Bruce Springsteen: ‘There's no art in this White House. There's no literature, no poetry, no music. There are no pets in this White House: no loyal man's best friend, no Socks, the family cat.’

This op-ed was in this morning’s Times. It stimulated me. With all the repetitive news about all kinds of big issues lately, it’s unusual to read something that’s not a retelling of stuff you’ve been hearing and seeing for days/weeks/months/years. This is about how remote learning at home for Black kids can be liberating. I wouldn’t have known that or thought that. New knowledge for me. Here’s the link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/opinion/virtual-school-racism.html?referringSource=articleShare

SHELVES is a pop-up bookstore in Charlotte, North Carolina. I just this morning read a little bit about it. I like their sweatshirt and its message. You can find them online and on Facebook. The message to me is everything. A lot of the talk today talks about everything but that. Everything but that. I wish the subway was safe/clean enough for me to get downtown with my sign. 

A note that showed up online today. Yikes. 

📣 We need your help. This is the post we hoped to never write, but today marks a huge turning point in The Strand's history. Our revenue has dropped nearly 70% compared to last year, and the loans and cash reserves that have kept us afloat these past months are depleted.

We have survived so much in the past 93 years, and we are ready to fight against all odds to keep The Strand alive, but we cannot do it without book lovers like you.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽?

Share this post!

Encourage your friends to shop with The Strand online at www.strandbooks.com 

Come visit in person.

Give gifts (and gift cards) from The Strand.

"I’m going to pull out all the stops to keep sharing our mutual love of the printed word. But for the first time in The Strand’s 93 year history, we need to mobilize the community to buy from us so we can keep our doors open until there is a vaccine." - Nancy Bass Wyden, owner

#SaveTheStrand #ShopLocalBuyEarlyThinkIndie #nycbookstore

I ORDERED THIS from my usual bookstore and it came today and it’s a smart delight like he is. I’m not very far in. It’ll be wonderful. When has he not been?

Eighty years ago today Ernest Hemingway’s Spanish Civil War novel For Whom the Bell Tolls was published. Here’s the ‘New York Times’ review of it at the time in 1940. Quite a review. 

https://bookmarks.reviews/the-first-major-novel-of-wwii-on-hemingways-for-whom-the-bell-tolls/

This short piece in The New Yorker weirded me out so I’m passing it along so I don’t have to sit here and hold it by myself. It’s about that Georgia woman who’s running for Congress who believes the QAnon stuff. How much of a nightmare are we in that our President is OK with that? Here’s the link:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/26/the-regular-guy-who-almost-challenged-georgias-qanon-candidate