Virtual trip to Nanjing tops off a record round of cheer

They came, they saw, they sang, and they loved on books
at the Oregon Historical Society in December.

More than a thousand people came to the Oregon Historical Society's Holiday Cheer event last month, the biggest turnout yet for the party celebrating books published by Oregon authors.

Thank you to all who came out and braved the literary gauntlet, and then made it all the way to the basement to see me. At the end of the day, I rustled around looking for a missing copy of Steel Standing (we authors were permitted to bring along a couple of other titles to sell and display), my letterpressed tribute to one of Portland's signature bridges on the occasion of its 100-year anniversary. It's the only bridge of its kind in the world and the milestone had passed with little official fanfare.

The organizer for Holiday Cheer happened by as I was scouring my spot and its surroundings. When I said what I was looking for, she said, "Oh! Our research library took a copy to buy for its collection." With just a few copies of that limited-edition left, I am heartened to know others hold that bridge as dear to their heart as I do.

Long-overdue website changes are completed and on their way for the Ma Nao Books main site and the bookbinding-book site.

As we near the Year of the Dog, here are some sights and sounds of China courtesy of the Internets. I visited Nanjing's Jinling Ke Jing Chu, a publishing house and bindery dedicated to Buddhist texts, on my first research foray, and it's featured in China Under the Covers. Still, nothing takes you back like video—even the office chitchat gets me all nostalgic. Enjoy.