Much to our dismay, a few new books that we have read and loved have been panned by reviewers in the mainstream media! Who are these reviewers and what are their filters? Is their opinion more valid than ours?

Over the years, we have learned from reading reviews, from talking with other booksellers--on staff and in other stores, and from our customers, that books strike us all in different ways at different times. Some books are great on an airplane trip, others are only to be read at night curled up warm and safe. One of our favorite comments when we asked a customer if she had read a certain book was “Oh yes, and I loved hating every minute of it!” It turns out that she appreciated the writing but was most disturbed by the storyline.

Reviews can serve as guidelines if they help us understand the concept of the book, or the context within the body of the author’s other work. Summaries can steer us in the direction of our favorite genres, but reviews that contain little but gossip about the author--interesting perhaps--are not very revealing about the book in question.

Over time, we discover with whom we share reading tastes. As a customer quipped as he was leaving the store last week after a discussion of a recent negative review in the New York Times: “Oh, when she doesn’t like a book, I know I will!”

We were troubled to receive several emails in the last few weeks with the bookstore’s Valley Net address as the return address, though we had not sent them. All had “newsletter” in the subject line. One was quite offensive, one was selling magazine subscriptions, and others we did not open for fear of viruses. Worse, we have been told there is nothing we can do about this use of our name!

So we have officially changed our email address--including that on our electronic newsletter--to go through our website addresses. If you’ve been getting the email newsletter and are no longer receiving it, it may be caught in your spam filters. Please put these addresses on your accepted mail list:

• info@norwichbookstore.com
• liza@norwichbookstore.com
• penny@norwichbookstore.com

We love hearing from you by email, and are concerned that your messages may get filtered out on our side. It’s a store policy to respond to every customer’s email with a reply. If you write us and don’t hear back in a reasonable time, please resend your missive, or give us a call. As we are not online 24/7 the response might not be immediate, but a reply should be sent within one working day.

The lesson here is that we can use the internet as a convenient, but imperfect tool, and face-to-face or telephone conversation is more reliable--and usually more fun!

You will have noticed that your $10 Rewards coupon pops up each time you spend $200. You will probably get these coupons more often because almost everything in the store counts toward the total: books, toys, games, calendars, greeting cards, and giftwrap!

The Norwich Bookstore supports schools and libraries through the discounts we offer. In addition, we oversee the Book Angel program each winter, and make donations to community causes and activities throughout the year.

Finally, we send 1% of the total of your purchases to a non-profit partner when you designate one on the Rewards sign-up form. Our current list of partners include:

• AVA, Alliance for the Visual Arts Gallery and Art Center
• Everybody Wins! Vermont, a children’s literacy program
• Good Neighbor Health Clinic, a free health care facility
• Northern Stage, professional theater and theater education
• The Upper Valley Land Trust, conserving rural landscapes and wild places

If you have not yet chosen a non-profit partner, or signed up for the Birthday Club, please stop by and complete the Rewards form. We are getting the data entered and will be caught up soon.

We trust you will find shopping at the Norwich Bookstore a rewarding experience!