Ask, and you shall receive. Eventually.

A few weeks ago Brianc suggested a post of Little Shop of Stories best sellers. Well, here you go. Below are lists based on shop sales for the first quarter of the year.

Children’s Books

1. Bad Kitty: Drawn to Trouble, by Nick Bruel (graphic novel)
2. Origami Yoda: Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue, by Tom Angleberger (chapter book)
3. Divergent, by Veronica Roth (Young Adult)
4. Potato Chip Science, by Allen Kurzweil (nonfiction)
5. Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (picture book)
6. Timmy Failure: Now Look What You’ve Done, by Stephan Pastis (chapter)
7. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean (picture)
8. Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, by Kimberly and James Dean (picture)
9. Panic, by Lauren Oliver (YA)
10. Carnivores, by Aaron Reynolds and Illustrated by Dan Santat (picture)

Children’s titles sold at events outside the shop and at bookfairs

1. Five, Six, Seven, Nate!, by Tim Federle (chapter)
2. How to Act Like a Kid: Backstage Secrets of a Young Performer, by Henry Hodges and Margaret Engel (nonfiction)
3. Founding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies, by Cokie Roberts and illustrated by Diane Goode (picture)
4. Better Nate Than Ever, by Tim Federle (chapter)
5. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin (chapter)
6. Dinosaurs Before Dark, by Mary Pope Osborne (chapter)
7. Wildwood, by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis (chapter)
8. Impossible Knife of Memory, by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA)
9. Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA)
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck, by Jeff Kinney (chapter)

Adult Titles
1. Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts (nonfiction)
2. The Opposite of Worry: The Playful Parenting Approach to Childhood Anxieties and Fears, by Dr. Lawrence J. Cohen (nonfiction)
3. Ladies of Liberty, by Cokie Roberts (nonfiction)
4. American Afterlife: Encounters in the Customs of Mourning, by Kate Sweeney (nonfiction)
5. Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson (fiction)
5. The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt (fiction)
7. Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd (fiction)
8. We Are Our Mother’s Daughters, by Cokie Roberts (nonfiction)
9. The Returned, by Jason Mott (fiction)
10. Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern (fiction)
10. Where’d You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple (fiction)
10. Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh (graphic novel)

The adult list is event driven, including the top four titles. Serious fiction also does well.

Decaturish reports that the Decatur School Board unanimously approved borrowing $18 million in the form of Certificates of Participation last night to build additional classrooms and a new cafeteria.  Part of the money will also be used to plan for a Renfroe expansion.  As previously reported, CSD is using the elementary schools as collateral to secure the loans.

Also interestingly from Decaturish…

[CSD financial advisor Dianne] McNabb said the system would’ve likely received a better interest rate through a general obligation bond. City Commissioners in August voted unanimously to postpone putting a bond referendum on the ballot until November 2014.

McNabb said the reason for the higher interest rate is COPS financing is considered a higher risk.

Willow Lane, Decatur GA (pic submitted by Nicole)

From the Decatur Arts Alliance website…

The 2014 Decatur Postcard Project is looking for artists, students, residents, businesses and members of the community who would like to submit images that reflect different aspects of the city. If you have photos or other artwork that captures the essence of what Decatur is all about and would like to share, send in your work. Submissions are welcome from all ages.

A jury will select six pieces that best represent Decatur for a set of 6 x 4 postcards, which will go on sale in May. The cards will be available at the Decatur Visitors Center and local retailers.

Keep in mind as you select your entries: brides like to use the postcards for wedding “Save the Dates” and parents like to use them for children’s thank you notes.

Submission deadline: Friday, April 11, 2014.
More details about the guidelines and a printable application are available here. (PDF)

Additional forms
Artists release form (PDF)
Model release form (PDF)
Minor release form (PDF)

More information: