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Looking at what I’m choosing to share this week, one might call this the brand-placement edition of Linked Up. But it’s actually the accidental-brand-placement edition. Lucky them. (P.S. I think Lucky Brand Jeans is having a sale.)

Gary Vaynerchuk on wine: “It’s like smelling Batman.”

Facebook, not that popular after all.

Does Coca-Cola own happiness? They do in this case. (Yes, I know this happened months ago, but it is sooo worth re-watching.)

There’s a second (???!!!???What!?!?!?!?) Stonehenge.

A group of researchers mapped our emotions via Twitter, and it looks like blow-paint art.

PBR, not so low-brow in China.

The Old Spice spoof that almost makes me want to go back to school…

Woman’s Day encourages you to get your “literary buzz” on.

Finally. Jelloware.

McNally Jackson is so over Sad Keanu. Now is the time for Sad Keith Gessen.

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Today is my last day at McNally Jackson Books. Tomorrow I will be the full-time proprietor of Greenlight Bookstore.

It feels weirdly like the last day of high school.

Remember that? If you were like me, you knew exactly where you were headed, and you were excited to be going there, stomach full of butterflies for the unknown adventure ahead. But there was also an almost unbearable nostalgia-in-the-making for all you were about to leave behind: the place, the people, the quirks, the routine. There's so much you learned here, both practical and philosophical, and so much you loved. It makes for a pretty intense set of emotions. (Which run the risk of sounding incredibly sappy when articulated.)

There's something about working in an indie bookstore which makes for a much more emotionally heightened workplace atmosphere than, say, working in an office. Some of us call it the "Empire Records phenomenon" (which is the best silly '90s movie about indie retail life ever -- highly recommended if you are of a certain age and sensibility, though I take no responsibility for it.) I've noticed a similar sense of cameraderie working in a restaurant -- the amount of physical work you do together makes for a set of shared jokes, systemic quirks, annoyances, and ways of working with and around each other that tends to bond coworkers pretty quickly.
But I think it's even more pronounced in a bookstore (and maybe a record store) -- there's a shared intellectual life as well as a shared physical experience. Not that we sit around and talk about Literature all day, but we're all doing this because we love books in our own particular way, and our engagement with books is part of our engagement with each other.

Additionally, I've never worked anywhere that the employees were as engaged and invested in the life of the bookstore as they are at McNally Jackson. This is primarily Sarah McNally's doing: she is both a visionary and an expert delegator, finding for each person the area of expertise where they can excel and giving them a great deal of autonomy in running it. Displays, signage, section maintenance, book clubs, and yes, author events are in a constant state of tweaking and improving, because they are run by booksellers who have the opportunity to figure out how to make things work better. This, too, makes for a strong bond to the store itself, since we all have a very real role in its existence and identity.

There are a million other reasons why working at McNally Jackson has been a rewarding and affecting experience -- but I'm running out of time.

Allison, John T., Katie, Dustin, Adjua, Yvette, David, Cheryl, Erin, Rebecca, Stewart, Angela, Doug, Brook, Eddie, Darrell, Sam, Jane, Byron, Gabi, Eva, Sandy, Keala, Caroline, John M., Yvonne, Javier -- you are damn fine booksellers and friends of mine, and I will miss you.

After tonight's author event, we're going out to a local watering hole for a proper drunken sendoff. I'm grateful for a moment to savor what has been, before turning my eyes to what's ahead.

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I don' t often use this blog to plug stuff going on at McNally Jackson, but sometimes it's just too good. Thanks to the diligent efforts of mixmaster Steve and blogmaster Dustin (who, incidentally, will be ably taking over my job as McJ events coordinator as I move on to Greenlight), the McNally Jackson blog is now a talkie.

It's our inaugural event podcast!

We've been sound recording author events for months now, hoping to preserve some of the great live conversations for posterity. At last, we've edited and hosted one of the best -- the star-studded March 30 poetry event with Robert Pinsky, Sharon Olds, Mark Strand, and Philip Schultz.

Click over to the McNally Jackson blog -- if only to see the awesome picture of Dustin attempting to stuff a book into his ear. The audio sounds great -- all those resonant poet voices! Leave lots of comments so we know you're listening, and we'll feel all motivated to do some more.

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How many blogs can one bookseller blog?

Here's yesterday's Greenlight post...

... about the New York Times Local post that went up on Wednesday (a profile of FG resident / food book editor extraordinaire Emily Takoudes)...

... and here's Wednesday's post on McNally Jackson's blog The Common Reader (recommendations for great books by overlooked women writers sent in by Deirdre Shaw, who reads at the store next Wednesday)...

... and here's today's post on the Emerging Leaders blog (about EL Council members at the day of education, and free passes to BEA). (Email here if you want in.)


But after all this blithe blogging, it's time to address some real issues. There's been a lot of news about pirates these days, from the Somali coast to the music downloaders of Sweden to the DRM fears of publishers. (Would this make Amazon the British Navy, then?... but never mind.) It's all fun and games, as long as you're not the one being keelhauled. Luckily, (former) newswoman Tina Fey brings our attention to an aspect of this issue that should be taken very, very seriously: book pirates.




This may actually replace The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything as my favorite pirate song ever. Thanks to Bookavore for the tip via Twitter, and have a beautiful Friday!

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The lack of posting around here should not be construed as a lack of activity. This has turned out to be a week with high demands from other aspects of my bookish life: Emerging Leaders, McNally Jackson (we -- by which I mean me -- are on Facebook AND Twitter now), a new blogging project (info TK), and mostly, working on Greenlight Bookstore. I've tidied up that other blog of mine (and Rebecca's) to reflect the evolving reality of our project, and in hopes that we'll be seeing some more traffic soon. We've also got a real estate lead that involves so many unknowns I can't even explain it right now, but it's potentially really exciting. So I've been kinda distracted.

I do, however, have a pile of recently read graphic novels I want to write about, and not one but TWO thrilling not-yet-published books in my bag: the new Kate Christensen, Trouble (out in June) and the new Jonathan Lethem, Chronic City (out so long from now I don't even know the date -- the book is still in manuscript form). So as soon as I'm done frantically tearing through those two I'll be posting frenzied fangirl reports. I'm also meeting one of my contemporary author heroes Jim Lynch, author of The Highest Tide and Border Songs, tomorrow afternoon, so I hope to report on that as well.

So with renewed promises I beg your forgiveness, and hope you can be satisfied with more to come. Happy reading!

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My thrice-weekly email from the fabulous folks at Brooklyn Based was both exciting and chagrining this morning: a new bookstore in Brooklyn! With comic books and art installations by great local comics! That I'd NEVER HEARD OF before!

Desert Island (dude, also a great name), according to BB,

"is one of those places that shines in the consumer retail rough. Proprietor Gabriel Fowler opened the Williamsburg store in February of this year, with nothing more than a bank loan, a small community of artist friends, and a desire to share some of his favorite comics, zines and books. Fowler grew up around indie record and comic shops in Florida, which “were the only exciting places to hang out in a cultural wasteland.” Powered by his professed “obliviousness” of the weak bookselling market, Fowler built and decorated the store entirely by hand, with a few key installations from his friends: Marie Lorenz, who made a delicate and intricate paper chandelier, and Chris Patch, who made the store’s very first window display, an ice cave scene made out of cardboard and masking tape (a new installation by Williamsburg cartoonist Lauren Weinstein has just taken its place). Independent comics and graphic novels make up the bulk of the store’s inventory. The biggies, like Adrian Tomine and R. Crumb, share space with cult favorites Julie Doucet and Michael Kupperman, as well as occasional mainstream hits, like Watchmen. Local New York comics are also featured, including self-published work like “Paping,” whose creator John Mejias is organizing the Brooklyn Heights Soapbox Derby on August 23."

Damn, I'm jealous. And I MUST go there ASAP. The store is at 540 Metropolitan Avenue, in Williamsburg -- which is probably why I haven't run across it, as my inner nerd is still a little terrified of the hipster headquarters that is Williamsburg. I think I can brave it for the installations alone, though...




In news closer to home -- is there anyone I haven't talked to yet about the fact that McNally Robinson is changing its name to McNally Jackson? This may seem sudden and confusing -- but in fact, it's been a long time coming, and it should actually ELIMINATE confusion. See, Sarah McNally named her (independent, locally owned) bookstore after the McNally Robinson stores that her parents, Paul and Holly, own in Canada. She didn't mind the association -- the New York store is certainly modeled on those stores, and Sarah's definitely a Canadian. The problem was that folks kept ending up on the Canadian website when they were looking for us (if they forgot the "nyc" at the end of "mcnallyrobinson") and trying to order Canadian books from us (which we don't have and can't easily get), and kept asking us whether we were a Canadian chain. (NO, WE'RE NOT.) So Sarah was in the market for a new name to make our independent, local status clear, and make it less confusing for people to find us online.

At the same time, Sarah and her husband Chris Jackson (who's an editor at Random House imprint Spiegel & Grau) were expecting their first child. His last name, of course, will take from both his mother and father: McNally Jackson. And inspiration struck. Sarah could change just 5 letters of the name, and make it clear that this is her store, New York's store, and have a snappy name as well. So plans were made to change the name.

In addition to changing the store awnings, event posters, bookmarks, bags, website, etc., etc. -- we're marking the change by throwing a party on Thursday, August 7. It's also a great occasion to celebrate that McNally has been thriving and growing for nearly 4 years (since December 2004), succeeding beyond anyone's expectations and becoming part of NYC's literary fabric. (And we're celebrating the birth of the littlest McNally Jackson, who was born on Sunday!)

We've got a bunch of our favorite authors featured at the event -- and in the spirit of changing identities, they will be acting as bookstore staff for the night! Kate Christensen is working the cash register, Peter Sis is helping out in the kids section, Colson Whitehead is pouring champagne, Daniel Pinchbeck is recommending books in the culture section, and lots more. All of our customers and supporters are welcome -- you just have to RSVP via email before the party.


So all in all, it's a good time to be a lover of bookstores in New York City. (And just wait until you see what the Independent Booksellers of New York City have been working on!...)

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