The Haunted Bookshop
@bookshopghost.bsky.social
Iowa City's home for 47,000 used/rare books, puzzles, games, and two famous cats. 😷 Masks required - 12-6 Central, Mon-Sat - https://www.thehauntedbookshop.com
Pinned
Welcome! Make yourself at home!
A few things to know:
1. In this house, love wins.
2. There are no signs on our one-stall bathroom.
3. There are two trusting, loving cats here. Be worthy of their trust.
4. We wear masks here.
5. We will continue to treat our guests with kindness and respect 📚🫂❤️
A few things to know:
1. In this house, love wins.
2. There are no signs on our one-stall bathroom.
3. There are two trusting, loving cats here. Be worthy of their trust.
4. We wear masks here.
5. We will continue to treat our guests with kindness and respect 📚🫂❤️
My point?
If you have something beautiful to make, or say, or do, you must do it.
There will never be a time that feels right.
There will never be an easy time, or a time when you have enough or know enough.
There is only a time when the world needs your beauty, and that is - always - now.
📚❤️
If you have something beautiful to make, or say, or do, you must do it.
There will never be a time that feels right.
There will never be an easy time, or a time when you have enough or know enough.
There is only a time when the world needs your beauty, and that is - always - now.
📚❤️
As I approach the age my grandmother was when I was born, I can't help thinking:
Everyone feels the threat of lost time, that sentiment captured by the phrase "Carpe diem", "seize the day".
What changes with age is the reason we feel that way.
(1/2)
Everyone feels the threat of lost time, that sentiment captured by the phrase "Carpe diem", "seize the day".
What changes with age is the reason we feel that way.
(1/2)
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 AM
My point?
If you have something beautiful to make, or say, or do, you must do it.
There will never be a time that feels right.
There will never be an easy time, or a time when you have enough or know enough.
There is only a time when the world needs your beauty, and that is - always - now.
📚❤️
If you have something beautiful to make, or say, or do, you must do it.
There will never be a time that feels right.
There will never be an easy time, or a time when you have enough or know enough.
There is only a time when the world needs your beauty, and that is - always - now.
📚❤️
As I approach the age my grandmother was when I was born, I can't help thinking:
Everyone feels the threat of lost time, that sentiment captured by the phrase "Carpe diem", "seize the day".
What changes with age is the reason we feel that way.
(1/2)
Everyone feels the threat of lost time, that sentiment captured by the phrase "Carpe diem", "seize the day".
What changes with age is the reason we feel that way.
(1/2)
November 18, 2025 at 3:57 AM
As I approach the age my grandmother was when I was born, I can't help thinking:
Everyone feels the threat of lost time, that sentiment captured by the phrase "Carpe diem", "seize the day".
What changes with age is the reason we feel that way.
(1/2)
Everyone feels the threat of lost time, that sentiment captured by the phrase "Carpe diem", "seize the day".
What changes with age is the reason we feel that way.
(1/2)
"(Hitler's) feeling for men is not that they co-exist, but that they are capable of being arranged and standardized by a superior intellect...." - E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web
An insistence that power should follow "superiority" is essential to fascism.
www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...
An insistence that power should follow "superiority" is essential to fascism.
www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...
Gregory Bovino is exactly who E.B. White — author of 'Charlotte's Web' — warned us about
DHS named its North Carolina anti-immigrant effort "Operation Charlotte's Web." In 1940, White wrote of the "smell" that "rises" from those who "adjust to fascism" over freedom.
www.lawdork.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:32 AM
"(Hitler's) feeling for men is not that they co-exist, but that they are capable of being arranged and standardized by a superior intellect...." - E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web
An insistence that power should follow "superiority" is essential to fascism.
www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...
An insistence that power should follow "superiority" is essential to fascism.
www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...
Working late on a stack of Baedekers, imagining a whole generation not experiencing currency conversion at European borders... let alone the different standards of weights and measures each country used to have.
Did you know Herbert Hoover was involved in international standardization?
Did you know Herbert Hoover was involved in international standardization?
November 16, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Working late on a stack of Baedekers, imagining a whole generation not experiencing currency conversion at European borders... let alone the different standards of weights and measures each country used to have.
Did you know Herbert Hoover was involved in international standardization?
Did you know Herbert Hoover was involved in international standardization?
Look, about the ghost.
We haven't actually registered an apparition / cold spot / odd noise in this house.
(Unless you count a few customers asking the name of the white cat. Our cats are orange and tortoiseshell...?)
So we usually disappoint ghost hunters.
That said...
Her name is Claire.
🧵
We haven't actually registered an apparition / cold spot / odd noise in this house.
(Unless you count a few customers asking the name of the white cat. Our cats are orange and tortoiseshell...?)
So we usually disappoint ghost hunters.
That said...
Her name is Claire.
🧵
November 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Look, about the ghost.
We haven't actually registered an apparition / cold spot / odd noise in this house.
(Unless you count a few customers asking the name of the white cat. Our cats are orange and tortoiseshell...?)
So we usually disappoint ghost hunters.
That said...
Her name is Claire.
🧵
We haven't actually registered an apparition / cold spot / odd noise in this house.
(Unless you count a few customers asking the name of the white cat. Our cats are orange and tortoiseshell...?)
So we usually disappoint ghost hunters.
That said...
Her name is Claire.
🧵
Today I learned an appropriate exclamation to make over this cat (forgive my transcription into the Roman alphabet here):
Tumi koba narama
(this apparently means "you're very soft", which is the most common thing people say upon meeting Esk)
Tumi koba narama
(this apparently means "you're very soft", which is the most common thing people say upon meeting Esk)
November 14, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Today I learned an appropriate exclamation to make over this cat (forgive my transcription into the Roman alphabet here):
Tumi koba narama
(this apparently means "you're very soft", which is the most common thing people say upon meeting Esk)
Tumi koba narama
(this apparently means "you're very soft", which is the most common thing people say upon meeting Esk)
We're headed into the holiday season, so two things to know:
- The only items in the store that are more expensive due to tariffs are: two leather bookmarks. The other 2,100 gift items and 47,000 books haven't gone up. thehauntedbookshop.com
- A trip to a local bookshop is a present in itself 📚❤️
- The only items in the store that are more expensive due to tariffs are: two leather bookmarks. The other 2,100 gift items and 47,000 books haven't gone up. thehauntedbookshop.com
- A trip to a local bookshop is a present in itself 📚❤️
thehauntedbookshop.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:28 AM
We're headed into the holiday season, so two things to know:
- The only items in the store that are more expensive due to tariffs are: two leather bookmarks. The other 2,100 gift items and 47,000 books haven't gone up. thehauntedbookshop.com
- A trip to a local bookshop is a present in itself 📚❤️
- The only items in the store that are more expensive due to tariffs are: two leather bookmarks. The other 2,100 gift items and 47,000 books haven't gone up. thehauntedbookshop.com
- A trip to a local bookshop is a present in itself 📚❤️
My new assistant is starting next Tuesday. I'm already saving up tasks for her:
- Get two Warhols out of the closet
- Practice using puppets' eyebrows
- Alphabetize Russian-language fiction (okay, I'm kidding)
- Rearrange cookbooks by region
- Find Waldo
- Give Pothos a new 'do
- Get two Warhols out of the closet
- Practice using puppets' eyebrows
- Alphabetize Russian-language fiction (okay, I'm kidding)
- Rearrange cookbooks by region
- Find Waldo
- Give Pothos a new 'do
November 14, 2025 at 2:45 AM
My new assistant is starting next Tuesday. I'm already saving up tasks for her:
- Get two Warhols out of the closet
- Practice using puppets' eyebrows
- Alphabetize Russian-language fiction (okay, I'm kidding)
- Rearrange cookbooks by region
- Find Waldo
- Give Pothos a new 'do
- Get two Warhols out of the closet
- Practice using puppets' eyebrows
- Alphabetize Russian-language fiction (okay, I'm kidding)
- Rearrange cookbooks by region
- Find Waldo
- Give Pothos a new 'do
Reposted by The Haunted Bookshop
The small African press, writers, and translators we are funding have a very cool plan for these two books you're making happen. But we need to close up the funding on this second book. Can you help? Last stretch! #AfricanTranslationProject #AfricanLiterature #HumanTranslation
Support African Translation Project
African Translation Project / November: Month 8 / Need to complete funding for Shona → English translation / still needed: $2870, 43% / isiZulu translation is now funded / Kiswahili translation is cur...
ko-fi.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:38 AM
The small African press, writers, and translators we are funding have a very cool plan for these two books you're making happen. But we need to close up the funding on this second book. Can you help? Last stretch! #AfricanTranslationProject #AfricanLiterature #HumanTranslation
Let's talk about books and the public trust.
📚🧵
Something that is easy to forget, in these days of barcode-scanning / auto-adjust pricing on third-party platforms for pennies plus shipping:
Booksellers are not merely people who sell some popular books in a competitive market.
📚🧵
Something that is easy to forget, in these days of barcode-scanning / auto-adjust pricing on third-party platforms for pennies plus shipping:
Booksellers are not merely people who sell some popular books in a competitive market.
November 12, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Let's talk about books and the public trust.
📚🧵
Something that is easy to forget, in these days of barcode-scanning / auto-adjust pricing on third-party platforms for pennies plus shipping:
Booksellers are not merely people who sell some popular books in a competitive market.
📚🧵
Something that is easy to forget, in these days of barcode-scanning / auto-adjust pricing on third-party platforms for pennies plus shipping:
Booksellers are not merely people who sell some popular books in a competitive market.
We meet again! This is the first edition of "Farm on the Hill" by Madeline Darrough Horn.
It's the fourth or fifth copy I've had in 20 years - common in this part of the country (the American Midwest) because of theme, local author... and illustrator.
Yes, the illustrations are by Grant Wood.
It's the fourth or fifth copy I've had in 20 years - common in this part of the country (the American Midwest) because of theme, local author... and illustrator.
Yes, the illustrations are by Grant Wood.
November 12, 2025 at 6:44 PM
We meet again! This is the first edition of "Farm on the Hill" by Madeline Darrough Horn.
It's the fourth or fifth copy I've had in 20 years - common in this part of the country (the American Midwest) because of theme, local author... and illustrator.
Yes, the illustrations are by Grant Wood.
It's the fourth or fifth copy I've had in 20 years - common in this part of the country (the American Midwest) because of theme, local author... and illustrator.
Yes, the illustrations are by Grant Wood.
Sometimes we get dubious remarks about our #CorsiRosenthalBox.
"What's with the big filter thing?"
This. This is what's with the big filter thing. New 20x20x1" MERV 13 filter on top, old one below.
That gray-brown stuff is what you didn't breathe while you were here.
"What's with the big filter thing?"
This. This is what's with the big filter thing. New 20x20x1" MERV 13 filter on top, old one below.
That gray-brown stuff is what you didn't breathe while you were here.
November 12, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Sometimes we get dubious remarks about our #CorsiRosenthalBox.
"What's with the big filter thing?"
This. This is what's with the big filter thing. New 20x20x1" MERV 13 filter on top, old one below.
That gray-brown stuff is what you didn't breathe while you were here.
"What's with the big filter thing?"
This. This is what's with the big filter thing. New 20x20x1" MERV 13 filter on top, old one below.
That gray-brown stuff is what you didn't breathe while you were here.
In "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", there's a description of a room that is empty except for dead flies on the window sill.
Suddenly, 8yo me realized that one well chosen detail can convey an entire room. An entire mood, even.
40yrs later, I still look for authors who can do that.
Suddenly, 8yo me realized that one well chosen detail can convey an entire room. An entire mood, even.
40yrs later, I still look for authors who can do that.
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 11, 2025 at 11:54 PM
In "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", there's a description of a room that is empty except for dead flies on the window sill.
Suddenly, 8yo me realized that one well chosen detail can convey an entire room. An entire mood, even.
40yrs later, I still look for authors who can do that.
Suddenly, 8yo me realized that one well chosen detail can convey an entire room. An entire mood, even.
40yrs later, I still look for authors who can do that.
Pardon my suddenly watery eyes, but a long-time regular just stopped in with this.
He'd been reading, found this line, and thought of me, so he wrote it out and brought it in.
"I am a handmaiden of civilization. I am a bookseller."
📚❤️
He'd been reading, found this line, and thought of me, so he wrote it out and brought it in.
"I am a handmaiden of civilization. I am a bookseller."
📚❤️
November 11, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Pardon my suddenly watery eyes, but a long-time regular just stopped in with this.
He'd been reading, found this line, and thought of me, so he wrote it out and brought it in.
"I am a handmaiden of civilization. I am a bookseller."
📚❤️
He'd been reading, found this line, and thought of me, so he wrote it out and brought it in.
"I am a handmaiden of civilization. I am a bookseller."
📚❤️
The first edition of "Harriet the Spy" by Louise Fitzhugh that I... had, until today.
Also sold recently: a signed copy of "Olivia" by Ian Falconer.
Sign up for new arrival alerts (you can specify one or more topical categories) on our website.
www.thehauntedbookshop.com
Also sold recently: a signed copy of "Olivia" by Ian Falconer.
Sign up for new arrival alerts (you can specify one or more topical categories) on our website.
www.thehauntedbookshop.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:41 AM
The first edition of "Harriet the Spy" by Louise Fitzhugh that I... had, until today.
Also sold recently: a signed copy of "Olivia" by Ian Falconer.
Sign up for new arrival alerts (you can specify one or more topical categories) on our website.
www.thehauntedbookshop.com
Also sold recently: a signed copy of "Olivia" by Ian Falconer.
Sign up for new arrival alerts (you can specify one or more topical categories) on our website.
www.thehauntedbookshop.com
Don't underestimate the damage that this political theater is causing. What we reap when we sow uncertainty will undermine public trust for decades to come.
“'It really is like that—like they kidnapped us until they get their payout,'” one interviewee said.
www.thehandbasket.co/p/snap-recip...
“'It really is like that—like they kidnapped us until they get their payout,'” one interviewee said.
www.thehandbasket.co/p/snap-recip...
The voices of SNAP
Recipients have become political pawns. They explained, in their own words, what Trump withholding funds has been like.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 9, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Don't underestimate the damage that this political theater is causing. What we reap when we sow uncertainty will undermine public trust for decades to come.
“'It really is like that—like they kidnapped us until they get their payout,'” one interviewee said.
www.thehandbasket.co/p/snap-recip...
“'It really is like that—like they kidnapped us until they get their payout,'” one interviewee said.
www.thehandbasket.co/p/snap-recip...
I count six major retailers offering "early access Black Friday" sales as of November 8.
It's fine. Everything is fine. Move along. Put it all on a credit card. It's fine.
It's fine. Everything is fine. Move along. Put it all on a credit card. It's fine.
November 9, 2025 at 2:34 AM
I count six major retailers offering "early access Black Friday" sales as of November 8.
It's fine. Everything is fine. Move along. Put it all on a credit card. It's fine.
It's fine. Everything is fine. Move along. Put it all on a credit card. It's fine.
Not enough coverage of the SNAP tomfoolery and how it affects farmers.
A few outlets have mentioned that crop sales are struggling with the tariffs, but not the connection: when Iowa farmers can't sell high quality soybeans, it's not just the market that suffers. (1/2)
A few outlets have mentioned that crop sales are struggling with the tariffs, but not the connection: when Iowa farmers can't sell high quality soybeans, it's not just the market that suffers. (1/2)
November 7, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Not enough coverage of the SNAP tomfoolery and how it affects farmers.
A few outlets have mentioned that crop sales are struggling with the tariffs, but not the connection: when Iowa farmers can't sell high quality soybeans, it's not just the market that suffers. (1/2)
A few outlets have mentioned that crop sales are struggling with the tariffs, but not the connection: when Iowa farmers can't sell high quality soybeans, it's not just the market that suffers. (1/2)
Well, I sent off a parcel by Priority Mail last Tuesday, and tracking says it will arrive next Monday, so you know what that means.
It's holiday shipping tips time 📦🙃
1. If you're planning to mail your gift, send your USPS Media Mail by Nov. 28. Priority? Dec. 10 at the very latest.
It's holiday shipping tips time 📦🙃
1. If you're planning to mail your gift, send your USPS Media Mail by Nov. 28. Priority? Dec. 10 at the very latest.
November 7, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Well, I sent off a parcel by Priority Mail last Tuesday, and tracking says it will arrive next Monday, so you know what that means.
It's holiday shipping tips time 📦🙃
1. If you're planning to mail your gift, send your USPS Media Mail by Nov. 28. Priority? Dec. 10 at the very latest.
It's holiday shipping tips time 📦🙃
1. If you're planning to mail your gift, send your USPS Media Mail by Nov. 28. Priority? Dec. 10 at the very latest.
Reposted by The Haunted Bookshop
"Images of manuscripts...help document the provenance of items that are taken from their rightful owners during war or under other circumstances. The images are evidence of histories, invaluable in situations where legally uncontestable ownership records do not exist..." hmml.org/stories/reve...
Reversal of Fates: Access Through Photographs can be a Counterbalance
“Cultural losses continue to beset communities around the world, especially in areas subject to armed conflict...”
hmml.org
November 6, 2025 at 11:56 PM
"Images of manuscripts...help document the provenance of items that are taken from their rightful owners during war or under other circumstances. The images are evidence of histories, invaluable in situations where legally uncontestable ownership records do not exist..." hmml.org/stories/reve...
D'oh.
We accidentally closed for about 20 minutes before our usual closing time at 6pm tonight, because the cat said it was dinner time, and I still hadn't gotten used to the time change.
It's so dark outside!
🍂😅
We accidentally closed for about 20 minutes before our usual closing time at 6pm tonight, because the cat said it was dinner time, and I still hadn't gotten used to the time change.
It's so dark outside!
🍂😅
November 6, 2025 at 11:50 PM
D'oh.
We accidentally closed for about 20 minutes before our usual closing time at 6pm tonight, because the cat said it was dinner time, and I still hadn't gotten used to the time change.
It's so dark outside!
🍂😅
We accidentally closed for about 20 minutes before our usual closing time at 6pm tonight, because the cat said it was dinner time, and I still hadn't gotten used to the time change.
It's so dark outside!
🍂😅
"Immerse yourself in the captivating narrative of "_____" by A___, a hardcover vintage edition that promises to be a valuable addition to any literary collector's trove"
🤮🤮
Is anyone actually buying books described like this (with almost zero condition information)? It's tacky and probably LLM-AI
🤮🤮
Is anyone actually buying books described like this (with almost zero condition information)? It's tacky and probably LLM-AI
November 6, 2025 at 10:26 PM
"Immerse yourself in the captivating narrative of "_____" by A___, a hardcover vintage edition that promises to be a valuable addition to any literary collector's trove"
🤮🤮
Is anyone actually buying books described like this (with almost zero condition information)? It's tacky and probably LLM-AI
🤮🤮
Is anyone actually buying books described like this (with almost zero condition information)? It's tacky and probably LLM-AI
Speaking of Her Highness Sophie, how about some NEW ARRIVALS!
Email infodesk@thehauntedbookshop.com or call 319-337-2996 to order. We ship! In-person shopping (masks required) 12-6 Mon-Sat.
Email infodesk@thehauntedbookshop.com or call 319-337-2996 to order. We ship! In-person shopping (masks required) 12-6 Mon-Sat.
November 4, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Speaking of Her Highness Sophie, how about some NEW ARRIVALS!
Email infodesk@thehauntedbookshop.com or call 319-337-2996 to order. We ship! In-person shopping (masks required) 12-6 Mon-Sat.
Email infodesk@thehauntedbookshop.com or call 319-337-2996 to order. We ship! In-person shopping (masks required) 12-6 Mon-Sat.
Reposted by The Haunted Bookshop
On the left, a loving, guileless extravert.
On the right, an introvert with many snuggles to share by day... and the absolute damn empress of all she surveys, also prone to leaving small fragments of mice in significant locations, by night.
On the right, an introvert with many snuggles to share by day... and the absolute damn empress of all she surveys, also prone to leaving small fragments of mice in significant locations, by night.
November 4, 2025 at 2:07 AM
On the left, a loving, guileless extravert.
On the right, an introvert with many snuggles to share by day... and the absolute damn empress of all she surveys, also prone to leaving small fragments of mice in significant locations, by night.
On the right, an introvert with many snuggles to share by day... and the absolute damn empress of all she surveys, also prone to leaving small fragments of mice in significant locations, by night.