More Ways to Support Your Bookstore

This is a blog post from The Book Lady's Blog. So this post is excerpts stolen from her because it is fantastic and I just love her.

More Ways to Support Your Bookstore
Originally Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky at
The Booklady's Blog

Yesterday’s post about Borders’ bankruptcy and the reminder it brought that where we buy our books matters triggered wonderful discussions here and on Twitter (and in my poor email inbox, which is still quivering in the corner) about what we as readers—as consumers—can do to support bookstores and help them thrive. The first and most obvious action is the one I mentioned yesterday: do your book buying in actual bookstores. Or, as my pal Ron Hogan said so succinctly, leave the house!

But getting your butt off the couch and into the bookstore isn’t the only thing you can do.

Attend events. A bookstore’s ability to secure authors for readings and signings often hinges on its ability to demonstrate that it can attract an audience and that the audience will—wait for it—buy books! If you are fortunate enough to live near a store that currently offers author events, go check a few of them out. Take a friend. If, after hearing the author speak, it turns out that you’re not all that interested in his or her book, pick out something else to purchase instead. Try not to view author events as free entertainment; the store may not be charging admission, but they have to see profit from events in order to continue making them available to the community.

Ask your local organizations to support local bookstores. If your church, community center, book club, writer’s circle, knitting group, Junior League, or Underwater Basket Weavers’ Association is holding an event related to a book or has invited an author to speak, and you want to have books sold during the event, reach out to an independent bookstore first (if there is one reasonably close by). You may not get quite the discount or donation a big box store can offer, but you’ll be putting dollars back into your local economy and supporting individuals and a business that make your community a richer, more vibrant place to live.

PLEASE!!!
Remove the phrase “No thanks, I’ll just order it when I get home” from your vocabulary. Most booksellers are too polite to say so to your face, but this is beyond rude. Bookstores are STORES and they exist to SELL you books, not to provide you with personalized recommendations and a place to browse before you go home and shop in your underwear. When booksellers look up titles, recommend books, and offer to place orders for you, they are providing a service, and it is not a service they intend to provide for free. You pay for this service by purchasing items from their stores. If you absolutely must browse in-store but buy online, have the decency not to tell the bookseller that’s what you’re doing. It’s awful for morale, and it makes you look like an ass. And for god’s sake, don’t stand in front of a bookseller, show her your phone, and say, “No worries, I just ordered it from Amazon.”

The Best Laid Plans 2011 Canada Reads Winner

We were so excited about Canada Reads that we forgot to post the winner! Congrats to "The Best Laid Plan's" by Terry Fallis for winning this years Canada Reads!

Chat Noir Books Hot Pick 20% off

Check Out Our newest 20% OFF HOT PICK - One Day by David Nicholls

Emma & Dexter meet on the night of their graduation in 1988. The novel follows their relationship forward from that point dropping in on them on this particular day each year. Where will they be next year? And the year after? In 10 years? 20? You want to find out!

Re Corpus Libris's cool photo Essay!

Last Saturday we posted some pictures inspired by the guys over at Corpus Libris. We thought it was such a fun project that we are going to continue the Photo Essay here in the store. So here are a few more photo's inspired by the guys over at Corpus Libris! Do you want to join in the fun? Send us your photos and if we post it on the blog you could be entered for a prize draw.

New Yerba Mate teas available at Chat Noir Books!

The New Yerba Mate teas are in!! SO Good! If you're around and want to try something other than coffee some time I'd recommend one of these Mate Factor Teas!

Green Tea Ginseng - ORGANIC

A combination of Brazilian Yerba Mate, Japanese Sencha, Canadian Ginseng and Echinacea to create a synergistic, antioxidant rich blend. These ingredients are traditionally used to ease mental and bodily fatigue while restoring health and supporting the body while under stress.




Dark Roast - ORGANIC

The Dark Roast blend is quite possibly the perfect substitute for coffee. Rich, robust and energizing, mate, when it has been roasted, is especially potent. There is a touch of chicory to increases the full-body flavour and aroma.

Enjoy this organic, naturally sweet, and delicious tea that is veritably “Beyond Coffee”.

Brazilian Green - ORGANIC

Mate Factor drys their own Mate; using an art they have developed that preserves the natural flavor and also keeps our original green flavor Mate tea free from smoke. This low heat process protects natural enzymes that exist in yerba mate.

They use one hundred percent certified organic Yerba Mate, responsibly grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, preserving the environment where our Mate is grown.

Lemon Ginger - ORGANIC

Refreshing and Healing

Indigenous to the coastal rain forests of eastern Australia, the lemon myrtle tree is often described as being “more lemon than lemon.” Its high citral content is what gives it that lovely and unique lemony aroma and flavour.

Complemented by warming ginger root, Lemon Ginger mate is the perfect blend of the most common herbs used in folk remedies for the common cold. You'll find this tea not only healthy for you, but pleasantly revitalizing as well.

This tea is a refreshing summer favorite!

Citrus Rose - ORGANIC

Known as the Rose of Sharon, hibiscus offers the delicate flower petals that give our tea its crimson colour. Citrus Rose is our mate blended with the vibrancy of lemongrass, lemon myrtle and lime, delivering the tanginess of a zesty herbal tea.

High in Vitamin C, the added rose hips enhance the fruity flavour. Refreshing when served over ice on the hottest of summer days: a hot cup will also give you the sensation of overall warmth and vitality.

Cardamom Chai - ORGANIC

Cardamom plants grow in the monsoon forests of southern India. Known as the “Queen of Spices,” the prized seed pods have been sought after for thousands of years. Belonging to the same family of plants as ginger, cardamom has an intensely aromatic fragrance and a warm, spicy flavour.

Traditionally, the kings of India drank Chai that contained this flavorful spice. With yerba mate as the base for our chaï, we’ve added the best of fresh cardamom and other spices to create a royal cup of tea, pleasant with milk and honey.

Mocha Mint - ORGANIC

Originally from the Mediterranean region, carob pods from the carob tree have long been known for their rich flavour and sweet aroma. These have been enhanced for their tea by carefully roasting the pods before they are ground.

Beginning with roasted mate, they have added just the right balance of roasted carob pods and stimulating peppermint for an invigorating, energizing cup of mate, tasteful with milk and honey.

Mocha Mint is rich and refreshing. Many people love this as an after-dinner enhancer, or to enhance the social mood.

Cinnamon Rooibos - ORGANIC

Only found in the Cederberg region of western South Africa, Rooibos (pronounced roy-boss) is becoming increasingly popular in the Western world.

It is caffeine-free and high in antioxidants, as well as naturally soothing and sweet to taste. Adding the unmistakable warmth of cinnamon, their Cinnamon Rooibos becomes a smooth and delicious beverage on its own or when served with a bit of milk and a touch of honey.

Enjoy this blend from the southern hemisphere: Mate from South America, Rooibos from South Africa and cinnamon from the islands of South Asia.

Variety Pack - ORGANIC

NOT SURE WHAT TO TRY?

Six blends of Yerba Mate in one box!

3 Bags of each: Brazilian Green, Cardamom Chai, Cinnamon Rooibos, Mocha Mint, Dark Roast, Lemon Ginger

Corpus Libris's cool photo Essay!

Alyssa pass along this great link from the guys over at the Corpus Libris blog! Last Thursday Corpus Libris started a fun little photo essay and we thought we could add to it. Check out our photo's and if you get a chance check out their blog for a bunch more!

What goes into our food?!

Last night on the National they show a small portion from the Marketplace's story on Superbugs in the Supermarket

Canadians are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. As a result, people are getting sicker and are taking longer to get well. It is now not uncommon for people to be administered antibiotics through an IV because the usual drugs in pill form can't fight off their infections.

If you find this interesting I would also recommend reading "The War in the Country" by Thomas F. Pawlick

Rural life in North America has changed dramatically since the days of the family farm, when people worked the same land for generations, let their cows graze in pastures and their chickens scratch in dirt, and sold their produce locally. The few remaining small farmers now struggle to survive, strangled by debt and a rash of complex regulations designed to drive them out of business. In their place are corporate-backed factory farms with little understanding of, or sympathy for, rural life. But the corporate and political interests determined to make this life extinct are meeting with fierce resistance. In this passionate and persuasive book, writer and farmer Thomas Pawlick uses his own rural community as a microcosm for the battle between industrial agriculture and local farming -- a clash whose outcome will determine the future of rural life in North America -- and also the quality and sustainability of our food, water, soil, and air.