Honey Mushrooms have a friendly name, but they can be a bit hard to identify and should be considered an intermediate level mushroom for those hunting wild edibles.  Honeys are plentiful right now and are very tempting to rush to learn, but their features can be very similar to many other mu…

PROFESSIONALLY, IT'S BEEN a streaky year for me.  Last spring, I hit a point where I was working on 12 bathrooms at one time.  This fall, it seems to be all about kitchens.  Both rooms are sort of cornerstones of my business in their own way, but the design process for each couldn’t be more …

If you’ve been worried about your teen’s social media usage, it would seem your concerns are now legitimized by hard facts and figures. Recent Congressional testimony by former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen supports the notion that Facebook and its photo-sharing app, Instagram, can …

A Diagnostic Challenge and A Lesson in The Value of Innocent Life. A veterinarian in general practice has a myriad of experiences.  One of the most interesting aspects of the profession is being a detective who must analyze scientific diagnostic data, use available medical or surgical method…

What is in a name? A lot I guess, but it's hard to figure out what.  If my name was Steve instead of Mark would my life have turned out differently?  Would I be a famous criminal?  A busker?  So many possibilities with Steve.  I would of course insist on being call Stephen and correct everyo…

Life restarts with a bang in September.  As summer comes to a close, we get back in a business frame of mind.  For those of us in retail, that means thinking about the holidays.  A lot of our buying has already been done.  In fact, Christmas cards began arriving last week.  The big question …

In the not too distant past, many people would believe that brushing a dog or cat’s teeth was simply absurd.  Furthermore, the idea of spending more money to clean their teeth than a human does for their own teeth was ridiculous.  Things have changed greatly in veterinary medicine, and it is…

Having the right tech tools can make homework and studying easier. Not only can it reinforce what was learned in the classroom, it can also help your child delve further into the subject. 

This week, Mark Stolle from Manchester By The Book contemplates the concept of "best sellers."  Every week he peruses the lists in the book trade magazine Publishers Weekly.  And every week he despairs.

Cancer in pets is a unique, terrible challenge.  Dr. Larry Lamb writes that the most important aspect about this condition is staging it.  Many tumors can be diagnosed simply by palpation.  Others require biopsy and histopathological interpretation. Once diagnosed, the patient can often be t…

One of our first new partners at the Book Shop was Libro.fm, a company that allows customers to purchase audiobooks through independent bookstores. I’ve come to learn just how much narration matters.

Selling books is the best.  The greatest.  So much fun.  But you know what is even bester, greatester and funner?  Buying books.  My favorite feeling in the world (one of my favorites, have you noticed I love hyperbole?) is having a van load of books from a great house call and then bringing…

The legalization of medical marijuana in Massachusetts has pet parents wondering about its potential harm for cats and dogs.  Recently, I have had to treat several patients with symptoms similar to different types of poisoning.  The truth is pot poisoning is real and is extremely anxiety pro…

Did you know today, August 20, is National Lemonade Day? The age of social media has meant a new random holiday to celebrate every day, mostly so we can use hashtags to generate likes and follows.  A less cynical view is that they exist to bring greater attention to things that often get ove…

Some news regarding the virus remains roughly the same, and some changes daily or even more often.  It's exhausting, and quite frankly, we're sick of it. Every time we turn around, we hear more about COVID: not enough vaccinations for the planet, the booster, the variant, increasing cases, a…

I love restaurant life, and the behind the scenes (or in the cave) stuff is really fun to explore.  My favorite book on restaurants is so scarce I don't think it exists, but it was titled something like 1,500 Things Restaurants Do Wrong.  With a title like that you would think I would shrink…

Do people go on blind dates anymore?In the age of the internet, when you meet first online, or when you can google any name before agreeing to dinner and a movie, does the blind date still exist?  I’ve never been on one — except with a book.

This past year we have been overwhelmed with new patients.  COVID-19 has had a profound effect on the adoption and purchase of new pets.  Families have been confined by the virus and have turned to pet ownership as a relief to confinement and in most cases the experience has been joyful and …

You don’t want to see it, but you can’t look away.  Daily COVID-19 numbers were finally not the topics of conversation, headlines, or “breaking news.”  But, alas, it didn’t last long.  So, what wave would this be?  Have we lost count?  Are we becoming numb?  Do we have the energy to gear up …

Over the years I have amassed a collection of a few thousand of these page rememberers and small advertisements.  I love them.  Right now, I'm using a Brattle Book Shop bookmark to keep my place in the book I'm reading (The Drowned and the Saved, Primo Levi is one of the greatest humans ever). 

It’s raining—again—as I write this. And I’ve just finished reading The Lost Boys of Montauk by Amanda Fairbanks, which means I’ve got water on the brain in more ways than one. 

There are two primary causes of hip dysplasia, genetics and diet.  The genes involved in hip dysplasia have not been conclusively identified, but it is believed to involve more than one gene.  Advances in nutritional research have shown that diet also plays an important role in the developme…

No shoveling or falling on ice. No scraping windshields covered with frost. No mittens, gloves, parkas, or boots. I, for one, LOVE it. Winter is a lot of work. For some, the season is irrelevant. Either livin' is easy, or it isn't. For most, it has nothing to do with the weather.

Over the past several years, I have experienced a growth in pets with health insurance.  Now more than ever, I highly recommend every pet to be covered with at least a major medical policy.

As we venture down memory lane, we feel a mixture of gratitude for what was and is, loss and longing for what is gone, and grounding in what stays the same.  We have the opportunity to revisit what this Fourth of July has meant to us, a holiday big or small, major or minor.  The passage of t…

Like any good Massachusetts native, I’ve spent a fair amount of time on Cape Cod.  Ever since moving to the North Shore eight years ago, though, I’ve visited less and less.  Why bother when we have better beaches in our own backyard?

As we approach the July 4th holiday weekend many people will be taking pets on trips in cars or be going to the beach.  There are several important details that must be observed to protect our pets from a dangerous medical condition called hyperthermia or heatstroke.

Anytime anybody told me to read something I instinctively loathed it.  I couldn't be told what to read, it was my prerogative to find the treasure on my own.  Not too bright, I must say.  But now I've gone back and re-read books from my high school curriculum (Hamilton-Wenham class of 1987.)…

It’s become popular vernacular, an everyday reference whose origins may be, “What I want to do before I kick the bucket.”  Like many things, it has new meaning since our introduction to COVID-19.  We’ve always known that life on the planet is finite.  We understand that some of us cross the …