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.

The Atlanta Science Festival begins on Saturday … and looks amazing! Frogs, planetariums, robots, microbes, beer, and a gazzillion other things — some of which are book related.

Story Collider – storytellers offer personal accounts told on stage about how science has affected people’s lives, hosted by Ari Daniel and Erin Barker, Monday, March 24th at 8pm, The New American Shakespeare Tavern, $5 – details here.

Children’s Storytime – about our garden friends, Wednesday, March 26th at 10:30am, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, free (with admission) – details here.

Science Storytime – sounds from the kitchen, Wednesday, March 26th at 10:30am, Lovejoy Branch Library of the Clayton County system, free – details here (details about other Clayton Couny Library science storytimes can be found here, here, and here) .

The Science of Beer – nothing to do with books, but it is beer, Wednesday, March 26th at 10:30pm, Monday Night Brewing, $12 – details here.

Potato Chip Science with Allen Kurzweil – break open and munch your way through the areas of acoustics and aeronautics, forensics, and physiology – Thursday, March 27th at 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, free – details here.

This Week

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sharon Olds, Thursday, March 20th at 6pm, Schwartz Center at Emory, free with tickets available at Emory and your favorite local independent bookstores.

Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings, Monday, March 25th at 7pm, Horizon Theatre, $25 (includes signed copy of the paperback edition).

A conversation with Sarah Lewis, author of The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the  Search for Mastery, and Emory poet Kevin Young, Tuesday, March 26th at 6:30pm, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art.

During May and June of last year Little Shop of Stories replaced the majority of its light bulbs. Incandescent spotlights were switched out for LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). There is a Decatur Metro post about this here. Working with the wonderful folks at Intown Ace Hardware, Little Shop invested over $1,000 with the hope of recouping costs within a year.

Actually, the LEDs paid for themselves in electricity savings alone in less than six months. Georgia Power bills were reduced by an amazing 23%. Only one bulb (out of over 80) has burned out.

Less electricity, better quality light, quick return on investment — a win/win/win situation!

This Week

Anna Quindlen, author of Still Life With Bread Crumbs (to be interviewed by Atlanta’s own award-winning author Melissa Faye Greene) Thursday, March 13th at 7pm, Carter Center Library, tickets are available here.

Sarah Mlynowski, author of Don’t Even Think About It, Friday, March 14th at 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, free.

WABE producer Kate Sweeney, author of American Afterlife: Encounters in the Customs of Mourning, Friday, March 14th at 7:30pm, Manuel’s Tavern, free.

The memoir is a form of autobiography that focuses on selected stories from an author’s life. After reading Joan Didion’s excellent The Year of Magical Thinking in 2005, I became kind of hooked. But in a weird way. Reading these feels incredibly voyeristic. I’m a relatively private person — I don’t even use my last name on these posts — while the best memoirs are brutally honest. I recently finished Gary Shteyngart’s Little Failure, which is primarily based on the time between his birth in Leningrad in 1972 and the start of high school in New York (where he moved at the age of seven), while continuing anticdotally to the present. Oddly, the best comparison I can think of is Roger Ebert’s Life Itself. (A documentary using the same title comes out this year.) Both deal in unabating detail with alcohol, writing, and a Freudianesque relationship with a parent.

Anyone have any other good memoir recommendations?

This Week

Sarah Churchwell, author of Careless People, Wednesday, February 19th at 7:15pm, Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

Civil Wary 150 Program: An Evening with James McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom, Wednesday, February 19th at 8pm, Atlanta History Center, SOLD OUT.

Cathy Marie Buchanan, author of The Painted Girls, Thursday, February 20th at 5:30pm, H. Harper Station, 904 Memorial Drive, sponsored by A Cappella Books, free.

Aram Goudsouzian, author of Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear, Jimmy Carter Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

B.J. Novak, author of One More Thing, Friday, February 21st at 7pm, Atlanta History Center, $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers.

Pulitzer-prize winning poet Paul Muldoon, Saturday, February 22nd at 4pm, Glenn Auditorium on the Emory University campus, free but this event is ticketed; tickets can be obtained at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts box office, be reserved online (tickets.arts.emory.edu) and by phone (404-727-5050) with a $4 per order service fee, and a limited number of tickets are available at A Cappella Books, Charis Books & More, Eagle Eye Book Shop and Little Shop of Stories. Tickets (capped at two per person) must be picked up in person at these locations.

Local favorite Laurel Snyder, author of Seven Stories Up, Saturday, February 22nd at 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, free.

Lovestruck Tour with Megan Shepherd (author of The Dark Curiosity), Megan Miranda (Vengeance), Kasie West (Split Second), and Robin Constantine (The Promise of Amazing), Monday, Februrary 24th at 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, free.

Maurice Daniels, author of Saving the Soul of Georgia: Donald L. Hollowell and the Struggle for Civil Rights, Monday, February 24th at 7:15pm, Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

100 Years Ago Today – William Burroughs, Beat Generation writer (Naked Lunch), was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

50 Years Ago Today – The Beatles landed at London Airport (to be renamed “London Heathrow Airport” in 1966) following a residency at Paris’ Olympia Theatre. During a brief news conference the boys were asked about their impending maiden trip to the United States two days hence: Q: I must tell you, by the way, that Detroit University have got a ‘Stamp Out The Beatles’ movement. … They think your haircuts are un-American. John: Well, it was very observant of them because we aren’t American, actually. Paul: True, that.

Their first record to make the U.S. charts, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” had its Billboard debut on January 18th and reached #1 on February 1st. America was ready. On Sunday, February 9th, the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, watched by a record breaking 73 million people — 45% of homes with televisions were tuned in.

Including ours. After watching, my father proclaimed that “they’ll never last.” My preadolescent self, happy to latch on to all things that my parents’ generation hated, had a differing opinion — though even I recognized their music as trivial. (This would change by the end of 1965 with the release of “We Can Work It Out” b/w “Day Tripper” and “Rubber Soul.”)

For those wanting a feel for the early Beatles, I have two recommendations:

Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years, Volume 1 [of a trilogy] by Mark Lewisohn – It takes over 800 pages just to get to the end of 1962, but this beast of a book is the definitive history with a deep sense of place: post-war Liverpool.

“Live at the BBC” and “On Air: Live at the BBC, Volume 2” – These recordings give the listener a hint of just how good a cover band the Beatles were and why audiences in Liverpool and Hamburg were so excited: great harmonies and George Harrison’s rockabilly guitar truly stand out.

This Week

An Evening with Cokie Roberts, author of Founding Mothers, Wednesday, February 5th at 7pm, Davis Academy, 8105 Roberts Drive, Atlanta 30350, free but please RSVP to [email protected]

Benjamin Ridgeway, editor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, Wednesday, February 5th at 7:15pm, Decatur Library Auditorium, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

Da Chen, author of Colors of the Mountain, Friday, February 7th at 11am, Centenial Hall Auditorium, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, author and illustrator of Wildwood Imperium, Friday, February 7th at 7pm, Kavarna Coffee, hosted by Poverty is Real and sponsored by Little Shop of Stories (ticket info here) to benefit the Decatur Education Foundation‘s literacy programs, $15 adults, $10 kids, plus the purchase of one book per family. – SOLD OUT

Ed Lyman, co-author of Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster, Monday, February 10th at 7pm, Jimmy Carter Library and Museum Theater, free.

Edward Kelsey Moore, author of The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, Monday, February 10th at 7:15pm, Decatur Library Auditorium, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

David Beasley, author of Without Mercy: The Stunning True Story of Race, Crime, and Corruption in the Deep South, Tuesday, February 11th at 7pm, Jimmy Carter Library and Museum Theater, free.

Alvin Townley, author of Defiant, Wednesday, February 12th at 7pm, Jimmy Carter Library and Museum Theater, free.

Ben Marcus, author of The Flame Alphabet, Wednesday, February 12th at 7:15pm, Decatur Library Auditorium, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

Upcoming

Pulitzer-prize winning poet Paul Muldoon, Saturday, February 22nd at 4pm, Glenn Auditorium on the Emory University campus, free but this event is ticketed; tickets can be obtained at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts box office, be reserved online (tickets.arts.emory.edu) and by phone (404-727-5050) with a $4 per order service fee, and a limited number of tickets are available at A Cappella Books, Charis Books & More, Eagle Eye Book Shop and Little Shop of Stories. Tickets (capped at two per person) must be picked up in person at these locations.

This Week

An Evening with Malcolm Gladwell, author of David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, Wednesday, January 29th at 8pm, Symphony Hall (ticket info here), $45 (includes a signed copy of the book). NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.

An Evening with Cokie Roberts, author of Founding Mothers, Wednesday, February 5th at 7pm, Davis Academy, 8105 Roberts Drive, Atlanta 30350, free but please RSVP to [email protected]  [It is not true that they changed the name of their street address just for this event.]

Upcoming

Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, author and illustrator of Wildwood Imperium, Friday, February 7th at 7pm, Kavarna Coffee, hosted by Poverty is Real and sponsored by Little Shop of Stories (ticket info here) to benefit the Decatur Education Foundation‘s literacy programs, $15 adults, $10 kids, plus the purchase of one book per family.

Pulitzer-prize winning poet Paul Muldoon, Saturday, February 22nd at 4pm, Glenn Auditorium on the Emory University campus, free but this event is ticketed; tickets can be obtained at theSchwartz Center for the Performing Arts box office, be reserved online (tickets.arts.emory.edu) and by phone (404-727-5050) with a $4 per order service fee, and a limited number of tickets are available at A Cappella Books, Charis Books & More, Eagle Eye Book Shop and Little Shop of Stories. Tickets (capped at two per person) must be picked up in person at these locations.

Did you miss me?

Major Decatur Literary News

Terra Elan McVoy, part-time bookseller at Little Shop of Stories and full-time author extraordinaire, was named a nominee for the Edgar Award in the Young Adult division for her 2013 novel, Criminal, by the Mystery Writers of America. The winners of this prestigious award, named after Edgar Allan Poe to honor the best in mystery fiction, will be announced on May 1st. Congratulations and good luck, Terra!

This Week

Ishmael Beah, author of Radiance of Tomorrow, tonight, January 22nd at 7pm, Jimmy Carter Library & Museum, free.

Dan Stashower, author of The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War, Tuesday, January 28th at 7pm, Jimmy Carter Library & Museum, free.

Upcoming

An Evening with Malcolm Gladwell, author of David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, Wednesday, January 29th at 8pm, Symphony Hall (ticket info here), $45 (includes a signed copy of the book).

Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, author and illustrator of Wildwood Imperium, Friday, February 7th at 7pm, Kavarna Coffee, hosted by Poverty is Real and sponsored by Little Shop of Stories (ticket info here) to benefit the Decatur Education Foundation‘s literacy programs, $15 adults, $10 kids, plus the purchase of one book per family.