Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer – welcome to warm weather and vacations! I’m sure many of you are heading out to the beach or on other weekend getaways and what better thing to bring along but a few unread books. Instead of heading to a bookstore that sells new books why not head to one of the areas fantastic used bookstores? Not only can you find the same books at cheaper prices, but these used book exchanges and stores are the ultimate way to reuse and recycle old reading material! Just browsing the shelves can occupy an entire rainy afternoon, as you search for an out-of-print edition or discover a long-forgotten childhood picture book. There is an exciting element to perusing used books – you never know what you might find! Head out to one of these local favorites this weekend (or stop by on your lunch hour, as I am prone to do).

Chop Suey Tuey
2913 West Cary St.
Richmond, VA
(804) 422-8066
I headed here last week on my lunch break and was late getting back to work! Chop Suey sells both new and used books (and it seems like they have a nice collection of comics/graphic novels too) and I could have wandered around upstairs for hours. Found exactly what I was looking for (Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated) and paid only $5.95. Wonderful!

Black Swan Books
2601 West Main Street
Richmond, Virginia
(804) 353-9476
I love this bookstore! While you won’t find any popular literature or paperbacks at the Black Swan, you will find classic literature, children’s books, scholarly texts and tons on Virginia history. . I am particularly fond of the antiquarian religious and school primers. Here you will find books well loved (perhaps 100 years ago) waiting for an interested soul to pick them back up again. I guarantee you will find something fascinating!   

Midlothian Book Exchange
13198 Midlothian Tpke
Midlothian, Virginia 
(804) 379-2642
While this bookstore may seem like a bit of a trek to you city-dwellers, it is well worth the drive to Midlothian. The Book Exchange has a HUGE selection of books, from popular fiction, literature, poetry, plays, and lots of romance novels and science fiction too (perfect beach reading). The staff seems to know every title in the store, so just ask and you will know if they have what you’re looking for. They also have multiple copies of popular titles, so you don’t have to feel guilty buying the last copy of War and Peace.

All of these stores will buy books from you for store credit (sometimes cash) so it’s worth perusing your own shelves for a book or two to pass along in the spirit of STUFF, recycling and reuse. Do you have a favorite used bookstore? Let me know, I’m always up for exploring a new one!

featured artist + resource

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is the first of a series of books being featured by Stuff that are relevant to its mission of environmental awareness, creative reuse, and education. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is a children’s story about protecting the environment. Seuss creates a fantastic place in his imaginative world to teach children about environmental themes, including pollution, consumerism, greed, and protecting natural resources. The Lorax is an indescribably curious creature that speaks for the trees that have been cut down in the story, magically popping out of a stump. The Once-ler, the nemesis of the Lorax, is another creature that cuts down all the trees in the town and uses the silk-like leaves to knit Thneeds. The Once-ler sells his Thneeds for a profit and soon he becomes greedy and cuts the trees en masse. Before long the Lorax is forced to represent not only the trees but other creatures who are affected by the Once-ler’s ever expanding business and clear-cutting of the trees. It becomes a typical tree-hugger that is treated with disdain by the Once-ler. As all the other creatures leave this magical place and Once-ler’s business grows bigger and BIGGER, the images become darker and uglier. The moral to The Lorax is that unless each individual takes responsibility for their environment and natural resources, nothing will get better. 

If The Lorax caught your child’s attention (or be honest, your own), the magic continues in the animated short video I found on youtube below.

This month's featured artist is Jason Mecier. Mecier’s “junkdrawer” works are made out of collected stuff arranged into mosaics of famous international stars and celebrities. His celebrity works are well-known by celebrities, artists, and pop culture experts. Stuff is a fan of Mecier’s work because it embodies the concept of creative reuse in a fun way. The artist reuses everday items such as household cleaning products, collections, shoes, toys, almost everything. My favorite celebrity mosaic is of Rue McClanahan just because I adore Golden Girls. But all of Mecier’s attention to detail and pop culture in general is illustrated in his works. For example, the mosaic of Kathy Griffin with the Clay Aiken background truly highlights Griffin’s stated love of the gay community and many references to Aiken. And I love the hot sauce in the background of Margaret Cho's mosaic.

Another distinctive characteristic of Mecier’s work is how he challenges and solicits his fans and audience to get involved by sending him their junk treasures. The beauty of contributing to such entertaining work is that it diverts waste from landfills, creating a piece that speaks to consumerism but also celebrity pop culture. Mecier asks for individuals to send in their junk and simultaneously “clean house” to:
GRANNYS
c/o Jason Mecier
575 Guerrero St
San Francisco, CA 94110
Check out his website for more of his work in his online gallery! 

-Elisabeth