Moving The Galaxy Bookshop has been a challenging and exciting process, but for me, it is also tinged with some sadness. I have never been good at dealing with changes–I will always remember crying over the loss of our brown and green plaid couch when my parents decided it was time to upgrade from the hand-me-down furniture from Great-Grandma’s house. Though I am very pleased with our new space, both for its location and its features (beautiful hardwood flooring, vaulted ceiling, wonderful front window with stage area…), I miss the “old” Galaxy Bookshop.

It’s natural, I suppose. That bank building was my second home for the past 10 years, and though many of you will remember former incarnations of the bookstore, I only have a vague recollection of visiting the shop as a kid when it was originally on Main Street. To me, The Galaxy Bookshop was the bank building, with its vault and “story teller” drive-through window and tin ceiling and marble floor and fiction shelved in the tall shelves–’A’ through ‘R’ along one wall, with ‘S’ through ‘Z’ on the opposite wall–and children’s books in the back room, the first books to welcome me to work each morning.

It didn’t really hit me until the night before our book parade that this move was really, actually happening, and the bookstore that I had come to know as well as any friend was gone. Not–as I have been reminded–truly gone, but the physical store will never again be the same. When I drive into town to get to work, I now drive by the old store and feel a pang, wishing that I could turn into the parking lot, unlock the tricky back door, unlock the second door, and walk in to be greeted by the familiar smell and the shelves of books on adolescence and parenting issues.

There are a few things that cheer me very much when I begin to feel sad and nostalgic, though. One: The Galaxy Bookshop may look very different, but it’s still here! Linda and I and Stella and Claire are here, along with Howard Mosher and Lydia Bastianich and Terry Pratchett and Jim Harrison and Charlotte Bronte and Eric Carle and a thousand other old friends on the shelves. Two: Standing in front of the crowd that showed up to our book moving day and seeing all of those friendly faces looking back, then witnessing the enthusiasm and excitement with which everyone pitched in to help us get set up in our new spot. Three: Greeting people as they walk through the door with wide eyes and words of congratulations. This is where the spirit of The Galaxy Bookshop lives, and no change of address or rearranging of shelves will change that.

On this Christmas Eve, the two kitties will be going to their new home, one where we are sure they will receive plenty of love and treats and all the tummy rubbing they require. This new home is with one of our customers, and we hope that we will receive updates from time to time on how Scout and Jem are doing. When we do, we’ll be sure to share with all of you.

So, please join us in wishing our kitties and their new family well. They (and we) thank you for all of the love they’ve received from their many friends and fans during their time as bookshop cats.

Merry Christmas, from all of us ~ Linda, Sandy, Stella, Claire, Ivy, Scout, and Jem

Video directed, edited, and produced by Claire Greene

Thought 2011 is not over yet, the yearly lists are coming out now, and we’d like to share two of our favorites:

The New England Independent Booksellers Holiday Catalog is a list of some of the top choices of booksellers around our region.

The Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) has also put out their annual catalog of Best Books for Children, and it must be said, there is a great crop of children’s books this year.

Here are our videos to give you a little motivation, because if we can do it, so can you!

Claire, reading from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time:

Sandy, reading from Sylvester and the Magic Pebble:

The American Library Association list of Frequently Challenged Books.

We’d like to share a bit of our excitement for one event taking place next year–the release of our dear friend Howard Frank Mosher’s new book, The Great Northern Express, on March 6, 2012! Howard has been talking about this book for a couple of years, a memoir of his travels around the country while on book tour. He stopped by Galaxy this week for an informal photo shoot and was joined by a special friend. On his way to Hardwick, he spied a small turtle in the road and decided to bring him along. (Those of you who have read Walking to Gatlinburg will understand the significance of this particular critter.) Howard is very hopeful that his picture, along with the turtle, on the steps of The Galaxy Bookshop, will grace the jacket of The Great Northern Express.

In keeping with tradition, The Galaxy Bookshop will host the premier event for The Great Northern Express–Howard’s first stop on his book tour about a book tour–on March 6, 2012, at 7 p.m. Mark your calendars!

For the Top 10 (or A Baker’s Dozen), you can view the snazzy poster, or get the full list, with reviews, here. I’m excited to say that I have two reviews included in this list, including Katherine Hannigan’s True…(sort of), which is one of the Top 10 (a.k.a. Top 13) picks of the Spring List! While I’m at it, I will throw my wholehearted support behind these other Top Picks, which I read and loved: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette (the Penderwick family is always a delight to spend time with, and I’m so happy that there are two more books to come), Okay for Now (Gary Schmidt is an amazing writer and he perfectly captured the humor and tragedy of Doug Swieteck’s eighth grade year), Blink and Caution (a fast-paced novel about two teens forced to trust one another when they separately stumble into a very dangerous situation), and Delirium (falling in the dystopian fiction genre, envisioning a world in which falling in love has been outlawed).

Of course, in the immortal words of Levar Burton, “You don’t have to take my word for it.”