The only thing that makes living in Arizona tolerable is the handful of used bookstores scattered amongst the multitude of meth labs and Sonoran hot dog/ammunition stands that litter the landscape like so many would-be-immigrant bones in the Nogales Desert.

I don’t know how they survive in the state ranked 49th in the union for education and whose border militia dwarfs the Democrat population 6 to 1, but thank Rao that they do, ‘cause I don’t think I could make it through the week without them.

My absolute-hands-down-favorite of the lot is the Bookmans Entertainment Exchange stores, because entering one of their locations is like stepping through a stargate into a parallel world, wherein the concept of pawn shops was pioneered by a gang of good looking hipsters.

Everyone knows that Bookmans proudly supports ideas such as literacy, free speech, animal welfare and the environment. But did you know that we love sports? Personally, I am excited about the upcoming spring training schedule for Phoenix. But there are many young sports enthusiasts who are gearing up for the spring little league season! Young men and women are currently registering and trying out with teams all over the valley for the opportunity to play on a team.

Last month, we asked customers to send us portraits of themselves with their pets. We finally have the long-awaited second batch of photos (you can see the first round here) and we'll be picking our three favorites next week - three lucky customers will win a $50 gift certificate! Thanks to everyone who shared their love of animals with us!

We always appreciate when one of our customers takes the time to blog about us, but sometimes we're just plain blown away. Retired political consultant and full-time artist/photographer J.R. Corkrum tells his Bookmans story in a "Postcard from Tucson." It's a blog post full of photos of Bookmans Speedway and - we think - an all-encompassing portrait of what the Bookmans experience is - and should be - like.

Follow the Reader, a blog for those who "read and recommend books," held an impromptu discussion on Twitter last Friday about how booksellers viewed Twitter in the workplace. Many members of the Bookmans staff are active on Twitter and a few chimed in on how the service has integrated into our everyday work routine.

Recently I traveled to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and, as usual, it was really frickin' cool. Gadgets, giant TVs, pulsing sound (I’m looking at you, Earthquake Sound! My bowels are still vibrating!), computers, inventions, robots - it was sci-fi made real! Wandering the aisles and checking out all the new offerings with fellow geeks gave me a feeling of rightness that I seldom get outside of my home turf. And the best part is most of them want you to touch their stuff and play with it.

I’ve tried four or five times to begin this article, an article about a thing I do that takes a lot of time and care, something that is such a part of who I am, a natural extension of my being, that I have trouble describing it. In a way it’s like explaining why I wear shoes or metabolize hydro-carbons. Why do I make a zine? What is a zine?

It’s a kind of insanity surrounded by little scraps of paper I’ve photocopied and cut out from old books. Pieces of letters and postcards from friends. Original drawings, some comics, a kick ass cover illustration I really should have had to pay money for. Stories from friends who I’ve asked to give me stories because I know that life is more than just playing video games and drinking beer. It is, you know. Am I crazy for saying that?