ARTY BEES BOOKS NEWSLETTER
November 2004
A TALE OF TWO BOOKSHOPS
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That seems like a good way to start a novel, or indeed, this newsletter. Maybe my use of the phrase is also reflecting the fact that it's crunch time in the United States — although it appears to be more of the latter in the land of the free.
I'll start with one of our own "worst of times". About two months ago, Bob (R.T.B. himself) suffered a stroke while staying with friends in Christchurch. He woke up with the feeling that something was wrong and after an ambulance trip to hospital the diagnosis was confirmed. The staff at Christchurch stabilised Bob and started him on physiotherapy. He was transferred to Wellington hospital by air ambulance and spent another three weeks recovering in the rehabilitation ward. Needless to say we were all anxious about Bob's condition but he really has made a remarkable recovery and was able to visit us at the shops before long. All the staff are delighted to see Bob back on his own one foot and artificial limb.
So at 81 Bob has finally, once again, decided to retire
— once again. This has meant a sudden escalation in status for his daughter, Pippa. I believe she is still mulling over whether this one goes into the best or worst category! In a completely unrelated move, this coincided with Pippa's hard graft on cataloguing our rare books (the ones we keep behind lock and key in the shops) seeing the light of day, or the glare of the computer monitor, as it were. ( Ra
— that's the thing that looks like a t.v. screen that the words and pictures come up on ).
So we are on abebooks.com, the world's largest on-line book search facility! Take this link to check it out. Look for just about any title you can think of and something will usually come up from somewhere around the world. If you spot something you fancy that we can supply you can follow the steps on the site or contact us directly
— don't forget to quote the reference number so we know what you're on about.
But wait, there's more good news! So, okay, we couldn't come through with a Terry Pratchett signing session, but we (with the help of those lovely people at Random House) have been able to ensure that a ridiculously lucky customer of ours winged their way to Auckland for a slap-up meal with the Discworld maestro. See what wonderful things can happen if you buy a book from Arty or Bizy Bee's!*
Of course this didn't just happen because we dabbled in the wiccan majicks of summoning wish-fulfillment demons (sorry, still suffering from Buffy withdrawal symptoms). It was accomplished by winning the esteemed title of Best Pratchett Window Display in all the Land. It can be seen in all its glory at Bizy Bee's on Manners Street. Robynne spent many hours/days putting together all the fantastic props (the spelling mistakes are on purpose this time)**. Even if you're not a Pratchett fan — and if not, why not! — if you're going by, do stop and take a gander, it looks amazing and will give you a chuckle or six. Oh, and I helped with the song titles by the way.
Sadly, we can now report the demise of Crossroads Bookshop in Featherston Street. Gerald is finally going to get a holiday after being on the scene six days a week for over a decade. He has been a valued member of the second-hand bookshop community in Wellington and Crossroads was a delightful destination for book-lovers everywhere. We wish Gerald the very best in his future endeavours — book related or otherwise. There are a few Arty Bee's connections to this news as Gerald at one stage worked at Arty Bee's in its previous location of 66a Courtenay Place. It seems like a lifetime ago. The other connection is that Arty Bee's has taken on the stock from Crossroads. At the moment it remains piled up in boxes awaiting liberation. This will be a slow process due to space issues, but it will happen. Staff headaches at the logistics of it notwithstanding.
Notable gluts of delicious stock at Arty Bee's include the rarer topics of quilting (mostly the American colonial tradition of), baseball and opera scores (Gilbert and Sullivan etc).
At Bizy Bee's you can look forward to an excessive amount of really good fiction (remember that thing called Summer where you lie on the beach with a page-turning book, apparently it's going to happen any day now).
In an effort to pass along the newsletter torch, I have purposely taken swipes at a few staff members so they may be inspired to bring you a newsletter and me payback in the near future.
Take care of yourselves and don't forget to buy that all-important Christmas present for yourself. (Wow, it's November, I'm a retailer and I almost managed to miss mentioning it at all).
Jessica.
* This is not a chain letter. Any resemblance to such ghastly things is simply a result of the writer's fanciful use of the Kiwi language
— well, we can hardly call it English now, can we? However, if you do want to send it to five people in your address book then we can guarantee that you will not be eaten by wild dogs anytime soon. Back
* * Oi! I might resemble that remark! — Robynne.Back
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