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I'm off to the beautiful Syracuse University shortly to attend a book signing, so instead of the usual bookmark, I've decided to offer you a review of some of my favorite finds.



I Don't Care If You Can't Write Fancy

Why I like it:

Snyder, Tex. Age 39 I HAVE MONEY OF MY OWN AND I DON'T EXPECT A MAN TO BE A MAGICIAN AND BUILD ME A CASTLE. I NEVER MAKE ANY DEMANDS ON ANYBODY. BUT I'M LIKE SO MANY WOMEN NOWADAYS. JUST LONESOME

The loneliness is so heartbreaking... I just imagine that they all found someone. I have to.


Best Intentions

Why I like it:

We've all started something, something important to us, and for one reason or another, are unable to finish.

Dear Aeneas

Why I like it:

The hate in this letter is obvious, but the fact that the person took the time to write it out shows that there was a lot of love, once.

By All Means Go

Why I like it:

I'm not sure. Maybe it's the handmade hearts on the envelope.


Picture Day

Why I like it:

This photo is candid perfection. The kid on the far right in the ill-fitting jacket. The smile of the girl in front. The young man fixing his buttons next to her. Perfect.


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Friday Giveaway: contest closed

Back with a winner in a moment

Hello faithful Forgotten Bookmarks readers. I plan on having the usual Friday giveaway today, but I wanted to get your thoughts on something first.

As most of you know, I have a book coming out in a few months. I've been told that book trailers are a great way to get the word out, and I tend to agree. Most of the ones I've checked out have been funny, exciting, inspiring - all the things you want potential readers to feel. The problem I'm facing is that I have no idea what I'm doing. Most trailers are about two minutes long, and I'm not sure how I'd fill up two seconds.

So what do you think? Anyone have any grand ideas? What kinds of things would you like to see in a short video like this?

I'd love to hear any and all comments and thoughts - and advice, if you have any. Feel free to leave them below as you enter today's giveaway.

Now, on to the free book:

Today's giveaway book is "A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway. This is a lovely Franklin Library edition from 1979: half leather binding with lots of gilt, sewn-in ribbon bookmark, illustrations by Bernard Fuchs. To be honest, I want to keep it for myself.

To enter, leave a comment here, or on Facebook or Twitter. I'll pick a winner at random tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM EST.

I like everyone to be happy, so if the winner is chosen from Facebook, I'll run a contest for the other two sites, and so on. You get the picture - everybody gets a chance.

Good luck, and I look forward to your thoughts!

No Witty Title

When I came up with the idea for yesterday's giveaway, I thought it might be an interesting and different twist on my usual giveaways. I have helped out some people in need before; I spend a lot of time on Reddit, and I'm always offering up books to those who need some cheering up. I really like the idea of brightening someone's day, even if it's just for that one day.

I wasn't really prepared  for the emails that started to come in. I was expecting stories of unemployment, local library branch had closed, just moved and needed something to fill the bookshelves, perhaps someone in the service looking for something to read to fill in the lonely hours...

Instead, I got real stories of pain and suffering; heartbreaking tales that forced me to get up from my desk and take a walk before I could come back and read the rest. I said in yesterday's post that I would pick one person for the care package, but I just don't have it in me to exclude the rest.

I'll still pick one person to receive the handmade book so graciously donated by Melissa at www.toboldlyfold.com, but I will do my best to get packages out to everyone who sent me a story. It will take some time, and I'm sure I will have to wait for a few more bookperdiem.com sales to fund the shipping costs, but I'll get them out. I won't publish any of the stories or announce any of the winners, there's no need. I will get in touch with all of you shortly.

What I realized, maybe just at this moment, is that while I wanted to help someone feel a little better about things, change their outlook on life a bit, what I really did was change myself. These heartbreaking stories are all around us, they are happening every day to people you know and love. I'm really trying not to sound like some smug and righteous dope, I promise; I realize that whatever I end up sending might help for one hour, one day, and I'm fine with that. I guess what I'm saying is that I stopped to ask if there was something I could do, and there was. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask.

All of that said, Forgotten Bookmarks will be back with it's regular programming later on today.

I was thinking... Updated

Books are a great way to escape from the stresses of our lives, our deadlines and bills, our worries and our wants.

If you know someone that's having a tough time, I want to hear about it. I would love to help out in my own small way by sending along a book care package.

The wonderful Melissa from toboldlyfold.com has generously offered this handmade book to the winner of the care package. Yes, I said made by hand:

Pretty awesome. Please repay her kindness by checking out more of her fantastic work at www.toboldlyfold.com.

If you have a story, leave a note in the comments or send me an email at fb@forgottenbookmarks.com. I will pick one of the stories tomorrow afternoon, and we can get a box of books in the mail.

I hope to hear from you.

Nice Girls

I've been off buying books most of the day, but I wanted to give you guys something to gawk at. Bought this one this afternoon, love the title:

"No Nice Girl Swears" by Alice-Leone Moats. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1933.



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Stylish Garments: Why We Love Old Paper Things

I've thought a lot about old books, old paper, ephemera - all the things I come across on a day-to-day basis. One of the blogs on our blogroll, and one of the sites that make it to my iGoogle page, is This Old Paper; they seem to think about this sort of thing as much as I do. They were nice enough to write up a post about Forgotten Bookmarks, and more specifically, our bookstore.

Looking though their site, I wonder what it is about these old things that fascinates us. Why are we drawn to a simple note, a single sentence, just because it was written 100 years ago? We come across words that old all the time, and choose to ignore them. Often, we ignore them because they are old words, tired words (I'm looking at you, Charles Dickens). No, it must be the intimacy of the words, the moment. I like to think we are part-time anthropologists, dreaming up the birth and death of of these old things, the wheres and the whys; imagining the postcard dropped in box in 1910, the candlelight flickering across the parchment as a tired father reaches across the miles with his words to his family back home, a bored student passing the time in his 1951 Latin class by doodling the teacher with a monkey's butt...

I have conjured up all these things and more, and I am just starting to realize that I prefer my version of history to anything that might have really happened. I am sure their lives were nearly as droll as ours.

Today's post is for you, T.O.P., and for all of you that just enjoy old things:

Random Thought

I follow a lot of bookish people on Twitter, as well as their blogs (many of which can be found down, and to the right).

I feel a collaboration might be fun, so all your readers, let me know if you have an idea...

...the first one that popped into my head? I post a typical forgotten bookmark, and a few writer-types come up with a few paragraphs that might explain why that item ended up in that book. For example:

Postcard: Milan, 1961. 

Dear Lover,

It's over.

-you know who

Found in "Catch 22."

...

"It was a dark and stormy night in Milan when I decided to dash off a final goodbye to that idiot lover of mine..."

You get the idea.

Let me know if you have any ideas, it could be fun.