Denali the Collie recommends READING LIKE A WRITER by Francine Prose to fellow paw-thors, writers, and all pups ghostwriting for their humans. The books explores the tricks and toy boxes of master writers such as Flaubert, Kafka, Austen, Dickens, Chekhov, Philip Roth, Isaac Babel, John Le Carré, James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, and Denali’s favs, Dogstoyevsky and Woolf. Prose’s message is to sit, stay, and pay attention to the basic kibble of writing: the words.
Book Riot Recommends Books by Authors with Disabilities
For Disability Pride Month, which recognizes and honors disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, and Deaf people, Book Riot offers recommendations of works by and about people with disabilities.
Contributing Editor Kendra Winchester recommends ten new nonfiction books: Intoxciated: Race, Disability, and Chemical Intimacy Across Empire by Mel Y. Chen; What my Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo; Disability Worlds by Faye Ginsburg and Rayna Rapp; Ill Feelings by Alice Hattrick; But Everyone Feels This Way: How an Autism Diagnosis Saved My Life by Paige Layle; Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery by Anne Liontas, The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs by Leah Laksmi Piepzna-Samarasinha; Crip Spacetime: Access, Failure, and Accountability in Academic Life by Margaret Price, Crip Up the Kitchen: Tools, Tips and Recipes for the Disabled Cook by Jules Sherred; and Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire edited by Alice Wong. For summaries of these titles, see Winchester’s article, “10 of the Best New Nonfiction Books to Read for Disability Pride Month.”
Associate Editor Danika Ellis recommends “7 Books to Read for Disability Pride Month,” including Continuum by Chella Man, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky and Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc.
Book Riot Editor Kelly Jensen offers an article titled, “Books About Disability are Popular Banning Targets: Book Censorship News.” Jensen states that the most recent wave of censorship has focused on “books by and about LGBTQ+ people and people of color, books that explore social and emotional learning, and books that explore sexuality and puberty.” In addition, books about health and wellbeing are frequently targeted. Jensen points out that Project 2025 has its sights on overturning and removing protections for disabled people.
Recently banned books include Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, Blindness by Jose Saramongo, Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk M.D., Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy edited by Kelly Jensen, Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic, Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwinge Danticat, The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime by Mark Haddon, Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian.
Books by authors with disabilities often possess a unique depth of wisdom, and are vastly underrepresented in the publishing world. Check out the above Book Riot articles to explore these amazing books.
The Art of Fiction by David Lodge
Denali the Collie here sharing resources I use to teach my human to write. No easy task, by the way! So much for opposable thumbs! I recommend The Art of Fiction: Illustrated from Classic and Modern Texts, by David Lodge, drawn and expanded from articles first published in The Independent and The Washington Post. Subjects include the Intrusive Author, Suspense, the Epistolary Novel, Time-shift, Magical Realism and Symbolism. Each topic is illustrated by a passage taken from classic or modern fiction, including authors such as Henry James, Martin Amis, Jane Austen, Fay Weldon, Henry Fielding. and James Joyce. Technical terms, such as Interior Monologue, Metafiction, Intertextuality and the Unreliable Narrator, are lucidly explained and demonstrated. This is a great book for lit students, aspiring writers, or any biped who wants to understand how literature works. Not recommended for dogs because, let’s face it, we don’t need to read about good writing. We can smell it.
How to Practice Deep Reading
When was the last time you got lost in a book? Andrew Limbong of NPR’s Book of the Day podcast fills in for Marielle Segarra on NPR’s LifeKit to interview Maryanne Wolf, an expert in the science of reading, about the art of deep reading. Modern distractions make reading with intention hard to attain. Wolf explains what we lose when we skim, and how to create an environment conducive to immersive reading. You can listen to the episode and/or read the transcript here.
Marielle Segarra: Host of LifeKit.
Andrew Limbong: Host of Book of the Day.
Maryanne Wolf: Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners and Social Justice at UCLA. Author of “Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain In A Digital World” and “Proust And The Squid: The Story And Science Of The Reading Brain.”
Publishers Weekly Summer Reading Picks in Fiction 2024
PW Staff Best Summer Fiction Recommendations
Publishers Weekly is an international news magazine of book publishing and bookselling designed for publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. PW has published continuously since 1872. Below are a few of their 2024 staff picks for summer reading in fiction. For full reviews of these books, go to Publishers Weekly Summer Reads.
All Fours by Miranda July (Riverhead)
July turns artistic desire and sexual fantasy into riveting fiction in her latest novel. It begins with a middle-aged artist’s cross-country road trip from Los Angeles to New York City but quickly turns into something delightfully weird, as the narrator remodels a roadside motel room and uses it to sort out the next phase of her life.
Bear by Julia Phillips (Hogarth)
San Juan Island feels like a nice place to visit but a difficult place to live, as evidenced by its portrayal in bestseller Phillips’s evocative and nimble novel. Here on this Pacific Northwest hideaway, two sisters respond in very different ways to the arrival of a grizzly bear, and their unsettled question of whether the bear is friend or foe elicits nail-biting suspense.
Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan (Doubleday)
The Crazy Rich Asians author takes a dishy tour through a contemporary milieu of royals and the über-rich in Europe, Hawaii, and Hong Kong as the wedding plans of a matriarch’s daughter and son are disrupted by an Austen-worthy series of reversals. Kwan’s pitch-perfect observations on art, fashion, and social etiquette make for a delectable feast.
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi (Riverhead)
Sometimes summer reading means frothy escapism, and sometimes it means a scorching state-of-the-nation novel with lurid scenes of sex clubs, vengeful murder plots, and heartbroken young lovers. Emezi’s latest, set in the elite underground of New Lagos, Nigeria, where a jilted man gets in way over his head after a bad night out, serves up incisive class commentary along with loads of titillating fun.
Long Island by Colm Tóibín (Scribner)
Sequel season is raging, and Eilis Lacey is back in this welcome follow-up to Tóibín’s bestseller Brooklyn. The action takes place two decades later, with Irish immigrant Eilis unhappily settled down with her Italian American husband on Long Island in the mid-1970s. A revelation prompts her to return to Ireland, where Tóibín unfurls more than enough juicy drama for another great movie.
The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia by Juliet Grames (Knopf)
The past comes back to haunt a small Italian village in the 1960s, where an American aid worker is pulled into a plot involving an unearthed human skeleton and the unknown fates of two people who disappeared from Santa Chionia years earlier. As a mystery, Grames’s novel is as gripping as they come; it’s also a deeply satisfying character study of an outsider learning more about a place than she’d bargained for.
Not a River by Selva Almada, trans. from the Spanish by Annie McDermott (Graywolf)
Shades of Deliverance darken this haunting and surprising adventure. Somewhere in South America, two men are on a fishing trip, with another friend’s preteen son in tow. The trio attract negative attention from the locals after the men kill and string up a giant stingray on the island where they’re staying. Almada’s dreamlike prose and taut suspense are the ideal match for a sweltering afternoon.
Oye by Melissa Mogollon (Hogarth)
Mogollon builds this irresistible comedy around the serious subject of cancer. Surprisingly, there’s great fun to be had as the teen protagonist is pressed by her mother into helping with her grandmother, who might be terminally ill, while conspiring to keep her in the dark about her prognosis. Lively characters and witty banter make this just the thing to dive into when spending time away from one’s own family.
Same as It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo (Doubleday)
A married woman’s memories of her affair decades earlier return with a vengeance in Lombardo’s sparkling novel. The story begins in a grocery store, where the narrator runs into a friend she hasn’t seen for ages, and from there it leaps vertiginously into the past as the protagonist considers the cost of the life she’s built for herself. Readers will be torn between their instinct to race to the finish and their desire to savor every page.
State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Van den Berg is a master at nudging the familiar world slightly off its axis, and few places are riper for that treatment than Florida. Her latest is about a ghostwriter who returns to the Sunshine State after an unspecified pandemic and discovers that the neighbors are obsessively using a new VR device and that many people have gone missing.
This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud (Norton)
In the end, summer reading means whatever one is reading in the summer, and sometimes that means carving out time for a hefty literary event. Messud’s saga, which spans from 1940 to 2010, follows a pied-noir family exiled from Algeria during the country’s war for independence. The magnificent sentences and staggeringly deep characterizations are cause enough to save this for a week free of interruptions.
The Witches of Bellinas by J. Nicole Jones (Catapult)
A foggy seaside grove in Northern California provides the stage for Jones’s intriguing novel. Yes, there are witches; they’re members of a cult run by a tech guru and a wellness influencer. There’s also a dead body: the husband of the narrator, who gradually unfolds the mystery of what happened to each of them after they arrived in the witches’ idyll turned nightmare. Jones puts her snappy prose, incisive commentary, and natural storytelling chops on full display.
15 Black-Owned Bookstores to Support Right Now
You may have seen many anti-racist reading lists being shared in the past few weeks. We’ve compiled a list of Black-owned bookstores from across the country, most of which offer online orders, so that you can support Black-owned businesses while educating yourself. This list is by no means exhaustive—please comment and tell us which bookstores we should add!
Ashay by the Bay
One of the best Black children’s bookstores.
Location: Vallejo, CA
Owner: Deborah Day
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: African History Collection (list)
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Beyond Barcodes Bookstore
Books, coffee, community.
Location: Kokomo, IN
Owner: DeAndra Beard
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: Revolutionary Gardening (list)
The Black Reserve Bookstore
Location: Lansdale, PA
Owner: Shaykh Anwar Muhammad
Online orders: No
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Brain Lair Books
Difficult conversations in a fun place.
Location: South Bend, IN
Owner: Kathy Burnette
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: Pride (list)
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Cafe con Libros
An intersectional feminist community bookstore and coffee shop.
Location: Brooklyn, New York, NY
Owner: Kalima DeSuze
Online orders: Yes
Book clubs: Womxn of Color | Feminists
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Enda’s Booktique
Books written by, for, and about women.
Location: Duncanville, TX
Owner: Enda Jean Pemberton Jones
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: SHElf Empowerment (list)
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Eyeseeme African American Children’s Bookstore
Committed to increasing childhood literacy and promoting multicultural literature.
Location: University City, MO
Owners: Jeffrey & Pamela Blair
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: AntiRacist Collection (list)
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Frugal Bookstore
Changing minds one book at a time.
Location: Roxbury, MA
Owners: Leonard & Clarissa Egerton
Online orders: Yes
Connect: Facebook
Harriett’s Bookshop
Celebrating women authors, artists, and activists.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Owner: Jeannine A. Cook
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
The Lit. Bar
The only bookstore currently serving the Bronx.
Location: The Bronx, New York, NY
Owner: Noëlle Santos
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: Dear White People (list)
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Loyalty Bookstore
Centering Black, PoC, and Queer voices.
Locations: Washington, D.C. & Silver Spring, MD
Owner: Hannah Oliver Depp
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: Social Distance Reading (list)
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
MahoganyBooks
An award-winning bookstore that sells books for, by, and about people of the African Diaspora.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Owners: Derrick & Ramunda Young
Online orders: Yes
Recommended reading: Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington
Book club: MahoganyBooks & Very Smart Brothas
Marcus Books
The oldest independent Black bookstore in the country.
Location: Oakland, CA
Online orders: In progress—stay tuned
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Mocha Books
Creating a path to visibility for BIPOC indie writers.
Location: Tulsa, OK
Owner: Shionka McGlory
Online orders: Yes
Book club: Youth Book Club
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Turning Page Bookshop
Spreading love for good books and giving back to the community.
Location: Goose Creek, SC
Owners: Valinda Miller & Arrylee Satterfield
Online orders: Yes
Connect: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
The Best Books of 2019
The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, the end of the year (and the decade) is fast approaching, and it seems like everywhere you turn, another publisher or media outlet is releasing their list of the best books of last year. Overwhelmed by choices? We’ve compiled the best lists of the best books, highlighting some titles that are especially popular below. Enjoy!
Fiction
Girl, Woman, Other
Each chapter in this Booker Prize–winning novel follows the life of a different character living in the UK.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
by Ocean Vuong
Vuong’s debut novel chronicles the struggles of a refugee family in epistolary form.
Lot: Stories
Washington’s debut short fiction collection tracks a young, gay, black narrator across Houston, intertwining his stories with those of the city.
Trust Exercise
by Susan Choi
The winner of the National Book Award, this coming-of-age novel examines trust between characters as well as between author and reader.
Nonfiction
Midnight in Chernobyl
A detailed and chilling history of the infamous nuclear accident and the circumstances that made it nearly inevitable.
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion
Tolentino, a staff writer for the New Yorker, examines internet culture, modern feminism, millenial lifestyles and more with a critical and curious eye.
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States
A thoughtful and thorough examination of American expansionism and exploitation.
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
A guide to online English by a self-described internet linguist.
Memoir
In the Dream House
Machado combines memoir and criticism in this genre-bending account of domestic abuse.
How We Fight for Our Lives
by Saeed Jones
In his first book of prose, Jones tells his story of growing up black and gay with powerful and poetic language.
Solitary
Know My Name
The New York Times
Times Critics’ Top Books of 2019
The Best Crime Novels of the Year
The 25 Best Children’s Books of 2019
Times Critics’ Top Art Books of 2019
The 2019 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books
The Washington Post
The Best Thrillers and Mysteries of 2019
The Best Romance Novels of 2019
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2019
The Best Children’s Books of 2019
The Best Poetry Collections of 2019
50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2019
50 Notable Works of Fiction in 2019
The Best Graphic Novels, Memoirs and Story Collections of 2019
The New Yorker
NPR
Maureen Corrigan’s Best Books of 2019
The Best Science Books of 2019
Vox
The 15 Best Books We Read This Year
Smithsonian
The 10 Best History Books of 2019
The 10 Best Books About Travel of 2019
The 10 Best Books About Food of 2019
Indie Bookstore Road Trip Reaches Loganberry Books
Our cross country indie bookstore road trip brought us to the doorstep of the amazing Loganberry Books. What a surprise to step into this independently owned and operated shop to find its inviting spaces unfold like rooms in a dream. Just when you think this library-like bookstore of over 100,000 volumes could not be any larger, another archway appears, welcoming you a reading nook with a beckoning armchair.
Located in the historic Larchmere neighborhood of Cleveland, Loganberry Books has been offering new, used and rare books of all genres to readers and collectors for over 30 years. In addition, they offer a full schedule of events to the community including author signings, old time radio shows, discussion groups, open mics and book collecting forums facilitated by the bookstore’s founder, Harriet Logan. Can’t remember the name of a book? Submit your mystery to the store’s “Stump the Bookseller” blog.
This year in honor of Women’s History Month, Loganberry made a powerful symbolic gesture by flipping every male-authored book in the fiction room so that its spine faced inward, leaving only the female authored titles visible. According to owner Harriet Logan, the result not only revealed the gender gap in publishing, but also brought more focus to works written by women.
My cohort Flannery James and I were gaga for Loganberry. You will be, too.
Continue reading “Indie Bookstore Road Trip Reaches Loganberry Books”
Mac’s Backs on Coventry Welcomes Indie Bookstore Adventure Seekers
Our indie bookstore road trip brought us to Mac’s Backs Books on Coventry, a vibrant literary and community hub in the heart of Cleveland Heights. Co-owner Suzanne DeGaetano acquainted us with the shop, offered suggestions of books she loves, and asked us what we were currently reading. We felt instantly at home.
Mac’s Backs began in 1978 when Jim McSherry bought a used bookstore in Chagrin Falls. The store moved briefly to Kent, Ohio before returning to Chagrin Falls where it became a popular book exchange and soon needed to expand to a second location. The Cleveland Heights store managed by Suzanne DeGaetano was opened in 1982 and has since had 3 locations on Coventry Road.
Mac’s began hosting poetry readings when poets Daniel Thompson and Dennis McDonnell needed a new venue for a reading series they sponsored. The readings have taken place on the 2nd Wednesday each month since 1984. Recent poetry readings featured Chris Franke and Terry Provost. The store offers a regular book club, (picks such as Elizabeth Strout and Audre Lorde), staff picks (such as Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jeanette Winterson and Mary Karr), and many signed books.
Fellow writers, you can count on Mac’s Backs to carry three excellent magazines, POETS & WRITERS, WRITER’S DIGEST and WORLD LITERATURE TODAY.
When you’ve had your fill of books, stroll to the adjacent Tommy’s Restaurant owned by Tommy Fello for excellent food and coffee. Continue reading “Mac’s Backs on Coventry Welcomes Indie Bookstore Adventure Seekers”
Bookstore Adventurers Discover Chicago’s Famous Indies
Our bookstore odyssey stopover in the Windy City brought us to Barbara’s Bookstore, a powerhouse indie with five locations in the Chicago area and one in Boston. Created over 50 years ago, Barbara’s offers a wide selection of fiction and nonfiction, including Chicago travel guides and history. Their excellent staff picks include SCIENCE IS CULTURE by Adam Bly, UNDER THE DOME by Stephen King, and GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD by a favorite author of mine, Michael Chabon. We visited the East Huron Street location downtown, and in honor of President Obama’s city, picked up one of his recommendations, THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu, consumed within 48 hours by my cohort Flannery James, who wholeheartedly seconds President Obama’s endorsement.
The first Barbara’s Bookstore opened on Wells Street in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood in the early 1960’s. It was a large, shambling, literary bookstore with creaky wood floors and dust dating back to the early 1950’s. The closest thing they had to a computer was a plug-in cash register, pen and paper and a staff that knew every book in the store by heart.
The retail book industry has changed dramatically in the five decades since Barbara’s beginnings. Along the way, Barbara’s discovered they could coexist with the huge national chains and thrive by finding unique locations and creating personal, full-service stores where you don’t expect to find them.
The chain encompasses two types of stores. There are large, neighborhood stores, called Barbara’s Bookstore and the smaller, ‘niche’ stores in high traffic locations like airports and hospitals called Barbara’s Bestsellers.
Barbara’s has earned a reputation in Chicago for high-quality inventory and informed service. They love books. Twice they have been named by the Chicago Tribune as one of the 100 best things about the city. The alternative newspaper, Newcity, has recognized Barbara’s author event schedule as the best in Chicago.
Chicago is home to many excellent longstanding indie bookstores, including Women & Children First specializing in feminist, lesbian, gay and children’s literature, the Seminary Co-op specializing in academic books of literary and scholarly interest, 57th Street Books which offers general interest fiction and nonfiction and children’s books, and Unabridged Bookstore, which features fiction, poetry, travel, LGBTQ and children’s literature. We wish we could visit them all, but alas the road calls. Cleveland, here we come!
Indie Bookstore Travelers Bask in Prairie Lights
When our indie bookstore cross-country odyssey brought us to the long awaited Prairie Lights in Iowa City, I thought I might not be able to extract my cohort Flannery James from her reading chair. Having attended the Iowa Young Writers Studio, she has deep affection for Prairie Lights, and who wouldn’t? This iconic bookstore features an ever-growing reading series, hosted both within the store and at a nearby theater. They attract bestselling authors on their book tours as well as the prestigious faculty of the Iowa Writers Workshop.
The deeply knowledgeable staff offers suggestions of must-reads as well ask kids picks . Book buyer Paul Ingram offers reading and book club suggestions at Paul’s Corner. We purchased THE PAPER MENAGERIE by Ken Liu.
Prairie Lights sprang to life in May 1978 as a small, intimate bookstore offering titles by the newer voices of Raymond Carver and Alice Munro and by established authors like Eudora Welty and George Orwell. As the staff and customers tended the books with care much like a garden, the store grew and blossomed. By 1982 Prairie Lights transplanted itself from South Linn St. to South Dubuque and has gradually spread to three and a half floors, the half being an 1100 square foot coffee house located in the same space that the local literary society met throughout the 1930’s, hosting writers Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, Sherwood Anderson, Langston Hughes, e e cummings and others. Today the Cafe features art installations, including works by Elizabeth Munger, Matthew Foster, Kenneth Hall, Thomas Agran, Sarah Bozaan and Heidi Zenisek.
The bookstore’s strength of reputation lies in the reading series of local, national and international writers who have read their works which were broadcast live on stations WSUI and WOI and which was the only regular literary series of its kind. Upcoming events include visits from Paul Harding, Joe Brisben, Z.P. Dala, Benjamin Percy, Inara Verzemnieks and Bernie Sanders.
Booklovers everywhere, consider Prairie Lights your mecca. For us, it was well worth the pilgrimage.
Indie Bookstore Sojourners Explore Bookworm of Omaha
Our cross-country indie bookstore odyssey brought us to the Bookworm of Omaha, Nebraska, my old stomping grounds. An independent family business owned and managed by Phillip and Beth Black, the Bookworm has served Omaha for more than 30 years, and recently moved to a new brightly lit spacious location on 90th and Center Street.
A full service bookstore, the Bookworm highlights local authors such as Bookworm employee Nancy Rips, who wrote several children’s books on Hanukkah. Their dedicated staff, some of whom are prior bookstore owners themselves, know books inside and out. A delightful children’s section offers a rocking chair and weekly “Wiggle Worm Story Time” for children 5 and under.
Books in the queue to be discussed by the store’s In-house and external book clubs include The Trial by Franz Kafka, Cinder, volume #1 of the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Janaway, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, Into Oblivion by Arnaldur Indridason, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shatterly. We purchased a staff pick, THE FISHERMAN by Chigozie Obioma, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize.
We appreciate the Bookworm’s warm hospitality and wish them well in their sparkling new location. As a former Omaha resident, I’m delighted to see the Bookworm’s growth and success.
Cross Country Indie Bookstore Road Trip Discovers Indigo Bridge Books
During our cross-country indie bookstore road trip, we happened upon Indigo Bridge Books located in the Creamery Building on P Street in Lincoln, Nebraska, a little bookstore with a mighty spirit. As the name suggests, the bookstore endeavors to help “bridge” divisions of neighborhoods, social classes, political ambitions, religious beliefs, ethnicity, national borders, and even languages. In the Lincoln community, Indigo Bridge is a voice for tolerance, inclusion and positive regard for fellow human beings and the planet. Their dynamic book club offerings include themes such as human rights and graphic novels.
The staff at Indigo Bridge loves to put thoughtful books into your hands. Their recent picks include three of my favorites, AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, WHAT IS NOT YOURS IS NOT YOURS by Helen Oyeyemi and THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt. They also offer an eclectic assortment of zines and books by local authors.
A cozy reading area offers a living room like feeling with rustic wooden tables, a bookshelf and piano. A delightful children’s section is graced by a tree sculpture made of hand-dyed canvas and jute twine designed by artist Toby Thomas. More of Thomas’s work can be found at http://tobythomas.com/.
Having studied creative writing at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln years ago with the wonderful Marly Swick, I wish Indigo Bridge had been around back then. The warm, personable staff sent us on our way with delicious mocha lattes from the café (all coffee proceeds go to good local causes). Indigo Bridge, a haven for all those seeking wise words and open hearts, is a bookstore with a mission.
8 Days, 9 States, 12 Bookstores, 2,500 Miles: The Tattered Cover in Denver
Our cross country bookstore odyssey landed us on the shores of the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. After losing each other among the multi-tiered landscape of this indie bookstore, each turn revealing yet another hidden alcove adorned with a wingback chair, antique fainting couch or rustic church pew, my daughter and I stumbled upon each other and simultaneously mouthed the same words, “I could live here!”
One of four Tattered Cover sites in Denver, the Colfax store resides in the historic Bonfils/Lowenstein Theater and retains the venue’s original charm, including travertine tiles, polished wood paneling and unique glass windows with cartouche designs. But the inviting ambiance of this place comes not only from its vaulted ceiling and vintage chandeliers. A distinct glow of warmth comes from the book-loving experts who work here, many of whom have been part of the Tattered Cover family for upwards of twenty years. Apparently we aren’t the only ones who, upon entering these doors, felt compelled to stay. These literary Sherpas stand ready and able to guide customers to their next reading adventure. Their book club and staff picks, sprinkled throughout the store as well as showcased in a special section, are backed up with personalized notes on why you might love a particular read. Along with new titles, staff favorites include books that were published years or decades ago, including two of my favorites, THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O’Brien and INTO THE WILD by Jon Krakauer. We purchased THE LUMINARIES by Eleanor Catton at an excellent discount price.
While we did not have time to visit all four locations in Denver, each has a reputation for expert staff and distinct flavor. Together, the venues host more than 500 events each year, including storytimes for kids (the children’s section was teeming) and readings by literary titans such as Amy Tan and Oliver Sacks. As if all this weren’t enough, baristas at the Tattered Cover Café are ready to cap off your visit with a selection of pastries, coffee and tea. We would have liked to set up camp among the old theater seats and reading lamps of this famous bookstore, but alas, the road calls. Tattered Cover, we shall return one day!
8 Days, 9 States, 12 Bookstores, 2,500 Miles: Poor Richard’s in Colorado Springs
Our cross country bookstore odyssey brought us to the indie bookstore gem Poor Richard’s Books & Gifts in Colorado Springs. The Bookstore specializes in good-condition, used books, including current books in 150 categories and classics in every field. They also stock a large variety of new books. For those looking for a particular title, Poor Richard’s places customer orders on a weekly basis. Book collectors will find a selection of rare, first-edition and collectible titles. They also carry Colorado trail guides, local and state maps, wildlife/flora books and artistic, funny and quirky postcards. Recent staff picks include THE HANDMAID’S TALE by Margaret Atwood and THE VEGETARIAN by Han Kang. While the adjacent Poor Richard’s cafe serves excellent food and coffee, the newly renovated rear section of the bookstore has library-like stacks and quiet chairs to curl up and read. We are grateful to the the friendly staff at Poor Richard’s for a lovely visit!
8 Days, 9 States, 12 Bookstores, 2,500 Miles: Next Page in Frisco
Our cross country bookstore road trip brought us to Next Page Books & Nosh in Frisco, Colorado, where we enjoyed vibrant ambiance, terrific book selection and delicious panini from the cafe. Located on “the Main Street of the Rockies,” this indie bookstore has an appealing display of books on Colorado nature, wildlife and hiking as well as a solid collection of fiction and nonfiction. We purchased a crossword puzzle book, fun socks and a Colorado mountain range deck of cards. The knowledgeable staff offers a thoughtful selection of book club picks. Current staff favorites include THE FLOOD GIRLS by Richard Fifield and COMMONWEALTH by Ann Patchett. We thank the friendly Next Page staff for a wonderful visit.
Bookstore Road Trip: 8 Days, 9 States, 2,500 Miles: Next Stop: Bookworm of Edwards
Today our cross country bookstore odyssey included the Bookworm of Edwards Colorado, part of the busy Riverwalk shopping center, which offers readers excellent book club and staff pick selections. Of these offerings, we purchased a First Edition signed copy of Roxane Gay’s compelling new memoir, HUNGER.
This little dynamo of an indie bookstore, founded in 1996, came from humble beginnings. It started in a retro-fitted van that traveled between coffee shops selling new books to “down-valley” readers. In 1997, a 700-square-foot store opened in Edwards Village Center. In 2002, Nicole Magistro was hired as a part-time bookseller, and, in 2005, she bought out one of the original owners. In 2007, the Bookworm moved to its current Riverwalk location (and opened the cafe), and it expanded again in 2010! Read the full story (with more details on store founders Kathy Westover and Neda Jansen, and cafe founder Kristi Allio) here.
Muse-Feed Road Trip: 8 Days, 9 States, 2,500 Miles: 1st Stop: King’s English in Salt Lake City
Muse-Feed is embarking on an 8-day cross country journey into the land of bookstores. Each day we will offer staff picks from some of the nation’s finest, most curated and eclectic booksellers. Our only frustration in planning this odyssey is that there are so many more wonderful bookstores we cannot reach in 8 short days. We may have to make it an annual event!
Betsy Burton and Anne Holman, booklovers always, have owned The King’s English in Salt Lake City since since 1977. Over the years, they’ve made it their mission to match books to readers and remember their reading preferences each time they visit the store. The bookstore offers book groups, events, staff picks, movies, music & gifts. In addition, they offer a newsletter called The Inkslinger filled with reviews of the staff’s favorite books and authors. There’s something for everyone—fiction, nonfiction and children’s books—plus a calendar of upcoming events, special features and author interviews. Of their excellent staff picks, we purchased a signed First Edition copy of THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS by Arundhati Roy. Additional staff picks include books by Margot Singer, Laura McBride, Derek B. Miller, Nina George, Francis Spufford, Jamie Harrison and Alexandra Fuller. We thank The King’s English for making our first bookstore stop a delightful one.
Muse-Feed Takes a Bookstore Road Trip
Muse-Feed is embarking on an 8-day cross country odyssey into the land of bookstores. Each day we will offer staff picks from some of the nation’s finest, most curated and eclectic booksellers. Our only frustration in planning this odyssey is that there are so many more wonderful bookstores we cannot reach in 8 short days. We may have to make it an annual event! Stay tuned.
Center for Fiction Essential Books for Writers
The Center for Fiction, founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library, is the only organization in the United States devoted solely to the vital art of fiction. Their mission is to encourage people to read and value fiction and to support and celebrate its creation and enjoyment. Their resources include an exceptional book collection, a beautiful reading room, an expanding website, and a growing array of creative programs that serve both readers and writers . They offer the following list of “Essential Books for Writers” with the caveat that what works for one writer may not work for the next. Check back as they continue to add books to the list and explore additional tools for writers on their website.
On Writing by Stephen King
Leave it to the literary rock star to compose a craft book that’s as entertaining as a good novel. “This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit,” Stephen King writes. What follows is a witty, practical, and sometimes poignant guide that is refreshingly devoid of the aforementioned BS. King relates his personal story of becoming a writer, then offers a “toolkit” of clear advice about everything from dialogue and descriptive passages to revisions and the head game. And there’s more: tips for beginning writers on submitting work for publication, a mark-up of one of King’s own manuscripts, and a reading list. You might not be awake at 3 a.m. turning these pages, but we promise On Writing will open your eyes to essential tricks of the trade. Continue reading “Center for Fiction Essential Books for Writers”