The Book Booth is a weekly feature at The Political Carnival, relating news, notes, and reflections from the world of books and publishing. SeattleDan, along with his wife, SeattleTammy, are operators of both an on-line bookstore, as well a brick and mortar in small town Washington State. Both have been in the book business since shortly after the Creation, or close to 6000 years now.

This week marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens. In my callow youth, and among my graduate student English major friends, it was easy enough to dismiss Dickens as sentimental and maudlin. I think we missed the point. Dickens was an astute observer of his times, and had a generous heart. May we have such writers again, that can stir our imaginations and change our views. The Guardian has lots of articles commemorating Mr. Dickens life here.

And while we’re at it, who is your favorite Dickens character? So many to choose from. Madame DeFarge might be mine. Or Sidney Carton, both from A Tale of Two Cities. Here’s a portfolio of others to choose from.

And speaking of compelling characters, Little Brown announced a new series of “autobiographical” novels from the one and only Lemony Snicket. The first is due out in October, just in time for Halloween. From our friends at Publishers Weekly:

Amazon remains the bugaboo for independent booksellers. It seems it is also the arch enemy of the big box stores as well. As I’ve noted, Amazon is going into the publishing business, and Barnes and Noble has said it will not carry titles from Bezosland. The New York Times had a small article about the bruhaha here:

I do feel bad for Nancy Pearl, who is a very nice person. But I am surprised by her saying she was surprised by the reaction of the bookselling community over her inking a deal with Amazon.

In the world of books and movies, HBO is producing a film about the relationship of Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, who became third Papa wife. From the clip, the story is centered around the Spanish Civil War, from which Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls and his play, The Fifth Column. The film is directed by Phil Kauffman, whose work I’ve enjoyed in the past, including his adaptation of The Right Stuff. Here’s the trailer.

I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about the forthcoming release of Disney’s John Carter of Mars movie. People wander into the store, looking for the series and other books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I, for one, retain much affection for Burroughs. Not only did I attend junior high school in the LA suburb named for his most famous creation, Tarzan, but as a boy, once I had exhausted the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, I turned my attention to Lord Greystoke and read those novels as well. Enjoy the preview for John Carter.

We don’t have a cat at our bookstore, though we share our home with three of them. I’ve always been of two minds about bookstore cats. On the one hand, they are damn cute, and some people enjoy them. On the other hand, there are people with severe cat dander allergies, and I wouldn’t want a customer to be suffer while browsing. In any case, here’s one person’s list of felines at home in bookstores.

A big smooch to everyone on this Valentine’s Day! What’s on your nightstand?