At the heart of it all, I’m a fan. A fan of books and bookstores. A fan of fiction and non-fiction. A fan of authors and publishers. And most of all I’m a fan of great conversations sparked by books. All that to say - I really need more bookshelves.
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.
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.
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!
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!
I recently read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, and I was blown away. This book came out in 1993, and I know that makes me really late to the party, as I’ve seen this recommended quite a few times, but I’ve never stopped to read. Joe Crawford threw this title out as the November 2025 IndieWeb Book Club read, and I’m so glad I joined in (both because I enjoyed the book and I am thankful for the chance to try out webmentions, which is also new to me).
McCloud does a masterful job of explaining how and why comics work so well when it comes to storytelling.
He dives into the way our brains work, how culture affects what we perceive, and the physical restraints of the medium. He spends time explaining the difference between a cartoon, comics, icons, illustrative art, etc. He shows how commercial and artistic interests sometimes push and sometimes hinder development.
He dedicates whole chapters to time, color, and spatial perception.
All of this is so well done, there were times I was wondering if this book needed to be on my books about books shelf or my media philosophy shelf.
While there are many takeaways that will stay with you and are worth ruminating on, it was Chapter Three – Blood in the Gutter, when he explains the concept of ‘Closure’, that I knew I was hooked. He boils down some big ideas and simplifies things so you understand the complexity of what happens in your brain when you read a panel of a comic and then read the following rectangle panel next to it, essentially skipping the small white space (called the gutter) separating the two.
A great way to illustrate and explain the idea of “closure”.
So much can happen in the gutter between two panels. McCloud breaks down the six most common.
McCloud then goes on to demonstrate how storytellers can use that gutter to connect action and get your brain involved in the storytelling. It’s so well done.
His explanations of why different levels of detail/realism in a comic directly influence how much the reader will immerse themselves into a story were amazing and something I haven’t quit thinking about.
I now see that I’ve only looked at the surface of comics and not considered the other layers involved, which just makes one appreciate the form even more.
McCloud also excels at plotting different ideas and formulas when it comes to types of comics and illustrated storytelling. While I don’t know enough to call this book a masterclass, it is certainly one of the best any casual reader could pick up. His book Understanding Comics is to comics as baking shows are to cakes. You really start to understand the vocabulary, see how all the pieces work together, and why. And you have a blast while learning all this.
I highly recommend this one to almost everybody. It’s one of the few 5-star reads I had this year. Contrary to what I’ve always thought, this is not just folks who get comics and “are into it”, but anyone who likes books and thinks about storytelling in any form (even reports at work where you have to present things sequentially). This book really does open things up.
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As I stated at the top, the fact that I read this book is a celebration of the cool parts of the IndieWeb. I am posting this using something called webmentions, which is new to me, and I am anxious to see how these notifications, pings, and conversations happen.
