We're Open Sundays

I've always liked Sundays. It's a slower pace than the rest of the week. It's one reason why the bookstore is open. It's a slower pace. People have more time to browse. Stop by and see us on Sunday or any day of the week.

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.

Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as human computers used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.

Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South's segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America's aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly, these overlooked math whizzes had a shot at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam's call, moving to Hampton, Virginia and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.

Even as Virginia's Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley's all-black West Computing group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and complete domination of the heavens.

Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA's greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades they faced challenges, forged alliances and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country's future.

14,000 Things to Be Happy About.: Newly Revised and Updated

Know someone not feeling well, or know someone who could use a little cheering up? My wife received the book 14,000 Things to be Happy About when she was in the hospital along with a couple of highlighters. Life is tough, and sometimes we need reminded of the things to be happy about...

Description

Something to be happy about: This mesmerizing bestseller is revised and updated. Originally published 25 years ago (happy anniversary ) from a list that Barbara Ann Kipfer started making as a child, it's the book that marries obsession with happiness. And it now has 4,000 fresh and more current reasons to be happy:

Rabbit tracks in the snow.
Kiteboarding and kitesurfing.
Caramel gelato.
Scoring super-high on a Scrabble turn.
Babies burping.
Summer storms.
White cupcakes with multicolored sprinkles.
Big red barns.
20 minutes all to yourself.

No opinions, no explanations, no asides, no footnotes, editorializing, or proselytizing. Just the simple premise of a list of things that make us smile. With its chunky shape, striking black-and-white cover, and 100 whimsical illustrations by Pierre Le-Tan, the new 14,000 Things is an irresistible catalog of good thoughts completely updated to reflect today's world and an uplifting gift for people of all moods and all ages.

The Totally Ninja Raccoons

The Official Making of Big Trouble in Little China

We the shaken the pillars of Heaven and paid our dues to put together the only official, comprehensive behind-the-scenes look into the making of the 1986 cult classic film Big Trouble in Little China.
To commemorate the film's 30th anniversary, we ve assembled a wealth of material, including hundreds of never-before-seen photos, exclusive new cast and crew interviews, filming secrets behind the film's iconic action sequences, original set designs, and much more
Features a Foreword by Big Trouble in Little China director John Carpenter

Helping Your Anxious Teen: Positive Parenting Strategies to Help Your Teen Beat Anxiety, Stress, and Worry

Parenting a teen isn't easy, but parenting an anxious teen is especially challenging. Written by a psychologist and expert on adolescent anxiety, this essential book will show you what really works to overcome all types of teen anxiety and how to apply specific skills to support your teen.

Most parents find it frustrating when common sense and logical methods such as reassurance don t seem to work to allay their teen's anxiety. They want to know: Why is anxiety so hard to get rid of once it takes hold? Why aren t my efforts to help working? And how can I best help my teen break free from anxiety to become happy and resilient?
This powerful book, based on cutting-edge research and cognitive behavioral strategies, will help you develop the know-how to effectively manage teen anxiety. You ll learn the best ways to support your teen in overcoming problematic thinking and fears, discover what behaviors and coping strategies unwittingly make anxiety worse, and understand how anxiety is best defeated with surprisingly counter-intuitive methods. Step-by-step guidance, along with numerous real-life examples and exercises, will help you to:

Sensitively redirect your teen's worries when they intensify
Reduce social anxiety, perfectionism, and panic attacks
Proactively address common triggers of stress and anxiety
Implement a proven approach for decreasing avoidance and facing fears

From overcoming minor angst to defeating paralyzing fear, you and your teen will feel empowered by radically new ways of responding to anxiety. With Helping Your Anxious Teen, you ll have a wealth of research-backed strategies to lead you in being an effective anxiety coach for your teen.

About the Author

Sheila Achar Josephs, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and anxiety expert with over twenty years of experience helping kids, teens, families, and adults. She is founder of Princeton Cognitive Therapy, a practice specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety. She has helped numerous kids, teens, parents, clinicians, and school professionals learn cutting-edge strategies to overcome anxiety. She also enjoys presenting workshops on teen stress and resilience for parents.

"The Resolution of a Bookdragon"

New year, new you, blah, blah, blah, I like the person I am. I'm a bibliophile, a bookworm, a devourer of books. No, scratch that. I'm a bookwyrm--a veritable, voracious bookdragon. I've always loved books. When other kids were playing baseball and blowing up frogs, I was reading, exploring the wonderful world of my imagination, stretching my synapses. I could get lost for hours in the tales of Tarzan, the conquests of Conan, and the mysteries of Mr. Holmes.

I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning devouring page after page until the batteries in my flashlight died. I insisted on re-arranging my personal library by the Dewey Decimal System. My local library has threatened to cut me off. No, I haven't resolved to read more: I read a lot, so what kind of New Year's resolution does a bookdragon make?

I like a challenge. Well, as long as I don't have to get dirty, or sweaty, or leave my house before 9AM. A perfect challenge for a bookdragon is a book challenge. A book challenge? What's a book challenge? You may have heard a friend talk about his search for a science fiction book written by a person of color, or someone who needs a mystery that starts with the letter Z.

There are lots of good ideas for a book challenge. You can read a book that won the National Book Award, read a book that you choose by the cover, read a book translated from another language, read a book from a genre you don't usually read. A good book challenge can take your reading to places you never thought it would go.

Maybe you aren't a bookdragon, and that's OK. You'd like to start with something a little simpler? How about a book duel? Don't worry. You don't have to get up at dawn and you don't need a second. It's not hard at all. You just ask a fellow reader to suggest one of their favorite books, and you read it.

In return, you recomend a book of your choice, and they read it, and then you discuss it. This can also be a great way to learn about someone. My father-in-law mostly reads histories about dead, white guys. I read a lot of speculative fiction. I chose the science fiction classic The Forever War for him. I was given Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill.

I already knew that Winston Churchill was a great statesman, and crucial to Allied effort in World War Two. I didn't know just how much of a bad-ass he was. As a young man, he traveled to Africa to cover the Boer War as a journalist. He was taken prisoner, escaped, traveled hundred of miles alone in enemy territory. He signed up for service and returned to liberate the men with whom he had been imprisoned.

The Forever War, written by a Vietnam veteran, however, is not just a science fiction novel about Vietnam, but a novel about war, soldiers, and why we think we need them. My father-in-law remarked that The Forever War is as much about the war as Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.

It’s a novel about the tedium and futility of war, the brutality of combat. It’s a realistic look at the military from the perspective of the fighting man, and about the isolation a soldier feels when returning home. We both agreed that every war is different, and every war is the same.

A New Year resolution should be personal. It should challenge you. Perhaps, you would like to hone a skill that has dulled from lack of use. As an American, I don't have much opportunity to use my high school German class. I'm not visiting Germany anytime soon, but I can still sharpen my language skills.

You could chose to read a book in a second language. No, you don't have to start with Goethe or even Voltaire. If it has been a while since you have parlez-vous français, you could start with J.K. Rowling. That's right, Harry Potter.

I love the Harry Potter books, and they have been translated into several languages, but you can pick any children's book you remember fondly, and create a new memory. It's a great way to exercise that sedentary second language.

Like any voracious reader, I have a stack of books by my bed, the famous "to-be-read pile". I recently started a long-ago hoarded book, meant to be read in the cold of winter. A friend suggested Feed by Mira Grant back in 2015. I love her recommendations, but I just didn't get to it to until now. I absolutely loved it! I asked myself why I waited so long? Well, it was because I was reading other great books, of course.

As a bookdragon, I do have a hoard, and my personal resolution for the new year is to periodically choose one of these books from this dusty stack and do what I planned to do all along, read it. This upcoming year, resolve to read more, whether it's a non-fiction book to improve your skills, or an epic fantasy to escape reality, because a true bookdragon would never dream of reading less...

Kevin Coolidge resides in Wellsboro, just a short hike from the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. When he's not writing, you can find him at From My Shelf Books & Gifts, an independent bookstore he runs with his lovely wife, several helpful employees, and two friendly cats, Huck & Finn. He's recently become an honorary member of the Cat Board, and when he's not scooping the litter box, or feeding Gypsy her tuna, he's writing more stories about the Totally Ninja Raccoons. Be sure to catch their next big adventure.

Book Giveaway for "Hobo Finds A Home"

My first children's book, Hobo Finds a Home, is back in print, and you can win an autographed copy! I wrote Hobo Finds a Home with the help of Hobo the Cat back in 2008. It did really well locally, and was picked up by a small press. The small press went out of business and I was able to bring back into print.

The classic Hobo is back better than ever with a crisper cover and text, and updated biographical information about Hobo. There have been new developments in the printing industry since 2008, and I was able to bring the price of Hobo Finds a Home down to just 7.99.

Hobo Finds a Home is available wherever books are sold, but if you want a personalized, autographed version, you can visit From My Shelf Books & Gifts in Wellsboro Pennsylvania, or visit wellsborobookstore.com


In this true story, written by Hobo the cat, a little kitten leaves the farm, has big adventures, makes a new friend and finds a forever home. Hobo was the bookstore cat at From My Shelf Books & Gifts for many years. His many jobs included playing with children, delighting cat lovers, and soaking up sunshine to spread to everyone he met. This is his story...

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Hobo Finds A Home

by Kevin Coolidge

Giveaway ends January 12, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

We Are Now Taking Trade-Ins

Hi, bookstore friends! Now that we are in the New Year, and we are accepting trade-ins again, PLEASE PLEASE pay attention to the following guidelines/requests/facts about what we can and cannot accept:

*You MUST be a member in good standing in order to trade books in. Participating in the 5-Star Rewards program is not the same thing as the membership program. Members pay $25 for 12 months, and get 20-30% off new items ALL the time; they also are allowed to trade books in for credit.

*We're only accepting 5 books at a time for trade-ins. If you bring more than 5, we'll take the 5 we like the best.

*There's no guarantee that we can take your books for trade, even if you are a member: it all depends on the condition of the books, and on current demand for those titles/authors.

*We cannot take items with split spines/bindings, extensive highlighting, or many older hardcovers. Also "old" does not always mean "valuable". We don't take magazines, encyclopedias, or Readers' Condensed volumes.

Human Anatomy Coloring Book (Paperback)

From a biological point of view, the human body is an infinitely complex marvel of fine design, superbly adapted to its functions by eons of evolutionary development. Hundreds of specialized organs, bones, muscles, nerve fibers, blood vessels, and other anatomical features comprise an interdependent network of bodily systems that enables the human organism to survive. Now the component parts of this intricate flesh-and-bone machine can be absorbed and understood by means of an ingenious format: a coloring book that can help mature children and adult colorists learn anatomy.
An affordable anatomy class, this easy learning study aid contains careful, scientifically accurate line renderings of the body's organs and major systems: skeletal, muscular, nervous, digestive, reproductive, and more. A total of 43 coloring pages (often with several illustrations on each) offers numerous views, cross-sections, diagrams and detailed closeups, labelled and numbered to correspond with suggestions for coloring. These suggestions are specially designed to emphasize the structural relationship in the body. By working through each system, the reader will gain not only an intimate knowledge of the location, appearance and role of the body parts, this learning tool will also be laying the groundwork for more sophisticated studies of anatomy.