Otter Creek Used Books

So far this month the store has been busy with the influx of ‘new’ books! We are swimming in them and they are slowly getting on the shelves. I’m working on it! Believe me, I am working on sorting, pricing, and moving shelves around. I probably sound like I’m complaining but I’m not! I love it. It is so hard for me to not sit down with them and turn their pages.

We were the gracious receivers of plants that are welcoming all who enter the store. With such a wonderful large window and high ceilings they fit perfectly. I am so overwhelmed by the good friends who gave them to us and I take on their responsibility with delight. We also have started putting up flower boxes outside but those are currently on the patio until Rusty figures out how to secure them safely to the railing. I have a bunch of other flower pots that still have to make their way here.

Just returned from Kentucky where my sister-in-law took me to, I believe, as many ‘funky junky’ places in a 50 mile radius of their house where I found a number of cool bookends. I started to put them up and around the store.

I promise pictures soon. I plan on posting images of some great books, the window display as it changes, bookends, and more. The good news is that I will be down here full-time! I am so excited. It wasn’t what my original plans were but sometimes things work out differently and this will be great! With that said though I’ll be gone for a couple of days returning on Friday. So next week changes will start. I hope on a daily basis until I get the store whipped in shape as to what I dreamed it would be. I have always wanted a job where I could bring my knitting so I look forward to that. Great to have simple goals!

Just got word of a BIG book sale and Rusty and I are making plans to attend. I can’t wait! We went last year and it was our first time ever going to such an event. We thought we were prepared for the number of books and people we would encounter but we weren’t. Not to worry because this year we know exactly what to do! And what to bring! Extra boxes. And be extra early.

Last year while there Rusty went one way and I another with our lists in hand and every time we found ourselves near each other we couldn’t stop smiling! We couldn’t believe how much fun it was! Even with all the people shoving and grabbing. (Remember books=fun!) So, I had this huge (I’m talking HUGE) L.L. Bean bag and I filled it three times and had to drag it to our corner of the dealer’s room - we have a special room where we can store our books until we pay. Up a couple flights of stairs - oh, it wasn’t pretty. That shopping experience helped us get some spark into the store that we felt was desperately need (as well as paint, cleaning, and well, some life) so we are looking forward to this year’s trip. Plus it helps a good cause and I get to see a good friend. She’s the one who told me about the sale in the first place.

If you have a book you would like us to look for let me know. I’ll try my best. We’ll be looking for westerns, classics, quality children’s, elusive sci-fi, horse, Vermont, and whatever suites our fancy. Rusty will be certainly looking for military books - one of his passions. I’ll keep you posted.

Yes, it is so close! I was greeted by a Robin when I entered the store today. Of course, I have been seeing Robins, geese flying north and other signs of spring but it just seemed so delightful to see the Robin here.  More books arrived over the weekend. Books on relationships,  New Age, religion, older fiction, western (hard cover and paperback) and children’s books. Authors include Dr. Wayne Dyer, Rhonda Byrne, William Patterson White, Jackson Gregory, and then some. Eclectic!  And our ‘funky junky’ items are increasing. Stop in!

Jessica outdid herself again! You just have to come to see her creativity on display in the store’s window. The theme this time is around children’s books: Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and more. Very ingenious. It makes me smile! Jessica has her college degree in Fashion Design from Pratt and while she is living in the Middlebury area she has offered to decorate the window. Last month the window was designed around different types of crafts with books and projects on display from woodworking, quilting, sewing, painting, etc. Of course, her Halloween display was awesome. Who can forget that dripping eye! (Actually it was kind of gross…) All trying to have some fun in this little used bookstore, to show the diversity of what we have here as well as create some interest in downtown Middlebury - to step away from the norm. Hope we achieve some interest! Speaking of which, looking forward to working some more on the outside so hoping for some warmer weather soon. Painting, carpentry, and some fun. Books=Fun!

but what else is new here in Vermont these days. At least it isn’t raining like last weekend. I hear there is great snow at the Bowl!

My mother, Muriel, is in today and we are shelving books. Four boxes down and well, too many to count. We do have alot to put up. Can get overwhelming at times but it is important to not let it get to me. How do other used bookstores manage, I wonder? Just deal with it, Barbara.

What are we shelving, you wonder? Just about a little of everything…fiction, non-fiction, hard cover, paperbacks. Titles? How about “Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor”, Willa Cather novels, “Ralston Health Club One Hundredth Edition”, “Porcelain”, “The Flowering of New England,” “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers”, “Selected Drawings of Aubrey Beardsley” just to name a few, and it is just a few. Some day I will count the number of books we shelf - just to satisfy my curiosity.

Just returned from a shopping spree! Went on a trip south and of course, we stopped at a fair number of places and well, yeah, we bought books. I’m looking at boxes and bags, all full ready to price. We are pretty excited about our purchases. What makes this fun is that we get to chose the titles…what we like and are always searching for, and trying to fulfill requests that our regulars are looking for. Course it is always fun when people bring in books and being surprised at what they bring. Books are so much fun!

So what did we get on this trip? Hmm, quite a number of Robert Frost books - books on the man, poetry. Finally! Frost books are easier to find outside of the state but that makes sense. Here we are in Middlebury and last I saw, we only had one book on the shelf. That just isn’t right. I feel good about what we found. I have to admit, I just started one of the books, “Robert Frost Himself” by Stanley Burnshaw. Very interesting but I’m finding it so far more on Mr. Burnshaw’s life and his relationship to Frost but it gives a good insight to the times. I’m early into the book though - page 57. Ready to read are: “Honour Earth Mother” by Basil Johnston, “American Indians of the Northeast” by Kathleen J. Bragdon and “Nature’s Way: Native Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Earth” by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man all waiting patiently. Plus I’ve also started a couple of projects…American flag afghan using Green Mountain Spinnery yarn (of course!), embroidering a wall clock from a 1970 kit (so retro!), and also going through my ‘new’ magazines “American Home Craft” that is out of print but slowly I’m adding to my collection. They are FULL of amazing ideas.

Also picked up a couple of local authors - Bill McKibben, for one. I grabbed “Wandering Home” out of one of the boxes and well, sat up one night reading it. I just couldn’t put it down. How honest he writes. I wish I could remember all my thoughts when I closed the book. I knew I should have written them down but I was at my brother’s house and it is an old house with creaky floors and was afraid I might wake everyone up so I didn’t go look for paper and pencil. It will be a book difficult to sell as I would like to keep it but…special to sell, too. Hope that makes sense.

Boxes include a number of Star Trek, Vol 1-3 of Lahaye/Jenkins series “Novel of the Earth’s Last Days”, dinosaurs, sailing, children’s giant books, Zane Grey, and various others. They should be up on the shelves this week.

Please let me know if you are looking for a special book or share your thoughts!

Happy reading! Or knitting, embroidering…

Hello! And welcome to the blog for Otter Creek Used Books.

Otter Creek Used Books is located in downtown Middlebury, Vermont, home of Middlebury College. We offer a large collection of used books - fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, mysteries and everything in between. Hopefully something to satisfy your interests

We have been currently working on remodeling our space which is a flight of stairs down from Green Mountain Shoe & Apparel. We are always adding new inventory - everyday! We hope to offer books online soon. Our philosophy is, sure, you can buy books online and never touch it until it arrives in the mail but there is nothing like holding a book that you have been searching for. Nothing! Holding a book in your hands has to be one of the best things in life! So stop in the next time you are in MIddlebury and discover what we have to offer. Just maybe it is that book you have been searching for and if not, then maybe something else might catch your eye!