We have people come in and ask all the time for magazines.  We’ve never carried them because we didn’t have a magazine rack. 

I know.  Lame.  But really, it would have to be a very specific size/shape to fit into the tight little Subterranean world.

So I found one and I bought it.  We have slots for 18 magazines now.

We need feedback, though.  Besides Believer (which we already stock) what would you like to see, and more importantly, what would you come in and actually buy.  We have a list around here somewhere of our initial thoughts (which we’ve been compiling for years–that’s how long we think about things).  Off the top of my head it probably has Bitch and Bust and Craft and Make and Juxtapoz (or however you spell it)…   But I don’t really know if these are what folks are looking for.

Thoughts, please.

Because our customers are geniuses and make inspired suggestions, I added info at the bottom of the Gallery page listing upcoming shows.

CLOSED THURS Jan 1

Sheesh, it’s been weeks since the last show went up and I just now realized that I hadn’t updated the Gallery page to reflect that.  So, it’s up now.  Sorry Keith.  Sorry Eric.

Also, the Henry Owings event was positively weeks ago (I’m still reading Harry P, it’s infecting my American)and I just realized there’s been no photos up.  See below.

   .

And this is just because I really like the front windows right now.

Dear Santa,
 
All I want for Christmas is…books! Lots and lots of books!
 
We at Subterranean would love for you to come in and browse for hours, look at every single title and see what you can find in our beautiful store.  But, if you’re pressed for time, are a procrastinator, or the holiday season doesn’t thrill you but you have to give a gift anyway, here are some humble suggestions….
 
For the sweet pea in your life
Gallop! by Rufus Butler Seder
My Animals by Xavier Deneux, and one or two of Superchick Studio’s handmade Plushies
 
For the history nerd, er, buff
Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts
Boom by Tom Brokaw
1491 by Charles C. Mann
Ten Days That Shook The World by John Reed

For the environmentalist
Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman
Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken
Green Collar Economy by Van Jones
 
For the pre-teen you know
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (or any other Silverstein book)
The Little Prince by Saint Exupery
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
 
For the soap opera lover
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
 
For the economics enthusiast
Confession of An Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
Deep Economy by Bill McKibben
Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
 
For the lover of classical literature
The new translation of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Glass of Time by Michael Cox

Just because…
Any Kurt Vonnegut
Passive Agressive Notes by Kerry Miller
Learning to Love You More by Miranda July
Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander

For the poetry enthusiast
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
We Meet by Kenneth Patchen
 
For the Green Thumb-er-ist
Food not Lawns by H.C. Flores
On Guerilla Gardening by Richard Reynolds
 
For Winter’s long nights
Knit Knit by Sabrina Gschwandtner
The Big-Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano
 
New York, New York…
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
 
A difficult stage in life?
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
and then really eat, pray and love!!!
 
New Year’s resolutions
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
 
For the food lover (as if any of us aren’t)
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Reducing your carbon footprint
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
Toolbox For Sustainable City Living by Scott Kellogg Stacy Pettigrew
 
For the gent who wants to impress his guests on New Year’s Eve
Mr. Boston, Official Bartender’s and Party Guide by Anthony Giglio
 
Every cloud has a silver lining
Glass Castle, A Memoir by Jeanette Walls
 
For the clueless husband…
The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine, MD
 
Juggling motherhood and a job?
Bitch in the House by Cathi Hanauer
 
For the feminist
Anything Maya Angelou
The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler

Audiophilia (Not a word, so what?!)
Musicophilia (a book title so it counts) by Oliver Sachs
This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin

Mythology your cup of tea?
Penelopiad (How Penelope would tell her story!) by Margaret Atwood
Mythology (the best children-adult pop-up alive) by Lady Hestia Evans

Does he like “useless” trivia?
More Information Than You Require by John Hodgman (Apple Computer Commercial’s PC man)
 
A tourist in your own town
Weekend Walks in St. Louis and Beyond by Robert Rubright
A Guide to the Architecture of St. Louis by George McCue
 
Pet lovers of all ages
I Can Has Cheezburger? (also check the website and laugh your head off) by Professor Happycat
Dewey by Vicki Myron
Monkey Portraits by Jill Greenberg
 
For the hopeless romantic…
A collection of Shakespeare plays
 
Give it again even if they’ve read it before
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, together with a copy of In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote.  Her friendship made him a better man.
 
The photographer
The Americans by Robert Frank
Loretta Lux
 
Non fiction lover
Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (a graphic memoir)
 
Fiction lover
Loving Frank (with a box tissues) by Nancy Horan
Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen
Any Barbara Kingsolver
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (hard cover only)
Any Jhumpa Lahiri
God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
 
Still not thrilled by the list? Come in and browse for yourself and stop letting other people tell you what you want!  Merry Christmas!

Old Poll Results–Cello takes the win.  Are cellos more wintry?

You’re a musical instrument.  Which one are you?

Cello: 29%

1959 sunburst Les Paul: 22%

53-piece honkin’ Neil Peart drum kit: 14%

Banjo: 14%

Tenor saxophone: 10%

Sampler: 9%

–Image via http://www.luisandclark.com/images/cello-1.jpg

I drew the winners from last weekend’s raffle.  Thanks to everyone who bought something–all of those purchases had 10% of the amount earmarked for the Granite City APA.

The winners are:

Michael Adams $10 gift certificate

Caitlin Evans $10 Gift Certificate

Jamie Smith-Rickly $10 Gift Certificate

Alice Floros $50 Gift Certificate

The amounts have already been plopped into your computer files and will automatically apply next time you check out.

If you haven’t seen it already, here it is:

Fiction (the only title we haven’t been stocking is Netherland, but we’d be delighted to get it in for you):

–Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (one of my favorite writers)

–2666 by Roberto Bolano (sheer genius)

–Dangerous Laughter by Steven Millhauser

–A Mercy by Toni Morrison

–Netherland by Joseph O’Neill

Grievously overlooked– Home by Marilynne Robinson

Non-Fiction (we haven’t been stocking the French or Filkins, but can certainly get them in):

–The Dark Side by Jane Mayer

–This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust (one of Alex’s faves this year)

–Nothing to be Frightened Of  by Julian Barnes

–The World is What it Is by Patrick French

–The Forever War by Dexter Filkins

Just to screw with my holiday, MODOT is not only closing 40 between Kingshighway and 170 on Dec 15 but THEY ARE CLOSING MCCAUSLAND DEC 19-21 to tear down the overpass or some such nonsense. 

Seriously, people, did this have to be done the weekend before Christmas?  Really?

So.  To get here that weekend. Big Bend will still be available.  Hanley will still be available (until Dec 29 when they tear down that, too). 

We’ll have better directions up here once I stop hyperventilating and write some up.

UPDATE** Directions are here

I. This Friday (12/5):

Perfect for a winter’s night, Tom and Chris McClarren will be discussing/signing/storytelling their book Morsels of Mischief: Orphan Tales From My Childhood, which are the memoirs of Tom McClarren’s youth spent at St. Louis’ German St. Vincent Orphan Home.  He was dropped off at the home in 1945 (his parents were still living) and spent the next 10 years pulling off pranks and ploys and wreaking general mischief and mayhem amongst the nuns.

Mr. McClarren is a born storyteller and will spin you right into his tales. Starts at 7pm, at Subterranean.

II. This Saturday (12/6):

The Loop Holiday Walk is the happenin’ event this weekend and we’ve decided to be all charitable.  We’re donating 10% of our sales from this day to the Granite City APA.  Why that particular organization?  We Subterraneans are huge fans of the cast-offs (all our pets were once someone else’s rejects) and since the GCAPA suffered two break-ins this past fall, we decided that they were the group for us.

To entice you to generously spend this Saturday, we are also offering a raffle that everyone who buys something will automatically be entered into.  We’re giving away three $10 gift certificates and one $50.00 one. 

So cool.