Another Tuesday and here I am working on another blog.

I was serious when I said I was putting together a book club an so far I have had two people jump on to my booky bandwagon. Jess sent me an email saying she would like to play along and Matt made comments in the same vein - although Matt is only going to come if I serve deep fried, bacon-wrapped sausages. I am sure his heart will stop after the third meeting, so maybe we shouldn't count on him being around too long. Keep your eyes peeled for the details on the book club, I will get some more details finalized and we can kick it off in the coming weeks. If you are interested, feel free to shoot me an note. (events@olssons.com)

Speaking of Tuesday, you all know next Tuesday is Fat Tuesday right? Not being a Catholic, it is just an excuse to do things in excess for me. I am certain most of you will be out standing on balconies, pouring back daiquiris and throwing strings of beads at unsuspecting passers by. If you are not of the "must-get-hammered-then-take-40-days-off" set, you should come out to our Lansburgh store and hang out with me and Susan Arnout Smith. You might remember Susan from our contest we had a couple weeks back. One lucky person has won their very own author for a night. What that person may not know is they also won an Event Coordinator for the night. Susan and I come as a package deal. -- Did you really think I was going to send a California author into a East Coaster's house without some sort of back up? Seriously? Okay, I thought about it, then my conscience kicked in and the memory of the last two authors I sent out unescorted came up. Have you noticed that James Patterson is writing with someone all the time? Yeah, sorry about that. We lost him in Adams Morgan. I had to sign a non-disclosure on the other one, can't talk about it legally, sorry.

Sorry, I got off track there for a bit. Fat Tuesday. We will be hosting Susan on Tuesday in the store, then on Ash Wednesday (the 6th for those of you without the decoder on your calendar) She and I will go out to the book group location and (hopefully) drink tea with a new book group. Hooray! I will keep you all informed as to how things turn out. If it works out the way I hope it will, we will do more events like this. If you want to have an author come visit your book group, but you forgot to click the contest link. Shame on you. It is like the lottery, you can't win if you don't play. Playing our game doesn't cost you a buck either, it is totally free!

If you forgot to enter (or entered but didn't win) and are looking for something to do on Wednesday night. I have something cool for you. Have you heard of the Believer? What about Wholphin? Maybe McSweeney's? If you have, you are of the Hipster Set and will probably be out at our Dupont location on the 6th anyway. If you like to think of yourself as a hipster but all those words slipped past you without ringing a bell, then you need to come out and take Hipster 051:Remedial Hipster. McSweeney's events are few and far between and are a laugh riot all the time. All the cool kids will be there and they will be winning temp tattoos and maybe seeing a guy swallow a sword. For more McSweeney Goodness check out mcsweeneys.net

If you are over on the Fun Side of the Potomac, there is a cool event for you too. Stephen Budiansky is going to talk about his book, The Bloody Shirt. You all remember that little thing that happened in 1867? After the South surrendered? No? It was a pretty rough time with over 3,000 Americans being killed by terrorist violence. If you thought that sort of stuff only happened in "other places", think again and look back to the way we acted then.

In all, this should be a good week for anyone who hates reality television, re-runs, and sitting at home. Get out there and interact with your community! Who knows, the person next to you at the Olsson's event might be the future love of your life. They might be the person that cyber-stalks you until you cancel your Facebook and your Myspace pages too, but you wont know unless you go out. Face it, your Myspace page needs updating anyway. That picture of you all orange from the fake tan, pooching your lips out and throwing up the West coast hand signs? Really. Take it down. Everyone laughs at you.

Like most Bloggers out there, we all read other people's blogs. What better way is there to pretend to work for a full eight hours? "I am doing research for my blog this week."

I was sent the greatest (perhaps the most disgusting) use of bacon I have ever seen on the inter-webs. It was this: http://www.speakeasy.org/~sjmaks/bcb/index.html
This beats the House of Breakfast Meat I was checking out last week, hands down.

I also made the decision that I was starting a book club. Me, starting a book club. I am drafting a few people right off the bat to be in my book club, but I might run out of friends soon enough and need you all to help me out. The first book I have chosen unilaterally and I will let someone else pick the second one. I will keep you in the loop as to what happens with my book club. It should be exciting.

Other than bacon and book clubs, I have an event coming up. I know what you are thinking, "You are the event boy, you should have events coming up." Well, I do.

Two good ones! First up, on the 30th of January at 7 pm, Pete Earley is going to be reading sections of his new book "Comrade J".

From 1997 to 2000, a man known as "Comrade J" was the highest-ranking operative in the SVR-the successor agency to the KGB-in the United States. He directed all Russian spy action in New York City, and personally oversaw every covert operation against the United States and its allies in the United Nations. He recruited spies, planted agents, penetrated security, manipulated intelligence, and influenced American policy, all under the direct leadership of Boris Yeltsin and then Vladimir Putin. He was a legend in the SVR, the man who kept the secrets.

Then in 2000, he defected-and it turned out he had one more secret. For the previous two years, he had also been a double agent for the FBI: "By far the most important Russian spy that our side has had in decades." He has never granted a public interview. The FBI and CIA have refused to answer all media questions about him. He has remained in hiding. He has never revealed his secrets...

Until now.

You know what happens now? Pete is going to read his book and have a discussion with "Comrade J". Sergei Tretyakov - or the Spy Formally known as Comrade J - will be right there with him telling us his story first hand. How about that? Not too shabby for a punk kid eh?

The other one is the next day (The 31st) at Dupont. It is Legends of the Chelsea Hotel and it should be just as informative in another way. I was just looking on Wikipedia and noticing all the things that have gone on there. How cool is it that we were all spared the terror of having to hear another Babyshambles album because Pete gave away all the songs to some fan in the lobby of the hotel.

I imagine we will hear loads of other crazy tales when Ed Hamilton swings by Dupont to spread the word.

One last thing then I will stop blabbing. There is this great contest going on this week. Susan Arnout Smith is coming to read with us on February 5th. She has offered to come to some lucky customer's book group to talk about her book. How cool is that? An author in your home for you to ask questions of. Even Bob Dylan wanted that. Granted, he wanted to ask Joyce what the hell he was talking about in Ulysses. We all want that.

So two big events, a contest, a new book club and a bacon cheeseburger made entirely of bacon. I love this country sometimes.

I was trying to figure out something fun and exciting to chat about with you all this week. As I scrolled through today's issue of Shelf Awareness, I came across a little blurb about Labyrinth Books.

Book Culture, the New York City bookstore formerly known as Labyrinth Books, has begun a blog that includes Q&As with authors who appeared at the store last fall, news, author posts, book recommendations and more.

Incidentally the store's new marketing and events manager - since November - is Kelly Amabile, a writer, researcher and editor specializing in travel and books who has a blog, Lost in Place, that we've mentioned several times for its references to bookstores around the world.

I only mention this because I have a meeting with Kelly at the end of the week. She is coming down to DC to chat with a couple of independent bookstore people. I am looking forward to hearing how she runs things up in New York and trading a few ideas back and forth with her.

Something else going on this week, you might be interested in. I know Black History Month is NEXT month, but we are getting a jump on it this month. Janurary 24th will see Randall Kennedy at our Penn Quarter location. You may remember Randall from his last book, "Nigger". This one goes a little further in to the race relations discussing what it means to "Sellout", or the intricacies of racial betrayal. We are very excited to host this Harvard Professor and perhaps jump-start the discussions that come every February.

Already a hot topic in the presidential race - both Clintons making comments about the presidential side of the civl rights movement - I believe the discussion of how we are all going to come together will, heat up as the race goes forward. You all know how nasty the politics can get, I would lay money we are only a few months away from outright name calling. Better we learn now about "selling out" before we start tossing the word around.

If you are unfamiliar with the book, Publishers Weekly had this to say about it:

Accusations of "selling out"-of betraying or neglecting the interests of blacks to curry favor with whites-are among the most damaging that African-Americans level at each other, according to Harvard law professor Kennedy. Called a sellout himself after his book Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word appeared, Kennedy here explores the charge's potency. He recounts the centuries-long history of sellout rhetoric-sometimes rooted in real betrayals by blacks who echoed white supremacist ideology or informed on slave rebellions or civil rights organizations-and examines its role both in uniting the black community against racism and in stifling debate within the community. A long chapter analyzes conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whom Kennedy acquits of sellout charges, and a fascinating discussion of racial categories and "White Negroes"-blacks who pass as white-shows how murky the concept of racial loyalty is. Kennedy finds sellout rhetoric to be overblown-often aimed at blacks guilty only of success-but won't entirely repudiate it. African-Americans should "be subject to having citizenship in Black America revoked" if they repudiate "even a minimal communal allegiance" (although Kennedy is hard-pressed to think of plausible instances where this might apply). His is a lively, thoughtful, provocative commentary on a centerpiece of black identity politics.

It should be a great event and, like I mentioned before, we are very proud to host Randall in our store. Please do come out and hear what he has to say.

Did I mention to you that I am trying to read 52 book this year?

I totally stole the idea from Eric Nuzum (author of The Dead Travel Fast) when I heard him on the radio a while back. I started on November 4th and am trying to read 52 books between now and next November 4th. This is a lot less then 180+ my fellow blogger, the Book Maven, read last year, but I figured I would set a reasonable goal and see where it takes me. So far I have 14 books under my belt with two more half-finished. Yes, I am the guy who reads three books at a time. I am in the middle of The Year of Living Biblicaly and Foolishly Forgotten Americans but I keep interrupting them so I can read books for upcoming events.

Care to hear the list I made it through this weekend? No? Tough, here it is. Ghost by Robert Harris. Stephen King had it on his list of top books this year, how could I pass it up when it was sitting on my shelf? The Killer's Wife by Bill Floyd. It is a new thriller coming out March 4th with a different take on the old who-done-it. And Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles. Another new book, due out in June, crafted as a letter to American Airlines while the author is trapped in Chicago due to "weather" that doesn't exist. I thought it was going to be a laugh riot, but ended up in tears by the end. Damn you Jonathan Miles! Don't you know I am sensitive?

Okay, back to real time. Speaking of upcoming events, the calendar is filling up nicely. Something this week you might want to check out, Friday night at our Old Town store. The book is called The Possibility of Fireflies written by Dominique Paul. You might recognize Dominique if you are on IMDB (Internet Movie Database) from time to time. She is the writer and director of the film "The Possibility of Fireflies" currently in pre-production. The film is set to star Michelle Trachtenberg who is no stranger to films based on novels. You may remember her from "The Dive From Clausen's Pier" (2005), she played Carrie Beal, the lead role in that one too.

An interesting aside. That link right there is a direct line from Dominique Paul to Ann Packer. - Ann Packer wrote "The Dive From Clausen's Pier" that starred Michelle Trachtenberg who also stared in "The Possibility of Fireflies" written by Dominique Paul. Oh, by the way, both authors have read at Olsson's Old Town store. - Maybe not that interesting, but look for it to be used in the intro.

Not only is Dominique the owner of a very cool name of French and Latin Origin meaning "Lord", she has been a successful screen writer, a published author, and a Maryland resident, she is a crazy-hot blond, with an equally-hot doggy girl. I was surfing around on her myspace page where I found out she has a penchant for 80 hair metal - WOO! YEAH! - and noticed the strange resemblance to Kelly Preston. I am going to be on hand for this event for a chance to talk the merits of Sebastian Bach's new album vs the old Skid Row stuff with a beautiful (I'm not kidding) woman. Keep in mind that she is a native to the area and that means family will be on hand for this YA event. When I say family, I am talking about her pops who happens to have arms the size of my waist. He looks like he could punch a whole in your face if he wanted to. I and, everyone else who comes out, should be on your best behavior. If you were thinking of skipping this event, I wouldn't recommend that either. The aforementioned father figure will be knocking on doors and kidney punching the no-shows.

Possibility of Fireflies at Olsson's Old Town on Friday the 11th, 7pm. Be there or risk the punchings of an angry father. Buy a book while you are at it. I will be getting one to bolster my numbers in my quest to break 52.

Welcome back everyone!

Brussels was wonderful. Cold, but lovely. I did my best to stay warm by swilling cup after cup of gluwhine (if you order it "avec rhum", it does twice the warming duty) and stopping in to a shop every half mile or so. I rode a Ferris wheel, watched people ice skating, bought some goodies from the stalls and tried to soak in a little Christmas spirit. Given that I am an angry old man, it didn't soak in very deep or last very long. I am just as frustrated by human contact as I was when I left.

I thought about telling you all about the trip and boring you to death with tales of my holiday adventures but I will spare you the blah-blah-blah and actually tell you about an event. The calendar is filling up again and the staff have been bored stiff without having to set up chairs and read books to prepare for events. I feel like I would be doing them a disservice if I didn't mention an event.

On Thursday January 3rd, at our Penn Quarter location, Jane Rhodes is going to tell us all about her new book. It is called Framing the Black Panthers and unless you crawled out from under a rock yesterday and have no clue as to who the Panthers were/are, you will recognize the cultural impact they had on the U.S. It may be something as simple as Tommie Smith's black-gloved fist raised in the air at the 1968 Olympics or it might be a bottle of hot sauce you bought made by David Hilliard. Even Marvel Comics jumped on and invented a super hero called the Black Panther. (Still being published) Excepting Modernism, no other movement has impacted society like they did. Once they started getting a bit of news, the leaders and members of the Panther Party exploited every word in the press and leveraged it to their advantage. Love them or hate them, agree or disagree the Panthers made a mark.

Jane is the Dean for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and chair of the American studies department at MacAlester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, so she knows a little bit about race relations in America. If I can get out of the office in a timely manner, I will be there to here what she has to say about this one. Anyone with an interest in social politics, American History or if you just want to figure out how to start a movement in your hometown, should brave the cold and get their butts to Lansburgh on Thursday night. 7pm start time, get there early and grab a glass of wine from Footnotes Cafe.

Oh, one last note. I read this today on Shelf Awareness:

The top 10 overall, as compiled by "researcher Jack Miller, who for five years has been ranking the nation's largest cities based on their support for and commitment to reading":

Minneapolis
Seattle
St. Paul
Denver
Washington, D.C
St. Louis
San Francisco
Atlanta
Pittsburgh
Boston

AND!

The top 10 cities in the bookseller category, which ranks for every 10,000 people the number of retail bookstores, number of rare and used bookstores and number of ABA members, are:

Seattle
San Francisco
Minneapolis
Cincinnati
St. Louis
Portland, Ore.
Pittsburgh
St. Paul
Cleveland
Washington, D.C.

Not bad. In the top five for commitment to reading and in the top ten for bookstores. The only way we can stay there (or move up) is if you good people keep going out and buying books. Thank you once again for keeping me at my desk and working. If you stop buying books, it is right to the local Wendy's for me. I noticed Five Guys was hiring this weekend... Maybe they need an event coordinator.

Keep reading!