Gardening doesn't have to be a fool's errand

    With proper planning, gardening doesn't have to be a fool's errand. And Eagle Eye is here to help!

    Starting a garden can be an overwhelming task, whether you’re planning your first season or have some experience under your belt. Beyond choosing which plants you want to grow, you must also consider garden placement, sunlight, potential landscaping changes, and rainfall accumulation. 

    Not to mention, using the internet as a research tool can lead to an overload of often conflicting information, especially if you turn to unregulated forums like Reddit.  

    Luckily for you, Eagle Eye has a wide array of gardening books and even a few members of staff who can point you in the right direction to get your garden going. With a little research and a can-do attitude, gardening can be a rewarding and fulfilling hobby.

    If you’re interested in environmental stewardship, our staff’s top recommendation is Native Plants of the Southeast by Larry Mellichamp, a former professor of botany at UNC Charlotte. This beautiful, full-color guide to hundreds of southeastern native plants can help you determine which plants will thrive in your yard. It’s a wonderful addition to your home library, or even a gift for the native plant enthusiast in your life. 

      A popular type of garden is the classic vegetable garden. Eagle Eye is fully stocked on Joe Lamp'l's The Vegetable Gardening Book, a seed to harvest guide on organic vegetable gardening. This comprehensive volume covers everything from soil and mulch to pest control -- very handy come late summer when the invasive Joro spider makes a reappearance.

    Even if you're an established gardener, Eagle Eye may have a book which appeals to a burgeoning interest -- perhaps raising chickens? If so, take a peek at An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Backyard Chickens by Jenna Woginrich. Regulations on raising fowl vary between municipalities, so be sure to check your local ordinances before making an impulse run to the Feed & Seed.

    If poultry is of no interest to you, perhaps you could look into keeping an apiary -- a word first used in 1654 to describe a bee yard. Local ordinances apply to beekeeping as well, so be sure to do your research. Or, check out Pollinator Gardening for the South by Danesha Seth Carley and Anne M. Spafford to learn all about nurturing bee habitats without donning a bee suit.

    Not everyone has access to outdoor space, whether a backyard or a community garden. For the housebound plant lovers, the wonderful world of houseplants awaits within the pages of House Planted, a guide to styling your indoor space with plants by Lisa Muñoz.

    If you've got more of a black thumb, you could give succulents a try, or some windowsill herbs -- both notoriously challenging to kill. Or start easy with The Unkillables, Jo Lambell's guide to 40 houseplants which just might survive no matter the level of neglect.

    Perhaps you're the type who's more interested in the function of plants over their cultivation. Why not check out Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide or Eat the Weeds: A Forager's Guide by Deane Jordan.

    These are only a few gardening options. The beauty of a garden is that it can be anything you imagine, whether ornamental perennial, tropical exotic, or a plain old rock garden. No matter which level of gardening, herbalism, or foraging you're at, Eagle Eye has a book for you. It's never too late to plant a seed and watch what grows. Before you head in, send your local 4-H agriculture agent an email to inquire about soil testing, and consider signing up for a home composting service to turn your garbage into black gold because remember -- all successful gardens sprout from healthy soil!

    

Bonnie's Birthday Bash

On April 21st, Eagle Eye's very own Bonnie Ann, the Book Shop Dog, turned 7 years old! Everyone's favorite bookish Miniature Poodle has made it one more rotation around the sun.

To celebrate, Bonnie sported her birthday bandana around the store before going out for a Puppy Sundae at Bruster's to cap off her birthday festivities. She also received a good deal of belly rubs from other staff throughout the day. I spoke with Doug and Diana Robinson to get more of an idea about how Bonnie has impacted their lives, outside of being too darn cute.

Much like the little white dog depicted in the Fool Tarot, Bonnie works as a grounding force by keeping the Robinsons from running too wild and helping them to maintain their routines. Within the store, she also helps to keep them aware of when another dog enters the store by going a little crazy in the back.

While she isn't the biggest fan of other dogs, Bonnie is quite fond of people. If you ever see her in the store be sure to say hi, and if you'd like to see her feel free to ask at the front. If she's working that day, we may be able to bring her out to greet you!

Finally, here are some fun facts about Bonnie. She is named after the famous pirate Anne Bonny, for the black patch over her eye. She is also very smart, though she hasn't quite gotten the hang of reading yet. Despite this fact, she does have a favorite book, which is "How to Be a Pirate."

Lucky Find

Whenever I start looking at a shelf in a used bookstore, I always feel a little overwhelmed. Being faced with so many titles, many of which I've probably never heard of, can be pretty daunting. But once that initial flicker of anxiety has passed, something else takes root. I think of all the books I've taken a chance on and that have rewarded me for doing so, and the thrill of the hunt sets in. It's something like a gambler's high, because, ultimately, when I go shopping for books I'm really just hoping to get lucky.

There are a couple of main ways luck can manifest at a used bookstore. One of them, as I alluded to earlier, is when you find a hidden gem. Part of what makes used bookstores special is that you can find books from authors & publishers that have fallen into relative obscurity, or maybe you'll find a title you've never heard of from an author you adore. Hidden gems are the kind of books that reward you for really taking your time and looking at every title on the shelf, but they aren't the only gems you'll find at a used bookstore.

Part of the draw of shopping used, at least for me, is that you can save a little bit of money, especially as the prices of new books have been steadily increasing. It always feels great, and a little lucky, to find a hot new title at a used price, doubly so if the hold list at the library is getting close to the triple digits. For anyone curious, we'll usually start getting used copies of title about nine months after the publication, but people have been known to trade things in much sooner. Coincidentally, paperback editions of books also release about nine months after the initial publication. 

Getting a good deal on a great book is always pretty lucky, but sometimes the real cherry on top is hiding within the pages (and I'm not talking about the words). People leave all sorts of things in their books, from photos to receipts to old plane tickets, and I always get a kick out of finding these glimpses into the book's past. I always love finding book marks, too, especially if they've come from another bookstore somewhere far away.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when comes to lucky things happening in the bookstore. Besides finding something good on the shelves, there are usually some pretty nice people in the aisles who are probably just as excited about books as you are. Sometimes they've even got a cute dog with them! So keep your eyes peeled, because after you've found your next great read you may even be able to find someone to discuss it with.

Jef Holbrook is Shooting from the Literary Angle

    If you've been watching R.J. Decker, the new TV series based on Carl Hiaasen's "Double Whammy," you may have noticed a familiar face. Eagle Eye Book Shop's very own Jef Holbrook appears as Gary, a supposedly mild mannered florist who has found himself wrapped up in PI Decker's murder investigation. We'd be proud of Jef regardless, but that fact that he's starring in a book adaptation makes the whole occasion extra sweet. 

    This isn't the first time Jef has worked on an adaptation, though. From appearances in the Will Trent Series, to a role in the film adaptation of Lyle Lyle Crocodile, to lending his vocal talents to audio versions of Scientific Digest & kids books such as "I Need a New Butt," Jef his left his mark on plenty of different productions. He's so prolific, in fact, that he doesn't even bother letting his coworkers know when he comes across a book he's worked with anymore, because then he wouldn't have time to do anything else!

    Working at a bookstore does have its benefits for Jef, as he does a lot of research to prepare for roles. Whether he's looking for an original text, trying to delve deeper into a time period, or just reviewing some of his favorite acting books, Jef can usually find something on our shelves to help with his process. In our interview, he did emphasize that the script has the final say on what's happening in a scene, but he also noted that his research helps to bring new color to a role.

    If you'd like to see the full catalog of Jef's roles, or check out any of his bevy of side projects, please feel free to check out the links below. And if you're looking to get something autographed, go ahead and print out this lovely picture of him!

https://jefholbrook.com/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3762401/

https://www.youtube.com/jefholbrooktv

Love Y'all Returns

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, but it won't be the only love fest in Atlanta that weekend. The Love Y'all Book Festival is back and better than ever! The romance book festival will be returning to Downtown Decatur for the third year in a row from Friday, February 13th through Sunday the 15th.

 The festival is back with all the usual bells and whistles: author talks & signings, plenty of vendors, and unique Experiences that you can participate in with authors. But the people running Love Y'all have learned from the past festivals and are using that knowledge to take this year to the next level. I can hear you asking, "What exactly is this next level going to look like?" Well, dear reader, I sat down with Preet Singh, Eagle Eye Bookseller & Love Y'all co-founder to get the inside scoop.

 One of the most significant changes this year is an increase in involvement from publishers. You'll be able to see this in the form of publisher booths, but they have also been providing more support behind the scenes. This support (along with an increase in ticket price) means that there's more stuff in the VIP bag this year. A purchase of a VIP ticket will bring with it five books, a shirt, a free experience, and more! The selection of books will also be greater, because there are more authors coming to Love Y'all than ever, including some from Germany, India, and Canada, as well as throughout the United States.

This year, Love Y'all is also trying to highlight more of Decatur's vibrant bookstore community. Besides the various bookstores that will be selling at the festival, a special Book Shop Tour will take attendees to a number of other shops, including Little Shop of Stories and Atlanta Vintage books.

If this sounds like something that's up your alley, or if you're interested in finding out more about Love Y'all and the authors that will be there, you can check out their website at loveyallfest.com. 

 Check out our Love Y'all authors here. 

A Black History of Anime

Valentine's Day isn't the only thing going on in the February, it's also Black History Month! Eagle Eye is fortunate enough to be located in Atlanta, Georgia, a city rich with Black history. And as this history meets the present, a large number of intersectional groups have emerged within the city. Specifically, we've got a burgeoning community of Black fans of anime and manga.  

One group that has emerged from this community is Trap Sushi, who put on events throughout the year that "merge the best of Atlanta's cultural diversity with the allure of Japanse pop culture." Attendees are encouraged to show up in full cosplay regalia, dressed to the nines as their favorite characters. 

As anime & manga have continued to grow in popularity around the world, Trap Sushi & other cultural crossovers were inevitable. Historically, however, representation of cultural groups outside of Japan within anime and manga have not always been the most respectful. There are many examples of overly-exoticized or down-right caricaturish Black characters, but there are also plenty of examples of positive representation in Animanga.

Naruto's Killer Bee and Bleach's Captain Tosen are two characters from some of the biggest series of all time that serve as pillars of their respective universes. While we're talking Bleach, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Yoruichi, one of the most iconic women in all of Animanga. Her lightning speed and bubbly personality have earned her a place in the hearts of fans around the world. Another iconic character is Dragon Ball's Piccolo, who, while technically an alien from the planet Namek, has also been widely accepted by the Black anime community due to his characterization as an "other" within the story. 

Gachiakuta, a recent breakout success, features Black characters in many roles, from the leader of the series heroes to one of the most powerful villains. Kei Urana, the series' author, also regularly illustrates Black background characters, a small detail that most other creators may forgo but that helps to widen the scope of the world. 

As anime & manga continue to grow in popularity, it is heartening to see creators uplifting the communities that support their work. Even more importantly, though, it is wonderful to see groups that have traditionally been spurned be able to support each other and create spaces where they can celebrate themselves.

 

Check out Bleach volumes here.

Check out Gachiakuta volumes here.

Check out Naruto volumes here.

Check out Dragon Ball volumes here. 

A Reader's Guide to the Book Prize

    The end of the year brings with it the conclusion of the literary awards circuit. With the Nobel Prize in Literature announced in October, the Booker Prize & National Book Awards following suit in November, and pretty much every other book award having been announced already, we've got a whole list of books that are supposed to be pretty good.

    Coincidentally, it's also gift-giving season, and having this list of books is a great resource for finding things to both ask for and give as gifts. Besides just announcing the prize-winning books, many awards will also provide their long & short lists for you to review. One of my favorite new releases from last year, Rachel Kushner's Creation Lake, was on my radar because it appeared on Booker's long list way before the book was even released.

    Consulting rewards lists can also be good if you're looking to buy a book for someone who reads outside of your genre. For the Science Fiction & Fantasy readers in your life, consult the Hugo or Nebula awards. Looking for some Horror? Then check out the Bram Stoker & Shirley Jackson awards. For Romance there are the Romantic Novelist awards, complete with twelve different subcategories, but if you need a romance recommendation in store there's always Bookseller Preet's staff picks shelf!

    Awards lists are a good starting point for finding a good book, but with tens of thousands of new titles releasing every year there are simply too many titles for the panels of judges to review. Luckily we've got each other to fill in the gaps, like with Preet's aforementioned staff picks shelf. Additionally, if you find a book on a list that looks interesting, a good way to find similar titles could be checking out the rest of the books in the publisher's catalogue. Fitzcarraldo, for example, has published the works of a number of Nobel Prize Recipients, but they also publish the works of Fernanda Melchor, one of my favorite authors who hasn't claimed that specific prize yet, and plenty of other cool authors.

    To sum it all up, awards lists are a good place to find good books but they aren't the only place. A couple well placed questions can also get you where you need to go, whether they be addressed to a friend, bookseller, or internet search engine. And at the end of the day, if you give or receive a book that you don't particularly enjoy it's not the end of the world. It might even give you something to laugh about down the road.

The Books We Prize

    My grandmother kept a modest bookshelf. The top few rows held her photo albums, folios filled with memories of her people, her travels, the playbills of operas she’d seen. Then there were her Dutch books, ancient volumes that have seen more of the world than I have. The writings of philosophers and psychologists, books from her youth that followed her for the rest of her life.

    Below those shelves sat her fiction. I’ll always think of her when I see People of the Book, not because she ever mentioned to me that she particularly liked it but because it was what she had on her side table when I’d visit her seventeen years ago. The cover really etched itself into my mind.

    In her last months, she read The Dutch House. I would ask her about it when I’d visit, curious to hear what she thought of Ann Patchett’s writing.

    “Well, it’s not very Dutch,” she answered, a sly smile on her face. As a native of the Netherlands, I could tell she was a bit disappointed.

    When she passed and we had to gather up her belongings, it was easy to tell which books were the ones she prized. Her children’s children’s books, grown brittle and yellowed from years of shelf-life. The foreign language dictionaries that helped her to forge a new life, first in North America and then in the South, before finding her way up to Tennessee. The rows of photo-albums that extended past the modest bookshelf, into her guest room and closet.

    We kept all of that, minus some photo-albums, but we also kept some of the other ones too. The one’s that reminded us not just of the places she went and what she accomplished there, but of who she was when you’d visit her on a Saturday in August and ask her about The Dutch House. The ones that transport us back to those childhood visits. The ones that remind you that a person weaves a long and storied tapestry of life over one hundred years, but at the far end of that weaving there’s still a smiling Oma ready to crack a few jokes and offer you something to snack on.

The Future

        Between climate change and the general state of the world, the future can be scary to consider. Where will we be in 10 years? 50? Will we make it another 100? 

     The answer is: most likely yes. With the rapid rate of scientific advancement, some good old human ingenuity, and a sprinkle of good luck everything should turn out fine. Once we've made it that far, though, things will have changed a good deal, and those changes can be scary to consider too. 

    Tender is the Flesh, by Agustina Bazterrica, explores one of these potential futures. When a virus that is lethal to humans infects the world's wildlife, humans choose to take the preventive measure of wiping out the animals. The world's population survives, but they are left with one big question: "What are we going to eat?" The answer for most is "special meat," otherwise known as human flesh, though going vegan is still an option. 

    The novel follows Marcos, the manager at a human slaughterhouse. Despite his occupation, he is one of the aforementioned vegans, and while he bears witness to the slaughter of countless factory-farmed humans he spends much of his time trying to actively dissociate. A lot of Tender is the Flesh's fear factor comes from the sheer amount of brutality inflicted on humans, but what's even more disturbing are the lengths to which the practices have been normalized. From Most Dangerous Game style man-hunts to in home coolers for storing live "head," also known as humans, for those looking for the freshest cuts.

    Throughout the novel, Bazterrica weaves a plot thread that might make you believe that there may be some sort of silver-lining to all of this, that reconciliation is still possible. Just as you are turning the final pages, though, the thread is severed. All hope is lost, you are left to wander in the dark. The future is scary.

    But it doesn't have to be that way. 

     Under the Eye of the Big Bird, by Hiromi Kawakami, looks even further into humanity's future. What exactly this future holds is revealed through a series of interconnected short stories, and the mix of intrigue and satisfaction that each story's reveal gave me made up for a large portion of my reading enjoyment. Even as time has passed, though, I still think about this book, so I can assure you that it's not all instant gratification. This is all to say that this book may best be enjoyed blind, so if you have any interest in reading it I recommend you call up Eagle Eye and order a copy (We probably have some on our shelves). Spoilers can't ruin the best stories, though, so feel free to read on regardless.

    Under the Eye of the Big Bird's stories follow humans in strange circumstances. Some of them use numbers for names. Others live in isolation, only being visited by another person occasionally for the purpose of procreation. People are occasionally visited by younger versions of themselves. The lucky ones have psychic powers. It's revealed about halfway through the book that all of them are part of a grand experiment to evolve humanity, one that started out of necessity millennia ago and will continue for millennia to come. 

    Kawakami takes full advantage of the story's time frame to both give us some glimpses into humanity's speculative future (my favorite potential evolutionary branch are the super chill plant people) and show us how the appearance of these extraordinary individuals might be received. Despite how far-fetched some of the ideas in the novel may get, what Kawakami is really looking to explore is human nature. What drives us? What scares us? How far will we go to secure our own future? Under the Eye of the Big Bird may not provide clean answers to these questions, but the ones it does offer are certainly quite interesting.

    The last story of the book follows the two final members of humanity. There's an inherent sadness in reading about the last two girls in the world growing up, but there's also something pure in those pages, something like serenity. The future Kawakami envisions is uncertain, but unlike Tender is the Flesh it is not without hope. 

    The future might be scary, but that's not all it has to be.

Why We Like to Be Scared

 

Scary movies, tales of ghosts, witches and goblins, and haunted houses dominate this time of year. It’s Halloween and time for all things scary – including scary novels, better known as Horror Fiction.

A quick Google Search indicates one of the first scary stories can be traced back as far back as ancient Mesopotamia to the Epic of Gilgamesh. Since then scary stories have only gained in popularity over time. Some of the most well-known scary stories include Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, a tale she started writing in 1816 at the age of 18. Another classic horror novel, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published in 1897. Edgar Allan Poe, who is often referred to as the “father of horror” with his eerie and gothic poems and stories such as The Raven, Annabel Lee, and others, also made a mark in the horror genre. And then, current horror and bestselling author, Stephen King, with his hits like Pet Sematary, The Shining, It and many others have held readers’ interest in the horror genre.

In fact, the website bookinfluencers.com in the article dated July 2024, The Rise of Horror, states that according to Nielsen data,  the sale of books in the horror genre experienced a significant increase of about 54% in 2023, and a number of subgenres such as gothic, vampire, paranormal, dark fantasy, just to name a few, have been created to help readers narrow down their selections based on their chilling, thrilling, creepy or terrifying reading preferences.

So why is it that we like to be scared?

A Forbes.com article from Oct. 22, 2023 entitled The Science of Scared: Why We Love the Thrill of Being Afraid by Nicole F. Roberts says it’s not just one thing, but a number of things such as the adrenaline rush, escapism, a shared experience with others, and more, that allows humans to experience and enjoy the emotion of fear in a controlled environment.  

And a healthessentials article on the Cleveland Clinic website entitled Why Do We Like to Get Scared? states that “Our brains are hardwired to enjoy being scared,” but also adds, “as long as there’s no real danger.” Fear is an emotion that can cause a number of simultaneous processes to occur in our bodies when we’re frightened. Those processes can include the Flight or Fight response, an increased heart rate and blood pressure, goose bumps, and more.

Unlike films and haunted houses, if a horror story in the form of a book gets to be too much, the reader can always put it down to put some time and space between themselves and the story and then pick it back up when they’re ready. But we don’t suggest putting a book in the freezer like Joey Tribbiani did with his copy of The Shining in the hit sitcom Friends. A cold book is just that…a cold book.

Eagle Eye Book Shop has a number of horror titles and more. Visit eagleeyebooks.com online or visit us at the store for your next spooky read.

Enjoy the scare and Happy Halloween!

Coverage

One of the most exciting parts of working at a used bookstore is seeing all of the different books that people bring in. Besides allowing me to see lots of different books, it also means I get to see even more book covers. You may be wondering how I'm seeing more cover designs than titles, but the answer is simple: alternate covers.

Most traditionally published books have at least a couple of cover designs thanks to the International market. It's usually cheaper to commission new cover art for a book than it is to pay for the rights to use another, so publishers around the world will often use different covers for the same book. There are plenty of other reasons for the divergence in covers than use rights, though. One is that people living in different parts of the world may have different tastes, both in terms of what they enjoy visually and in their stories. Sayaka Murata's Vanishing World is a book that's covers illustrate these differences.

The novel is set in a world where sex has become taboo and children are artificially conceived & raised communally, with no single parental figure to latch on to. The themes grounding the story are quite dark, but Murata approaches things with an imaginative flair that lends the story some lightness. The American release (left), with its overflowing tub of baby dolls, highlights the almost comedic absurdity of the situation. The UK edition (middle) has biblical imagery that seems to be referencing themes of conception & the price of pursuing the forbidden. The German cover (right) dials in on the story's underlying darkness. 

The beauty of these book covers, and alternate book covers in general, is that no matter how much they differ they're all representations of the same text. One of the things that makes books special is their openness to interpretation, how two people can read the same words and be affected by them in completely different ways, and alternate book covers feel like the perfect visual metaphor for this.

The Classics section is another place where you'll find lots of different book covers, but for different reasons. The first is that many classics are in the public domain, meaning that anyone could print a copy and slap whatever they wanted on the cover. Most of the large publishers already have editions of older books in print, though, so you won't see as many of the Classics from smaller publishers. 

This leads us to the second reason for the variety of covers in Classics, which is that there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Different publishers will all put out editions of the same text, so a distinct cover is a good way to make an edition stand out without altering the content. 

Additionally, because many classics are quite widely read & people already have an idea of what they're getting into when they pick up the book, classics covers can afford to be a little more abstract. Penguin's cover's are a good example of this abstraction, where they'll simply feature a painting, usually tangentially related to the text, the book's title, and the name of the author. 

Fitzcarraldo, a British publisher, takes simple cover designs to the extreme. Their covers are all solid colors, blue for fiction & white for nonfiction, and besides basic information like author & title you'll find little else on the book (except, of course, for some blurbs).  

So whether you don't like the cover of your favorite new release or you're looking for a fifth copy of your favorite Jane Austen novel, the moral of the story is to never settle. What you're looking for is out there waiting to be found, you might just have to start looking a little further afield. 

Matt Dinniman and Chuck Tingle Close Out Eagle Eye Book Shop’s Summer Events

Eagle Eye Book Shop wrapped up its summer with two unforgettable events.

Matt Dinniman was in conversation with fellow author, Will Wight, in the store on August 27. During the conversation, 200 lucky fans and Eagle Eye customers were also treated to a reading of an excerpt from Matt’s upcoming novel, This Inevitable Ruin, read by Matt’s longtime narrator, Jeff Hays. After the conversation, both Matt and Will met fans and signed copies of their books for about 400 readers and fans in the Eagle Eye reading room.


Earlier that week, on August 25, Eagle Eye Book Shop held an event featuring Chuck Tingle offsite at the iconic Plaza Theatre in Atlanta. Chuck brought his upbeat personality, high energy, flamboyant style, and iconic face mask to the stage where he entertained about 200 readers and fans. People left the theater with candid photos taken with the author and Chuck’s newest title, Lucky Day, in hand.


During the busy summer, Eagle Eye Book Shop held a number of other events in the store with authors such as Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores of Happy Wife, a Read with Jenna pick from earlier in the summer. We also hosted authors Kathryn Wood, Ashley Poston, Ally Carter and more.


Fall events have already started with a bang at Eagle Eye Book Shop, including an early September author event with Julia Olivia signing her new best-selling novel, If It Makes You Happy. In addition, Eagle Eye Book Shop is looking forward to upcoming events with authors Elin Hilderbrand, Stephanie Perkins, and Jay Kristoff, just to name a few.


To learn more about the upcoming events at Eagle Eye Book Shop, visit www.eagleeyebooks.com/events.

Playing, Having Fun

    Has this ever happened to you? You're in the final pages of a novel and you start to feel a sort of melancholy fall over you. You've become attached to the world, the characters, the story itself, and you're not ready to let that go. You almost wish you could walk around in the world for yourself.

    Well, I've got good news! There is a fix for this (besides, perhaps, reading a sequel or something like that), and it's known as Role Playing. One of the most popular forms of Role Playing nowadays is through video games, but what these offer in visualization and accessibility they can lack in player freedom and general accessibility. Some prefer to get their role playing on in real life, examples of which can range for the renaissance fair to historical re-enactments, but the outfits can be costly to acquire and intensive to upkeep.

    But what if I told you there was a third option? One that can take you anywhere and lets you do anything. One that doesn't require any hardware or elaborate costumes, just a book, some friends, and a handful of dice. 

    Table Top Role-Playing games, or TTRPGs for short, hit the scene in 1974 with the release of Dungeons & Dragons, and have been capturing the hearts and minds of players for the past 50 years. But how exactly do they work?

     The first thing you're going to have to do is figure out exactly which game you want to play. If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of a beloved series, you can check if there's a licensed table top version of it. Dune, the  Blade Runner and Cosmere all have game books, though there are also gamified versions of more obscure IPs, like 2008's Leverage (which is, unfortunately, out of print). If you've already invested in a Dungeons and Dragons book and don't feel like shelling out any more cash, though, there's still hope. You can build your own custom setting using the book you've already got as a framework. 

    After you've picked a game, the next step is to learn the rules. These usually detail how encounters are organized and what exactly a player character should be capable of. Initially, learning all the rules can be pretty daunting, but luckily you don't actually have to follow the rules to a tee. Ultimately, this is your role-playing experience, and as Marie Kondo famously suggests: if it doesn't spark joy, get rid of it (though playing with restrictions can provide a more rewarding experience).

    Once you've got everything figured about what and how you'll be playing, the only thing left is to figure out who you'll be role playing alongside.  A playgroup usually consists of two roles: the Guild Master (or GM), who pulls all the strings of the game world, and the Players. Being a GM requires a pretty exhaustive knowledge of the rules, so for new players it can be better to start as just a player. Once you've assembled a group, all that's left is to play the game... but what exactly does that look like?

    While some games come with a game board, most of the time you'll be using your imagination to visualize what's going on. 90% of game play is talking, whether that be through interacting with non-player characters or hatching a plan with your party members. This aspect of the gaming experience can also make it a great avenue for socializing, not just because you are playing alongside other people, but that you're also having to actively engage with what their characters are doing and playing off it yourself. Everyone doesn't have an outlet to "play pretend" with others, and TTRPGs provide an excellent one because you can pretty much do whatever you want and the stakes are quite low (if you keep murdering imaginary townsfolk that might get on your friends' nerves).

    Now that we've covered what TTRPGs are, its time to go out and pick one up. As a fledgling roleplayer, I've had a great time with Dungeons & Dragons. It's position as the originator of the genre may lead you to believe it could be outdated, but they update the rules pretty often to keep the game play balanced. In fact, the newest edition just recently released so now is a great time to get in. Bob, Eagle Eye's patron saint of bookselling, recommends Paranoia, a game where you play as a group of clones living in a world controlled by artificial intelligence. As a group you must complete a series of mysterious tasks, though you'll come to find that everything is not as it seems.

Authors of Happy Wife visit Eagle Eye Book Shop

Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores, authors of the new novel Happy Wife, stopped by Eagle Eye Book Shop to sign copies of their book on June 24. Earlier that morning, Jenna Bush Hager announced Happy Wife as the coveted July 2025 Read with Jenna Book Club pick. Hager made the announcement on the Today Show, where she’s an anchor 

"This is such an honor," Shores said, about the debut novel being Hagar’s July pick. "It's such a gift. She's so supportive of writers and she really champions them in a way I don't think a lot of other people in her position would do...She picked us, and I feel like today we got confirmation that it's really real."

Lavender, with a background in film and television, and Shores, with a background in corporate communications, met while attending a function at their children's school, and eventually they became friends. It was during a walk together in a local park when Shores first mentioned her ideas for a story to Lavender. 

According to the authors, Happy Wife, is about the main character, Nora Davies, who becomes the second wife of Will Somerset, a lawyer. Once married, Nora finds herself navigating unforeseen challenges when she’s confronted with the reality that not everyone is going to be as happy for her as she is. Ultimately, she finds herself in circumstances where she has to figure out a way to save herself. The novel is set in the affluent community of Winter Park.

Shores said early on she knew she wanted the point of view to be from the second wife’s perspective, and she also knew she wanted the book to be a mystery. 

“I had all these pieces, but I didn’t know how to get past some of the barriers,” she said.

That’s where Lavender came in. 

"My brain immediately went into hyper-drive, and I could see it," Lavender said, talking about the discussion in the park when Shores shared her ideas about the novel. "I couldn't see the whole thing, obviously. We had to find that together."

And leaning on their previous collaborative professional experience in media and communications, they found it.

At its kernel core, Lavender said the story is about learning to stand your own two feet, relying on yourself, and finding your true north. But both authors agree that above all, they just want readers to have fun and enjoy the story.

Lavender and Shores said they were excited to get the phone call asking them to come to Eagle Eye Book Shop and talk about their debut novel. Shores recalled years ago when she lived in the area and shopped in the bookstore. Now she’s returned to sign copies of her own book.

"It’s a tremendous honor,” she said.

Shores also added that you never know where life is going to take you, and she shared the following advice.

“Don’t be afraid to lean into a good or even a bad idea. You’re going to learn something from it. Just put in your hours however you can,” she said.“I think we’re the luckiest example of how that can work out.”

What’s next for the authors? In July, Lavender and Shores plan to travel to New York City to speak with Jenna Bush Hager on the Today Show. And readers will be happy to know another book is already in the works.

If you missed this event, Eagle Eye Book Shop has more events planned. For details on upcoming events and tickets, visit the Events page on the Eagle Eye Book Shop website. 

Happy Wife by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores is published by Bantam Books, a subsidiary Penguin Random House, and is available for purchase at Eagle Eye Book Shop.

Eagle Eye Birthday Party

    Eagle Eye was abuzz on Saturday, April 26th, when we celebrated both Independent Bookstore Day and our 22nd Birthday. 

    We pulled out all the stops to celebrate, from exclusive merchandise to activities throughout the store. Shoppers were greeted by a Prize Wheel, which they could spin to win anything from an in-store discount to a chocolate bar. There were also Eagle Eye themed bingo cards, which could be filled out for a chance at another prize or just to get more familiar with the store.

     Publishers joined in on the fun too, sending us special editions of books and indie exclusive merchandise. Highlights included a signed edition of the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid entry, complete with faux-moldy cheese, and some pretty swanky tote bags. There were also snacks o'plenty, including a cookie cake, and the Eagle Eye staff have been happily enjoying the leftovers.

     Other bookstores around the city joined in on the celebration too, and there was even a city-wide bingo to encourage readers to visit multiple stores. The bingo items included "Bookstore near a college," "Bookstore that sells used books," and "Bookstore with a pet." The last one ended up being a surprise favorite of Eagle Eye shoppers who had never met Bonnie Ann, our bookshop dog, before, as she was around the store greeting shoppers throughout the day.

    Bonnie was not the only dog around the bookstore on the 26th, though. People brought in their dogs to come shop with them, something we are always happy to oblige as a dog friendly store. One gentleman even carried his furry friend around with him in a shopping cart!

    Eagle Eye did had over 280 unique sales on the 26th, so it's not a stretch to say it was a great celebration. We couldn't have done it without all of the wonderful shoppers who came to visit, so we'd like to extend an extra special thanks to everyone who came out!

A Traveler's Guide to Packing a Book

     With life happening all around us, it can be difficult to find the time to relax. And as responsibilities pile up, it can feel like that precious free time is shrinking by the day. Everything ebbs and flows, though, so hopefully more relaxation is on the horizon. But even when things are looking dark, we've still got one last bastion of rest: time off.

     Whether you're trotting the globe or choosing to see just how deep you can make that groove on your couch this weekend, taking some time for yourself can be both a restful and rewarding experience. It can also allow you to spend more time with interests you may have been neglecting, such as reading. As many of you probably already know, doing the reading is only half the battle and finding the perfect book can prove to be the more difficult task. Luckily for you, dear reader, booksellers happen to be perfectly equipped to find you just the book you need for any of your vacation endeavors, no matter where they take you.

    The first question I always ask myself when traveling is how many books I want to take. To answer this question one must consider many factors, such as duration of the trip, time spent traveling, and how much free time to read you're going to have. You should also consider how much space you're willing to allocate to books in your luggage, and whether or not you plan on shopping for books wherever you're going. (I always end up coming home with a couple more than I left with).

     Next, you should consider how you'd like your books bound. This part doesn't have anything to do with a book's content, but whether a book is hardcover or softback can be a deal breaker. Many travelers refuse to fly with a rigid hardcover, opting instead for a smaller and more flexible paperback. Others prefer the hardcover, citing its inflexibility as a plus that will keep it from being damaged. Some people don't really have a preference, which is also totally reasonable.

    Now that you know how many books you want and which books you're automatically not taking (sorry to that interesting looking 600 page hardcover that's been waiting on your to be read pile), it's time to figure out the actual books you'll be bringing with you. Some of you may already be compiling a list in your head, but don't start packing them just yet! Are you sure you want to bring that horror novel that's going to keep you up all night when you've got a travel itinerary that'll keep you busy all day? And do you really need to bring all four of those books with you for your long weekend at the lake? If you do, then more power to you, but it's always good to think about what books will pair well with your trip & the specific needs that may arise.

    And that about sums it up! Now that you've figured out what kind of books to look for it's just a matter of getting out and picking the books. Of course, if you need any recommendations or other assistance your friendly neighborhood bookseller should be happy to help!

Taiwan Travelogue

     Summer is just around the corner, and for many this seasonal transition tends to bring a vacation with it. Taking a trip is historically one of the best ways to unwind, whether you're kicking back on the beach or secluding yourself in some sort of cabin. A change of location can also bring with it a flood of new experiences & offers a change of pace from the potential tedium of daily life. 

    If a vacation isn't in the cards for you this summer, however, there are still plenty of books that can take you somewhere far away, such as Yang Shuang-Zi's Taiwan Travelogue. In it we follow Aoyama Chizuko, a young Japanese novelist, as she embarks on a year-long trip to Taiwan to give talks about her novel and its newly released film-adaptation. During her stay she is accompanied by Chizuru, an enigmatic interpreter and Taiwan native, who shows Aoyama around the island. 

    Vacationing isn't always fun and games, though, and I'm not just talking about drama with one's travel companions. Tourism as an industry can be incredibly taxing on a location and the people who call it home, whether that be through overcrowding, rising costs of living, or environmental degradation. Just look at Venice.

    Taiwan Travelogue explores the tension brought upon by unwanted guests, though in the novel its not so much tourism as colonial occupation that is breaking down the local culture & environment (though tourism still plays a part). Despite opposing Japan's occupation of Taiwan, Aoyama still takes a government sponsored vacation to Taiwan. To show her defiance, she spends her time writing articles about local Taiwanese cuisine, history, and culture thanks to all the insight she's able to glean from Chizuru.

    What really stands out about Taiwan Travelogue is its focus on the little details. Aoyama has something of a bottomless appetite, so she's constantly sampling the local fare while she tours the country.  From decadent banquets to simple rice dishes, every meal is described with such precision that you can almost taste it. Oftentimes I would put the book down to realize that my own stomach was grumbling.

    This eye for detail isn't just aimed at the food, though. From the history of the railroads to the inner workings of traditional family structures, Shuang-Zi wastes no opportunity to provide more background. This abundance of information never feels overwhelming, though. This is in part due to the context of the conversations being between a traveling writer and her interpreter, but also because much of the information is delivered through footnotes, allowing the reader to go as deep into it as they want.

     Everyone knows that a scenic vacation isn't complete without some drama, and Taiwan Travelogue has that on deck too. Our two travel companions may have become fast friends, but Aoyama can't help but notice that Chizuru pulls back from time to time, almost as if she were wearing some porcelain mask. I won't be spoiling anymore, but I can confirm that watching the two's relationship unfold is sweeter than the fresh pineapple juice that brings them together.

    As the world seems to be edging closer and closer to the brink, it's important to take things slow every now and then to acknowledge the things in life that bring you joy. Taiwan Travelogue serves the dual purpose of being a great book, for those of you who enjoy that kind of thing, and being a story about finding those nuggets of joy in what can otherwise be a dreadful situation.

Big Changes for Little Readers

      It's time for spring cleaning, and over at Eagle Eye we are here for it. Specifically, we're taking this time to clean up things over in our Kids & Young Adult section. 

    "We want to simplify the shopping experience and make it easier for people to find things they're looking for," said Cassandra Hamilton, who's been heading up the reorganization efforts with Diana Robinson.

    When asked how we'd be simplifying, Hamilton said that we'd be more actively separating challenging young adult books from simpler titles for younger readers. We'll also be creating a mid-grade section, for readers who looking for a more challenging read that deals with simpler themes. Books that will end up in this categories include series like Dog Man, Dork Diaries, and Wings of Fire.

     Besides mid-grade fiction, we've also created a number of new sections in children's nonfiction. These include "Cool Skills," where you can find books about subjects from skateboarding to knitting, and "LGBTQIA+," but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

    "It's really important to get kids engaged with reading early, and this redesign will help shoppers find books to do just that," said Hamilton.

    All of the reorganizing has also cleared up a lot of space for us, which we'll be filling with more books! Specifically, children's classics, mid-grade, graphic novels, young adult, and new releases will be seeing a surge of new titles. Per Cassandra's recommendation, we will be getting in "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase," while Diana is more excited about reinvigorating the children's classics.

    "The kids need the classics!" said Diana in our interview.

    So if you've ever felt a little lost in the kid's section, come on down and check out the changes for yourself. The book you've been looking for might have been under your nose the whole time.

Bookselling & Sustainability

    Did you know it takes about 4.5 kWh of energy to print, bind, and ship a single paperback? That's according to David Reay of the University of Edinburgh. In contrast, it takes zero additional energy for a used or recycled book to sit on our shelves. So besides saving on cost, shopping used books helps to keep your carbon footprint low too. 

 

    Trading in books here also keeps them out of the landfill, though we're not the only operation that can boast this. There are, of course, other used bookstores, but there are also places like the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (or CHaRM) where you can recycle more than just your books.

 

    Our environmentally friendly practices don't end with book trade-ins, though, because here at Eagle Eye make use of sustainability in all facets of bookselling. When we receive inventory, we save all usable packing paper & sturdy cartons for future use. This means we never have to purchase packing paper for when we ship out books, and only rarely do we have to buy shipping boxes.

    Besides our environmentally conscious practices, we also host events throughout the year with local & national nature writers and conservationists. One author we often feature is Douglas Tallamy, who's new book "How Can I Help?" just released, and to celebrate we'll be offering at a discounted price of $19.97. If you're looking for a more energy sensitive option, though, we've got a great selection of used books in our Nature section.

Fool Night

    Imagine a world engulfed in smog, smog so thick that it blocks out the sun. Temperatures drop globally. Plants that rely on photosynthesis start to die off. Mass extinction draws near, but life will find a way.

     This is the world of Fool Night, and the world Toshiro Kamiya lives in. Despite the sword hanging over his head, Toshiro works himself to his limits day in and day out at a factory to support himself and his mother, earning a wage that leaves him with not even 2,000 yen after expenses. And with the cost of his mother's schizophrenia medication on the rise, it's looking like any savings Toshiro may have for the future are about to evaporate. 

   All hope is not lost, though, for Toshiro and the rest of humanity. A procedure known as transfloration can plant seeds into humans, which then grow & sustain themselves using their host's flesh, allowing them live in constant darkness. The downside is that once they plant the seed, you've only got 2 years left to live. The upside is a 2 million yen subsidy from the government.

    After a near-death experience, Toshiro decides that life's too short to be living like he does & opts for transfloration. The procedure goes off without issue, but unfortunately that doesn't mean everything's smooth sailing. Shortly after being discharged, Toshiro is mugged, losing all 2 million of the subsidy yen, and left in the gutter. And here, at his lowest point, does a strange change start to occur inside of him. Toshiro starts to hear the voices of the plants around him, voices that open a new world of possibility for him.

     It is at this point in the story that Fool Night emerges from its cocoon. Toshiro joins up with Transflora Medical, the organization responsible for transfloration and all of the red tape that comes with it, to work as an investigator. From here, we're introduced to a flurry of new characters, concepts, institutions, counter-institutions and more. And just when you think you've something's been taken as far as it can go, a wall gives out and shows you just how much further there is to go.

    To me, Fool Night is the perfect metamorphic manga. Not only does its central plot device involve people undergoing an irreversible transformation, but the story itself is constantly in flux. One second its a family drama, the next a detective procedural, and then you turn the page and you're in the middle of an all out raid. And with the world in flux, its the perfect time to jump into a story that'll keep you constantly engaged like this one.