Archive for the ‘Marten’ Category

Store Bits

Monday, April 8th, 2013

My lovely fellow booksellers frequently send me short notes about a new book from their sections that has caught their fancy, or a website that highlights a particular series of books they’ve seen fly off the shelf, or a picture with a subsection change.  We tweet them often enough, but I thought they warranted a special spot here on the blog, too!  So I’m introducing a brand-new series of posts, Store Bits – kind of a Lit Links mixed with a Bookbits mixed with ABC News.  Enjoy!

PeterL has spotted a new subgenre in the Mysteries & Thrillers genre: personal growth/mind-body-spirit crime.

“Bestselling author Gay Hendricks, well known for his books about personal growth and the mind-body connection, has, in collaboration with Tinker Lindsay, written a new crime-series.  In The First Rule Of Ten, Tenzing Norbu (“Ten” for short) – ex-buddhist monk and soon to be ex-cop – takes on his first case as a private investigatorin L.A. Growing up in Tibetan monestery, Ten dreamed of becoming a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. So when he was sent to Los Angeles to teach meditation, he joined the LAPD instead. Set in the modern-day streets and canyons of Los Angeles, The First Rule of Ten is at turns humorous, insightful, and riveting—a gripping mystery as well as a reflective, character-driven story with intriguing life-lessons for us all.”

There are currently 2 volumes in this series, The First Rule of Ten and The Second Rule of Ten, and both are available in the Crime section on the first floor of ABC Amsterdam.

Jitse wants to direct your attention to the Gotham City Archives, where Chip “Iconic Book Designer” Kidd’s Batman: Death by Design is discussed.  Be warned if you’re a Batman fan, though, because the site is loaded with great Batman material, including maps of Gotham City and articles by people like philosopher Slavoj Zizek about the Christopher Nolan movies.

He’s also very happy to be able to say that the Art & Animation section has been revamped at ABC Amsterdam.  See the bottom of the post for a picture.  You can find the section on ABC Amsterdam’s first floor.

Jilles is really excited about a great new book by Nick Ortner, The Tapping Solution, “about Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT as they all call it. The technique is very easily explained and it’s applicable to almost every problem with often very quick results. Everybody is using it these days, so check out this very practical book.”  You can find The Tapping Solution in the Consciousness section on the second floor at ABC Amsterdam and in the Psychology section at ABC The Hague.

On our Facebook page we found the following message last week: “Hi there! I discovered ABC online and can’t wait to pop by to see your bookstore in person when I’m next in Amsterdam! :) I devised a Bookstore Bucket List and included you guys in it! Please read & share the article. Thanks, enjoy! – Ashlea Green

Thanks for including us, Ashlea!  We hope you manage to visit all the beautiful stores mentioned – and hope you can pass by ABC The Hague, too.  :-)

Lastly, Marten reminds me to let all of our customers know that both stores have David Byrne’s How Music Works back in stock!

This Just In: Photography

Friday, March 1st, 2013

Five Recently-Arrived Titles from the Photography Section:

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Gift Ideas: Film & Television, Music, Photography, Fashion, Crafts

Monday, November 12th, 2012

Let us be your personal shoppers!

ABC’s booksellers don’t just sell books: as well as being voracious readers, almost all ABC staff members are personally responsible for buying the books for one or more sections in the stores. That means you’ll always find someone who can put exactly the right book in your hands when you need it. We asked our buyers for their tips for the best gifts for the upcoming holiday season, and they came up with some great ones: new books, classic books, magazines, games, merchandise, and stationery.

Today you’ll find gift ideas for Film & Television, Music, Photography, Fashion and Crafts as supplied by Ester, Nyjolene, Marten and Sophie.

Even more gift ideas can be found here and here!

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What We’re Reading: Both Stores

Friday, April 27th, 2012




Ester: Lover Mine – J. R. Ward
Hans: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency – Douglas Adams
Hayley: Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives – Richard Wiseman
Ilse: Hoog sensitieve personen – Elaine Aron (in English: The Highly Sensitive Person)
JeroenE: The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin – Masha Gessen
JeroenW: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell – Suzanna Clarke
Jesse: Swamplandia! – Karen Russell
Jilles: A Reliable Wife – Robert Goolrick and Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days – Jared Cade
Jitse: In the Shadow of the Sword – Tom Holland
Karin: Gathering Blue – Lois Lowry
Klaartje: Lord of the Flies – William Golding and The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders – John E. Sarno
Lynn: The Keep – Jennifer Egan
Our Not-Irritating-Maarten-Of-The-No-Lists: Het spoor van de eenhoorn: De geschiedenis van een dier dat niet bestaat – Willem Gerritsen
Marten: Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire – Judith Herrin
Nadine: That’s What I AmAvo Kaplanian
Nicki: Demons Are Forever – Xenia Alexiou & Kim Baldwin
Nyjolene: The End of Illness – David B. Agus
PeterH: Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
Renate: Say Her Name – Francisco Goldman and Farther Away – Jonathan Franzen
Sander: De Kapellekensbaan – Louis Paul Boon (in English: Chapel Road)
Sara: Before I Go To Sleep – S. J. Watson
Sigrid: The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table – Tracie McMillan
Simone: Hush Money – Robert B. Parker
Sophie: Quicksilver – Neal Stephenson
Steven: Shockaholic – Carrie Fisher and And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on Their Craft – Mike Sacks
Tom: Mother Tongue – Bill Bryson

About Us: Marten

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

In a series of interviews conducted by ABC’s Maria Minaya, we’re going to introduce you to (almost) everyone who works at The American Book Centers in Amsterdam and The Hague.

Books form an integral part of our lives not only because they’re our bread and butter, but because our passion for them came first. Our mission is to pass them on. By reading these interviews you’ll discover the faces behind your favorite sections and get a glimpse of who we are.

Meet Marten

Where were you born?
In Bedum, north Groningen.

What was your favorite food as a kid and what did you hate?
I loved tomato soup. I hated lima beans and Belgian endive (chicory).

Were you read to as a child?
Yes, every night and by both parents.

Did you have books in your house while growing up?
We had a lot of books in the house and a lot in my best friend’s house. Having books is synonymous with having access to wealth for me. It has everything to do with accessibility, especially to art books because they opened up the world of art for me.

Quick free associations: (more…)