Tis the season of self-help books.

If you have wandered down the aisles of your local bookseller (at least the purveyors of new books, sheets, tires, and assorted other household items),  you have probably noticed that they carry three types of books: the New York Times Bestseller List, coffee table books (always marked at 30%+ off), and self-help books…books designed to help you organize your life, your pantry, our your spouse; books that help you erase the Christmas bulge so that it has sufficiently disappeared by the beginning of beach season; and books to address the various psychoses brought about by three months of winter, endless reruns, and the build-up to March Madness.

Whistle Stop Books does have a section on “self-help,”  but we can’t guarantee that they will address any of the complaints listed above. We have books on how to create (and presumably then lose) lists; how to feng shui your home, office, spouse, dog, kids, and diet; and how to change your oil (although I forgot to check if there is specific advice for doing so in the dead of winter). The list goes on, but we decided to limit the range of “self-help” books to more those addressing more practical matters (how-to books) and leave the pop-psychology to the shelves at Walmart and Target.

So, check with us if you want to find a book on:

• crocheting, knitting, needlework, and sewing;
• redesigning the interior of your home;
• building bookshelves (available after we figure out how to build more shelves in the bookstore…although we have some spare copies);
• tiling your bathroom;
• tuning up your car;
• planning your garden;
• figuring out what to do with the rose bushes the previous owner left behind;
• learning how to paint like Da Vinci or Picasso or Norman Rockwell;
• learning how to write the great American novel (based on the advice of some folks who have written the great American novel and some who sank into obscurity after publishing a book on how to write a book);
• learning how to run, walk, skip, crawl, slither, and other examples of movements that result in a forward like motion;
• learning how to make a million on the stock market, published in the fall of 2008 (we keep this one around for the element of irony);
• and all sorts of other books that offer some interesting advice and instruction that at $4-$5 per book you can choose to ignore without feeling guilty.

Stop in today and check them out!