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Amy's avatar

Two stores that are in my backyard, so to speak, and I’ve yet to visit them... I’m so glad you found a copy of Kenyon’s A Hundred White Daffodils--it’s one of my favorites. In lieu of me posting anything here, you’ve inspired me to finally write that book/bookshelf post I mentioned last week. Stay tuned!

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

Hooray! Looking forward to it. ☺️

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Matthew Long's avatar

Big fan of Willa Cather. Have several of her works on my list for 2024. Great finds!

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

Oh great! I don't know anyone else who has her on their list. What do you think you might start with?

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Matthew Long's avatar

I am planning to read My Antonia, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and A Lost Lady. Primarily because those are the three books I have copies of! I also have O Pioneers but have read that several times. The others will be new reads for me.

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Justus's avatar

Oh lucky! Las Vegas went for a dry period for a while when the last used book store closed around the pandemic but we’ve gotten some new ones, including Las Vegas books opened a couple of years ago by a couple that moved here from Minnesota.

So the world is not back in order (not that LV will ever hold a candle to Berkeley pre-Amazon)....but a lot better now!

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

I know nothing of which you speak since I am an east coaster through and through but... Your Berkeley comment is intriguing. I have a cousin in Oakland I've been meaning to visit. 🤔

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Justus's avatar

It’s been 20 years since I moved and more than a decade since I last visited...so I have no idea what’s left in the scene out there. But it was an amazing scene while I was there in the late nineties.

As for my stack, it’s the Iliad, Why Homer Matters (Nicolson), Baron in the Trees, and two pilot monographs, Cape Light (Meyerowitz) and The Lasr Resort (Parr).

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haley larsen, phd's avatar

My jaw is slack at the sound of these bookstores! So many books. I need to make a trip out east. Haha

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

The owner of the Book Farm said people drove up from Boston regularly to these bookstores because of the selection. Yes indeed add it to your East Coast trip itinerary!

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Claudine Notacat's avatar

I didn’t know A.S. Byatt had passed. Possession is that rare thing, a perfect novel. Just had a good cry. She was one of the greatest.

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

Thank you for reading and letting me know your thoughts. I'm sure I will be mourning her once I read her books. I haven't cracked open Possession yet.

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Claudine Notacat's avatar

It’s so very, very good.

Other good entry points for her writing are the book *Angels and Insects*, which is a collection of two novellas, and *The Virgin in the Garden*, which is the first of a quartet of novels chronicling two sisters’ lives among their families and friends.

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Resident20Some's avatar

Have not watched the movie-- the final line in Mrs. Dalloway sends me though. Will have to check out. Glad I found this page, those bookshops look magical.

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

Thank you for your comment! I've read that depending upon where you are in life Mrs Dalloway resonates in different ways. I have a feeling this one would have been good to have read in my 20s and then 30s and now late 40s. And yes to magical bookshops. Especially used ones because the books already have lived a life or two.

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Resident20Some's avatar

I’m sure reading in different decades you would identify stronger with a different character (though hopefully never with Peter Walsh. I hated him lol. Maybe that’s because a side of me is found in him. Hmmm).

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Lindsay Johnstone's avatar

Those photos! Those shelves! And your massive progress on NaNoWriMo - congratulations on that, Emily. Massive achievement. Have you finished Mrs Dalloway yet? I loved that book when I studied it at uni, but wonder if a re-reading might be in order? That film is lush, too.

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

Oh yes to the re-read... Mrs Galloway is 53. Really good book for midlife contemplation. And The Hours movie (I didn't know that Mrs Galloway's working title was "The Hours") drives it all deeper. Meryl Streep is incredible. At one point she says "I am unraveling!" Oh how I know that feeling. Let me know if you do end up reading again!

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

Btw yes I finished it and then watched The Hours right after.

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d.w.'s avatar

My Substack is all about what I'm reading and watching!

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

Nice! I checked it out. Sharing this way is a great opportunity to find people who have interests in common.

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A. Jay Adler's avatar

*The Hours* Sears the soul.

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

And how! I didn't know what I was in for. I shed more than a few tears. Empathetic heart pangs aside, I enjoyed the somewhat scrambled Mrs. Dalloway character parallels. Very clever without being overly matchy-matchy (how's that for a technical term?).

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A. Jay Adler's avatar

Great soundtrack by Philip Glass, too. I'm adding matchy-matchy to my glossary of literary terms.

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Marianne Kotch's avatar

It’s always nice to learn about new bookstores. The photos remind me of Ben Koenig’s shop in Plainfield which is sadly by appt only these days. Have fun reading! I have been slumming a bit with cozy mysteries lately. ‘Tis the season

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Emily Kaminsky's avatar

Thank you for reading! Yes Ben's shop was an absolute favorite. Share a favorite if you don't mind... Of your mysteries. Say hi to Paul for me!

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Marianne Kotch's avatar

Hi Emily! We still miss you. My favorite book for 2023 wasn’t a mystery but was pretty light reading. Remarkably Bright Creatures is about a giant octopus. Take care! Hug the boys for me.

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Kay M.'s avatar

Love it. 📚

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Joel J Miller's avatar

What a wonderful post. And I now have two new places I must visit!

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