It's a Good Day to Stay in Bed and Read!

...although, this is kind of what I did yesterday! Today I've already folded laundry, washed a load of dishes, put a load of laundry in the washer, ate breakfast, made/drank my cup of tea AND found time to watch the sunrise--all before 8am. I'm already feeling accomplished!

With the cold temps (when I woke up it was -14 degrees F WITHOUT the windchill factored in!) and harsh conditions this winter, there have been many opportunities to cozy up with a good book. In an effort to learn about my new home, I've started a collection of books detailing the history of Leelanau County.

The first book I decided to buy was "100 Plus Years in Leelanau: A History of Leelanau County Michigan."

This was, I felt,  good book to start with. It gave a very factual description of the history of this county. I definitely appreciated it's straight forward, chronological approach. It was easy for me to understand what the "firsts" were, and who they were performed by. With a total of 80 pages you don't get into too much detail, but what you get is good. It's definitely opened the door for other historical accounts of the county.

The history and purpose of this book is just as interesting as the book itself. As stated in the opening pages, author Edmund Munger Littell (1890-1970) first came to Leland with his family when he was a boy of 11. Upon his retirement, he and his wife relocated to Leland. He gave the publication of this book to the Leelanau County Prospectors Club to use for fundraising. A page in the back of the book explains that the Prospectors club is a men's non-profit organization that aims to benefit its community. One of their main philanthropic events is awarding annual local scholarships to graduating high school seniors. They also support scouting and the Winter Special Olympics, I'm sure among many other causes. As previously mentioned, this book a good place to start when looking for location Leelanau history. I can definitely say that my $10 was well spent!

You've probably noticed my nifty little bookmark from Leelanau Books, an independent book store in Leland, MI. I've grown to love this little store. It's a great resource for that local book, or that national best seller. I frequent it a little too much for my bank account's liking so have made it a rule to not buy another book until I'm finished reading the book I already have. (A girl's got to draw the line somewhere!)

Find a beautiful photo of the Leelanau Books store here, taken by Ken Scott. I can't get enough of looking at his photos!

Through my research of local books I've discovered a few that are currently out of print. One such book is "Vintage Views of Leelanau County." I places this book at the top of my "want list", a little bummed about the fact that, although this book is out of print, there are other, similar books by the same authors that are still IN print. A search on Amazon.com brought up a few copies, but for $50+ plus shipping I was not about to bite (besides it's much more beneficial--and fun--to shop local.) One day it finally dawned on me to Google "Northport Bookstores" (why I hadn't thought of this earlier, I'll never know) and lo! there was Dig Ears Books!

I do not yet have a photo of Dog Ears Books, so I must credit this photo as being Pamela's, the owner.

Once at her website I clicked on "Welcome to Dog Ears Books." Its description was summed up in a few sentences:

"Welcome to the official site of Dog Ears Books, Northport, Michigan. See here for bookstore and other local events.

Dog Ears Books has been in business in northern Michigan since 1993. We sell new, used, and rare books. Selected titles are listed on this site. Many, many more are to be found in our downtown Northport bookshop. 

It's winter now, and our official store hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call first if you're making a long trip, because those hours are always weather-dependent. Or call other days, if the mood strikes you, because you may catch us by chance!

Please return to HOME to reach other pages on this site. For more frequent news of Northport, Leelanau and Dog Ears Books, visit booksinnorthport.blogspot.com. "

My hopes weren't high (the book looks to have been out of print for a few years) but it did look promising, so I sent out a quick email. A couple of days later I received a reply:

"Megan, I do have a copy of that used book in stock. I have it priced as an out-of-print book at $30. Are you here in the county?"

It was there and priced within my range. Huzzah! Emails were exchanged, calls were made and last Satruday I picked up my book! (NOTE: If you plan on heading up there to check out Pamela's store make sure to bring cash. It's all old-school here. No credit/debit!)

So to make a long story short, finding this book was MUCH easier than I thought! Aaaaand here she is:

It's a little hard to read the cover in this photo so here's the info: 'Vintage Views of Leelanau County" by Christine Byron and Thomas R. Wilson.

 I haven't had a chance to read very much of it, but after reading the intro and glancing through the book it seems to focus on the history of tourism in the area, rather than of homesteading. I'm looking forward to this read!

Pamela at Dog Ears Books was so helpful and nice to talk with. She also recommended another book, which I've added to my list (remember, one book at a time for me!) P.S. Check out her blog at http://booksinnorthport.blogspot.com/ for book related posts. From my brief encounter with Pamela, she really seems to love what she does! And it should be noted that she was recently the Quote of the Day on shelf-awareness.com, a site for readers both buying and selling. Pretty cool feature and, I think, a very good quote.


I can't wait to get to this book...