Some more tough customer requests

In our occasional series of tricky or challenging requests from customers, here are a few that have come in in the last week:
  • Friendship books (auf deutsch, "Freundschaftbücher" - the lady who asked about these was German, and apparently they are very big in Germany). These are books that you write in and pass on. I found a website about Friendship Books, but I got the impression they were books you made yourself. Apparently you can buy books which are "ready to go" but couldn't seem to find anything on the web about it (aprt from this site).
  • We have a new poetry section (something that was left over from our opening, and we get chastised about ocassionally). We're keen to provide accessibility to poetry - is there a good introduction to someone coming into modern poetry for the first time?
  • One of our regular customers was looking for a good book about the tooth fairy, which contains some good guidance about the importance of dental health, etc. Both of us seemed to remember a story about a 'nasty toothfairy', ripped off a few years ago by the Listerine mouthwash commercials. Can't locate the book however...
  • A 'very close family friend' (OK, its my Mum) is running a Christmas fun night, and wanted to know if there is a good book with Christmas stories, anecdotes, sayings, etc. To be honest, I wouldn't even know where to begin to look, there are so many books of that ilk...
OK - thats it. Scrapbooking event well last night, We've sold all the tickets for Sophie Grigson next Thursday and have started a reserve list. It promises to be a busy week next week...

5 comments:

  1. Poetry, well there's that really good book by Ruth Padel which I've got but can't find, something like 50 ways to Read a Poem.

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  2. 52 Ways of Looking at a Poem!

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  3. Anonymous2:09 pm

    Having attended the scrapbooking event I can also say that it was a resounding success and I really did enjoy myself. Thanks very much to Mark and Carol for putting the event together.

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  4. Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within is a rather good introduction to poetry, but it is aimed at those seeking to write, rather than to read the stuff.

    My love of poetry is, I think, largely due to my having been given the New Oxford Book of English Verse (ed Helen Gardner) at a formative age, and it is hard to find an anthology that has come close since in terms of breadth and depth - the Daisy Goodwin collections that fill out the shelves in many bookshops just do not do it for me.

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  5. Anonymous9:51 pm

    Have found a site that sells a book on 'how to make your own friendship book' - not sure if that's any help? It's at http://www.calicocrafts.co.uk/acatalog/Sara_s_Words.html and some kits to make your own at http://www.justamemory.co.uk/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?osCsid=c38cb4e65acedb7b5d6acfcf1232861d&search_in_description=1&keywords=friendship&osCsid=c38cb4e65acedb7b5d6acfcf1232861d&x=8&y=8
    (sorry - bit of a long link!).
    Cheers, Jackie.

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