Local Picks

graphicusa, originally uploaded by sugarfreak.

So we got some snow last night and a lot of people are stuck in their neighborhoods...which isn't so bad, is it? If you have a cool neighborhood with businesses that owners can walk to, everything is still open and right there.

Let's check out some new books highlighting local flavor:

Graphic USA is an interesting concept for a travel guide. They asked graphic designers to illustrate their hometowns and pick their favorite local haunts and must-sees.

The Girl in the Green Raincoat is a collection of stories first serialized in the NYTimes, by local mystery writer, Laura Lippman (one of Rachel's faves). Reading any of the Tess Monaghan stories is like walking around Baltimore.

And a new cool children's board book, 123 Baltimore, highlights iconic city symbols that help you count. Can you count all the Painted Ladies of Charles Village? I'm sure you can.

Reading Club Canceled Tonight

Due to more snow in the forecast for this afternoon and evening, Reading Club will be canceled for tonight! See you in February!

ETA: We are closing at 6pm tonight!

Baltimore Bookseller Interviews

North Baltimore Patch has a really great series of interviews with Baltimore Booksellers, past and present:


Part Five - Book Miser: "During my six years selling real estate, I was inside hundreds of private residences, and it always struck me how many houses contained not a single book, other than periodicals."

Part Four - Royal Books: "As Internet bookselling evolved, buyers followed the path of least resistance. Why look in bookshops endlessly for the obscure book you need when you can go right to the computer and find it at a small shop in Kansas, put it in your shopping cart and be done with it? Since 1996, everything has changed, and today only the heartiest bibliophiles actually set foot in bookshops."

Part Three - Red Emmas: "We started out anticipating that our cafe would sustain the bookstore (i.e., we thought the cafe would pay the rent and the bills), and the bookstore -- the reason we started this project -- would just kind of sustain itself. But over time, as we've grown in our selection and curation of our stock, our sales have increased, and we now find that the cafe and the bookstore balance each other out, which is exciting."

Part Two - Atomic Books: "Look at the amount of e-reader advertisements you see on television. Based on the advertising, you’d think that everybody reads all the time. But the reality of it is that not that many people actually read. And the number regularly decreases."

Part One - Normal's: "I may be old and sentimental (I am old and sentimental), but I've always found bookstores to be one of the arteries to the heart of a city or place. Whenever I go to a new place the first thing I do is hit the local bookstore - this is becoming a lot harder because they're closing down. Browsing in a local shop you get a feeling for place through the stock and the people coming and the conversations that take place. I hope people will always have a desire to seek out environments beyond their own home and computer screen."

The Perfect Gift

atomicgiftcardwu, originally uploaded by sugarfreak.

Our new giftcards illustrated by Annie Wu just came in. She's awesome!

Giftcards can be ordered online or saved for the receiver here at the store. Shipping (and tax in MD) is now waived on these online orders.

These cards can be used online as well. Just choose the PayPal option and then put the card's number in the comment section and we'll take care of the rest.

Dunny Azteca II Catch & Release Party Tonight!

Starts at 7:30pm tonight! Come by and check out the new all South of the Border artist series. Bring your other Dunnys and toys for trading and enjoy some refreshing beverages.

Atomic's Top 40 Best Selling Books: 2010

These are the 40 best selling books at Atomic Books in 2010.

1. Role Models by John Waters
2. Booze Cakes by Krystina Castella / Terry Lee Stone
3. Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010 by David Sedaris (guest ed.) / Dave Eggers (ed.)
4. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
5. Simple Times by Amy Sedaris
6. The Daily Show's The Earth by Jon Stewart/The Daily Show
7. Shock Value by John Waters
8. Just Kids by Patti Smith
9. Clock Without A Face by Gus Twintig
10. Cheesemonger by Gordon Edgar
11. Old Man Drinks by Robert Schnakenberg
12. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan
13. Sugarless by James Magruder
14. You're A Horrible Person, But I Like You by the editors of The Believer
15. Crackpot by John Waters
16. Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain
17. Lettering & Type by Post Typography
18. Bike Snob by BikeSnobNYC
19. From My Cold Dead Paws by James Bennett
20. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
21. All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen / Jory John
22. Touch & Go by Tesco Vee / Dave Stimson / Steve Miller
23. Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll
24. I Am Genghis Cum by Violet Glaze
25. The Wire: Truth Be Told by Rafael Alvarez
26. Boozehound by Jason Wilson
27. We Never Learn by Eric Davidson
28. Impossibly Funky: A Cashier's Du Cinemart Collection by Mike White
29. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
20. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
31. I'm The Biggest Thing In The Ocean by Kevin Sherry
32. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
33. Life by Keith Richards
34. Every Day's A Holiday by Heidi Kenney
35. Dear Everybody by Michael Kimball
36. I Found This Funny by Judd Apatow
37. A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
38. Rat Girl by Kristin Hersh
39. You Can't Win by Jack Black
40. Not In My Neighborhood by Antero Pietila

Atomic's Top 30 Best Selling Graphic Novels Of 2010

These are the top 30 best selling graphic novels at Atomic Books in 2010.

1. Lulu Eightball Volume 2 by Emily Flake
2. Fart Party Volume 1 by Julia Wertz
3. Wilson by Daniel Clowes
4. Fart Party Volume 2 by Julia Wertz
5. Scott Pilgrim Volume 1: Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley
6. Drinking At The Movies by Julia Wertz
7. I Keee You!!: A Collection of Overheards by Benn Ray (ed.)
8. Zippy: Ding Dong Daddy From Dingburg by Bill Griffith
9. Walking Dead Volume 1 by Robert Kirkman / Tony Moore
10. R. Crumb's Book of Genesis by Robert Crumb
11. X'ed Out by Charles Burns
12. Scott Pilgrim Volume 2: Vs. The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley
13. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
14. I Saw You by Julia Wertz (ed.)
15. Scott Pilgrim Volume 3: Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O'Malley
16. Walking Dead Volume 11 by Robert Kirkman / Charlie Adlard / Cliff Rathburn
17. Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley
18. Scott Pilgrim Volume 4: Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley
19. Best American Comics 2010 by Neil Gaiman (guest ed.)
20. Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1 by Robert Kirkman / Charlie Adlard / Tony Moore
21. Dr. Horrible by Zach Whedon / various
22. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware
23. Little Things: A Memoir In Slices by Jeffrey Brown
24. Stitches by David Small
25. Walking Dead Volume 12 by Robert Kirkman / Charlie Adlard / Cliff Rathburn
26. Sandman Volume 1: Preludes & Noctures by Neil Gaiman / various
27. Acme Novelty Library #20 by Chris Ware
28. Buffy The Vampire Slayer Volume 6: Retreat by Jane Espenson / Joss Whedon / various
29. Weathercraft by Jim Woodring
30. Walking Dead Volume 13 by Robert Kirkman / Charlie Adlard / Cliff Rathburn

Atomic's Top 50 Best Selling Zines/Magazines: 2010

These are the top 50 best selling zines/magazines at Atomic Books in 2010.

1. Mojo Magazine
2. Juxtapoz Magazine
3. Bust Magazine
4. Bizarre Magazine
5. Smile, Hon, You're In Flagrante!
6. Bitch Magazine
7. Rue Morgue Magazine
8. McSweeney's #33
9. The Believer
10. Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore #13
11. Maximum Rocknroll
12. Record Collector Magazine
13. ReadyMade Magazine
14. Shindig! Magazine
15. Smile, Hon, You're In Baltimore: Waste
16. Cinema Sewer #23
17. Fangoria Magazine
18. Found Magazine #7
19. Craphound #4
20. Hi Fructose #17
21. Baffler Vol. 2 #1
22. Urban Velo
23. Tattoo Revue Magazine
24. Skunk Magazine
25. Horrorhound Magazine
26. Cometbus #53
27. High Times Magazine
28. Cabinet
29. Dwell Magazine
30. Giant Robot Magazine
31. Ugly Things Magazine
32. Wax Poetics Magazine
33. Treating Yourself Magazine
34. Retro Lovely #3
35. Mental Floss Magazine

36. Wire Magazine

37. Shock Cinema Magazine
38. Adbusters Magazine
39. Imbibe Magazine
40. Rigor Mortis #2
41. LivingEtc
42. Girls & Corpses Magazine
43. Weed World Magazine
44. Cinema Sewer #22
45. Rigor Mortis #3
46. Under The Radar Magazine
47. Lula Magazine
48. Big Take-Over Magazine
49. Skeptic Magazine
50. Rough Guide To Bicycle Maintenance

I Heart Bmore - Football Edition

nolen-strals-i-heart-bmore-football-edition, originally uploaded by sugarfreak.

Are you like Nolen Strals? Do you love the football?

He's come up with a Football Edition of his famous I Heart Bmore shirt design.

They come in on Friday! Pre-order now.

Atomic's Best Selling Single Issue & Mini Comics

These are the top 20 best selling single issue and mini comics at Atomic Books in 2010.

1. Henry & Glenn Forever by Igloo Tornado*
2. Sad Animals by Adam Meuse
3. Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Willow Special by Joss Whedon/various
4. Girls Don't Poop by Mario Van Buren
5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer #32 by Brad Meltzer/various
6. Hate Annual #8 by Pete Bagge
7. Buffy The Vampire Slayer #31 by Joss Whedon/various
8. Papercutter #14 by Dave Roche / Nate Beaty / Brian Maruca / Jim Rugg / Farel Dalrymple
9. Buffy The Vampire Slayer #33 by Brad Meltzer/various
10. Kool Aid Gets Fired by Tim Piotowski
11. Heavy Metal by various
12. Slurricane #1 by Will Laren
13. Papercutter #12 by Rachel Bormann / Joey Alison Sayers / Mark Campos / Dalton Webb
14. Boys Club #3 by Matt Furie
15. iZombie #1 by Chris Roberson/Mike Allred
16. I Want You #1 by Lisa Hanawalt
17. Lose #2 by Michael DeForge
18. Papercutter #13 by Matt Wiegle / Tim Root / Jonas Madden-Connor
19. Blammo #6 by Noah Van Sciver
20. Boys Club #2 by Matt Furie

*We debated on how to rank Henry & Glenn Forever. Even though the current format is perfect bound and carries an ISBN, the original format was stapled and very much a mini-comic. So we ranked it as a mini-comic/single issue comic.

Atomic's Best Selling Toys: 2010

These are the top 20 best selling toys at Atomic Books in 2010.

1. Dunny Fatale Series
2. Dunny 2010 Series
3. Yummy Breakfast Keychains
4. Ninjatown Zipper Pulls
5. Futurama Mini Figures
6. Marshall Zipper Pulls
7. Cactus Pups Figures
8. Rippers Enamel Zipper Pulls
9. Smorkin' Labbits Series 4
10. Things That Hurt Zipper Pulls
11. Ninjatown Mini Figures
12. Gloomy Bear Zipper Pulls
13. Yummy Donut Enamel Zipper Pulls
14. Munnyworld Zipper Pulls
15. Mini Munny DIY Figures
16. Simpsons V2 Mini Figures
17. Wish Come True Figures
18. Domo Qee Figures
19. Carnies Mini Figures
20. Jibibuts Wooden Toys

2011: Revenge Of Print Begins

flier by Jeff from LV Zine Library

It's 2011, it's time for the Revenge of Print.

This is a challenge to everyone who has ever made a zine/mini-comic/comix, is making zines/mini-comics/comix or would like to make a zine/mini-comic/comix - to do at least 1 more issue in 2011.

Why? Because print is only dead if you want it to be.

Currently, we have nearly 200 people now signed on to Revenge of Print. (Visit the Facebook group for a list of all participants).

We have folks like us, Quimby's, Xerography Debt, Razorcake, Maximum Rocknroll, Zine World, Microcosm and too many more zine libraries and distros to name involved/supporting/endorsing it.

We're also working out a few other ideas and suggestions too.

For example:
1. we're thinking about hosting some kind of 2011: Revenge of Print event
2. we're trying to figure out a way to track everyone who said they'd participate and keep a list of what they've done
3. we may be doing a zine art show with participants later this year
4. we also are making the Revenge of Print logo available to anyone who wants to use it as a logo on their zine.

So here we are. 2011. Time to photocopy!

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July - January Book Pic

Our January Reading Club pick is No One Belong Here More Than You.

See you January 26th, 7:30 pm, for the discussion meeting!

Reading Club 2011 - Short Stories

This year's Reading Club (7th year!) focuses on the short story. Here are the year's selections:

January No One Belongs Here More Than You - Miranda July
February Ice Haven - Dan Clowes
March What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Raymond Carver
April Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
May Welcome to the Monkey House - Kurt Vonnegut
June Demons in the Spring - Joe Meno
July The Lottery - Shirley Jackson
August Collected Stories of Amy Hempel - Amy Hempel
September Collected Stories of Lydia Davis - Lydia Davis
October Stranger Things Happen - Kelly Link
November Summer Blonde - Adrian Tomine
December The Push Man - Yoshihiro Tatsumi

These titles are 15% off for Club members and we meet the last Wednesday every month at 7:30pm at Atomic Books. Join our Atomic Reading Club on Facebook for updates, extra discussions and shenanigans.