Site News, Things to Read

Things to Read – Edition 0005

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I feel like a bear coming up out of a hibernation and I am glad to be back out in the open. I had to check out and log off for the first of the year. For the job, we have offices in Minnesota just outside the cities and in all honesty – I just could not deal with what all was going on. But, I am happy to report that after getting some Signal groups going, participating in a few boots on the ground efforts helping solve a few small real world needs, and catching up with good friends at Winter Institute, I have found my footing again. Community, folks. That’s the part I had forgotten. Chatting with book folks. Chatting with outdoors folks. Reading a few really good books. Those are the pieces I’d started to take for granted and lost sight of.

I’m lucky to have gotten to spend lots of time outdoors across the country the past few weeks, working, hiking, chatting, and reading. Plus, visiting some new indie bookshops (which is always good for the soul). 

I have a ton of blog reading to do and even more Mastodon scrolling, but as much as I enjoyed being unplugged and focusing – I’m looking forward to being active online again.

I hope you all are well and have a good read nearby. And I hope we get to chat soon.

In an effort to get back in the groove, here are three links that I found interesting that you might too:

I really enjoyed scrolling through this Gen X catalog from Type Punch Matrix. If you are of a certain age, you may as well. Just smiles all the way around.

The history of American publishing is a fascinating subject to me and I ran across this post while doing some research which tried to answer the question, “Was a Mobile bookstore closed for selling a copy of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”?

I am interested in how publishing and authors are responding to AI and am anxiously awaiting for solutions (whether from the industry or end consumers simply asserting their preference). I did find this piece by Sarah Hall and this one about a certification start up in the U.K. as good jumping off points for recent conversations with folks I do not see eye to eye with.

Birmingham, Book Talk, Bookstores, On the Web

Kathleen Schmidt Interview with Books-A-Million CEO Terry Finley

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Here’s an interview with the CEO of Birmingham/Homewood-based bookstore chain Books-A-Million, Terry Finley. Finley (Instagram) has been in bookselling for 50 years. Schmidt’s Publishing Confidential newsletter is book and publishing focused and always an interesting read.

BAM is an interesting company due to its larger size and regional approach to operations. They have stores in 32 states and have recently opened a large and well laid out shop in Bloomington, MN. The Twin Cities are an amazingly bookish part of the country and I’m excited to see how this new store shapes up.

The front of BAM in Bloomington, MN

Here are a few more photos I took, inside their new store, on a recent visit this year. The aisle layout was fun and added to the book discovery journey. There are so many books there!

A couple of the interview questions I found really interesting shine a spotlight on how Books-A-Million approaches books vs. entertainment vs. lifestyle items, as well as how Dungeon Crawler Carl (published in August 2024; these covers are great fun!) became their 2025 Book of the Year. I’m also really curious about the in-store AI Search tools as I have not seen that in action yet. I may have to go to BAM with a question for an associate to see how and how well that works.

Schmidt’s interview is worth a read for a glimpse behind the curtain at Books-A-Million.

Alabama, Birmingham, Events

Booking in Birmingham, AL

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December is always a fun time here in Birmingham, AL, especially if you like shopping for books. With all of the Maker Fairs and local bazaars going on, there is always something to do on the weekends. What’s been fun is seeing all of the different bookshops sharing not just books, but new ways of selling books.

The Burdock Book Collective was set up outside the MAKE BHM space when we went to shop at a recent market event.

They had plenty of new and used titles. The new books were sold at cover price, and it was $5 for a used paperback and $10 for a used hardback. What’s fun about Burdock’s selections is that you will find lots of new titles and unique voices you won’t find on the shelves of other shops around Birmingham. 

I’ve not been able to get by their community space/shop while they’re open, but they do lots of pop-ups and currently have books at the Cha House Tea Room in Avondale.

We often see the Enjoyer Books folks at Cala Coffee (Cahaba Heights), and their pop-up at the most recent Cahabazaar was worth checking out. Focused on new titles, there is always plenty to look at. They also have some cool new shirts and stickers—such a fun couple to talk books with. I can’t wait to see their book bus in action. That’s going to be fun!

More than one outlet had new zines and small press printings, which were really cool.

But one of my favorite vendors while booking in Birmingham this season is Deep Woods Bindery. The work is so well done, and I really enjoy the marbled patterns on their notebooks. I even picked up one of their ornaments to go on the tree at home.

The craftsmanship of both casebound and paperback options is equal in quality and artistry. I am already looking forward to seeing their booth set up again somewhere.

Hope you all are tucked in, avoiding the chill in the air, and reading good books this weekend!

On the Web

Words of the Year 2025

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UPDATE: Today (12/15/25), Merriam-Webster Dictionary declared “slop” as the word of the year. This seems equal parts fair and depressing. I hope humans do better in 2026.

It is always interesting to see what the dictionary folks declare their “word of the year” to be. As fragmented as everything feels these days, it’s nice to think about a group of learned individuals steadily tracking how we speak and what we say. I’ve always thought it be fun to be in on the discussion to pick a “word of the year”.

For the Oxford Dictionary, it is “rage bait,” which is telling and sad and makes me want to unplug my computer and pick up a book. Not only because that’s more than one word (though to be fair, last year they chose “brain rot” so maybe they’re just staying on trend), but the fact that it’s so widespread to grab this high a pedestal can’t be a good sign for online conversations.

The folks at the Cambridge Dictionary declared “parasocial” as their pick. While not a new concept, the explosive growth of those types of relationships is yet another descriptor of what time online has done to our sense of personal relationships. Their 2024 Word of the Year was “manifest,” which felt odd at the time. This year’s word feels very timely.

In 2024,  Dictionary.com chose “demure” because it was a social media flash in the pan. For 2025, they have chosen “67” as their word of the year. This one is just dumb. It feels like dictionary folks should pick a word that has ‘arrived’ so to speak, after a long time of working its way into conversations. Not just one of the last 3 months of TikTok memes.

Which, since that last one is actually a number and not a word, may just be rage bait, which is actually two words of the year and not a word of the year… which… I… um…. I think I do need to log off…

Hope you all have a restful and book-filled weekend ahead of you!

Books, Publishing and Birmingham