James Patterson

Review: The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians

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Cover image of "The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Evers

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. Little, Brown, and Company (ISBN: 9780316567534), 2024.

Summary: A collection of first-person accounts from booksellers and librarians about why they love doing what they do.

“I want to make sure people keep getting books they want, books they like. I call it Book Joy, matching people with books that will bring them the most happiness.” –Kelly Moore

Kelly Moore is just one of the many booksellers and librarians who contributed first-person accounts of their love of working with books to this delightful book compiled by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. In case you didn’t know, Patterson is not only a hugely successful and prolific writer of thrillers, he is a huge fan of booksellers and librarians–those who get books into the hands of readers. He’s given generous support to literacy efforts and grants to independent booksellers.

Here he lets them tell the story of why they love what they do. Kelly’s statement captures a common theme–connecting people with books they love. Some of their greatest joy comes when they help reluctant readers find books they love, turning them, degree by degree into readers. Part of the work is careful listening, picking up the cues that signal what a person may like. And sometimes it involves being a detective, using the few clues a patron or customer can offer to help them find that book they are looking for.

The other big theme is that these people love books and reading. It is so much more than checking out books or ringing up sales. They enjoy talking books, sharing something they’ve read that someone else may like. A friend of mine who is a bookseller is mystified by people who think they can be booksellers without loving books.

Perhaps this needs to be so because it is a challenging life. Both librarians and booksellers have a variety of administrative tasks that allow them to do what they love, from reading publications on new releases to select what they think their patrons will like, to unpacking and shelving, tracking sales and inventory and scheduling events. It’s awesome to meet authors at booksignings but there is a lot of setup to make it work for everyone.

Some started young, working as a page or a clerk and eventually managing a department of a library or owning a store. Others describe mid-career changes, often when a job was lost. Many had always been readers and even dreamed of pursuing working in a library or bookselling and realized they could no longer wait.

There was one serious note, which was the growing number of efforts to remove books from libraries that a small group deemed objectionable. It meant a job loss for one writer and courageous stands for others. One thing was clear, when communities heard and protested, this was often decisive.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to work in a library or a bookstore? This book will give you a good picture of both the joy and the work. If nothing else, it should give you an appreciation for what a special breed any dedicated bookseller or librarian is. If you haven’t noticed, this book is a good education. And if you have, this book will serve as a good reminder to find ways to support and appreciate their work. There are book deserts. if you are not in one, thank the people who make that possible and support their efforts to sustain their presence!

Review: James Patterson by James Patterson

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James Patterson by James Patterson, James Patterson. New York: Little, Brown, and Company. 2022.

Summary: The life of this storyteller in a series of stories, arranged roughly in chronological order.

True confessions. This is the first James Patterson book I have read. I think I understand why he has sold so many books and is so popular. The guy can tell stories. In this case, he tells stories on himself, recounting his life in story after story. He’s hardly the first person to try to do this. You know the person you listen to for a while, and then look for an excuse, even nature’s call, to make a graceful exit. Not so with Patterson. Break out the Depends. I’m sticking around.

We learn about the period he worked in a mental ward, the same one in which James Taylor wrote “Fire and Rain.” It was the place where he began reading and writing like crazy.

He jumps back to his Catholic upbringing with stories of eating the unconsecrated communion host as an altar boy. He describes his first kiss from Veronica Tabasco, and later encountering her grave next to his grandfather’s. His dreams of being a star athlete when writing was nowhere on the radar. His college days ushering at the Fillmore East for some of the biggest rock acts of the time. His Woodstock experience. His grad school days at Vanderbilt, curtailed by the Vietnam war, although not because he served.

Perhaps one of the biggest revelations was that Patterson made it big…I mean really big in advertising as a “mad man.” He created the Toys ‘R’ Us jingle for J. Walter Thompson, one of the big Madison Avenue agencies that he helped turn around. We learn about the financial advice he successfully followed when offered three lucrative packages to choose from.

His encounter with Jimmy Breslin, who was cruel, taught him to be kind at book signings. He recounts his early efforts at trying to get published and how Francis Greenberger got him his first book contract, for which he won an Edgar and gave what was probably the shortest acceptance speech on record. He reveals his writing secret: outline, outline, outline. He also talks about all the co-authors he’s loved working with and how he works together with them.

We learn of his two great loves. There was Jane, who he was with for seven years until cancer took her. And there is his wife Sue, who he met at the ad agency and to whom he’s been married since 1997.

He’s golfed with three presidents. He thinks Trump the best golfer but he loved hanging around with Clinton. Perhaps that’s why they’ve written two books together. He even called him an [expletive deleted] when he missed a put. Who does that with a former president unless you have a special relationship? He wrote a book with Dolly Parton as well, who sang him happy birthday and called him J.J. He has nothing but good to say about her.

He’s passionate about getting kids to read and even launched a series of books for kids. He is thrilled when someone says they became a reader because of his books. I loved his reading list toward the end of the book. I think I’ve read about half. Maybe after I’ve read some of his, we could talk books. Probably not, but I loved his taste in reading. He shares his passion for helping bookstore owners and staff, and how it warms his heart when he hears that one of his grants allowed one to go to the dentist.

He tells a compelling story of the five balls we juggle in life, the four made of glass that can scratch or shatter, and the one made of rubber that bounces back, telling you which one you can afford to drop. He shares the time when he let one drop to be with a dying friend.

There’s lots more where this came from. He not only helps us understand his take on the writing life, but his take on life and what it means to be a (mostly) decent human being who has never forgotten his roots and remained “a hungry dog.” If you’ve never read one of his books, this one might get you started and make you want to read a second, and a third…. We’ll see.

Long-Form Thinking

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james_patterson

James Patterson, by Susan Solie-Patterson – http://www.libarything.com/pic/156833, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15593339

I draw my title from a recent essay by best selling author James Patterson, titled The Literacy of Long-Form Thinking. His essay raises the question of what kind of republic will we be when the average amount that first time voters read is less than ten minutes a day? He is concerned that a tweet-length attention span is inadequate to give careful attention to the complexities that face our nation.

This brought to mind my recent reading of The Wired Soul (reviewed here) and the finding that how we interact with the digital media in our lives literally re-wires our brains, and does so in ways that dispose us to lots of short bursts of disconnected information in tweets, Facebook posts, and scanned articles on screens. There is more and more evidence that these habits of reading make it more difficult for us to give extended attention to a text–whether it be the Bible, a long-form essay, or a book. We are losing our ability to give extended attention to anything.

I wonder if this applies not only to text but to our interactions with people. How many times have you heard the phrase, “cut to the chase?” How many times have you felt that you needed to say something faster, because the other person seemed impatient, distracted, eager to get to the “next” thing, whatever it is. How many times have I (or you) been that impatient person?

Yet how many times are the most important things we want to say to another person reducible to 140 characters? This is even more the case when two people (or parties) cannot see eye to eye about something. Real understanding requires far more communication than a tossed-off slogan. Patterson’s concerns seem pretty valid to me–if we cannot engage in long, attentive conversation where understanding a different point of view, wrestling with complexity and nuance are involved, we might be in real trouble. Consider, for example The Federalist Papers, which lay out in a series of extended arguments, the reasons for the particular form of government that was being proposed in our Constitution. I cannot imagine where we would be if we had to depend on a series of tweets!

So, what is to be done? Patterson, to his credit has put his money where his mouth is, providing grants and scholarships, and funding for reading programs and bookstores. His challenge in his essay is that those of us who recognize the value of the “long-form thinking” involved in being able to sit down with a book and follow an argument should get off our duffs and do something about our functional illiteracy as a culture. He suggests:

“Are you upset about this election? Are you upset about the direction of this society? Then fix it. You’re a reader. You know what reading does for your ability to think things through. Get out there and make this your No. 1 priority. Got a kid? Make her read 20 minutes a day. Got a neighbor who stares at his phone all day? Get him a good book. Volunteer at the library. Volunteer at a school. At the very least, subscribe to a newspaper or magazine that supports long-form journalism and stop reading stuff for free through your screen.”

The last one got me. I have been thinking about subscribing to The Atlantic.  I’ve clicked on so many good articles from this publication recently and continue to be impressed with the thoughtfulness of the writing I find there. So, before writing this paragraph I decided to subscribe. Apparently there are others who are thinking this way as well. According to a Fortune article, at least 132,000 people have subscribed to the New York Times since the election with other publications like The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post also seeing rises in subscriptions.

Given that I am writing during the holiday season, this sparks some other ideas of what we could do:

  1. If you are taking vacation, take a book along and take at least 20 minutes a day to read uninterrupted, preferably stashing your smartphone somewhere else.
  2. Buy at least one book for each child or grandchild. If appropriate, read it together, snuggled up on a comfy couch or chair. You will never regret it.
  3. Many libraries and bookstores have programs where you can donate a book to a child. Giving the gift of reading to someone else is a great way to celebrate the season.
  4. If you are retired and looking for ways to volunteer, go to your library, or local elementary school. In many cases they have opportunities to help children read.
  5. Buy a book you think your circle of friends would like to read and give it to them. Suggest reading it by a certain date (maybe by the end of January during the winter doldrums) and get together to discuss it. If you like the idea, you could form a book group. If not, you can say you read at least one book in 2017 (something that 28% of the population has not done).
  6. Give a gift subscription to a magazine you like to a friend. It helps them, and helps magazines subscribe as well. And for the digital natives, most magazines offer both print and digital versions with a print subscription.

I think Patterson is right. The trends in the decline of functional literacy are alarming, and the implications even more. It might mean we begin with ourselves. And if we already have cultivated the reading habit, it might mean being creative–and not insufferable–in inviting others to begin to re-wire their brains through the delights of long-form reading with physical texts. We may not have the millions Patterson is putting behind his conviction. But we all have social capital–other people whose lives we influence. We all can do something.

So Who Will Help Barnes & Noble?

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James Patterson captured a great deal of attention in the book store world as he announced his intent to give away $1 million dollars to a variety of independent bookstores. A PW Daily story chronicles the first round of these grants, totalling $267,000, given after he meticulously reviewed grant requests.

B and N

The question is, what knight in shining armor is out there to bail out bookstore giant Barnes & Noble? They just announced a 10% drop in revenues during the third quarter. They say  EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) increased from $59 to $173 million over this period, but many consider EBITDA a clever accounting ploy to dress up a balance sheet. Revenues dropped in retail (including BN.com), college, and e-book and Nook sales. Were it not for draconian cuts in the Nook division (with more reportedly to come), things would have been even worse.

This is troubling news to me. In our market (Columbus, Ohio) they are the only significant retail outlet left, apart from some small indie stores with limited selections (none near us), grocery stores marketing the bestsellers, and a healthy segment of second hand stores. We’ve often been helped by book and media sellers when we have visited their stores. Sometimes that in-person assistance is far easier than searching around online when you have an idea of what you want but don’t have a particular title you are looking for.

For so many, this is just a market and convenience driven thing. Amazon is so easy to order from when you have a good idea of what you are looking for. E-books are incredibly easy to download and nobody beats Amazon’s selection, although I’m told by many that the Nook is actually a better reading device and doesn’t confine people to the proprietary format Amazon uses. Sadly, many thought Sony’s Betamax a better video format as well.

I suspect we are at a cultural tipping point. Patterson is helping indie operators attempt to innovate to stay in business. I actually wonder if some of these will survive longer than B & N, because they will figure out how to market to, attract, and serve a loyal clientele who still enjoy hanging around physical bookstores and value the service of booksellers and will pay for that privilege. I wonder if B & N needs to take a hard look at which stores in their operation are achieving this same kind of customer loyalty and both learn from them and figure out what the demographics are that make this work.

What troubles me is what will Amazon become if they face no serious competition? What I wonder sometimes is if one of the other new media giants like Google or Apple (I’m not convinced Microsoft is nimble enough) might join forces with Barnes and Noble. Apple has actually figured out how to use brick and mortar outlets to sell its products. It scares me at the same time to write this for fear of whether they might preserve physical book stores, but in some very new iteration alien to many of us.

What I wonder above all is that in turning so much of our commerce over to the virtual world, will we lose the physical spaces that add a richness to life and exchange them for our personal caves with our electronic devices that connect us to this brave new world?