Reagan Trail Days in Dixon Include a Visit from Another Bus

Reminiscent of a previous bus being driven along I-88 (Ronald Reagan Highway) and stopping at Ronald Reagan's Boyhood Home, Sarah Palin dropped by on her way out of Iowa on her way to crash another Republican presidential candidate event.

Democracy is a tough sell.  Even our forefathers thought the general electorate was too easily swayed by rhetoric, bread and circuses to choose good government, and in our complacency, easily intimidated by threats to comfort, livelihood and sense of entitlement.  Check out this very interesting news analysis during the recent debt ceiling mess by Stan Tanenhaus on the Tea Party through history.

"Threat" goes both ways and comes in all flavours.  I was quite impressed by Joe Nocera's take, as he quite articulately and calmly tells it as he sees it in a recent New York Times column.

Books for the Month

In time for Martin Luther King Day (17 January), we have several titles, including The Everything Martin Luther King, Jr Book.  Back in West Babylon, MLK Day (which was not a federal holiday then) was a big deal.  Classes spent weeks developing skits, practicing songs like "Go Down, Moses (Let My People Go)" and "We Shall Overcome," and putting together a multimedia presentation, which in my day was  considered pretty cool if you could get some film, some audio overlay and a light show together.

Additionally, Dixon being Ronald Reagan’s boyhood hometown, Books on First naturally specializes in all books Ronald Reagan, so rely on us to help celebrate the 100^th anniversary of his birthday (6 February).

Meanwhile, we are cleaning up inventory (something I wish we would do during the summer, but hey, I only physically show up one day a week). We have a lot of books to blow out of here. We must have 20 copies of the Dover edition of Shakespeare's Four Great Tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello & Romeo and Juliet.  The title was special ordered by a teacher probably two years ago, and then, there was some snafu -- miscommunications about how many or which title or whether they were ordered at all.  The books were never returned (as that's not usually the best option) and Larry worked to sell them to another English teacher.  So, here we are, selling them for 60% off.  They would make great party favors (I am not jesting -- too bad this title does not include Julius Caesar, or else, I could suggest you have an Ides of March party and give them out.  Maybe you still can have an Ides of March party (or an Ides of January (which would be perfectly timed on Sunday, 15 January) or Ides of February party, and still give these out). 

At $2 a copy, it would be less expensive and much tidier to buy them all if you're planning to produce one of these plays in your basement or backyard (or local school auditorium) than to take one copy and make mimeographed copies (ha!  how many of you readers are old enough to remember mimeographs?  There were probably teacher's pets vying to run the mimeograph machine simply to get high on the chemicals emitted). 

No, seriously, folks, buying a printed bound book with four Shakespeare plays at 50 cents a piece (plus only 6.75% sales tax) is more than a bargain; it's a steal. 

Atop this, there are plenty of other titles for $1, $2 or 50% off list.  Check 'em out!

Four More

Yes, four more shopping days until Christmas. Now is the time to come in and buy what we have on the shelf.

And, we do not slouch in this category.

We still have several bestsellers ready to jump into your hands as you race in today, tomorrow, Friday at 3:55pm (remember, we close at 4pm, but if you arrive before then, we will gladly help you get wrapped books under the tree, because that's the Books on First way).

A big local fav is the newest book from Sauk Valley News, featuring selections with its archived collection of photographs of Ronald Reagan and Dixon.

We also have from the author of Seabiscuit Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption about Louis Zamperini, Olympic runner who gained fame at the Berlin Games and then, entered the Air Force to fight in the Pacific during WWII.  After his plane went down and he was one of two who survived on a small raft for weeks, he was captured and tortured by the enemy Japanese who discovered his background.  The subtitle says it all.  Hillenbrand's detailed research and vivid writing style make history come alive.  We have this $27.00 book discounted at 20%.

For some intellectual humor, there is David Sedaris's latest title, squirrel seeks chipmunk.  You can definitely hear his voice in these short vignettes, ostensibly about birds and animals in humanly familiar situations (a professional groomer baboon finding a way to connect fawningly with a cat client for the big tip, birds talking about their wintering in Guatemala, a mother stork flummoxed by her two-week old son asking where babies come from), but maybe -- just a tiny bit -- these stories are about human behaviour, also.  After all, where is the line between animal and humans and aren't humans animals, too?


For the serious novel-reader, Ireland-born (now a Canadian resident) Emma Donoghue's Room, is on the short list for the Booker prize.  We have this hardcover fiction discounted at 20% off the list price of $24.99.

We also have books for growing children of all ages, like Legendary Journeys: Trains.