Doing what we love through hard times

We’ve haven’t posted anything on our blog in a bit… well, since the summer when we reopened. We’ve been working really hard to keep the shop open and running smoothly and blog posts are kind of the last thing on our minds. The short of it is, we’re open. Our hours are a little shorter and we can only have 5 people in our space at a time, but we still get to talk about books with people love the written word. In a time when we are missing personal connection through touch, we are lucky to be able to share words with one another and find connection through storytelling.

We’re not sure what the next few weeks or the next few months look like but we hope that you’ll keep shopping small and supporting your local community. We’ll do our best to stay safely open but will remain flexible if our community needs to quarantine/shut down again. We hope to see you (with your mask on) at the shop or online for Small Business Saturday.

Appointment Browsing

Reopening in uncertain times

Our shop represents more than just owning a business for us - it’s a way for us to connect to the community, encourage people to read outside the box, to hopefully effect social change by highlighting marginalized voices. We get to know our customers and hunt for books at book sales. We see reunions between people and favorite books - we experience magic.

We will be reopening soon and taking every precaution we can to make it a safe environment for our customers and staff. We hope that you will continue to order from us online and via our posts on social media. But if you are really missing coming to the shop, you can make an appointment on our website for a 30 min browsing time. We will only allow 5 people in the shop at a time, we are requiring that you wear a mask to enter, and you must stay 6 feet away from others while browsing. Our staff will give you a 10 minute warning when it’s time to make your way to the register.

Thank you all for understanding.

Joe & Kelsey

Write Your Own Story

My favorite coffee mug was given to me by Kelsey. It’s simple - a small image of a typewriter, and the words “write your own story.” Here’s why I like it so much.

In the summer of 2013 I wasn’t sure what my future held. While technically still a graduate student at MU, I wasn’t making any progress on my degree. With major changes in the freshman curriculum on the way at Stephens College, my job there was in jeopardy. Everything seemed up in the air. I had moved back to Missouri, bringing Kelsey with me, to finish my graduate program, and I no longer thought I could do it.

Then on a sunny Friday near the end of June, I picked Kelsey up from work and we went downtown for ice cream at Sparky’s. We crossed the street, ice cream in hand, to visit the little used bookshop called Get Lost! I’d traded in books there in the past, and thought we’d use some of our store credit. When we checked out, the clerk told us that we’d better use up the rest of our credit quickly, because the store was going to close at the end of July. He paused, then added: “Unless the owner finds the right buyer.” And as we’ve written elsewhere, this was one of the magic moments in your life when the universe slows down, and speaks to you. We looked at each other with the same unspoken thought: “maybe we’re the right buyers.” 

And the rest is history - we met with Amy, Get Lost’s owner, things went well, and just over a month later we opened as Yellow Dog Bookshop. But in the interim was a period where I had a decision to make - did I really want to walk away from academia? Did I want to give up on finishing my degrees, when I had put in so many years and so much effort toward that end? Did I really want to return to bookselling and retail? In the end, I decided that this my chance to write my own story: to let go of the old narrative of my life and move in a new direction, to build a bookshop with Kelsey from the ground up, just the way we wanted it.

The story has gone well so far - though as we finish up our seventh year we’ve had a hell of a plot twist thrown our way by COVID-19. As we work on getting a new lease in place and mapping out how to safely reopen in the midst of an unpredictable pandemic, we’re counting on the support of our customers, all the relationships we’ve built these last years, to see us through. We know life has changed for many of you as well, and there will be more hardships and challenges to come. But we hope that to the extent possible, you can write your own story too - take charge of your narrative, and use what agency you have to make it better. 

- Joe

Our Yellow Dog mugs are back in stock and this time include the vintage typewriter and words, write your own story on the opposite side. Click below or visit our Merch page.

Our response to COVID-19

Hey friends,

We are taking COVID-19 very seriously and while we love seeing you in the shop and chatting about books in person, we will be closing Yellow Dog for browsing and general in store business starting today. We will not be buying books during this time. We hope to be able to open back up in April, but we will reassess as we move forward in these uncertain times.

The good news is that we aren’t closing altogether. We will still be available by phone, FB messenger, Instagram, and email... if you want a book, we’ll do our best to get it to you. We will ship books to you and have curb-side pick-up or local delivery available as well. If we don’t have the book you want, we can order it for you (used or new). Also keep our subscription box in mind for a regularly shipped book to your house with some extra goodies included.

We are still working out details of how all of this will work – so for now, if you need something, let us know and have patience with us as we get things sorted.

Thank you,

Joe and Kelsey

Tel: 573-442-3330

Email: yellowdogbookshop@gmail.com

FB: facebook.com/yellowdogbookshop

In: @yellowdogbookshop

Read Harder

Our guest contributor and good friend, April, has participated in the Read Harder Challenge and has us convinced that we should try it too!

Read Harder Challenge 2019

Have you heard of the Read Harder Challenge? 
Each year the organization called Book Riot challenges us to Read Harder. They put out a list of 24 tasks that are to be met by those interested within the year. Their goal is to help readers expand their worldview. Lists come out for each year in January. 

Some examples from tasks this year:
An alternate history novel 
A novel by a trans or non-binary author
A book by or about someone that identifies and neurodiverse
A historical romance by an AOC (author of color)

Our library and other libraries as well as individuals pick up the challenge to expand on what we like to read.

My name is April and this is my second year doing the read harder challenge. I am also a Yellow Dog supporter and fan. I’m loving doing this challenge because it guarantees that at the end of the year I will have read books that I normally would not read. It has also at least doubled the amount of books I read in a year. As a mom of three it’s nice to feel accomplished about something that’s totally just for me.

Yellow Dog Bookshop has helped with finding a few titles I needed to complete the challenge this year. One In particular was hard to find and not cheap but Yellow Dog found a copy (Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera). 

I also rely upon advice from DBRL’s Read Harder group. They have in person meetings and celebrations as well as a Facebook group to help you find the books you need and talk to other Read Harder participants. 

My top 3 favorites I read for the challenge this year:
Incarnations by Susan Barker
My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou 

Click the link to Book Riot Read Harder challenge for 2020.
And the pdf that you can download to make your list for 2020.
Here is a link to DBRL’s Read Harder Facebook group.
Let us know how your Read Challenge goes this year!

Living Windows

Living Windows is so much fun (we decorate, dress up, and perform for the town in our shop window). Our friend Struby flies in from CA to act with the kiddos. Kelsey gets to be a stage mom for the night. Joe runs the register. Our friends helps us by making the window decor and painting.
This year we broke with the tradition of recreating a book or pop culture reference. In years past we’ve done Charlie Brown, Harry Potter, Rudolph - the classic Christmas movie, The Grinch, and Calvin & Hobbes.
We decided to go with a gingerbread theme - with everyone dressed up as candy construction workers who are building a gingerbread house. And of course now we need to write our own book about this because it’s too cute to only experience once.

Our cozy collaborative fall window

Fall is the season of the sweater, scarf, and beanie. And luckily enough for us, it’s also, stay inside under a cozy blanket and read book season.

We collaborated on this window with Jean at Coming Home, a home good store on Orr St. She lent us the plant holders and pots from her shop (all are for sale). If you haven’t checked out her shop- please do! She has all kinds of eco-friendly items and beautiful gifts.

We are also showcasing a collaborative fiber artwork made by the Columbia Art League and the concert goers at this year’s Roots n’ Blues music festival. Carder, our yellow dog made years ago by the Craft Studio summer campers, is quite happy to hang out inside.

“For as long as she could remember she had thought that autumn air went well with books, that the two both somehow belonged with blankets, comfortable armchairs, and big cups of coffee or tea.”

— Katerina Bivald, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

It was a Dark and stormy night…

October is one of my favorite reading months. While I like to encounter new books, there are some I turn back to every year, if only to read a few passages. These books evoke crisp autumn air, crackling leaves, cider and doughnuts, adventures in the unknown, and the comfort of a warm chair safely back indoors. Find your favorite reading corner, grab your favorite warm beverage, and settle in for a dark and stormy night.

The House with a Clock in its Walls, John Bellairs

Not strictly a Halloween book, though some of its most memorable chapters take place in October. This middle-grade novel set in the 1940s tells the story of Lewis Barnavelt, who goes to live with his eccentric Uncle Jonathan, and encounters magic both fun and frightening. The book features eerie illustrations by the distinctive Edward Gorey. 

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury

Possibly my favorite Bradbury novel. Will Holloway’s sleepy Illinois town is visited by a sinister carnival, and he and his friend Jim Nightshade try to unravel its secrets.  Indelible characters like Mr. Dark, the carnival’s leader, and Will’s thoughtful but aging father, will make this a fall classic for you.

The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

The long journey of Frodo and his companions begins on a pleasant evening in late September, walking under the stars. Most of the first half of the book is an autumn adventure: yellow lantern light by the misty Brandywine River, the cool rain at the house of Tom Bombadil, the nearly disastrous encounter in the mounds of the Barrow-wights, the memorable stay at the Prancing Pony, and the hobbits’ trek through the wilderness with Strider, pursued by the Ringwraiths. Perfect reading for a fall evening!

All for Fall, Ethel and Leonard Kessler

This is one of my favorite picture books from childhood, and I read it to my children every year. The Kesslers’ simple but evocative art takes us through the colors of fall, from the green early fall to the orange and yellow foliage, to red apples, to the browns and grays of late fall. 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving

Probably the most famous story by this early American author, recounting the tale of the unfortunate Ichabod Crane and his encounter with the local haunt, the Headless Horseman.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke

Both a strikingly original fantasy novel and loving pastiche of early 19th century novels. Strange and Norrell both seek to bring magic back to England after it has disappeared, but face unexpected obstacles. The gothic trappings and darkly romantic narrative are a perfect fit for the season.

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

This brilliant book is like no other I’ve read. It tells the story of a magicians’ duel, centered around a magical traveling carnival decked out only in black and white, and the unexpected results when the magicians finally meet. Unlike the carnival in Something Wicked, this is a circus you would like to run away with.

-Joe, Owner of Yellow Dog Bookshop

6th Birthday Bash

Yellow Dog’s 6th Birthday Bash!

What can we say? It was a blast! We ate snacks, sold books, talked with friends, listened to music, painted faces, and blind dated some books. This photo gallery isn’t touched up and perfectly cropped… it’s straight up how things looked during the morning. It’s so fun looking through the photos from year to year and see how our youngest booksellers have grown.

We’re already dreaming up window ideas for our NEXT birthday!

Fall Story Time Schedule

Story Time at Yellow Dog Bookshop is a casual, fun, anything goes event. If kiddos shout things out during the story, we roll with it. If they come up and look at the pictures super close, we ask them questions about what they see.

Story Time attendees receive 20% off on all used kids’ books that day.

10 Snow Day Activities for Booklovers

Winter is here, the snow is falling and the prospect of a snow day is just what you need to catch up on your reading. Here’s a list of possible snow day activities for booklovers.

10 Snow Day Activities for Booklovers

1. Look for a new cookie recipe in an old favorite cookbook and make them!

2. Watch a movie based on a book you’ve read recently & decide if the movie or the book was better. Reread your favorite parts of the book to make sure!

3. Reorganize your bookcases in one of the following ways: Alpha by author, alpha by author with in subject, by color. Post a picture online explaining why you chose that method.

4. Start a subgenre within your fiction collection, and look up a new title that fits in that group that you haven’t read yet. Example: books about bookstores.

5. Watch the BBC version on a classic then watch the Hollywood adaptation and debate the merits and pitfalls of both. Announce the winner and celebrate by reading your favorite parts of the book.

6. Move your comfiest chair over by the window, get your coziest blanket, a warm beverage and settle in with your book to watch the snowfall.

7. Read your favorite children's books set in winter: The Snowy Day, The Mitten, Snow Bear, Katy and the Big Snow, The Long Winter, The Dark Is Rising, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

8. Go through your books to see which ones you can give away or sell (to make room for new books, obviously). Then get distracted part way through and start reading one of the ones you were going to give away.

9. Read your favorite book about snowbound people. The Shining, The Terror, Dr. Zhivago, Smilla's Sense of Snow, all the Wall chapters from A Game of Thrones and its sequels, The Snow Child...

10. Make a plan to visit your local independent bookstore as soon as the roads are clear!

Best of the Backlist: The Diary of a Bookseller

Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

While we were at the Midwest Independent Bookseller Association’s gathering in Minnesota last year, we were lucky enough to visit a few bookshops (as we do). And at Magers and Quinn, we discovered The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell. We started reading it in the car on the way back to Missouri and found ourselves nodding at many of his experiences running a bookshop. Although located in the Scottish village of Wigtown, The Bookshop could very well be Yellow Dog Bookshop. Quirky customers, the vagaries of weather, and the joy of discovering a special book - these are all part of the yearly cycle of bookselling. Bythell peppers the book with quotes from George Orwell’s “Bookshop Memories,” and while we aren’t quite as irascible as Orwell, we recognize the peculiar hardships of dealing in used books.

We are still reading parts out loud to one another and laughing along or cringing with recognition about the less romantic parts of running a bookshop. It’s quite delightful and has inspired Kelsey to read a subgenre of books about bookshops - more about that from Kelsey in a future blog post.

Best of the Backlist: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

I recently picked up John Steinbeck's classic Cannery Row and was pleasantly surprised by how fresh and finely wrought it is. This book is a gem, examining the lives of the downtrodden people living on Cannery Row in Monterey, California in the 1930s. Steinbeck paints his characters with humor and love, not sparing the bleakness of their lives yet including the small moments of beauty and joy that keep them going. Cannery Row is lighter than The Grapes of Wrath but also more precise, despite the apparently loose structure; while it's easy to get lost in the book, you can also put it down for a day or two in between chapters and come back to without losing a step. - Joe, owner and Cannery Row visitor

Living Windows 2018! Spoiler... we're winners!

Living Windows is one of our very favorite events in The District. We call on our friends and family to help us with the theme, the props, and especially the “living” part of the window. This year we brought the Forbidden Forest from the grounds of Hogwarts to Columbia, Mo. Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter, and of course, Hagrid’s faithful dog, Fang practiced their spells and made people laugh… so much that we won Funniest Window.

Thank you especially to Haley, Janel, Remy, Cristy, Sally, Boo, and Struby for making our window this year extra special.

Best of the Backlist Book Review: Annihilation

Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer

Annihilation is an unusual science fiction novel, and it immediately seized my attention. I knew only a little about the story going in - somewhere along the southeast coast of the United States, a team of scientists enters the otherworldly Area X, seeking to understand what it is and how and why it has come to be. Strange events begin almost immediately, as the scientists wonder what is out there and how much the shadowy government agency that sent them already knows about it.

The story, simple in some ways and startlingly original in others, blends elements of weird fiction and psychological thriller, with amazing results. Our narrator, a biological researcher who focuses intensely on the object of her study, is not the warmest character, but I quickly and easily fell into her way of thinking. As the scientists unravel the secrets of Area X - and the biologist reveals her own secrets to the reader - they wonder to what extent they observe, or are the subject of observation.

Annihilation is the first in a series of three books: it works as its own story, but leaves plenty of loose ends, and I ordered the next two titles as soon as I was finished.

-Joe, bookshop & beard owner

Best of the Backlist Book Review: My Lady Jane

My Lady Jane

Authors: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows (AKA The Lady Janies)

This first book, from a collection of books about (in)famous Janes, is a mix of humor and (mostly true) history as we follow King Edward VI, his cousin Lady Jane Grey, and Gifford (call him G) as they navigate the nuances of their kingdom after the death of King Henry VIII. However, The Lady Janies take this one step further in the most fantastical way - certain people in this world can shapeshift into animals! With this added element, The Lady Janies throw us into dissent, conspiracy, romance, friendships, and coming-of-age stories as we hope and pray that King Edward and Jane Grey have happier endings than the true, bleak ones history has already written.

I found myself jumping to research whether particular elements of the story were true or happened the way The Lady Janies wrote them. It’s a great jumping off point for research and has such an interesting writing style (sometimes the authors break the fourth wall to tell you exactly what is true and what is not) They also already have a second book published, My Plain Jane (Jane Eyre meets ghost hunting), and a third slated for for 2020 entitled My Calamity Jane, so keep on the lookout for those as well!

I giggled through the shenanigans in My Lady Jane and I would give this book 4 out of 5 Awesome Austin Points for pure hilarity mixed with an interesting take on alternate history.

In case you missed my first three reviews in this series, feel free to go back and check them out: Scythe by Neal Shusterman, The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner, and Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake. This is my #4 pick for my Top Five favorites from the 2018-2019 Gateway Readers Award Nominees. There’s information on the award here and the Top 15 books here.

-Austin

Yellow Dog Windows (part 1)

I love our bookshop window - it’s big and bright and always seems to grab the attention of people walking by. It was always my intention for our windows to be eye catching, but I never thought I would be so lucky to collaborate with so many amazing people. Erin Potter, Cristy Lillig, Mac McDermott, Mary Margaret Sandbothe & Courtney Swisher are the people I’ve worked with the most… they are all artists in their own right and tend not to say no when I come up with an out there idea. I’m so grateful especially to Aron Fischer, who was involved with our window installations at the very beginning when we first opened (and before I was recording all of the window installations faithfully).

I truly think of our window as a collaborative space where we can make a visual impact on passersby.

Here are a few of our window installations that left a huge impression during our first couple of years!

Left to right top row:

Resistance is Love in Action by Mary Margaret Sandbothe & Courtney Swisher | Fall by Mary & Courtney | Summer Blooms by Kelsey Hammond (with help from Locust St. Elementary School) | Man Who Fell From the Sky by Erin Potter

Left to right bottom row:

Secret of the Old Clock by Cristy Lillig | Off the Trail by Erin Potter | Flower Power by Erin Potter (with help from Locust St. Elementary School) | Myrmidon by Mac McDermott

We’ll be posting more of our favorite windows soon!

-Kelsey, co-owner

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Are you an artist who would like to collaborate or install a window at Yellow Dog? Pitch us an idea!

I want to collaborate!

Artist Pitch for Window

Best of the Backlist Book Review: Three Dark Crowns

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

“Three dark queens

are born in a glen,

sweet little triplets

will never be friends.

---

Three dark sisters

all fair to be seen,

two to devour

and one to be Queen.”

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake is one of those books that slowly burns its way through you. I’ve read some negative comments regarding the romance plot lines (let’s be serious, it’s a YA novel so there’s bound to be at least one) and how “slow” this book moves while containing two dimensional main characters. I, however, disagree with these naysayers (maybe not so much about the romance) because this book is the perfect setup for a dark series. I felt many people were only disappointed by the reality of the book due to their expectations about what they thought the book should be. That doesn’t make a book bad though!

*shrug*

 Three Dark Crowns fits the typical fantasy novel scheme of frontloading - this is where most people will become frustrated. If you want action and only action from the get go, then this book won’t be for you. We follow three sisters, the Queens, as they reach their sixteenth year. The three will battle until only one lives, becoming the next true Queen and restarting the cycle (she will have triplets, they will grow up and fight, one becomes Queen, repeat). To aid in these battles, each Queen has her own powers: one is a naturalist (controls plants and animals), one an elemental (controls earth, fire, water, and air), and one a poisoner (immune to poison, trained in poisons). The first part of the book sets up the whole process of each Queen as she mentally prepares to begin a year of battle and survival, which explains the slow start - it’s necessary to set up the Blake’s world.

More intriguing to me, though, is that the book isn’t only about the Queens in the long run; they are just figureheads for powerful families. While we mostly see the perspective of the Queens, the true story takes place with the families surrounding them. How have those families influenced each Queen’s upbringing? Why is Katharine so timid, Mirabella so angry, and Arsinoe so lacking in confidence? Like I said, this is a slow burning book, so we see the Queens slowly grow to realize their roles on the island and their manipulation by their “loving” families. Is their fate truly to kill one another?

Overall, I’d give this 5 out of 5 Awesome Austin Points and highly suggest reading the next book in the series (the third book was recently published on September 4, 2018 and a fourth slated for 2019 publication). If you like dark fantasy, political wars, and some unexpected twists and turns, then this is definitely the book for you! - Austin (Resident YA Expert)

[In case you missed my last reviews on Scythe by Neal Shusterman and The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner, this is Review #3 of my Top Five picks (in no particular order) from the 2018-2019 Gateway Readers Award Nominees. There’s information on the award here and the Top 15 books here. The committee always welcomes volunteer readers!]