Rememberist
@rememberist.bsky.social
Owner/bookseller at Berkeley Books of Paris (2005-2019). Veteran of St. Mark's Bookshop and Posman's in NYC, and Serendipity Books in Berkeley.
When I moved to France, the U.S. was bad but not broken. It's been quite an experience watching my old country burn itself down. Here's a slice of American dystopia: I can't send postcards and letters to the US anymore. Everything must be registered, and that's no guarantee it'll get through customs
On my dad's side: Building a log cabin and a whisky still on a small plot of land in Canada. On paper, my grandfather was a carpenter but he made his money as a bootlegger on the Chicago route. On my mom's side: A Pinkerton detective in Chicago investigating bootleggers during Prohibition.
Revan@revan.eurosky.social · last wk.Enough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?
On books that help me ignore a heatwave. The Eve Babitz letters arrived this morning, and I've already slipped between its cool covers. When I opened the door to the postman this morning he said, "Let me guess, a book?" Indeed. "It's very effective in the heat!" Also yes.
Solidarity with my neighbors here in SW France. The local government is providing free vacations for people affected by the local forest fires, the firefighters and their families. People who most need a rest right about now.
@lejournaldugers.bsky.social · last wk.📢 La Région Occitanie offre des séjours de « répit solidaire » aux familles sinistrées par les incendies, aux sapeurs-pompiers engagés et leurs familles La Région est frappée par une série... #lejournaldugers #JDG32
As seen from a café in San Sebastián last month. It did my heart good to be in a place where solidarity with the resistance is not criminalized.
A publishing industry inside joke from 1928. If you've ever read a book from Alfred A. Knopf, you will be familiar with their little essays about typeface. This is from Meaning No Offence, by John Riddell, from The John Day Company (a competitor, as you might guess).
Once a book scout, always a book scout. A pretty good haul considering I plucked them from a farmhouse deep in the heart of rural France.
Meshell Ndegeocello has announced the 10/2 release of her 3rd Blue Note album "Synonym" featuring an incredible rollcall of special guests reimagining & reconceptualizing a brilliantly curated collection of cover songs. Read more, hear the lead track & pre-order now! www.bluenote.com/meshell-ndeg...
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO ANNOUNCES "SYNONYM"; NEW ALBUM OF DUETS WITH ASTOUNDING LINE-UP OF SPECIAL GUESTS - Blue Note Records
Meshell Ndegeocello has announced the October 2 release of her 3rd Blue Note album Synonym, one of the most ambitious projects in her impressive discography which features an astounding rollcall of sp...
bluenote.com
The best part of my day is the 2 seconds after I wake up, before remembering the canicule awaits. Canicule. Such a pretty word for hell.
Le Monde@lemonde.fr · 3w agoEN DIRECT, canicule : 26 départements en vigilance rouge mardi
The French novelist Paul de Kock was a "felinophile enragé." His house was surrounded by a high wall, within which his cats roamed freely. When neighbors found a stray, they didn't even bother to ring his bell, but simply tossed the cat over the wall to join the others.
Pablo Neruda was born on this day in 1904. Here he is on political and environmental corruption, from ‘America, I Do Not Invoke Your Name in Vain’, part six of Canto General. This translation is by Ben Belitt. #poetry
Just finished cleaning up one of my typewriters, and am more than chuffed with the results. Now to replace the plastic bobbins with the real deal. This Baby's got wings.
Took a leisurely drive to a nearby village to check out their little free library. I like to spike them with excellent books, and occasionally I find something good to take home. This one was sweet, but in dire shape. I swept up a bit, and am thinking of making a project out of cleaning it up.
I've been following the progress of this book, and am excited that it's finally out in the world. I can't make it to Liverpool in time for the event. Please go if you can.
James Bailey@drjamesbailey.bsky.social · last mo.Hello, I’ve an event for my Muriel Spark biography next Weds (15th) at Waterstones Liverpool. We’ve sold barely any tickets, however, and it might be cancelled as a result. Please get a ticket if you’re nearby - it’ll be a lot of fun, and I’ll bring badges! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/waterstone...
The vast tackles have now done their duty. The peeled white body of the beheaded whale flashes like a marble sepulchre
Today at the Dalkey Archive Essentials Blog & Newsletter, the great Jamie Hood on Carole Maso’s AVA (from her new introduction to the novel, available 7.21.26)! Read it here: www.deepvellum.org/dalkey-archi...
Nothing I like better than badass booksellers.
Firestorm Books@firestorm.coop · last mo.Hell yeah we are
Vintage Penguins are a menace. They look beautiful, they trace whole eras of design, they are full of half-forgotten gems & they remind you that these were once ordinary pocket reads for buses, trains & lunch breaks. Weren’t people reading good books? Come buy them before I do. 🐧 1/2
Once again, reading Wait Until Spring, Bandini has helped me through a heatwave. John Fante's description of winter lifts me out of this absurd heat and drops me into Colorado snow.
Françoise Sagan & Juliette Greco by Karl Bissinger St. Germain-des-Près, 1948 I'm not sure who the man on the right is. In any case, this might be the coolest photograph ever taken.
There are innumerable ways to resist fascism. Sometimes it's done with a pen AND a sword.
Karen Attiah@karenattiah.bsky.social · 2mo agoAnd of course, I am deeply grateful to my readers, followers, friends, mentors, and the industry peers who have supported me throughout my career and through what has been one of the most personally and professionally challenging periods of my life. The stakes are high, but I’m ready. Let’s go!!
It is not an addiction. It is a long-term, paper-based emotional entanglement with excellent cover design - but I do admit to being a little flightly re a good cover!
and there's more: the physical spaces maintained by library staff are more necessary when the rest of society is being broken and/or stolen from us.
Patrick Ness@patricknessbooks.bsky.social · 2mo agoWe will never know or properly appreciate how many lives have been saved by librarians. The right book in the right hands at the right time. Astounding.
Depressed and anxious at the sight of the discourse, I decided to remind myself why I liked reading, so I opened Don Quixote for the first time and it’s fucking hilarious. Thanks, books, shouldn’t doubt you.
Spotted in a tiny town in southern France. I, a native Chicagoan, took off my White Sox cap and held it against my heart in tribute.
I opened my front door to the postie who was smiling and holding out a big box to me. He asked how many books were in there. I said just two, and sorry for the weight, but it's Sherlock Holmes. He smiled again and said bonne lecture!
