October at Logos

Halloween has come to Logos Books.

There are little touches of Halloween in several places, like this jack-o-lantern which looks out onto the side street.

And this one, tucked away on a high shelf.

Incidentally, the pumpkin sits next to a book called "The Book on the Book Shelf" and what you see is the front cover, not three books standing upright.  If I weren't so close to finishing "Babi Yar," I would have taken this to read.  It's the history of the book and one thing it discusses was how it was decided that books should stand on a shelf, upright, like this.  From the little I thumbed through it, it looks fascinating.

This being a new month, we have a new artist on display with a collection called "Surprised by Life."  These are pen and ink animal drawings by Ann Wright and all of them quite whimsical.  I keep commenting on these two paintings.

I've been telling people that the fish on the right is food for the fish on the left.  My humor is not appreciated.

It was really a pretty quiet day today.  A guy came in and spent nearly $50 on an eclectic selection (and then went to the "new" book store in the next block and bought three books there and then came back and bought another book at Logos.  His purchases will help make this a decent day, moneywise.

I did have a few high points.  This guy on the right came in.   He's been in before.  He looks through all the books, and never buys anything (from me, anyway), but the noteworthy thing about him is that he appears to make his own hats.  The last time he came in he had a ball cap (like the one he is wearing here)   made out of a newspaper.  I don't know what this one was made of, but perhaps paper plates.  Today he had on regular shoes, but the last time he had on very ratty, holey shoes.  Both times he was dressed all in white.

When I started reading "Babi Yar" today, on the first page, I found the word "tendentious," which I remember finding the last time I was at Logos and at that time I had looked it up.  It means "strongly favoring a particular point of view in a way that may cause argument : expressing a strong opinion."  When I came across it today, I felt good that I knew what it meant.

A couple of women "of a certain age" stood outside for a long time.  The woman on the left here was on her cell phone the whole time while her friend, with snowy white hair, looked through out bargain shelves at mystery books.

Eventually she came into the shop and bought "I, Michael Bennett," the James Patterson book that I took home with me last week and returned today. She said she was looking for something to read on her fight to Madison, Wisconsin.   I didn't tell her it was a terrible book.  Let her find out for herself--she might like it.

When the guy with the $50 purchase came to the desk, I had to ring him up three times because I kept screwing up.  At one point I had his bill up to $140.  But eventually I got the right amount rung up.  And then at the end of the day, I discovered I had forgotten to enter one purchase and it threw the whole column of numbers off.  First time ever I've done that.

I think I've been at Atria too long.

At the end of the day, I had a helper ring up almost every sale.

I had a single fly attach itself to me last week too.   Almost makes me believe in reincarnation and think that this was a long lost friend come to pay a visit.