So, as you might be able to surmise from the title and the accompanying opening image, I went to Portland to ring in my birthday!
It happened the weekend before last. We left Tacoma on Friday the 14th, zipped around town on the 15th, took a lazy morning on the 16th, and languidly made our way home that afternoon. And honestly? I still feel like I didn't get everything I wanted to do worked in to the mix.
I've had plenty of time to plan:
it was the first time we've been back to the major PNW hub since I moved my younger sibling out of their dorm at Portland State in June of 2019, at the end of their freshman year. They transferred schools, the world suffered a massive stop, and things were pretty homey for a while. Since then, they have graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, and Portland has sat in the back of my mind, relatively untouched. Until, of course, that same sibling - who makes an average of ten or so trips back a year - brought it up as a potential destination for my birthday!
In between eating just, literally, so much incredible food - from truly so many unique and remarkable places - we also made plenty of time for zooming around other parts of the city we haven't seen before.
But one that we've definitely spent our fair share of time in, year in and out, was Powell's City of Books.
For those who are unfamiliar with the nerdy mecca of Powell's, it is the largest independently-owned bookstore in the world. So named due to its footprint taking up the length of a city block in the middle of downtown Portland, Powell's is heralded the world over for its extensive catalog, sprawling real estate, and generous amount of secondhand and rare books.
Hands-down, it's one of the favorite (and honestly, only) reasons that Portland has become a regular fixture in my life. If I'm being hauled two-and-a-half hours out of my comfort zone to visit a city with a heinous lack of parking and overabundance of one-way streets, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm spending a minimum of an hour and $50 drifting around inside of Powell's.
Originally, we had planned that our excursion would take place on Saturday afternoon - giving me an ample amount of time to wander, owl-eyed and drooling, to my heart's content - but we ended up leaving our house several hours earlier than anticipated on Friday, and suddenly found ourselves with a fair chunk of time before we were due at Bamboo Sushi for dinner. After some schedule redesigning, it became one of the first things on the agenda upon entering the city.
While it might have felt a little scrambled in the moment - and truly, it is impossible not to feel at least a little overwhelmed every time you walk in - I eventually hit my stride, remembered my plan, and stayed on course. When I slowed down later that night, unwinding back at the hotel after a batch of homemade, bespoke s'mores from 1927 S'mores Company, I figured that it was probably the best possible way to start my birthday weekend.
 |
The text I received from my sister after I sent along the news.
Needless to say, you can tell we're a family of "itinerary" people. |
the shopping experience
Here's the thing:
I am Pro-Library-Noise. The library is a public institution, representative of equitable access, and is not only a source of knowledge, but also public benefits. You don't just come to the library for books, but also assistance, also understanding, and to be perfectly honest, for comfort without cost, because the library is one of the few places you can exist freely without the expectation of payment.
Do I think that you should maintain a respectable understanding of your surroundings in a library, and accommodate your voice levels accordingly? Absolutely. But I believe that it's important to feel free to talk in the library.
Meanwhile, I think I should absolutely be allowed to start shushing people in Powell's.
If you're someone who suffers from sensitivity about volume, or just the occasional bout of social overwhelm, you need to know beforehand that IT IS NOISY. Yes, it is a large and well-known store in a populous downtown area, so you're going to have plenty of people chattering or shopping with friends, but this goes far beyond that. Occasional cacophonous call-outs across the intercom came regularly and without warning, with an audio trigger that crackled like lightning. People would stand in the middle of narrow aisles and hold boisterous, arm-flailing conversation, and still manage to look at you derisively when you asked to slide past them to get to the other side. Those seeking recommendations or help from booksellers - following along in their nametagged trail, still trying to explain what they were looking for - expected people who were simply browsing on their own to, no joke, cut a path and stand aside, regardless of who had been browsing at that same bookshelf first.
For someone who was already a little sweaty about being in an unfamiliar city, and trying their best to juggle a large stack of books in their arms, it was honestly chaos.
 |
The relatively peaceful second-floor, which I believe is where most of the Nonfiction is stored.
Photo courtesy of my mom, while I was maneuvering the shelves of a nearby room in a hazy stupor. |
But maybe that's Portland for you. It felt like everywhere we went this that weekend - be it a dimly-lit, well-populated restaurant for dinner, or an early morning café stop bumping egregiously loud '80s tunes - was too damn noisy. So maybe that's just the claim of the hustle and bustle of a large metropolitan area.
Still. Seriously. Let people look at books in peace, without feeling like the father in "Harrison Bergeron," with the extreme audio feedback of the intercom kicking on every other minute. For a place full of knowledge-to-be-gained, you can barely hear yourself think in there.
the haul
 |
| Book spread + hotel bed = vacation paradise. |
Okay, so, to clarify: did I intend to walk out of Powell's with this many books? Of course not. You never do!
But you've all seen my bookshelves, so it's not like I can kid you guys with some expressed measure of self-control you already know I don't have, especially about discounted printed material. Instead, I'll simply excuse myself with this:
You don't walk into Powell's with books in mind. Sure, you can come up with some kind of a gameplan... in fact, I recommend it! But that's not saying you follow it to the letter. Instead, you blackout completely, and emerge an hour and a half later, brain full of cotton fuzz and arms buckling under the weight of a tower of new titles you barely remember picking up. If you met me just beyond the doors after checkout and put a gun to my head, and told me to name all of the books I'd just purchased, I'd maybe be able to get all the way up to three.
The easiest way to explain it, is by comparing it to an afternoon trip to Trader Joe's. Only you leave with books, instead of some undiscernible amount of exotic dips, frozen entrees, and a dessert within which there exists an ungodly amount of cookie butter.
Maybe this is a little bit of exaggeration, on my part, but I'm willing to bet you know what I mean.
Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of Spiritual Life, Fr. James Martin, SJ
Case in point: this was one of the only books I entered into the store with a direct title in mind! I've been a fan of Fr. Martin's for years, and funnily enough, have bought my copies of all of the other wonderful books of his I own only from Powell's. So, one of the dedicated stops on my list was to the Catholic shelves, buried within the scope of the heinously unorganized Christian Religion section.
To be fair, this was one of the quietest sections of the store, which would lead me to believe not a ton of people venture up here... including, it would seem, the staff.
365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of Their Lives, Woodeene Koenig-Bricker
This selection has slightly less intention behind it, beyond the conscious thought of "Ooh, only $4." Basically, I've been wanting to pick up a book of collected saints for a while now, just to kind of browse out of as the fancy strikes me, and one that comes jam-packed with a whole year's worth of them sounded pretty alright to me.
Besides, I kind of recognize the cover, and think that it might have been the one from my Confirmation classes over a decade ago, the book that gave my friend Madi the idea for St. Scholastica.
And, you know... four dollars.
The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind, Jackson Ford
The first of the Frost Files series, this novel follows telekinetic government specialist Teagan Frost, as she encounters an unexpected body at the site of her latest break-in job. With less than a day to clear her name, LA teeters on the brink of an underground battle, one only she can stop before it's too late.
Full disclosure, my interest in this one was peaked weeks beforehand, at an entirely different bookstore: while pacing the Fantasy section of Barnes and Noble - which never seems to carry the books we're actually looking for - I stumbled upon this expletive-titled series... or at least, what remained of it. It seems that someone had picked up the first title, but not the rest of the books, and no one at B&N had thought it fit to refill the slot. Does this bode well for my own reading enjoyment? Well, if I'm looking to find the second and third books in the series when I'm finished, at least I'll know where to go.
Senlin Ascends, Josiah Bancroft
The first in the Books of Babel series, this novel follows "man of letters" Thomas Senlin, as he takes his wife on a honeymoon through the boisterous metropolitan Tower of Babel. However, after the two become unexpectedly separated, he is forced to combat against the mysterious inhabitants and numerous fellow tourists of the strange and dangerous city, in order to find her again.
This title comes highly recommended from fellow Fantasy-loving friends, and also carries the distinction of having been touted multiple times by BookTuber
Regan from PeruseProject. Plus, I've heard it referred to as an "unknown treasure," which is a title carried by several other faves from the genre.
The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden
The first in the Winternight trilogy, and inspired by works of Russian folklore, this novel follows Vasilia - whose father has recently remarried after the death of her mother - and the mysterious figures in the snow, the ones from her nurse's stories. While her city-bred stepmother forbids the family from honoring the spirits of the house Vasilia was raised with, the young girl begins to believe that their halted rituals have been protecting them from forces far beyond their reckoning... ones that are now growing nearer.
Another popular Fantasy title, I've actually been pondering this one for a fairly long time, as well... but from yet another bookstore. We frequent Sunriver, Oregon, a couple of times a year, and this title was always a standout on their slim-stocked Fantasy shelves. I neglected to pick it up due to the fact that we never saw it when seasonally appropriate, and then after a while, someone else beat me to the punch, and the only titles left on the shelves were those of its sequels. But now, I finally have it... and snow should be coming down soon!
The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison
The first in the Goblin Emperor series (yes, yes, I know you're sensing the pattern with all of these Fantasy selections), this series follows the youngest, half-goblin son of the emperor, who unexpected ascends to the throne when his father and three older brothers are killed in an "accident." Despite never having lived at Court, he is now expected to contend with politics he doesn't understand and social rituals he's completely unversed in, all while keeping wary of those who may have caused the past emperor's demise.
Originally published in 2014, this book had - to my knowledge - somewhat of an indie / cult favorite following, before being brought back for a reprint and two additional series installments in 2021. In that time, though, it's gained the attention of plenty more genre fans, and was recommended in more than one video, again, by
Regan at PeruseProject. (To be fair, she's also the one who I first learned about Sarah Rees Brennan's
In Other Lands from, so I'm thinking that's the rightful justification for my fan-for-life mentality. At least, when it comes to Fantasy novels).
In Victorian England, any information you'd need to know, from hiring maids to making dessert, could be found between the pages of Beeton's Book of Household Management. Little did her readers know, though, was that Beeton herself was only twenty-one when she started writing, and passed before her book was even published at twenty-eight. This biography explores the short life and enduring legacy of the precursor to Martha Stewart and Betty Crocker alike, as her name and title bring about family disaster, are subjected to the whims of social flux, and are used to market products far beyond her passing.
Honestly, I was simply darting around the Food Writing shelves like a mosquito that had swallowed some Red Bull. The Cooking section is one one of the main floors of Powell's, and the people who were shopping there were not terribly nice, so I wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. This was the first title that compelled me to stick it out, and keep moving down the shelves, and I'm glad I did, because it looks like the sort of thing that I can pass along to my aunts after I'm done reading!
The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove, Cathy Erway
An underpaid executive assistant in New York City cuts off restaurants cold-turkey, and pledges to learn how to use her own kitchen, across the course of two full years. What began as simply a way to scrounge together some extra cash from her budget, becomes a project full of not only favorite recipes, but a newfound love of sharing meals, ethically grown ingredients, a bout with dumpster diving, and more.
I take to "books about normal, everyday adults learning to cook for the very first time" like a toddler takes to a loose packet of glitter in a precarious location: I just wanna roll around in 'em, to be quite honest. And while I'm still working - continuously writing, always thinking about - my own 100K+ word manuscript on a similar subject, it's still a genuine source of joy to read.
The Food Lover's Garden, Angelo Pellegrini
While I could expand upon the blurb that actually exists on the back cover of this book, I'll err instead on the side of its Goodreads summary: "How to successfully marry gardening and food." Truly, again, never has anything been written more for me.
But to be honest, despite the conversational tone, illustrated figures, and more found within its pages, I almost didn't pick it up. After all, I have quite a few books about gardening that I don't really read already, and those ones even come equipped with full-color spreads! The selling point, however, was also found on the back cover, in the author's info: "Angelo Pellegrini was a professor of English literature at the University of Washington in Seattle." Not only my alma mater, but my specific department?! How could I put it back on the shelf?
Will Write For Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction and More, Dianne Jacob I feel like the title explains enough of what this book is for you to get it: it's like a Writer's Market, but just for all of the various directions you can take the concept of food writing, be it for critical review, journalism, fiction, etc.
Are there certain targets within this scope that draw my particular bow more than others? Absolutely. But I've already checked this thing out of the library on three separate occasions, and I'm tired of having to return it every once in a while for other people to read.
the birthday haul
Because like I said, it was my birthday, and you don't just have a birthday without someone wanting to buy you one or two books. Or, more likely than that, you don't just have a birthday without having purchased a couple of them online for yourself at least a month in advance, handing it off to other people to wrap for you, and then doing your best to forget about it in the ensuing month so that it can feel more like a "surprise."
When we came back on the Sunday afternoon, we made certain to leave enough time for a couple of drinks out, a quick Zoom call with family members, and, of course, opening up some presents.
If You Lived Here You'd Be Famous By Now: True Stories from Calabasas, Via Bleidner
Via Bleidner transferred from a close-knit Catholic school, to Calabasas High, and decided to navigate the change by taking notice of the chaos that suddenly surrounded her: extravagant family homes, casual mentions of plastic surgery and drug use woven into school gossip, and elbows-length relations to various celebrities. Now in college, Via has translated her careful notes into a full-scoped perspective of her time spent attending one of the most affluently-attended schools in the country.
As I might have mentioned before, my sister's girlfriend is a Calabasas kid. In the time since they started dating, she's become one of my favorite people, and does things like drive me around Malibu to look at the Bachelor Mansion during the one visit I've taken to visit them in LA so far (to be fair, they just moved down there last year. Besides, California's so HOT). I had seen this on a shelf in Barnes and Noble over the summer, and sent her a pic for some gentle ribbing... apparently, she saved that photo, because this copy was waiting for me on my birthday. Now I'm threatening to form a book club.
The Spiderwick Chronicles boxed set (Books One through Five)
As you might recall from
a recent blogpost of mine (or from the other times I mentioned it on this blog,
once or
twice), I read the first two installments of the
Spiderwick Chronicles books based off of a prompt from this past Summer's "Seattle Public Library Book Bingo," and man, was my world rocked. Lo and behold, things that you enjoyed as a kid might still be capable of keeping you enthralled as an adult.
I mentioned this to my younger brother, who never read these books growing up, and he took the initiative to do some eBaying early. While they're not the deckled-edged hardcover books I read in my elementary years, they're a freshly-sealed, crisp and clean package of the complete paperback set! And of course, they're headed right in his direction once I'm done.
But speaking of things that I read when I was younger...
Selections from the Once Upon a Time series, various authors
Don't ask me why, but sometime over the summer - honestly, probably when I was reading the
Spiderwick Chronicles books - I got a bee in my bonnet about other books that were on my regular library rotation when I was much younger. I'm one of only two of my siblings that remember what it looked like before our local library branch got its upgrade... a part of my brain can still render, in extreme detail, the various organizational formats of the building has gone through in the past two decades. Which means I remember, what must have been fifteen years ago, back when all of the YA mass market paperbacks were lined up, unalphabetized, on some suspended racks on the back wall in the children's section...
And these books dominated my attention.
(Well, for the most part. I was also really into the Fear Street books, which I believe were all arranged on the shelf above.)
Published, for the most part, by Simon Pulse between 2002 and 2010 - then repackaged as sleekly-styled compendiums in 2012 and 2013 - the
Once Upon a Time series were retellings of well-known-and-not fairy tales, with gorgeous and distinctive illustrated covers for their original run. There were almost twenty published in total, and now, I've got ten of them... including some of my favorites,
Scarlet Moon (a werewolf-y rendition of "Little Red Riding Hood"), and
Midnight Pearls ("The Little Mermaid"), both written by Debbie Viguie, as well as
Golden ("Rapunzel"), by Cameron Dokey. Other remixes in the mix include retellings of "The Magic Flute," "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," "The Princess and the Frog," and more.
It's a minor miracle that between two $15 eBay purchases of just general lots of these books, I somehow managed to only have one repeat (Beauty Sleep, Cameron Dokey). And now, I can really lean into the whole "repeating my childhood" thing throughout the month of November!
So, that's what I got for my birthday. And if you, like my mom, are currently thinking, "Man, this kid really needs to implement a no-book-buying year again," then maybe... maybe you're correct. Or maybe, the problem at hand has absolutely nothing to do with my bookish impulse purchases, and maybe more with the fact that my 2022 Resolution to read at least 25 books off of my shelves is completely floundering.
But more on that at a later date. As of right now, I'm just having fun luxuriating in the new reads and the promises of adventures to come, now that I'm finished up with Fall traveling. My packed Autumn schedule means that I'm not due to get out of town at least until the end of the year (if that, depending on how the new year starts shaping up), and the forecast is such that it has finally started (blessedly, welcomingly) dumping rain for like the next two months straight, so I've got plenty of reasons to stay inside and read!
What's a good bookish gift you've received recently? Did you notice how many authors named "C/Katherine" are mentioned in this blogpost? Let me know, in the comments below!
No comments:
Post a Comment