for grammar nerds. Enjoy!

Do you have any pet grammar peeves? Feel free to share them in the comments!

Independent Bookstores: Seattle

~ Alina ~ 2 Comments

Since I spent last weekend visiting my college stomping grounds in Seattle, Washington, what could be better than to do a tour of the city’s used bookstores? In a city full of coffee, hipsters, and rain, the book trade flourishes, and the independent bookstores each have as much uniqueness as the people walking by. Here are my top 3 favorite Seattle bookstores:

1. Arundel Books

Though Arundel has recently moved to the Pioneer Square area, its old location was just a few blocks from Pike Place Market. Selling new, used, and rare books, it has something to tempt everyone. I found one of my rare nonfiction buys there: a copy of Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment, on the psychology and importance of fairy tales. Very intriguing. Just as intriguing as Arundel’s spiral staircase that leads into an airy balcony packed with books.

2. Mercer Street Books

When my old favorite, Twice-Sold Tales, left the Lower Queen Anne area, Mercer Street Books rose from its ashes. A quick bus ride away from my school, this bookstore’s big, inviting windows often lured me to step inside…probably more often than I should have. In addition to selling used books, they also buy used books.

To me, selling books feels like selling children. I could perhaps conceive of passing along a few “less-favorite” titles in order to make room for more books on my shelves. But I have this hunch that if I were to trade books for money, I’d instantly trade money for more books. Then I’d leave with more than I brought. It’s one of the unfortunate laws of book magnetism.

3. Ophelia’s Books

Definitely my favorite independent bookstore in Seattle, Ophelia’s buys and sells used books. I found a nearly-new copy of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose for about $7 here while I was working on my college senior project. But the real draw of this bookstore is its charm. See that upstairs loft? The ceiling is only 5′ 10″ off the floor. And guess what’s shelved up there? Children’s books. Oh yes. Perfect.

There’s always at least one cat lurking around Ophelia’s. Even though cats make me sneeze, they do lend a certain ambience to a quirky little book paradise like this one. And I love that the store is named after a character from Hamlet, my favorite Shakespeare play!

Ophelia’s also has a spiral staircase. Have I mentioned that I think spiral staircases are awesome? Almost as awesome as sliding ladders. Those will show up in another bookstore, another day.

This concludes our tour of the Rainy City’s used bookstores. I know there are many more, though, so if you have a favorite that’s not listed here, please leave a comment!

Novels and Ships

~ Alina ~ 2 Comments

So instead of blogging yesterday…

…I worked on my novel.

Which looked kind of like doing Internet research on ships.

I found one that might end up in my final draft. It was known as a packet ship of the Black Ball Line, active from 1817-1878.

Cool, huh? Fast, spacious, well-armed. I won’t tell you what it’s for, but let’s just say it’s making a cameo in this book so it can possibly reappear in the sequel.

And here’s a snippet of what I was working on yesterday:

Ellie took the pen and let it hover above the page. Fill the words with light. Where on earth to start? She closed her eyes, remembering the story. Instead of curly black letters, she saw sailors fleeing from giant waves, a salty hurricane of spray overwhelming them. But then the clouds broke, and the white gull came wheeling down in a shaft of late golden light. The fearsome waves were turned to turquoise mountain peaks, capped with snowy foam–and gilded with light like the Legend in her visions. She dabbed her pen in the dish of blue ink and began to draw. 

Getting excited? So am I. I’ve only got about 45 pages left to revise!

Signs of the Southwest

~ Alina ~ 4 Comments
I get such a kick out of road signs. I grew up with the habit of reading anything with words on it (including the backs of cereal boxes at breakfast). So now it’s hard to stop. And sometimes, especially while traveling, the habit leads to laughs. 
For example: where else but the Grand Canyon will you see a “Mule Crossing” sign? Let alone one that gives them the traffic right-of-way? 

I liked this one in Bryce Canyon, Utah. I thought maybe standing close to it would be good for my creative juices.

This one, at Hoover Dam in Nevada, was especially beautiful. I didn’t expect to find a giant lump of concrete so interesting, but it takes on a different meaning when you realize that this giant dam redeemed a desert wasteland. Because of Hoover Dam, arid stretches of Arizona, Nevada, and southern California are now fertile and life-supporting. And more than a few workers during the Great Depression gave their lives to make it happen. 

Sometimes, grammar is just funny. (If you’re wondering, the correct conjugation is “bitten.”)

Some wise and artistic person decided to complement the beauty of the Grand Canyon with the beautiful and praise-giving words of the Psalms (I found these plaques scattered at various viewpoints along the South Rim).

And the moral of the story is: do not–do NOT–attempt to buy gas in Death Valley.

Seen any wise, wacky, or hilarious road signs lately? 

Canyons

~ Alina ~ 4 Comments

Canyons are a bad idea.

As my family and I roadtripped around the American Southwest at the end of May, we saw a lot of them. They’re fissures in the earth, weird yawning abysses. I thought of Dante’s Inferno or C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. In fact, it looks like I wasn’t the only one:

A sign from the Grand Canyon shuttle route

Canyon hiking is an especially bad idea. Besides the abnormal elevation at the rim, the increasing temperature as you descend, the arid landscape that sucks out your body moisture, the sheer drops at every turn, the risk of poisonous snakes and scorpions, possible claustrophobia, and rapidly changing weather conditions, you have to deal with this fact:

Down is optional, up is mandatory

Unlike with mountain hiking, in a canyon you hike downhill first, while you’re fresh. But you’d better hike to only about 1/3 of your energy–because then it’s twice as hard to come back up. When you’re already tired.

So canyon hiking is a really bad idea.

But…

…if we never took risks…

…if we never ran with an idea that might fail…

…if we never did anything just a little bit crazy…

…we’d miss out on this.

Bryce Canyon, Utah

And this.

Grand Canyon, Arizona

And this.

Antelope Canyon, Arizona

Sometimes risks aren’t worth the payoff. And of course you have to plan for them accordingly. But sometimes…maybe unexpectedly…risks can reveal life’s beauty.

Ever taken a risk that made you glad you did? 

Inner Beauty Photo Shoot

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Yesterday I had the privilege of photographing two lovely young women, both of whom recently graduated from college. (It’s that time of year when it seems like everyone is transitioning from one life stage to another!)

Kristin has a smile that could dazzle the socks off of you. She’s also got this incredible long blonde Rapunzel hair (not quite 70 feet long yet, but getting there).

Jasmine has these stunning eyes that kind of change color to match whatever shade of blue she’s wearing. And a great sense of style. I mean, seriously.

What I enjoy most about these ladies, though, is their personality and sense of adventure. I always enjoy interacting with women who exemplify a sense of inner beauty. You can’t always catch that sense of sincerity on camera, but occasionally it comes out. For instance, Kristin wasn’t afraid to play on the corkscrew fixture at the playground. No, sirree.

And Jasmine cleverly repurposed that pink scarf she’s wearing from another piece of clothing. You can’t see it in this shot, but she then repurposed it again as a dance ribbon.

Loveliest of all is the friendship between these two, which I’ve been blessed to participate in over the many years we’ve known each other.

Happy graduation, Kristin and Jasmine! Here’s to two young women who are beautiful, both on the inside and outside!

Next week I’ll be starting a series based on my family’s roadtrip around the American Southwest. Be sure to check back in for some crazy pictures, stories, and traveler tips! 

Independent Bookstores: Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz

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On an avenue lined with bakeries, antique shops, street singers, and delicious coffee stand three little-known gems of the literary world. Today we’re on Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz.
First stop: Bookshop Santa Cruz.
This one’s a mix of new and used books, priding itself on its independence and emphasis on local authors. With a clean, bright interior and an impressive selection, it’s also one of only twelve bookstores nationwide to have an Espresso Book Machine. Okay. This is the coolest thing ever. It’s a machine that prints books on demand, on the spot. You can select from over 8 million titles and have your own copy printed, bound, and trimmed in front of your eyes, or even self-publish your own book. (The link above includes a video of the machine printing.)

Next up: The Literary Guillotine.

Cool sign, right? Considering that Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorite books, I definitely stood there and snickered at it for a moment.
The Literary Guillotine isn’t located right on Pacific Avenue–it’s just off to the side, at 204 Locust Street (wonder if there’s any symbolism in that). There’s a cute little red wagon containing sale books just outside the door. Unfortunately, I thought the outside was a little cooler than the inside. Maybe I’d think differently if I were still in college–their selection is heavily academic, catering especially to UCSC students. Maybe my brain is getting soft, having been out of school for almost 2 years.
Last, but not least: Logos Books and Records.
Fun factoid: logos (λογοσ) means word or Word, one of my favorite words in Greek (see my blog subtitle). I’m not much of a music person, but Logos Books and Records definitely has a selection–along with a huge variety of paperbacks, hardbacks, bestsellers, and antiquarian books, which hold much more draw for me. Over 40 years old, Logos claims to be the largest independent used books and music store on the central coast of California. On a previous occasion, I found a book on bookbinding here; this time, I bought a copy of Dorothy Wordsworth’s journals, cross-referenced with a selection of her brother William’s poems. After learning about Dorothy while visiting the Wordsworth’s home in England, I was thrilled to find some of her writings. Such “finds” are one of my favorite things about the used bookstore experience–I came out with something I wasn’t looking for, but that adds a welcome “friend” to my collection. Old, obscure, and only $5? Yes please.

At a price like that, I can get coffee too…and enjoy both at San Lorenzo Park across the river.

Have you been to any of the bookstores on Pacific Avenue? Have any reviews, trip stories, or extra information to share? I’d love to hear your comments! 

Why Independent Bookstores?

~ Alina ~ 6 Comments

Though I’ve been a book addict since before I could read and much of my childhood was spent haunting Barnes and Nobles or public libraries, it wasn’t until college that I really discovered independent bookstores.

Here are my top 3 reasons to choose an independent bookstore:

1. Cheaper books

Many independent bookshops stock used as well as new books. As any economist can tell you, when the price of a commodity falls, demand for it rises, because people can afford to buy more of it. Cheaper books=more books on my shelf. Where’s the problem?

2. Charm

Far from the mass-produced commerciality of chain bookstores, with their hygienic, matching stacks of flash-in-the-pan bestsellers, independent bookstores have the allure of individuality and eccentricity. Don’t get me wrong–I love a good multi-story Barnes and Noble with a digitized inventory system (I spent two college summers working in one), or in Britain, a big, clean Blackwell’s or Waterstones. But from the sign over the door to the entrance display of books to the cat in the window, no two used bookstores are exactly alike.

3. Adventure

Chain bookstores have the feel of business parks; independent bookstores are more like house parties with literary friends. You step in and run into someone you know (“Mr. Wordsworth! It’s been too long!”), make some small talk, and pretty soon they’re introducing you to their friends and their friends’ friends (Eco, Joyce, Zusak, I take down on my To-Read list). Next thing you know, you’re exchanging business cards and promising to keep in touch and walking out with a dreamy smile and a stack of “finds” you didn’t know existed an hour ago. (This is why I often leave my credit card in the car when I enter a bookstore.) It reminds me of the movie Midnight in Paris, where if you step into the magic car at midnight, you might be whisked off to sit in Gertrude Stein’s living room and watch Hemingway argue with Fitzgerald. Sometimes I’m so overwhelmed by the collective wisdom and camaraderie that I get teary in front of the fiction section.

Image courtesy of stock.xchng and kaeska

So, to shed some light on these little-known gems (and to give myself an excuse to visit more of them), I’m starting a blog series profiling various independent bookstores, especially those that include used books. Some will be local to my area, some farther afield. While there won’t be a new one every week (I wish), this series will be recurrent as I discover more bookstores. If you read about one you’ve visited, feel free to post your experience with it in the comments section. If there’s one that strikes your fancy, go visit (and let me know how it goes)! Or, best of all, if you have recommendations for bookstores I should cover, I’d be only too happy to hear about them 🙂

Next week: a trio of bookstores on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz…

Heroines of Inner Beauty

~ Alina ~ 3 Comments

As kind of a follow-up to last week’s post, I’ve compiled a Top 5 list of books that focus on inner beauty. They’re all fiction, because I believe stories are one of the most powerful teaching tools in existence. Some of the heroines of these books have been my best friends and role models since childhood. If you’ve already met some of them yourself, you know what I’m talking about.

So without further ado: a reading list for your daughters, nieces, sisters, or anyone else you might want to inspire to grow in inner beauty.

1. Anne Shirley, from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

If I were a literary character, I’d want to be Anne. The smart, spunky, redheaded heroine often gets herself into “scrapes” because of her quick temper, but her imagination and indomitable spirit usually dig her back out again. 

2. Polly Milton, from An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott

While the author’s tone can verge on moralistic at times, the childlike Polly is impossible not to like. She grows from a little girl who enjoys being one to a responsible, kind young woman who sets the example for others.

3. Sara Crewe, from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A classic riches-to-rags-to-riches story, A Little Princess follows Sara from a position of great wealth to one of destitution. While she starts out as a kind, imaginative girl, poverty puts her to the test–and reveals that being a princess is something that comes from the inside.

4. Stargirl, from Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

This whimsical modern classic follows Leo Borlock’s discovery of and fascination with Stargirl, a formerly homeschooled high schooler who simply doesn’t conform to the crowd. Whether she’s carrying her pet rat around in a sunflower bag or cheerleading for the opposite team, Stargirl is always true to herself, never bending to others’ expectations.

5. Anne Elliot, from Persuasion by Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s last work (and one I just read last year), Persuasion isn’t your typical love story. Anne Elliot has lost love and never expects to find it again, filling her life instead with cheerful, humble service to friends and family. When love does reappear for her, it is sweeter than she could have imagined.

Have you read any of these books? Are there any that you’d add to this list?