Lied about any good books lately?

Nearly half of all men and one-third of women have lied about what they have read to try to impress friends or potential partners, a British survey suggests.

Men were most likely to do this to appear intellectual or romantic.

About four in 10 of the 1,500 people surveyed said they had lied about what they had read to impress friends or potential partners - 46% of men and 33% of women.

Among teenagers, the figure rose to 74%.

74%! The old saying was "never trust anyone over thirty." But when it comes to reading, "never trust anyone under 20" is closer to the mark.

All this lying must mean, in England at least, people still think that reading is important. After all, you don't lie about something you don't care about.

Well, its back to the final volume of "Remembrance of Things Past" for me. Only 20 pages to go before I'm finished. What an amazing novel! (As I'm sure you'll agree..).
Tom

A quote whose time has come (back)?

"Wear the old coat and buy the new book."
--Austin Phelps, 1820-1890, a Congregational minister and educator from New England.

Subtitle this story the Subtitles You Regret.

Using the example of A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win by Shelby Steele, which was published by the Free Press late last year, the New York Times notes that "many an author has come to incorrect conclusions, but only a few have had the courage to make a prediction in a title that could be directly contradicted."

Steele told the Times, "My feeling is that I stand by every word of the analysis--what is between the covers of the book." He chose the subtitle, he said, when Obama was trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls.

The subtitle will change when the book appears in paperback.

The Regulator gets crafty (and foodie!) with our LOCAL CRAFTS AND FOODS WEEKENDS

Every weekend from November 22 until Christmas local craftspeople and artisan food makers will be exhibiting and selling their wares in our old cafe space downstairs. We're hoping we can support our local craft and food makers, while making it all the easier for our customers to Shop Local First! this holiday season. Of course we won't object if people want to buy a book along with their chocolate, cheese, pottery, or jewelry...

Here's the schedule of the folks that will be in the bookshop during these special weekends.

SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS
NOVEMBER 22-DECEMBER 21
NOON - 5:00 P.M.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22
-Dolly Mama Handmade Chocolates
-Jewelry by Hendey Designs
-Molloy Rogers, Bull City Fiber Loft (with spinning demonstration)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23
-Dolly Mama Handmade Chocolates
-Jewelry by Hendey Designs
-Kat Benz(basketry)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29
-Chapel Hill Creamery (cheese)
-Jewelry by Kate Loughlin
-Molloy Rogers, Bull City Fiber Loft (with spinning demonstration)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30
-George Danser (fused glass art sculptures, bowls, jewelry)
-Molloy Rogers, Bull City Fiber Loft (with spinning demonstration)
-Jewelry by Kate Loughlin

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6
-Chapel Hill Creamery
-Julie Olson, White Oak Pottery
-Karen Casey Fused Glass Designs
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7
-George Danser (fused glass art sculptures, bowls, jewelry)
-Julie Olson, White Oak Pottery
-Karen Casey Fused Glass Designs

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13
-Chapel Hill Creamery
-Locopops
-Ninth St. Bakery
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14
-Artisan Cupcakes
-Dolly Mama Handmade Chocolates
-George Danser (fused glass sculpture, bowls, jewelry)
-Ninth St. Bakery

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20
-Dolly Mama Handmade Chocolates
-Julie Olson, White Oak Pottery
-Cecilia Henaine de Davis, Beadazzled (beaded jewelry)
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21
-Dolly Mama Handmade Chocolates
-Julie Olson, White Oak Pottery
-Cecilia Henaine de Davis, Beadazzled (beaded jewelry)

The Ten Percent Solution

We've sent this out in an email, and we started handing it out in the store on Saturday. After mulling it over for a couple of days, the stock market responded today with its biggest one day rise ever. Who know we had so much power?

Now is the time for all good men, women, children, dogs and cats to come to the aid of their local economy!

These are the times that try men's (women's, children's etc) souls. And pocketbooks.

But we say it is a time for change! Change--that will create 800 new jobs in Durham! Change--that will add more than $20 million a year in wages and contribute more than $60 million a year in total, positive economic impact for Durham County! Change--that will improve our whole community!

No, we're not mixing up business and fantasy, like those folks up on Wall Street have been doing. We're talking about a simple plan for a better local economy. We call it:

The Ten Percent Solution
If there was just a 10% shift from shopping at chain and on-line stores to shopping at locally owned, independent businesses, Durham would get those 800 new jobs and tens of millions of dollars in increased economic activity.*

Why?

Because a lot more of the money you spend at a locally owned business stays (and re-circulates) in the local community. Take The Regulator for example. All of our employees live here. Our back office is in the back of the store, not in New York or New Delhi. We buy almost all of our supplies locally. Most of the taxes we pay stay in Durham and North Carolina. We bank locally. And we don't send dividend checks or inflated CEO salaries off to another state, where they're likely to end up invested in risky "new financial instruments" (a.k.a. play money).

Now, more than ever, where you shop makes a difference. Strike a blow for independence! Support locally owned, independent businesses! You'll be supporting our local economy as well as our local culture and our whole sense of community.

Remember the Ten Percent Solution:
Keep Your Dough in Durham!
a not so modest proposal from The Regulator Bookshop

*(The figures quoted here come from a study done earlier this year for the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan by an economic consultant called Civic Economics. The results of that study have been adjusted to reflect Durham's lower population and average income. See http://news.bookweb.org/news/6306.html for more).

Supporting Local Business: Give a Listen!

Last spring I was interviewed by a smart young teenager named Martin Krzywy about the joys, thrills, trials and tribulations of running an independent bookstore. Martin aired the interview on the Youth Noise Network (broadcast on WXDU, 88.7). The interview is now available on the web at http://youthnoisenetwork.blogspot.com/. You can find it by scrolling down a little way on the site to “Supporting Local Business by Martin Krzywy.”
It doesn’t last long....

Tom Campbell

Beyond the usual suspects

It was about 8:30 on a recent Wednesday night. The woman in the store was on the young end of middle age. She said she used to live in Durham, had moved to D.C. But she still made a point of coming into The Regulator every time she was in town. She especially loved getting book recommendations from us. We always directed her to such good reading.

So Dave Felton, Elliot and I were on the spot. We picked up Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Lee Smith's On Agate Hill, and Haven Kimmel's The Used World. The woman listened to our spiels with interest, but then, one at a time, she put each of the books back on the shelves. These all sound quite good, she said, but I would probably come across them at a number of other bookstores. I'm looking for some books that I'm only going to find out about at The Regulator.

Well. All right. A reader with a sense of adventure! She walked out of the store with Zeroville by Steve Erickson, The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, and The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill. Thinking later about other "well below the radar" titles I could have recommended, I came up with Jon McGregor's If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things and John Crowley's underground masterpiece, Little, Big.

Looking for adventure? Pick up any of these titles, or ask a Regulator for a recommendation. This kind of thing is fun!

Tom