Dear Readers --

It's been an incredible year. My children are both a year older and life has changed in so many ways. Stellaluna now has 4 dog siblings and is happier by the minute to be living at the bookstore; the most erudite pet of all. There's a massive amount of change -- not all of it happy and not all of it sad.

Each year, we get to know just a little bit more about our customers and their families. We see the babies grow from a twinkle in their mothers' eye to Stellaluna loving toddlers; the toddlers grow up to go to Kindergarten and before we can blink an eye, the grade schoolers graduating from high school. I'm amazed to have employees who have graduated from high school who I knew when they were just in middle school. Wow!

It's truly a gift to be a part of a community. Old Greenwich is a rare gem. Every day I wake up and just marvel at the fact that I live in a town where I know so many of the people that I come across on a daily basis. It's hard to believe, but towns like Old Greenwich are a dying breed. We live in a time of immediacy and urgency. There's not much of a concept of deferred gratification. If we can't get what we want, where we want it ... we can always go to the big retail mall in the sky and get it now.

It's a challenge to fight against the ease of immediacy and decide to wait just a few more hours ... maybe another day ... to get what we need in a gentler, kinder way that includes personal interaction, communication and dialogue. Each year, we see the erosion of small retail in the world at large, in Greenwich and even Old Greenwich. This year will be a real challenge with the addition of the largest Barnes and Noble in the State of Connecticut anchoring the Stamford mall.

We can never be Barnes and Noble; and we're not sure we want to be! If we were Barnes and Noble, we wouldn't be Just Books! We wouldn't know the names of your children, your grandchildren, your mother, father, husband or wife. We wouldn't also know what they each like to read ... and we wouldn't know what "that blue book about the ..." is or what your next Book Club pick is by knowing who else is in your Book Club. We wouldn't know to let you know when your favorite author's book just came out or what just the right pick is for your friend who is in the hospital. We do know that if we were Barnes and Noble that we might have every book you were seeking when you walked through our door. But we also know that we can get you that very book that may be missing from our shelves in the next 24-hours.

Please, walk through our doors and open your heart and your mind to our shelves and our staff. Let us help when you ask, keep quiet when you need quiet and make sure that you leave with a book either in hand or on order. We wrap, smile, talk, recommend and advise.

While we are still picking and choosing ... as we settle on our holiday selections, we'll update our catalogs!! This will truly be a list to make and check more than twice! We're breaking our Holiday Catalog into parts for 2007 ... feel free to order any books online for delivery to your intended recipient ... for pick-up in our store ... or for shipping wherever you desire!

Be safe. Be happy. Be peaceful. And Thank You.

Jenny and the staff at Just Books, Too

Our holiday catalog lists (ever a work in progress).

For information on anything about our events or Just Books, call Just Books, Too at 203-637-0707 or visit www.JustBooks.org.

And, finally, one last plug for the Literary Lights; don't miss this great new Greenwich tradition this Friday, December 7!