Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Travels, Bookstores, London, BEA
Hey everyone, loads going on...I've been traveling almost constantly to visit bookstores and museum shops as part of my new job-thing. Then I had a cool trip to London for sales conference (Charing Cross Rd! Sherlock Holmes Museum!), and now I'm in the throes of BEA planning and setting summer appointments to meet with bookstores.
but first some random observations...
Cool bookstores encountered in March/April/May:
Ruminator Books St Paul, MN - one of the landmark bookstores in the country. deep commitment to fostering readers in their community, supporting authors, giving jobs to the bookish. Ruminator should put together a yearbook of past employees and where they are now in publishing, bookselling, writing, etc.
Prairie Lights Iowa City, IA - speaking of alumni, Prairie Lights benefits from being in the shadow of the Iowa Writer's Workshop. Gives the store connections to visiting authors, and after a couple decades of business, they've provided the literary home for enough workshop students who are now established writers.
Birchbark Books Minneapolis, MN - owned by author Louise Erdrich and managed by former bookstore owner Brian Baxter, this is a gorgeous bookstore filled with birch railings, natural wood shelves, and a tiny loft for children to play in while parents shop. A small, carefully chosen selection of books, including some hard to find Erdrich titles, most of which were autographed.
Book Beat Oak Park, MI (amazing selection of art and obscure books, new and rare, the owner is an artist named Carey Nelson)
Left Bank Books St Louis, MO - Fun neighborhood near the Art Museum and Washington University. The store has been there since the 70's. They have a collective ownership model that I'm still trying to grasp. I found some gems in their basement used books stacks (Thisbe Nissen's original Out of the Girls' Room and Into the Night, published by U of Iowa Press). Coincidentally, Nissen is an Iowa alum and fan of Prairie Lights above. And she's a brilliant author, I look forward to her next, last I heard was going to be called "Osprey Island". (pause for Thisbe Nissen crush)
back to bookstores...
Rainy Day Books Kansas City, MO - Great general independent. They seem to get all the big name authors, celebrities, and especially hot mystery writers. They hosted Hillary Clinton last year and they're working on Bill for this summer.
Reading Reptile Kansas City, MO - This was my first look at this place, and it instantly catapulted onto my list of best Children's bookstores. Everyone MUST stop by this store when in Kansas City. Giant colorful sculptures of book characters hang from the ceiling, there are murals everywhere, a stage for kids to perform and listen to books, a crafts room to work on a project after storytime (BRILLIANT idea), and knowledgeable staff (a few of them were carrying their newborns around while they helped customers find books - beautiful work environment!). Bravo Reading Reptile!
That's all for now...sleep!....hopefully I'll add to this list soon. Until then, use booksense.com to look up addresses and web site info.
Cheers!
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but first some random observations...
Cool bookstores encountered in March/April/May:
Ruminator Books St Paul, MN - one of the landmark bookstores in the country. deep commitment to fostering readers in their community, supporting authors, giving jobs to the bookish. Ruminator should put together a yearbook of past employees and where they are now in publishing, bookselling, writing, etc.
Prairie Lights Iowa City, IA - speaking of alumni, Prairie Lights benefits from being in the shadow of the Iowa Writer's Workshop. Gives the store connections to visiting authors, and after a couple decades of business, they've provided the literary home for enough workshop students who are now established writers.
Birchbark Books Minneapolis, MN - owned by author Louise Erdrich and managed by former bookstore owner Brian Baxter, this is a gorgeous bookstore filled with birch railings, natural wood shelves, and a tiny loft for children to play in while parents shop. A small, carefully chosen selection of books, including some hard to find Erdrich titles, most of which were autographed.
Book Beat Oak Park, MI (amazing selection of art and obscure books, new and rare, the owner is an artist named Carey Nelson)
Left Bank Books St Louis, MO - Fun neighborhood near the Art Museum and Washington University. The store has been there since the 70's. They have a collective ownership model that I'm still trying to grasp. I found some gems in their basement used books stacks (Thisbe Nissen's original Out of the Girls' Room and Into the Night, published by U of Iowa Press). Coincidentally, Nissen is an Iowa alum and fan of Prairie Lights above. And she's a brilliant author, I look forward to her next, last I heard was going to be called "Osprey Island". (pause for Thisbe Nissen crush)
back to bookstores...
Rainy Day Books Kansas City, MO - Great general independent. They seem to get all the big name authors, celebrities, and especially hot mystery writers. They hosted Hillary Clinton last year and they're working on Bill for this summer.
Reading Reptile Kansas City, MO - This was my first look at this place, and it instantly catapulted onto my list of best Children's bookstores. Everyone MUST stop by this store when in Kansas City. Giant colorful sculptures of book characters hang from the ceiling, there are murals everywhere, a stage for kids to perform and listen to books, a crafts room to work on a project after storytime (BRILLIANT idea), and knowledgeable staff (a few of them were carrying their newborns around while they helped customers find books - beautiful work environment!). Bravo Reading Reptile!
That's all for now...sleep!....hopefully I'll add to this list soon. Until then, use booksense.com to look up addresses and web site info.
Cheers!
