Having Fun and Games at Work

I've mentioned this a few times, either here or in my Booknotes blog, but I felt it was the time to mention it again.  I am a mercurial, whimsical soul.  A big part of my nature is having fun, sometimes covertly.  This can be seen on my YouTube channel featuring my logo creations for my store.  I'd include a link, but my last vid wasn't so good.  I blocked the camera for a large part of it, preventing anyone from seeing me draw the major part of the logo.  I also had to split it into two parts because of an interruption.  I also forgot to add in a few details until after I had already finished filming.  Not one of my best.  Anyway, this post is supposed to be fun!  One of the ways I sneak in some fun is in my Upcoming Releases board.  It usually features between twelve and twenty books coming out for the current month, with title, author, and on-sale date.  Each one is in a different marker color, as well as a spot graphic tied to the book's cover.  I usually try to match the marker to a color on the book. However, ever since the distributors stopped sending out catalogs due to a number of reasons, I've had to print out black-and-white copies. This makes it hard to match things up properly.  I set a few constraints on myself to give me a challenge in creating the list, as well as to make sure that there is at least one book that someone would be looking forward to.  First, I make sure to have a fairly even split between male and female authors.  Next, I always have at least one nonfiction title on the board.  I sometimes have to make do with a celebrity memoir, but I get one on there.  I then make sure that there is a wide range of genre fiction represented:  mystery, fantasy/science-fiction, and romance.  Some months are easier than others in this regard.  I also make sure to have at least one children's book. Usually for middle-grads or young adults, but I have had to resort to a picture book on occasion.  Frequently, the children's book fulfills my genre requirement, as well.  I have at least two books per week, although I sometimes have to have only one book, especially in a slow month like December.  My final constraint, though, is the fun one.  I have every letter of the alphabet and every digit accounted for on the board.  This can be tough, as q, x, and z are not seen too often in titles, slightly more so for z in names.  Also, it is impossible to have more than seven digits seen in the on-sale dates, and that can only be possible if there are more than one Monday with new books.  Thank you James Patterson for your offbeat publishing schedule.  If I can't get everything in with my selection of titles, I hide the remaining letters and digits in the artwork.  This includes the banner at the top of the board mentioning the month and featuring a design tied to a holiday or theme connected to the month.  I've also hidden other less tame images at times within the art, but not as often as I could have.  I'm sneaky that way.  So far, no one has ever noticed these hidden images.  This isn't the only place where I have fun, though.  I also make a game of the book displays.  For instance, the window display feature at least nine books changed out on a biweekly basis.  Each book is part of a theme.  I cycle through which shelves I draw the books from, to prevent me from leaving the same books out in the bright lights for too long.  At least two of the books are for children, without the age restrictions of the Upcoming Releases board.  The current theme is animals, with the caveat that there are no humans involved on the covers.  This was actually harder than it sounds.  I had to go with bunny slippers for one spot.  Two of the other spots are taken by dragons.  Hey, dragons are some of my favorite people, so they get included if I say so.  However, one of these "dragons" might not be a  dragon.  It is on a mahjong tile, one that I am only fairly sure if the green dragon.  It might be an entirely different tile.  Hey, I think it's a dragon, and that is all that matters.  I also have a different theme for the display over the bookcases.  Just like the window, I alternate which shelves I get the books from.  This constraint can make it hard to find a theme, but I manage.  Here are pictures of the current display.  See if you can guess the theme.  It's an easy one this time around.  The answer is below the pics.  Just keep scrolling.

Okay, here's the answer.  They all have bags on the cover.  Well, the book bags on the last book cover are more implied than actually there, but it still counts.  I hope you liked this little puzzle, because I expect to have more of them in the next few weeks.  Be on the lookout!