The Flying Pig Bookstore
Customers at the Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vt., are purchasing an abundance of nonfiction titles. The Rejection Collection Vol. 2 edited by Matthew Diffee, American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic by Joseph J. Ellis and Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
are leading the way to a 13.5% increase over last year's sales during
the first week of December.
The strong start is happening despite by the slow pace of hardcover fiction
sales. "I'm not seeing a lot of movement with the exception of Richard
Russo's Bridge of Sighs and Howard Frank Mosher's On Kingdom Mountain,"
co-owner Josie Leavitt said. "There are very few must-have bestsellers at the moment,
which is encouraging people to go to other sections of the store." The
thriller The Night Ferry by Australian Michael Robotham is also garnering sales.
Writers close to home are making waves at the Flying Pig, which in the
past 10 days has hosted three events with Vermont authors: Rusty
DeWees, who promoted Scrawlins, a collection of columns, and the
children's book authors Linda Urban (A Crooked Kind of Perfect) and Amy
Huntington (Three Lessons for Astair the Bear). Massachusetts author
Sarah Marwil Lamstein appeared at the store on Sunday to promote Letter
on the Wind: A Chanukah Tale.
Signed books are popular gift choices at the Flying Pig. The store has
hosted some 40 events since mid-September, and each author autographed
additional stock. Books are displayed on an end cap, and face-out
titles are changed daily. Among the offerings are titles by Tomie
dePaola, the author of Angels, Angels Everywhere, Guess Who's Coming to
Santa's for Dinner? and other picture books, and Bernd Heinrich, whose
oeuvre includes The Snoring Bird: My Family's Journey Through a Century
of Biology and Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival. "We have a reputation now as
a place where you can get some really interesting signed books," said
Leavitt.
Among the store's bestselling sideline items are Bush's Last Day
merchandise, which includes magnets and key chains with clocks that
count down the days until the current president is out of office. Some
canines are benefiting from their owners' political stance. Bush
Biskits--peanut butter flavored treats featuring a likeness of the
commander in chief--are situated near the cash wrap and appealing as
stocking stuffers and present toppers. One fervent customer
purchased a case to use as party favors.
The Yellow Book Road
The Sisters Grimm Book 1: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
helped lead the way to a stellar week at the Yellow Book Road in La
Mesa, Calif. Sales were up 10% over last year's tally for the first
week in December. Other titles customers were purchasing for Hanukkah
and Christmas gifts included Doreen Cronin's Diary of a Fly, The
Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers, Jann Brett's Mitten and
Three Snow Bears as well as Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller.
In general, "board books related to Christmas or Hanukkah are selling
better than the picture and early/middle reader holiday books," noted
owner Kristin Baranski. "I'm a bit surprised that more people aren't
giving Christmas picture books as holiday gifts. They're looking for
titles children can read year-long."
Young chefs are honing their culinary skills with titles like Fiona
Watt's Little Book of Christmas Cooking, one of the Yellow Book Road
staff's favorite handsells in the category. "It has a great price point
[$6.99], and the cover is cute," said Baranski, while the small trim
size makes it easy for children to hold.
Sideline items selling well at Yellow Book Road include Christmas Tree
in-a-Box, which is featured in the store's holiday display. "It's
perfect for a classroom or office decoration," Baranski said. Puppets
and stuffed animals are also proving popular, as well as stocking
stuffers located near the cash wrap like children's watches and small
board books.
Customers seeking holiday gift-giving assistance are making use of the
store's shopping service. This past Saturday a woman phoned
and asked for recommendations for eight children. Selections were made
by store staff after they heard about the personalities and reading
level of each child. "It was fun to shop for her," said Baranski, "and
even more enjoyable when she loved the books we pulled for her." The
personal touch resulted in a $300 sale.
Here are some of the Yellow Book Road's gift suggestions by age range:
- Infant and Toddler: Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
- Picture Book: Toy Boat by Randall de Sève and Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems
- Early Reader: the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park
- Middle Reader Pick for Girls: Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb by Kirsten Miller
- Middle Reader Pick for Boys: The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep by John Hulme and Michael Wexler
- Young Adult: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Murder by the Book
The bestselling title last week at Murder by the Book in Houston, Tex.,
was Sue Grafton's T Is for Trespass. Some 300 people turned out for the
mystery author's signing last Thursday; the momentum continued Friday
and Saturday, when sales were triple those of a normal week. Gift
certificate purchases were on the rise as well, said manager McKenna
Jordan, and so far this season "everything is looking great."
Grafton's appearance wasn't the only notable event to take place last
Thursday. The latest issue of the store's quarterly magazine, The Dead
Beat, was hot off the press. Created by assistant manager David
Thompson, the magazine is "a fabulous selling tool," said Jordan. "We
always see a huge rise in sales the week it comes out." (Customers who
couldn't wait for a printed copy had been provided with a PDF via
e-mail.) The magazine is sold in the store, as well as by subscription,
and a complimentary copy is given with purchases of $40 or more.
This issue of The Dead Beat is the first of two spotlighting Soho Press
titles. The decision had nothing to do with co-op advertising, noted
Jordan, but rather the staff's enthusiasm for the company's books.
Their favored Soho authors include Peter Lovesey, Cara Black and Colin
Cotterill, who illustrated the magazine's cover (it can be seen on
murderbooks.com). It's the first time an author has lent artistic
abilities to the task, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of
this issue will be donated to Cotterill's Books for Laos project
(colincotterill.com). The writer's Laos-set thrillers include
Thirty-three Teeth and The Coroner's Lunch.
One of the "Mysterious Gift Ideas" featured in the magazine is Interred
with Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell, which is the staff's choice
for Best Debut of the Year. Employees are recommending the literary
thriller--which features a killer staging murders from Shakespeare's
plays--to readers who enjoyed Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale.
Picking up speed this week is The Rainaldi Quartet by Paul Adam, which
Jordan described as "a really excellent Italian mystery."
Although the store carries a selection of non-mystery and thriller
titles--among them Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of
Adventure and novels by Penny Vincenzi, Dorothea Benton Frank and
Jennifer Chiaverini--customers are opting for murder and mayhem. "This
time of year," said Jordan, "it's pretty much mysteries."--Shannon McKenna Schmidt