Barrow Bookstore

08/18/2026

How is your work week going thus far, reader friends? Hopefully well! But remember, mistakes happen and if you make them, you'll be in the company of writer J.R.R. Tolkien who made a writing mistake that changed the trajectory of his books from THE HOBBIT onward. Below, creator Fact or Fantasy shares a look at the Tolkien's mistake involving the elf Glorfindel.

Let's talk about Glorfindel! Not just about his lore... but how he ...

08/18/2026

"But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, ‘Courage, dear heart,’ and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan’s." ~ C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

08/17/2026

“More kindness”. Welcome into the page of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Friendship” and a passage on kindness within us all. The The Ralph Waldo Emerson House is shown in this clip and where Emerson lived when he wrote this passage.

08/16/2026

SUNDAY LITERARY TRAVELS: Grab your passport, eyeglasses, friends’ eyeglasses, and a magnifying glass; we’re going to London’s National Art Library, home to some of the world’s smallest books.

In this clip created by the Victoria and Albert Museum, explore miniature books created for Queen Mary, Consort of King George V, for her dolls’ houses.

As written in the Victoria and Albert Museum description: “In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, publishers competed to demonstrate their craftsmanship by producing ever smaller and more intricate books. Some of these volumes are so small they feel like they belong in a fairy tale — yet each one is beautifully made and readable (with the help of a magnifying glass!).

“From religious devotion to novelty souvenirs of the Great Exhibition, these tiny books reveal big stories about art, design, faith, publishing innovation, and the enduring question: What is a book?”

Have you ever seen a book smaller than a fingernail? In this unboxi...

08/15/2026

Wishing you a splendid day, Reader Friends.

Photo: Louisa May Alcott treasures from Barrow Bookstore

08/15/2026

Echoes of Myths shares an old Slavic folktale of a woman/bird who had an enchanting voice as beautiful as it was dangerous.

08/14/2026

Herman Melville returns to New Bedford, this time as a statue! The statues’s unveiling will take place today (Friday, Aug 14) at 11am. The MOBY DICK: or, THE WHALE author will join a statue of Frederick Douglas in a park in this old coastal whaling town .

08/14/2026

Step into the page and Concord’s Old Hill Burying Ground and find yourself by John Jack’s grave as you hear a passage from historian George Tolman’s 1902 speech, “John Jack the Slave; and Daniel Bliss the Tory”.

08/14/2026

"Miracles" by Walt Whitman.
As for me, I know nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under the trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love,
Or sleep in bed at night with any one I love,
Or watch honey bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon...
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown,
Or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring...
What stranger miracles are there?

Music: "The Sea", composed by Peder B. Helland, from the album "Purple Flowers".

Relaxing harp music (called "The Sea") by Peder B. Helland that can...

08/13/2026

May “hopes blossom, good gifts bear fruit, [and] peace and prosperity bless the home [you have] made.” -adapted from JO’S BOYS by Louisa May Alcott.
Photo: Teddy in Barrow Bookstore with a late 19th century edition of JO’S BOYS.