"Just Around the Corner"

Check out the Regulator's new short video on YouTube about shopping locally! It was written by Jay O'Berski (www.littlegreenpig.com) and directed & edited by Jim Haverkamp (www.jimhaverkamp.com), and features local actors. It's just under two minutes long and is definitely worth a watch.

IndieBound for iPhone

The latest news from IndieBound.org has to do with a free IndieBound for iPhone application. Pretty cool if you have an iPhone.

Here's what they have to say about it:

"Looking for the next great read, the next big thing, or the next undiscovered gem? Independent bookstores have always had the answer. Now IndieBound for iPhone puts the latest indie bookseller recommendations and bestsellers in your pocket, so you can *really* keep up with what’s going on in the book world. Each book includes a link to purchase direct from the website of an indie bookstore near you. Also included is a comprehensive book search and a location-based store finder to guide you straight to America’s best bookstores."

And here's the link!

You want zombies with that?

The teenage boy and his mom came into the store together, and the mom came right up and asked if we had a book that had something to do with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. “I can’t believe I’m asking for this, but that’s what he wants to read,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Pride and Prejudice with Zombies?” I answered, looking beyond her to her son. “That’s probably the best-selling book in the country right now. We can’t keep it in stock. It sounds like it’s a lot of fun.” I always like to try to cultivate a little cred with teenagers and I figured the kid could stand somebody on his side right then.

Then to his mother, I said something to the effect that without the zombies, her son probably would never read Pride and Prejudice at all, and this way he was at least getting exposed to the story. I mean how many teenage boys read Pride and Prejudice?

I related this anecdote to my wife later that night, and this usually broad-minded woman reacted with horror (so to speak..) that someone had perverted Pride and Prejudice with zombies.

So here’s the question. Not to open a big can of worms, (or a big crate of zombies), but do the negative reactions to this book spring more from age or sex?
--Tom at The Regulator

Our Chickens are Free Range

The Regulator has to be the only bookshop in the country with 3 shelves (in a prime display area) devoted solely to books on raising chickens. Big sellers like Living with Chickens, How to Raise Chickens, and Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans.

It's all in honor of the recent Durham City Council decision--arrived at after months of intense political maneuvering--allowing folks to raise chickens within the city limits.

Hanging out with the books on the shelves are a handful of cute little toy chickens. When one of our customers asked if the chickens were glued in place, we assured her that all our chickens were free range. (The toy chickens are available from our friends down the street at The PlayHouse toy shop).
-The Regulator Bookshop

Algonquin is #1

Our friends at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill have the #1 Pick on the April Indie Next List (the best of the new releases as selected by the country's independent booksellers). Their chart-topping title is a fine novel called A Reliable Wife, written by Robert Goolrick.

Congrats!
-from The Regulator Bookshop

Writing the New South

The North Carolina Writers' Network has begun a new literary project entitled "Writing the New South," a compilation of short works by NC Writers' Network authors that address the issue of living in an ever changing North Carolina. Selections of these works are available on their website, and favorite selections will be published in book form after the project is completed. Go check em out!
-The Regulator Bookshop

New Republic

One of better sites for reviews and critiques that I've found is the 'Books & the Arts' section of the New Republic web site. Although it must be said that alongside of some very good reviews are some strikingly serious reviews of pretty bad movies. For example on the same page as a thorough review of Roberto Bolano's 2666 is a three page debate about the most recent comic turned movie blockbuster Watchmen. So maybe some of the posts should be taken with a grain of salt, although it should also be said that I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to film. So grains of salt all around! It's a fine web site though, definitely worth checking out from time to time.
-Elliot at the Regulator