Certainly books are the most important thing to a bookstore  (of course!), but have you noticed how so many bookstores carry things in addition to books?  Everything from blank journals and stationary, to beautifully crafted bookmarks and other lovely things, can be found in our favorite stores around Vancouver Island.  And even here at Gallowglass — where we don’t actually carry journals or stationary — there’s always a few odd things around the store.

Taking inventory recently, I snapped a few photos…

The cards on this rack are all lovingly crafted by our friend, and long-time customer, Gwen Rawlins, a talented artist here in the Cowichan Valley. On the walls of the store you can also see various examples of prints and paintings (not pictured here) available for sale.

Above, you can see we keep a few audio books on hand, tapes and CDs. (Handy if you’re in the car a lot or like to take long walks!)

Recognize the books above? Well, they’re not books; they’re book boxes, actually. Particularly handy for hiding valuables. (Just be sure to buy a box of a book you really like… you don’t want to accidentally forget you’ve stored some cash in there before unthinkingly giving the book away!)

Finally, a wall hanging by Mary Rolls, another customer of the store and talented local artist. And below that photo, some stray book ends for the shelves.

Books are always the star of the show, but it seems other things have a way of slipping onto the shelves. And who knows… maybe one day we’ll even add some of those blank journals like a normal bookstore.

Everything at Gallowglass Books, from the $1 paperback beach books to the rarest of expensive treasures, is covered by our semi-annual 25% off sale.*

Come by and check it out!

*Sale is for in-store customers only.

Bestsellers lists are a handy tool, not necessarily because we want to read what everyone else is reading, but because sometimes we have no idea what to read next! Since Gallowglass Books is primarily a ‘used books’ store, our inventory can be unpredictable. But that being said, there’s usually a fair number of recent bestsellers around, so drop by or give us a call if you’re looking for something in particular.

As for what to read? Here are some links to bestseller lists which might inspire you:

• The Globe & Mail bestsellers via Amazon.ca has a list of its top books. (The list is always discounted at 50% off, too, so if you can’t get a used copy with us, that’s a very affordable option.)
• Amazon also conveniently allows you to sort bestsellers into various categories, but in broad terms  here are the best of current fiction and non-fiction
• Other periodicals with formidable bestseller lists include the NY Times, The Guardian, Maclean’s and the LA Times.

Have you ever wondered what some of the best selling books of all time are? Fans of literature have updated the Wikipedia to include a range of some of the top sellers through history, to make for an interesting list.

For instance:

• The Bible is said to have sold at least 2.5 billion or as many as 6 billion copies.
• Some books said to have sold a minimum of 100 million copies, are: The Book of Mormon, A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens), Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien), The Koran, etc.
• In the 50-100 million copies category, we find: The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown), Le Petit Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry), Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery), Black Beauty (Anna Sewell), and many others.

Religious tomes, thrillers, fantasies, world respected children’s classics… there’s certainly something for everyone on a bestsellers list.

Note: For readers in the Cowichan Valley, you can contact us by phone if you like, to find out if we have a book in stock that you’re looking for. And if we don’t have it, there’s always Ten Old Books, another fine used book store in Duncan, and Volume One Books which sells new editions.

And if none of us have what you’re looking for, there’s always Amazon and other online options.

Erik Bosee of The Aldredge Book Store in Dallas, Texas, has a very informative video series online where he talks about the basics of collecting, caring for and understanding rare books. The videos are short and informative, and bound to be very helpful for budding — and even some expert — collectors. Check out the complete collection on the Expert Village website where they’re freely available for everyone to enjoy.

Here’s one video from the series, titled “How to Care for Rare Books.”

Oh my. It’s already that time — the end of one year and the beginning of a new one.

Gallowglass Books will be open New Year’s Eve for as long as you need us… tentatively till 5pm, but we may close anytime after 3pm today, too. It honestly depends if YOU are here or not.

Feel free to give us a call if you expect to stop by late in the day.  Even if it’s just to browse, we don’t mind. And we’ll be open again at our regular hours on Friday, January 2.

For New Year’s Eve celebrations, some of us around here will be starting with dinner at the City Square Grill right next door (their prime rib is irresistible!). Whatever you’re doing tonight, we hope you have a wonderful time, too.

Happy New Year!!!

Thank you for your friendship and business during the past year.  We hope you all have a lovely holiday, however you celebrate it!

The store will be closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but will return to regular hours on December 27th.

On Friday evening, local author and artist Lynn Starter came by the store to meet readers, share her stories and talk about the history and people of Rathtrevor Beach, which also happens to be the subject of her new book.

A description from the book’s website:

“Tales of Rathtrevor Beach: Legacy of a Family”
by Lynn Starter

This book is an account of the lives of the people of Rathtrevor Beach, gained from documented research, done both in Canada and in Ireland, from Lynn Starter’s personal relationship with some of the Rath family, and includes the author’s memoir of happy childhood summers spent with the Rath family.

You can read more about the book at RathtrevorBeach.ca, or come into Gallowglass Books — hours/address/map — anytime to take a look. And if you don’t live in the area just email us for more information.

The book is brand new and priced at $25.95, filled with Ms. Starter’s own original art throughout on full-color plates.

It was a lovely evening (even Christmas Carolers stopped by!) and we extend our deepest thanks to Ms. Starter for choosing to share her book with our patrons.

*A few more photos by Jeff available here.

Typography is a subject about which many people — particularly book people — are passionate. For those who dive into a book simply to read the words this can seem like an odd obsession, but really it’s just the marriage of words and art.

And that’s a concept almost every bibliophile can appreciate.

The Wikipedia defines typography as:

Typography is the art and techniques of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques.

Of course, the use of fonts goes far beyond books. Everything from street signage to product labels to online media all obsess about fonts before making a commitment.

Looking at sites like Eightface one can easily find some unique websites and blogs dedicated to the subject of fonts. To whet your appetite for the subject, here are a few diverse choices you can sink your teeth into:

• Rob Banham’s Trash Type
• The story of Helvetica fonts and their use on the New York subway system.
• Speaking of Helvetica fonts, just last year there was a feature length documentary released all about typography and graphic design titled Helvetica. (You can view some trailers here).
• Check out the blog, The Ampersand, dedicated entirely to — you guessed it — ampersands!
• And for film buffs, Mark Simonson’s Typecasting: The Use (and Misuse) of Period Typography in Movies

And if you find yourself so crazy for type you even want to bathe in it, you can almost achieve that, too (or at least, dry off in it!). Via the Swiss Miss, here’s the T-Towel:

Welcome to the newly-redesigned website for Gallowglass Books which also includes this shiny new blog. We’ll be updating it regularly with news about the store, about our community here on Vancouver Island, and about various book-ish things we come across around the ‘net.

Our hope is to make this a useful spot not just to show off books and our bookstore (although we will be doing a lot of that, too!) but the people and places of the Cowichan Valley. So you can expect a wide variety of topics around here in the future.

Latest News

With the Christmas season upon us, the store is now open till 8pm from Monday to Friday. As always, weekend hours are Saturdays 10-6pm and Sundays 12pm -4pm.

In Duncan, Christmas festivities — shopping and parties and so on — always seem to kick off “officially” with the annual Christmas fireworks display. This photo (property of the DBIA website) shows last year’s lightshow, which happens directly above the bookstore. Which is pretty spectacular, isn’t it?

Downtown Duncan Fireworks

This year’s show was also great fun. Put on by RE/MAX of Duncan-Mill Bay, Santa and the fireworks drew large crowds on Friday night. I took a few photos of things going on around the neighbourhood that night, if anyone is interested.

Anyway, we look forward to your feedback on anything and everything, so don’t hesitate to drop us a line anytime.

Til next time…