Showing posts with label Ginger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ginger. Show all posts

Friday, June 5, 2009

A feather in Ginger's cap (& she didn't have to kill a bird to get it)!


We earlier told the tail of how Ginger became the live-in and working cat at Orinda Books. Our story was picked up by the well-read Mental Floss site and they included Ginger in their listing of Top 8 bookstore cats! Here's the link to the Mental Floss article:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/26153

To read our earlier post on Ginger, click on the link below, or go to the white rectangular search box, above and to the left, enter Orinda Books, then click on Search Blog and you'll get the full details. Munchy says Yeowk!

http://tinyurl.com/m5rks6

Photo courtesy of Beth Gallagher.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Because, yes, we still need cute animal photos...


Here is an exclusive photo of Ginger the bookstore cat. Ginger lives and works at Orinda Books. We'll have a new feature about Ginger in the coming weeks. If you happen to have missed the story - the true tail - of Ginger, you can read it here:

http://tinyurl.com/m5rks6

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The tail of Ginger, the bookstore cat...



Earlier we told you about Orinda Books, the Munchy-certified bookstore in Orinda, California. In our review of the store, you saw the photographs of Ginger, the working cat. Some have wondered how Ginger came to be the official greeter at this bookstore, so she has given us permission to tell her true tail.

Once upon a time, in a land known as the East Bay, a book store in Orinda had no official greeter cat. Oh, at one time it did and the big black cat known as Fish did a great job until he went to Cat Heaven. So a year passed by with this key position left vacant...

Then one lucky day, as Dennis of Orinda Books (OB) left his early morning BART train he heard a kitten crying. Being a wise person, Dennis climbed over tall obstacles, found the kitty, and brought her to OB. She was all of five weeks young, with a collar and bell, but no name tag.

In less than a nanosecond, no-name kitty decided to make the shop her new purr-fect home. But where were her owner-parents? The search went on for more than 30 long days for the mom and/or dad of no-name kitty, but none was ever found.

Thus, the kitten was appointed the official meeter and greeter of OB. And everyone in the land was asked to suggest a name. After hearing more than 200 choices, the no-name cat said, "Rrrorrw!," which means - of course - "I'd like to be known as Ginger." So Ginger she became!

Ginger is not only a greeter, she's a book critic and seller who very carefully chooses books to recommend. These are the books that go on her special table, and they go quickly. When authors appear at OB, Ginger serves as host and master of ceremonies.

Naturally, Ginger is always there for young kids - just don't get her too tired - and for the older kids (some call them "adults") who come into OB just to pet the cat. So who is greeting who?

And now you know the very true tail of Ginger, the Feline Executive Officer (FEO) of OB!

post-script: "Yeowk!" says Munchy, which means "Would you pleaz tell me that story again!?"

Photos of Ginger courtesy of Beth Gallagher.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

A Munchy-certified bookstore in the East Bay, No. California...





Munchy and I require just three things to recommend an independent bookstore. The staff should be friendly, the staff should be knowledgable and - a factor that adds a whole lot of bonus points - the store should have a working animal (such as a cat, dog or bird) to make the customers feel welcome.

Mrs. Bear and his Munchyness saw that these standards were met during a recent trip to a bookstore in Orinda, in the East Bay section of northern California. This bookstore is Orinda Books.

Mrs. Bear was looking for a copy of the book Inside the Not So Big House, and it was in stock; she also asked for a book for me, Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and the Journey of a Generation. This book has just been released in paperback, and since the store did not have this edition they sold Mrs. Bear the hardbound version for the paper price. Very nice!

According to the Orinda Books website you can, "Come in and relax - there's plenty of comfortable seating inside. Browse our 14,000+ titles and don't hesitate to ask our well-read staff to help with recommendations for all ages and tastes. ... However, if it is (just) a friendly cat you want to stroke, Ginger is here too and will always greet you with her welcoming meow. We look forward to seeing you soon."

Ah, yes, Ginger... As you can see from the photographs above, Ginger was occupying a couch during her mid-afternoon break but was still performing her essential duties of greeting vistors and posing for photographs. Munchy thinks she's cute.

So the next time you're in the East Bay, think about stopping in at Orinda Books, which has been in business at its current location for 33 years. Orinda Books is located at 276 Village Square, Orinda CA 94563;(925) 254-7606. The store is open seven days a week, and possibly eight if Munchy is visiting.

Orinda Books - It's Munchy-certified! Yeowk!

http://www.orindabooks.com

Photos: Munchy Archives (cat-alogued)