To Kill A Mockingbird 50th Anniversary Party

This year is the 50th anniversary of the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY was not letting this occasion go by unnoticed and celebrated with a party involving both food and music, but little nonsense...

I must admit, I read the book many years ago and liked it, but have thought little about it since. My husband, however, is a huge fan of the book and I am always up for a party, so off to Oblong Books we went... I did have an ulterior motive, the bookstore manager Suzanna has been a Twitter friend of mine for a while and it would be a nice opportunity to meet her in real life.

Oblong Books is a lovely little independent bookstore in the heart of Rhinebeck, nestled in a little nook a few doors down from The Terrapin Restaurant. This is a real hometown bookstore, small but welcoming, nothing pretentious about it at all. As we walked in, we could see a man with long grey hair manning the check out area, and little tables set up with cookies and punch and crackers and cheese. "Were we here for the party?", he asked. "Oh, yes," we replied.

We wandered in and immediately started to browse around, noticing the bright yellow sheets of paper posted about the store with popular quotes from the book. The store was small, but well stocked, with a very nice children's book section. Wandering towards the back of the store, I saw a young lady that could only be the girl with the @oblongirl handle on Twitter, Suzanna. She was immediately warm and friendly, hugging me right away even though we had just met. This is the magic of the internet, where you can be friends with people that you have never met, quite awesome in my opinion...

The grey haired man in the front of the store was her father, and her mother was also there. There were not a lot of people, but the store was never empty and the people there were relaxed and content, definitely "book people". Music by the "Boo Radleys" was playing in the background, and you could answer trivia questions about the book at the front desk in hopes of winning TKM swag.

Most surprising was the presence of Jamie, a reporter from NBC news. Armed with a large video camera and a winning smile, he circulated the store, chatting with people and on occasion filming them. My husband John is a huge fan of the book, and after Jamie spoke with him for a few minutes he asked if John would like to speak in front of the camera, which he did. With any luck, my husband may get a few minutes of fame on the TV news tomorrow.

We bought a few books and bid good night to Suzanna and her mom and dad. This is hometown American at its best, comfortable and unpretentious, celebrating a small but powerful book in a simple yet heartfelt way...