BookFool.com » Luke

Call for Haiku: 2010 Hot Tomato Haiku Contest

Luke — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:46:15 +0000

Ladies and Gents,
East Nashville’s Tomato Art Fest is almost here (August 14th), which means the 3rd Annual Hot Tomato Haiku Contest starts today! Last year’s category winners scored gift certificates to local eateries, and the Grand Prize winner took home an iPod Touch.

This year’s Grand Prize is even more grand: An iPad! (Yes, really!)

If you love tomatoes, poetry, and/or iPads, visit the contest page and enter by July 31st. And for more regular updates, become a Fan at our Facebook page.

(cc) Flickr user spisharam - AWAY

Union University Textbook Buyback Spring 2010

Luke — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:03:18 +0000

Look out, Jackson, Tennessee. BookFool.com is coming your way. Are you ready for a second opinion on your used book prices? You may be surprised how much your books are really worth!

(cc) Flickr user lndhslf72

We’ve heard your cries.

Every semester we speak with thousands of students about their textbook needs. We ask how their bookstore is treating them, how their off-campus bookstore treats them (if they have one), and whether they’re happy with their textbook options.

In our experience, students are unhappy with their textbook options at 98% of the schools we visit. The happy 2% attend a school that really pays attention to their textbooks needs and fights to get them great prices when they buy and sell. If students are happy, we simply move on to where we’re needed more.

Well, Union, your fellow students told us they’re not happy with their textbook options. So we’re coming to town!

Ready for a great deal?

It’s simple: Bring us your books. We tell you what they’re worth. You decide which ones to sell. We give you cash. No pressure! For more info, check out How to Sell Your Books to BookFool.com.

Is this for real?

You know it! This semester we’re set up by Starbucks on Vann Drive, beside Baskin-Robbins and across from Chick-fil-A. Can’t miss it! And there’s plenty of parking.

If you’re ready for a great deal on your used books, come by May 17, 18, 19, and 20. We’re open from 8am to 6pm. Give us a try and send your friends!

Scenes from Buyback Spring 2010

Luke — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:40:57 +0000

Buybacks are rocking this semester. This promises to be our biggest semester yet! Here are some early shots coming in from around the Buyback Map.

Bottles hanging over Emory Univ. in Atlanta.

ARROOOOOOOOW!!!

ARROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!

Underground Coffeehouse. Searcy, AR.

Special Buyback Helpers at Harding.

The Harding Billboard Car.

The Harding Billboard Car, part 2.

Sewanee Rock Pose!

The NEMCC buyback team posters their car in response to the Harding team.

What do you think?

We would take more pictures but we’re too busy buying books!!!

BookFool.com Flood Update 05-03-10

Luke — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:32:42 +0000

By now you’ve heard of the massive flooding in Middle Tennessee this weekend. This quick post is to let you know that BookFool is fine and Buybacks are proceeding according to schedule. Our Rhodes Buyback team had trouble getting out of Nashville this morning, but they are leaving town soon and should open their buyback later today.

We’re pleased to announce that our new warehouse is completely dry and the Command Center there is running at 100%.

Two full-time Fools had their houses flooded and cleanup has begun on that front. The most picturesque disaster was the collapsing of one of our backyard hills:

The hill before.

The hill after, part 1.

The hill after, Part 2.

Stay safe out there, people. We will post to our Twitter feed as updates become available.

Emory University Textbook Buyback

Luke — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:22:05 +0000

Emory University, you now have a choice where to sell your used books. This is our first semester serving Emory and we’re thrilled with our location: Beside Dave’s Cosmic Subs. We keep hearing the same thing from Emory students who sell to us: “Thank you! We never had another option before. Thank you for coming here!”

And our response is always, “No, Thank YOU!” We only exist because of you. We’re honored to be here. Of course, you could always sell to this charming person we found on Craigslist:

BookFool promises never to scream at you.

If you’re tired of being pushed around by angry book buyers, give BookFool a try.

In other Emory news, we’ve heard reports of a colorful Fool riding around town, causing all kinds of mischief. Our only evidence is this video shot on the scene:

Jenny Tell the Truth

Luke — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:13:02 +0000

The most ridiculous of our new flyers also has a story behind it. Jenny, Tell the Truth:

Jenny Tell the Truth

On our drive to the warehouse, there’s a sign where people can leave various messages to friends. One says “I love SARAH” in big colorful letters. Then there’s “Jenny Tell the Truth,” scrawled in Sharpie on a white background.

We have no idea who Jenny is (or if she ever ended up telling the truth), but the phrase “Jenny, Tell the Truth” worked its way onto one of our flyers and is now going out to campuses across the country. It’s also becoming a byword around the office for encouraging people to be honest. You really ate the whole thing? Jenny, tell the truth.

Poor Jenny.

Wacky Flyers Spring 2010

Luke — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:42:23 +0000

A few months ago, I printed off about a hundred public domain images from the Library of Congress and invited my colleagues to create funny/ridiculous captions for them. Ryan took the best captions and created band-style flyers out of them, some of which I’ve posted in our Flickr stream and below.

Next semester we’ll post the images and let YOU take a crack at writing the wacky captions.

Professors

Tickle

Velocipede

Boxer

FannyPack

BookFool’s First Annual April Fools’ Day Cookout

Luke — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:57:40 +0000

What better day to celebrate our corporate Foolishness? We invited friends, employees, vendors, and neighbors to our new warehouse for burgers, dogs, veggie burgers, veggie dogs, chips (my favorite), and more. Our Chief Fool gave a rousing speech on the value of individualism. We even raffled off some BookFool swag, including a free book of your choice from anywhere in our warehouse.

And wouldn’t you know it? Our only camera died at the beginning of the event. Below are the few shots we got, followed by a quick video of some pre-party Foolishness.

Thanks to everyone who came out. We packed the place! And next year will be even bigger. We’re planning some entertainment, maybe a contest or two.

The early arrivals, just getting warmed up.

Grillin' buddies. The aprons were hilarious. The little one said "Little Chef" and the big one, well, "Big Chef."

And the video:

Buy Direct from BookFool.com

Luke — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:31:13 +0000

"A rainbow of books" (cc) Flickr user bethany actually

At long last! You can now buy your used books direct from BookFool.com. Our Tech Fool Casey has been working hard to create a shopping cart and put our inventory on our site, and we’re pretty proud of the results. Simply run your Search from our homepage to see if we have your book in stock. Even if we don’t have it in stock, we will still compare prices on other sites to find you the best deal!

You may be wondering: Why should I buy from BookFool.com? What makes them so special? Well, if you’ll permit me to brag, here are some reasons we’re proud of what we do:

Free Shipping
A new offering from the Fools. When you buy direct from us, we will ship your book anywhere in the USA via USPS Media Mail for FREE!

Fast Shipping
We send all orders in one business day or less. And if you need it really fast, we offer an Expedited Shipping upgrade through USPS Priority Mail, which arrives in 2-3 days.

Excellent Customer Service
If you ever need help with your order, hit up our Support line and we’ll get you fixed up.

100% Return Guarantee
As a service to all our customers, we offer a 30-Day, 100% Return Guarantee. No questions asked! See our Support page for details.

Price Comparison
As mentioned above…We want you to find the best deals for your used books. That’s why we say, “If we don’t have the cheapest copy, we’ll show you who does!”

Good People, On a Mission
Cheap books are everywhere these days. If you want to buy from people who stand behind their books, give us a try.

AND Finally … Daily Book Steals on Twitter
Every day on our Twitter stream, we highlight one amazing used book that we think is a great deal. Follow us on Twitter or watch the “Fools’ Online Activity” box on the right side of our homepage to take advantage of these killer deals.

"Reading Is Fundamental" (cc) Flickr user Troy Holden

Book Review: The Voice New Testament

Luke — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:41:07 +0000

A few months ago, I signed BookFool up for Thomas Nelson’s innovative BookSneeze program that connects bloggers with books in exchange for honest reviews. Our first book to review is The Voice New Testament, a translation by the Ecclesia Bible Society that strives to help “young people fall in love with the Scriptures.”

Our first review is from Ryan P., followed by a quick run-down from yours truly. Ryan says,

The Voice New Testament is a purported re-telling of the scriptures for a post-modern world. In the opening pages, the Ecclesia Bible Society provides the background behind undertaking this revision of the scriptures, twenty years in the making. To achieve its goal, The Voice asked scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, and artists to contribute their ideas in creating a modern narrative style to the scriptures, while remaining faithful to the original purpose of the message.

The Voice reads like a screenplay or a personal blog. The tone of the passages is almost conversational in nature. While I initially found this style too simplistic in regards to my traditional experience with scripture, it eventually became interesting and even challenging in its own way. By stripping away some of the complexity of older, more familiar translations, the message of the New Testament became more immediate and direct. The outlined boxes (written by the contributors and inserted among key verses) helped to expound on the ideas of the passage and provided me with a broader contextual understanding of the message.

I would recommend The Voice to anyone looking for a modernized version of the New Testament. The few missteps that I encountered were based primarily on my personal taste, and may not reflect another reader’s view of the book. Overall, the accuracy and attention to detail are evident throughout, and I truly believe the authors honored the original intent of the Scripture.

And now, my own (less organized) thoughts:

Some people have strong opinions on new translations. (cc) Flickr user ASurroca

I’ve been carrying The Voice around for a month now, reading a page here and there. I took it to Bible class a few times and was initially worried that I wouldn’t be able to find the right scripture when called on to read. You get used to the format quickly, though, and the translation is not so far out that you can’t follow along with people reading from the NIV.

For me, the real test of a plain-English translation is the book of Romans. I’ve always found Paul’s writing style to be confusing and hard to follow. In the KJV and NASB, he seems to jump from idea to idea without connecting them into one coherent thought. I’m willing to admit that the problem lies with me but I’m also searching for a translation that can make sense of Paul’s style for me.

(Side note: Jimmy Allen’s class on Romans was the only “B” I received in my last three years of undergrad. I don’t blame the book of Romans entirely but do consider it a willing accomplice to GPA assassination.)

Consider how The Voice handles this syntactically tricky passage from Romans 8:

Therefore, now no condemnation awaits those who are living in Jesus, the Liberating King, [avoiding sin and embracing the Spirit], because when you live in Him a new law takes effect. The law of the Spirit of life breathes into you and rescues you from the law of sin and death. (Italics indicates text not in the original manuscript but included to clarify the intent.)

The language and intent here is clear. If you’re looking for an easy reading Bible, maybe for your morning devotional, I recommend The Voice highly.

As a matter of practicality, the copy we received is not as durable as a traditional Bible. It’s basically a tough paperback, and the cover is already bent up after a month of semi-regular usage. In this regard, the paperback version of The Voice is best for reading at home, not for taking everywhere you go.

Book’em’s Read Me Week 2010

Luke — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:57 +0000

The BookFools were honored to participate in Book’em‘s Read Me Week this year at Caldwell Enhanced Option School. NPT put together a post that explains this amazing event in more detail. I just want to share a few pics and make a related announcement:

BookFool.com has officially chosen Book’em as our outlet for charitable giving and corporate volunteering. Book’em’s mission is to distribute books to underprivileged local children and to provide reading volunteers to area schools to encourage a lifelong love of reading.

About a month ago, we met with Book’em Executive Director Melissa Spradlin to discuss their plans and to brainstorm how we might work together. We are very impressed with Book’em’s mission, passion, and efficiency in getting books into the hands of young readers and hope this will be a fruitful partnership for many years.

If would like to get involved with this worthy non-profit yourself, visit their website for some ideas.

And now, the pictures.

Farmer Jason really brought down the house.

Jumping to the music.

Expounding upon the joys of reading.

Mixing it up with this motley crew.

Cool Tool: BookFool.com Word Cloud

Luke — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:43:29 +0000

From the amazing Wordle:

We sure do talk about Plans a lot on this blog, huh?

Is it Time for Plan B?

Luke — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:28:49 +0000

Revert to Plan B (cc) Flickr user mringlein

This American Life did a fine show last year on Plan B:

There’s the thing you plan to do, and then there’s the thing you end up doing. Most of us start off our lives with some Plan A which we abandon…switching to a Plan B, which becomes our life.

Conan O’Brien got bumped to Plan B a few months ago. A lot of good people have had to revert to Plan B during this recession, and all the animals at the shelter are waiting for their Plan B to begin.

But Plan B doesn’t have to be a bad thing. How many of you have found that Plan B led to a better life than you ever imagined under the original plan?

I asked the Fools to share their plans for their lives before BookFool. It was an open-ended question, so we had a wide variety of responses. I’ll kick it off with my short entry:

Luke

My plan went Motorcycle Driver > Chef > Radio DJ > Teacher > Videographer > Marketing/Strategy. When I was a kid, I thought that people driving motorcycles up and down the highway were being paid to ride. Then I planned to be a chef and talked about that plan a lot, so much that people I knew then still ask me when I’m going to culinary school. I guess now I’m on Plan F.

Kris

I’m on Plan B.

Plan A: Play in the NBA.
Plan B: Entrepreneur, which started when my father gave me a huge wooden desk around age 6 or 7.

Accountancy was the best avenue I saw to make Plan B work. From age 6 to 14, I went back and forth between Plan A and Plan B.

Like this, only much much bigger! (cc) Flickr user H is for Home

The Story of the Desk
My father’s office of Arthur Young was closing in Fayetteville, AR, I think around 1987. He chose not to move to Austin for the company. The office was giving away all the furniture and my mom pushed my dad to take something. So he snagged a desk. He didn’t take the nicest desk nor did he take something small.

The desk landed in my tiny bedroom and quickly became the fixture of my dreams. I would site behind this tectonic slab of wood and play “store.” I had old checks from my parents I kept in the drawers that felt like real money. There’s no telling what else I had in the drawers. I know I stored my basketball card collection there.

This is the desk I use today. The desktop needs refinishing, and I’ve never had a key to lock the middle drawer, but I hope to use it for many more years.

Casey

Still on Plan A.

Nicole

Jet Fighter > State Senator > Political Legislative Assistant > Human Resources Manager > Customer Care. I thought I was going to join the Air Force and be a Jet Fighter. Then I wanted to be a SENATOR only to find that the Political World was too harsh for my kind heart, but I fell into HR, which has led me to Customer Care and I couldn’t be happier!

Lou

Well, it kinda went like this:

In High School I wanted to be a starving artist.
At the end of High School I was starving and in love!
Married and had a child soon after graduating high school.
Entered the Air Force where I would live my life with my family and the military…Plan A.

Plan B Happened….

Marriage ended in divorce.
Was introduced to Lisa, my current wife, who was also in the Air Force.
Left the Air Force to go to college for Advertising Design (starving artist related!).
Started a wonderful career in that field and progressed to management.
Landed on BookFool.com mountain and am loving every minute of it.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

YOU!

How about you? What’s your Plan B?

Jim Coudal’s Greatest Failure

Luke — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:17:47 +0000

A quick quote for this icy Tuesday:

“If it’s a good idea and it gets you excited, try it, and if it bursts into flames, that’s going to be exciting too. People always ask, ‘What is your greatest failure?’ I always have the same answer — We’re working on it right now, it’s gonna be awesome!” ~ Jim Coudal

Your Fools are working behind the scenes this month to make something big happen. You may not see its effects for awhile but stay tuned!

(cc) Flickr user Tancread

Public Speaking Horror Stories

Luke — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:14:24 +0000

(cc) Flickr user Brendan Biele

Scott Schwertly of Ethos3 just launched a new blog, Stuff Presenters Like, filled with good stuff, bad stuff, lame stuff, and horror stories about public speaking. If you’ve ever spoken in public, you’ve probably got one to share.

Yours truly contributed a public speaking horror story to the inaugural “issue.” A snip from the middle:

When it’s finally my turn, I take the podium, wait for my first slide to appear, and jump in. I’m watching my pace and clicking my slides on cue. I’m making eye contact. I’m even getting a few giggles out of the crowd. But they’re not laughing at the right parts. In fact, they don’t seem to be paying attention at all. They’re whispering to each other and shifting around in their seats.

I begin to panic.

Click through to read more. Do you have any public speaking horror stories to share?