Counting on Community
A Letter from Catherine Weller
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What a difference a year makes! To prepare for this month’s column I decided to find the previous June’s Word from Wellers column. There wasn’t one of course. What I found instead was a letter I’d sent to customers on March 28, 2020. It was a love letter of sorts, a letter expressing my deep appreciation for the hardworking booksellers of Weller Book Works, the community at large, and our customers. We had received so much support in March 2020 that I was hopeful despite the uncertainty and fear engendered by the pandemic. It was also the letter in which I announced we would shut our doors to the public and furlough our booksellers while Tony and I “volunteered” in the darkened store, processing ecommerce orders in a mad attempt to ensure both public health and the bookstore’s viability. It was frightening and exhausting. But, thanks to all of you, here we are, a little over a year later, open for bookselling and pondering what “new normal” means.
First and foremost, for Weller Book Works “new normal” means continued attention to safety. It is our duty and desire to ensure safe working conditions for our booksellers and a safe browsing environment for our customers. This means that until all of our booksellers are fully vaccinated—and we’re almost but not yet there—WBW will continue to require everyone over the age of three in our store to wear a mask covering the nose and mouth. As a person who wears a mask all day every day at work, I understand it can be tiresome. But there really is no other way to ensure safety within the store. For those who do not wish to mask, we happily offer phone, email, and web orders with shipping or curbside pick-up. We look forward to when we can safely exchange smiles with all of you once again!
Perhaps “new normal” should really be called “virtually normal.” Another pandemic adaptation we’re still making is virtual events. We will begin in-person events later in the season, assuming the coronavirus numbers continue their positive trend. For now events are online and we’ve got some great ones for June. On June 8 we’re offering a virtual book club with Picador USA for the paperback release of Luster. The author, Raven Leilani, will discuss her dazzling, award winning book and take questions from attendees. Weller Book Works is also participating in a virtual launch party for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights: Finding Home. Hamilton was actually the second Broadway play with an entirely BIPOC cast from Miranda and his co-writers. Join Weller Book Works customers and theater fans from around the country for an online celebration. Tickets include admission to the event and a copy of In the Heights. Finally, on June 24 we’ll have a Spanish-English bilingual author event for the paperback release of The Book of Rosy: A Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border. For more information about these events, click the title’s links or visit wellerbookworks.com.
I closed that March 2020 letter with a reference to the delightful board book we sell, Counting on Community. “It’s times such as these when we can become as small as our fears make us or as large as our hearts allow. Let’s please continue to count on community so that after we’ve reached 10, as the book says, ‘I can count on you and you can count on me.’” Thank you for fighting the fear that impoverishes both our day to day interactions and our dreams for the future. And thank you for looking with hearts big and wide to the better days ahead. We’re all still counting on each other.
Catherine Weller
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Teach Us Civility!
Acquisitions in Rare Books
By Tony Weller
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Nothing of greater value comes cheaper than courtesy and respect. Sometimes my words are aggressive but I am a softy who dreams of living in a kind and helpful world. We are ill-served by tired myths of competition and “no-one ever did it alone.” Imagine a truly caring and helpful culture.
My parents didn’t choose books like these for me and maybe that’s what enables me to delight in old-fashioned and kitschy children’s books on manners and behavior. Much of the wisdom in these three books is durable enough to benefit modern children as well as persons of the generation for which they were written. Whatever your state of social grace, these titles’ exciting, loving and collaborative messages are simply illustrated in bold colors that should tickle while teaching.
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The Little Me and the Great Me was first published in 1957. This copy is a reprint from 1994 but nonetheless scarce. In Salt Lake Zen Studies, Genpo Roshi gave Big Mind workshops that dealt with the similar self and other divide that Lou Austin describes here in Christian terms. “I can feel The Great Me coming in. I feel happier. I feel like being kind to others. I love others. I want to help others. The Little Me does not want to help others.” Illustrations in black and white with either red, blue or green.
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Flock of Watchbirds is Munro Leaf’s 1946 book about behavior with his simple and zany characters rendered bold and large in red and black. “This is a squawker having a fit of temper. It looks as though it were trying to swim on the floor, because every time it doesn’t get its own way it squawks and kicks its feet so fast that nobody can tell how many legs it has.” 1st edition with weak hinges and no dust jacket.
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In 1957, Salt Lake City’s “Hoppy Taw” Corporation published My Hoppy Tawpy Safety Rhymes with verses by Stephen J. Vranes, Erla Young, Phyllis J. Park and Sadie P. Loveless. Yellow pages with red, green and black illustrations using the white showing through for highlights. Quite stunning. “I’ll keep my hands and tools away from all electric wires, for a Shocking Thing can happen, which often causes fires.” $30
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MAY–JUNE BEST WELLER PICK:
BY JUSTIN FARRELL
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Receive 20% off when you purchase during May & June
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In one of the most idyllic areas of our country the landscape is changing not only environmentally but economically as well. Teton County in Wyoming has one of the wealthiest populations per capita. Here, the incredibly wealthy come to build multimillion-dollar homes, enjoy the breathtaking beauty, and ostensibly turn to a simpler rural lifestyle.
Justin Farrell explores this phenomenon through tireless research and intimate interviews of these wealthy billionaires. The book is an important addition to the study of the growing income inequality in our country. We have seen an increasing amount of research on the poor, and yet very little on the super wealthy in our society. I wondered if I would want to read a book about the super wealthy, but it is this group which is wielding increasing power and changing the political landscape of our country.
Farrell interviews many of the wealthy in the area, his ticket to being accepted is that he is a Yale graduate, professor, and author. He has them share perspectives on their influence, environmental responsibility, and how they feel about interacting with the working poor they employ.
He shows how the wealthy take advantage of the tax shelter in Wyoming to avoid paying any income tax, and how they acquire huge areas of land under private ownership, driving out the less wealthy. The low-income families that work in the area can’t afford to live there and must drive long distances on dangerous roads to get from home to work.
Farrell likewise points out the complex reality of the wealthy's relationship with the land. He interviews them about their commitment to the environment they so deeply enjoy. He finds they employ capitalistic efforts of acquiring land for their own use, but don’t necessarily realize that the money they make comes with the high price of damaging the environment they love.
Despite this conflict, the wealthy want to be seen as “normal” folks who enjoy the spirit and lifestyle of the West. To quote Farrell:
“This approach also corresponds with the view that nature is a much needed (and deserved) therapeutic cure-all, enabling the ultra-wealthy to remain sane amid the stress-inducting powder keg of a high-profile career, great wealth, and family demands. This safe approach to conservation, which emphasizes a vague “everything in balance” use of science, is aimed to preserve and purify an imagined Eden for the purpose of providing health-giving aesthetic beauty. In the end, this veneer prevents engagement with many of the most pressing, contentious, costly, self-demanding, and ‘unsafe’ environmental problems that we face today (for example, energy transition, climate change, modern consumption, drought, deforestation, and so on).”
This is a deep book with a large amount of information gathered from many sources. Farrell has done vast work to show the contradictions of the wealthy: they idealize the simple lifestyle of the West and the values of those who love nature, yet ultimately don't realize the costly means of their influence on it.
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June is Pride month, and we're here to help you celebrate.
We have books for your whole fam: picture books and YA novels, queer classics and new releases.
You'll even find planners, games, flair and more!
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READING THE WEST
Book Award Winners
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We're delighted to share with you the winners of this year's Reading the West Book Awards, which celebrates the work of regional authors and the independent bookstores working to bring these works to the readers they serve. We know you'll enjoy the winning titles, as well as the great list of finalists this year. We look forward to getting these books into your hands!
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FICTION
By Rebecca Roanhorse
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DEBUT FICTION
By James Wade
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POETRY
Edited by Joy Harjo
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ILLUSTRATED NONFICTION
By Cynthia Bennett
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NARRATIVE NONFICTION
By Rick McIntyre
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EATING THE WEST
By Mely Martinez
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PICTURE BOOK
By Christina Soontorvat
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YOUNG READERS
By Celesta Rimington
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YOUNG ADULT
By Samantha Mabry
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June 9th & 23rd at 6 p.m. — Zoom
Join Catherine and the crafters of Weller Book Works on Zoom for 40 minutes of casual bookish conversation and snacks. All crafts and crafters are welcome. BYOB.
Lit Knit is held the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays monthly.
Email catherine@wellerbookworks.com for the Zoom link to attend.
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June 8th at 6 p.m. MT — Online
Join us for the next event in Macmillan’s Book + Author series: a virtual book club event with award-winning author Raven Leilani to coincide with the paperback release of her instant New York Times bestseller Luster. We've partnered with Macmillan to bring this opportunity to book club members across the country, who can tune in to hear a discussion and participate in the live Q&A.
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June 15th at 6 PM MT — Zoom
Join Weller Book Works for the virtual book launch of In the Heights: Finding Home— the new book from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Jeremy McCarter about the humble beginnings of their Broadway smash.
The launch will feature Miranda, Hudes, and McCarter for this special event over Zoom. Sure to be an unforgettable conversation on creativity, community, and finding home, this is your chance to hear directly from the creative team behind the timeless story of how one neighborhood—Washington Heights—can speak to the world.
Ticket price includes a copy of the book and the Zoom link to the event.
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June 24th at 6 PM MT — YouTube
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Celebrating a graduate? Let us help you send them off on their next adventure. |
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Looking for a New Audiobook? |
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Thanks for being part of our Weller community!
Shop local, shop indie.
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Avoiding crowds or just over wearing a mask? Shop online or give us a call! |
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We can also ship or facilitate curbside pickup.
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Phone orders: give us a call at 801-328-2586 |
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Thank you for your support
We're here because of you!
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Thank you for supporting your local, independent bookstore! |
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Store hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 AM-7 PM | Sunday, 12 PM-5 PM
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