Located in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Loganberry Books offers a diverse selection of books, spanning new, used, and collectible volumes. Bookseller Lorraine Angus talked about a crop of titles, recently published and backlist, selling well this fall.
One series that we are always reordering, and have recently, is Ant and Bee by Angela Banner. There are at least 10 books in the series, which I believe was originally published in the 1950s but has been reprinted in recent years, and they are big sellers for us. They are very simple and sweet miniature hardcovers about the adventures of two tiny insects. The series has a nostalgia appeal to some people who remember the books from childhood, and they are popular baby gifts.
We always have a demand at this time of year for Wende and Harry Devlin’s Old Black Witch! and Cranberry Halloween, so I automatically reorder them both. We sell both new and second-hand copies of both.
Friends with Disabilities by Amanda Doering Tourville is a very interesting little series that sells well for us. It includes titles like My Friend Has Dyslexia and My Friend Has Down Syndrome, and has both storylines and sidebars with informational facts about the various conditions that children’s friends might have. There’s obviously a market for these books, and customers do sometimes request books on these topics, but I’ve found that this series largely sells by itself.
A popular middle-grade series is George’s Secret Key by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. The books were published several years ago, but are fairly new to our store. They combine science-fiction stories with beautiful illustrations by Garry Parsons, and are a lot of fun. It’s one of those series that customers are apt to request, and buy more than one book at a time.
A new picture book I’m really excited about is The Paradise Bird by Marcus Pfister, which I think is a great read-aloud. It’s a happy story about a brightly colored bird who falls from the sky and shows a bored flock of ravens how to have fun. The art doesn’t have the special effects of The Rainbow Fish, but does have some sparkle and reflective bits. It’s a really sweet, humorous book and will translate very well to story times. I expect we’ll do very well with it.
In terms of brand-new novels, I’ve already sold some copies of Brian Selznick’s The Marvels, to people who’ve been waiting for it, and I expect to handsell this at Christmas time, along with his The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, since they all make great gifts. And another new book that will be a strong seller for us is Neil Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle, illustrated by Chris Riddell, which has the feeling of an old-time fairytale book. I think the look of the book is a big part of its appeal, and also the author is very popular with both our young-adult and adult customers.
