Did you know that periodically (and by periodically I mean several times a week,) we travel all over the state to pick up interesting lots of used books to bring back to the store? For instance, a few weeks ago we picked up a huge lot of Religion and Art books, some of which were in Russian. Two weeks ago we picked up an enormous bunch of books on Environmental Science, Botany and Entomology. And just last week we grabbed a lot full of Egyptology. Our store’s inventory is always changing and expanding, so be sure to visit as often as possible, because these lots we pick up in our down time are in addition to the thousands of books we buy on a daily basis- and we buy a wide and varied amount. Anything from James Patterson and Luanne Rice, to Neil Gaiman (the entire set of Sandman came in TWICE in the last month) to specialized Science, Art and Cooking. 

Next Monday night we will be heading out to grab a lot of about 3,000 like new Mystery, Science Fiction and Horror. When we pick up books like this we usually go and scan the lot first… (can you say field trip?!) and then schedule a date to go back for it. Then we round up a group of eager Barnfellows to go and box box box. Usually we’ll have new stock out and priced within several days of receiving, so you can start scanning the store for this material as soon as Tuesday afternoon. 

Hope to see you soon!

Just a heads up- the teen section is fit to burst full of books, and it’s more than doubled in size for those of you who haven’t been since last summer. Come and check it out, we’ll send you away with stacks and stacks!!

First things first: Mo and her helpers have done epic work getting all the gardens redesigned and planted, and they’re looking wonderful. Buds and blooms everywhere. Come take a look.
And while you’re here, please buy books. Lots of books. They’re coming in at full-summer tide and we need your help. Civil war buffs–loads of stuff in stock! Just got in a phenomenal (or phenomenological) bunch o’ philosophy, Heidegger, Husserl, many standard authors. Followers of the Dharma, the Buddha Book Boat has landed–some three hundred titles just in, more still being unpacked! So hop on down, a lot of this stuff will fly. And take time to smell the flowers.

Hello all! I just wanted a chance to write about how sunny and warm this weekend is going to be! The perfect weather to visit a used bookstore, don’t you think?  

If you’re coming, here are some things you should know:

Our layout has changed a little! The basement was recently remodeled, and the foreign language books are now downstairs- I’ll let Glen write more on that later. 

The goats will be out! Many who have visited in the recent snowy/rainy/cold months have noticed that the goats haven’t been around as often to eat the corn they’re offered. Today they will definitely be out, and most likely eating corn by the handful. 

We support letterboxing! So if you’re on the hunt, there are actually quite a few in the Niantic area!

We’re just two miles away from Rocky neck, it may not be time to swim yet, but Rocky Neck is great for hiking too. 

We’ve got tons of little nooks and crannies near ponds with plants and fish- so feel free to lose yourself somewhere for a while while you’re getting lost in a good book. Enjoy the warm weather!

Have a great weekend, and we hope to see you soon!!!

Anglophile alert! Many good things newly on the shelves. Many volumes of the Oxford History of England, at four dollars apiece. Several volumes of the annual Age of Johnson, the yearly collections of scholarly articles on the good Doctor, including such titles as “Horace Walpole’s Abuse of Samuel Johnson”–an amusing notion, consdering Johnson having been just about the all-time master of the unkind remark. And there’s been a splendid couple of shelves of biographies and studies of the Bloomsbury Group–ideal if Leon Edel is your favorite bedtime reading or you’re fond of people named Geoffrey (Grigson OR Keynes). Good stuff. Come take a peek.

Well, a LOT of embroidery and needlework books–probably the best lot we’ve had. It’s all in neat piles in the upstairs craft room, at least until SOMEONE STREWS IT ALL AROUND (grumbly Glenn mutters to himself). Also some excellent new art books, and a really exceptional lot of poetry books written by contemporary women. Come take a peek!

If you’re coming in this weekend, check out the display tables down in the courtyard. Randi just pulled in a great cadge of books on knitting, fashion, gardening and medieval history. (Bravo for our clientele’s varied interests.) It’s good stuff. Come take a look. Come buy! Our shelves are sagging, bursting, burdened, buried. We have a lot of books. Come buy, come buy!

Just a quick update to let everyone know that with the opening of a third store we were able to expand some sections. First and foremost of all of these is the Sci-fi section, which got a grand make-over at our downtown store. It’s now in a recently remodeled backroom, which consists of new bookcases, a lovely new carpet, and what feels like about a billion more books. With the recent addition also of air-conditioning, and the chance that you may catch Lagaan in the cd player when you stop by, you really don’t want to miss it.
The cookbooks also received a make-over, as have Westerns, which are now also at DT and Business, which is back where the Kid’s room used to be.
BUT WAIT!
OMG!
You say,
WHERE DID THE CHILDREN’S BOOKS GET TO?!?!?
Woah. Don’t panic. Let’s all have a Douglas Adams moment and breathe in… and out. Alright- ready for some good, no, great news?
Children’s has moved right down the street to Midtown. And it is worth seeing. Also air conditioned, this beautiful new store still smells like pine and fresh coffee since it is less than three months old.
Coming soon to the new store once Fall hits us: Horror, fiction (extension) and Large Print.
Yeah baby. Come check it out.

‘Cause if you haven’t, you really should. Remember when the Teen section was a free standing bookcase upstairs next to psychology? Or when it was in the outhouse on the porch of the Last Page? No more! The Teen section has been upgraded- under the blue awning on the porch of the Main Barn- and we don’t even have to share with Military anymore!

The NEW Teen Section now includes:

Teen fiction

nonfiction

memoir

reference

manga/anime

graphic novels 

and

 gaming guides and walkthroughs.

And boy, is it worth seeing. Not only does it have its own room positively packed, wall to wall with loads of really neat books, but we’ve been getting SO many more Teen genre books this summer. Charlie Bone? We got it. Alex Rider? Got that too. Meg Cabot, Joseph Delaney, Laurie Halse Anderson, Eoin Colfer, Rick Riordin, Kenneth Oppel… yeah. So we have books, so many books! Come and take a peek, you won’t be disappointed

Just remember- the Teen Section is for teens of all ages, which means we do have some books that are definitely meant specifically for older readers. When you come visit, feel free to come to me, or any staff member, with any questions about age appropriate books and/or recommendations.

If you know you’ll be visiting:

Feel free to contact me through the website e-mail @ book.barn@snet.net, just put my name (Darcy) in the header and let me know if you’re looking for any books. We can put them aside if you’ll be coming in within a couple of days of the message.  Also, feel free to send me an e-mail with thoughts on your recently read books, recommendations for other readers, and if you just read something you thought was brilliant- let me know and maybe I can give you something else along the same lines.

Coming soon: a bulletin board for thoughts and shared messages.

Now go finish your summer reading reports you crazy kids. And good luck on the ‘ol, goin’ back to school- I’ll be right there with you, just a few years further down the line. And in between your boss fights and episodes of Metalocalypse, I hope you’ll remember: Reading is totallys metal.

You’ve seen the to-ing and fro-ing, you’ve seen the boxes and bags and crates and carfuls of books being moved, you’ve heard the noises of carpentry coming from the alley….and now, lo, it is open: Book Barn Midtown! Where is it? If you turn right out of our Downtown store, go one block and then turn into the right-hand alley just as the train tracks cross Main Street, you’ll find us, busily shelving books, putting up new shelves, and just generally creating a new space for you to hunt books in. At the moment it’s a work in progress, but then the Book Barn is ALWAYS a work in progress. We’re going to be stocking some of the mysteries (paperback and hardcover), romances (paperback and hardcover) and children’s books (chapter books and picture books). Never fear, there will still be lots of mysteries, romances and children’s books at the main Barn. From there, who knows? We’re open to suggestions and always looking for helpful input. Come on down and take a look around…it’s all great fun.