In the world of books, the e-book has in many readers’ minds reduced the substance of a book to its information. The book, like music in the early 2000s, is becoming more intangible, its worth placed in its content alone. And its consumer little cares in what form that content is enjoyed, only that it be enjoyed and possessed in the most convenient way.

But many books defy that definition of “a book” as “particular content alone.” One such is the new book published by Tara Books, an independent publisher of picture books for adults and children based in Chennai, South India. One of Tara’s new books is Waterlife by Rambharos Jha, an artist whose paintings are done in the Mithila folk art tradition of Bihar in eastern India.

Each book is silk-screen printed by hand on handmade paper, and the print run was limited to a mere 3,000 copies, each of which are numbered (I scored number 375). Each page features a water creature and its description, and many reference the culture of this particular region in India. At the end of the book is a little information about the people of Mithila and how their folk art has developed, and about the journey Jha’s art has taken. In Waterlife, his studies of the marine animals feature symbolic representations, but he uses the traditional fine lines to greater complexity to add an element of movement not usually present in the more static Mithila art.

The art itself is gorgeous, but the time and effort put into the books, along with their rarity, make this book a must-have. Each book has texture and character; no two copies are exactly alike. And it smells. You can smell the paper and the ink – strong, distinct, and earthy. This is what books are.

If you would like to purchase this book, please give us a call (601.366.7619) or drop by the store!

Here at Lemuria, each employee takes on the responsibility of lovingly (for the most part) tending to his/her own section in the store. I lucked out and inherited cooking, which is a perfect fit since I a) like to cook and b) thoroughly enjoy reading a cookbook just like I would any other book. There are so many beautiful books in my cooking nook, but here are just a few that have recently come in, which highlight the fresh, tender ingredients of spring:

Sophie Dahl, author, former fashion model and granddaughter of beloved author Roald Dahl, has published her second cookbook Very Fond of Food: A Year in Recipes. Dahl progresses through each season meal by meal with plenty of appealing photos to accompany her recipes. Of course I flipped straight to the spring section and found several enticing recipes including:

• Spicy Eggplant and Tomato with Poached Eggs
• Pea, Pesto, and Arugula Soup
• Radishes (one of my absolute favorite spring/summer veggies) with Truffle Salt, Mint, and Olive Oil

Since I am growing fresh spring greens in my back yard, I was immediately drawn to this next cook book, Salad for Dinner by Jeanne Kelley. Focusing on greens as the entire meal, Kelley has put together a wonderful and tasty array of salads satisfying enough to be your main course. Here are a few that caught my eye:

• Pea and Orecchiette Salad with Perlini Mozzarella and Mint
• Chicken, Avocado and Mango Salad
• Mixed Greens with Farro, Bacon, Dates, Walnuts, Pears and Parmesan

James Peterson, winner of 7 James Beard Awards has come out with a revised version of Vegetables: The Most Authoritative Guide to Buying, Preparing, and Cooking, with More Than 300 Recipes. Authoritative is an understatement. Peterson goes through an entire alphabet of vegetables and lays out each vegetable’s properties and several ways to prepare each one with an abundance of rich photos to help illustrate his techniques. I found the pages on peeling and seeding tomatoes and the proper way to finely chop an onion especially helpful:

Any of these would be a great addition to your cookbook collection and it probably couldn’t hurt to incorporate a few more veggies into your spring diet!

by Anna

Two weeks ago the journalism department of Ole Miss invited me to be a part of a panel discussing the future of independent bookselling in Mississippi. Three other Mississippi booksellers participated: Richard Howorth of Square Books in Oxford, Jamie Kornegay of Turnrow Books in Greenwood, and Emily Gatlin of Reed’s Gum Tree Bookstore in Tupelo.

I’ve found that when booksellers talk shop, fresh ideas on how to make our bookstores better is the usual result. All of our markets are different and we have unique challenges. However, sharing how we deal with questions gives us the common bond of survival. Independent booksellers are a small family who care about the quality of our profession and how we effect the bookselling industry.

Also, independent booksellers care about our communities. We believe our stores make a difference enhancing the quality of local lifestyles. These are questionable times for bookstore survival.

If having a local bookstore in the community is important to you, you might enjoy listening to this panel.

Despite my intention to stuff as much content into the Mega-Health post as I could, I realized a few days later that there were still several things I left out. Here’s what I forgot the first time around.

This past December I got a juicer. My wife and I had just watched a documentary called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead about a guy that goes on a 60 day juice fast in an attempt to lose weight and reverse his myriad health problems. It’s a great film — this is not a documentary that you sit through just so you can say you love documentaries — it’s entertaining, and funny, and occasionally sad.

I was so intrigued by the juicing concept that I decided I wanted that juicer for Christmas. I wasn’t on board with a full 60-day juice fast, but I liked the idea of getting a fresh, nutrient-packed fruit and veggie juice mix from home with no added sugar, artificial flavors, or artificial colors. There is a ton of information online about health benefits from juicing, but I wanted something with all the information compiled and organized for easy reference, so I picked up a copy of The Juice Lady’s Guide to Juicing for Health. This book lists all the benefits of the fruits and vegetables you can juice, with specific application to particular health needs. I’m still on the lookout for a really good juicing recipe book, however.

Another book I’ve looked at several times is Wheat Belly. This book focuses on the detrimental effects of wheat and gluten. Since my wife and I have been following The Primal Blueprint, we’ve already cut out basically all grains anyway, but wheat in particular has some really terrible consequences for your health, and this book goes into much greater detail on the development of wheat and wheat-based foods. I’ve found going grain-free is not significantly more difficult than going wheat-free or gluten-free, but I’ll probably go back and read this book just for the information on wheat.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a bit of a bike geek. Running has taken over some of my outside exercise attention, but I still love cycling. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone mountain biking, and my old mountain bike needed a serious overhaul before it would be trail-ready again. I usually attempt to do my own repair and maintenance but I’ll confess I ran out of time and took my bike to the shop this time (two big thumbs-up to The Bike Crossing). For the simpler at-home stuff, my go-to guide is The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintence and Repair.

I’ve also picked up a copy of DK’s Bicycle Repair Manual. It’s much smaller than the Bicycling Guide, and doesn’t have as much information, but the illustrations and photos are full-color and much clearer. Between the two books just about everything you need is covered.

Weight-lifting is an important part of fitness, but it takes some planning if you’re not the type of person to spend hours at the gym (and I’m not that type of person). Sure, I could spend a few hundred dollars on a home gym or free weights and bench, but I’d rather be creative and save some money at the same time.

The best place to start is with the basics: pushups and pullups. Pushups obviously require no special equipment, but if you’d like a good plan for building strength, I recommend 7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups. Pullups require that you have access to some kind of a sturdy bar (I use one of those doorframe-bars you see in stores), but it’s well worth the minimal investment, and we have the companion guide 7 Weeks to 50 Pull-Ups.

When you’re ready to move beyond (or supplement) basic pushups and pullups, probably the biggest bang for your buck is a kettlebell. For a long time weight-lifting has focused on isolating muscles (think: biceps curls) — kettlebell workouts toss this out the window and encourage full-body coordinated movements that work all the little stabilizing muscles in addition to the large muscle groups and build real, functional strength.

You can imagine my shock the last time I was working through the fitness shelves and realized we didn’t have any kettlebell books. I immediately started researching to find the best kettlebell resources I could find, and settled on the two books that had the most recommendations from experts: Enter the Kettlebell and Kettlebell RX. Either book will cover all the basics and get you started, but personally I prefer Pavel’s book — both because he’s a pioneer in the popularization of kettlebell workouts, and also because he’s embraced the whole “Mad Russian” persona.

Joe and Lisa have extolled the virtues of BeanFruit Coffee here before, but I wanted to add one more reason to come by the store and pick up a bag — it’s good for you. The cleanest coffee tastes better, but it also minimizes the formation of toxic molds that you’ll find on 90% of the coffee beans out there. These mycotoxins don’t just affect the taste of the coffee, they affect your health. Additionally, because each bag is stamped with a roast date, you can avoid stale coffee beans covered in sticky, rancid oil. BeanFruit Coffee is super-coffee. Come get some super-coffee.

That’s all I’ve got for now! Health and fitness has turned into a bit of a hobby for me, so feel free to stop in the store and chat about any of this stuff — I’m often in the back room so just ask for me.

Kathy Hepinstall has long been a Lemuria staff favorite so I was thrilled to see a new novel, Blue Asylum, being published this past month.  I, again, was not disappointed and immediately passed it around the bookstore.

Iris Dunleavy is on her way to an island off the coast of Florida, unfortunately it is not a vacation to escape the chaos of the Civil War.  On her way to the island, Iris considers her predicament and we learn that while she was raised a Quaker and is a staunch abolitionist she fell in love, married, and thought she could change her new husband and the ways of the plantation life.  She soon realized this was not going to be the case and decided to run away with a group of slaves that belonged to her husband, Robert Dunleavy.  Iris was arrested and put on trail where she was found to be insane.  She is sentenced to Sanibel  Asylum where the doctor is known for his “modern” technique that will  set wives back on ‘the straight path’ and obey their husbands.

I truly was interested in every character in this book, the self-proclaimed insane Doctor’s son, Wendell, to Ambrose, the Civil War vet who is suffering from PTSD, and Dr. Cowell who just can’t seem to see what is right in front him and their relationships with Iris.  While reading, Blue Asylum I continually asked myself: Who is really crazy and how fine is the line between sanity and insanity?