Showing posts with label book stores. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book stores. Show all posts
Friday, July 19, 2013
25 Independent Bookstores
Friday, April 26, 2013
Welcome To Malvern Books
Malvern Books is the bookstore blog of a bookstore that does not yet exist. Confused? Pull up a comfy chair and please allow me to explain…
Once upon a time—1987, to be precise—a couple of literary enthusiasts from Austin, Texas, founded a company called Host Publications. Host specialized in publishing literature in translation, and their catalog quickly grew to resemble the reading list of a United Nations book club: there was poetry from Chile and Serbia; short story collections from Italy and Mexico; novels from Brazil and Switzerland. Introducing these international voices to an American audience was fun and frustrating in equal measure. Fun, because what book nerd wouldn't relish the chance to acquaint people with amazing stuff they'd never heard of? And frustrating, because finding a home for your beloved small press babies is hard. Really hard. Independent bookstores were having a tough time—hello giant retail chains, e-books, and the recession—and previously adventurous booksellers began to retreat to their safe place: maybe if I replace my Obscure European Poetry section with a life-size cardboard cutout of Christian Grey, everything will be okay? The good people at Host tried every marketing trick in the book (including, but not limited to, free cookies), but they kept hearing the same thing: looks good, but it's not for us.
So what's a small press enthusiast to do? Give up on indie publications and start sifting through the slush pile for a touching memoir about a psychic Labradoodle? As they say in Texas: nu-uh! In the spirit of “I MUST BE DAFT,” one of Host's founders, Joe W. Bratcher III, decided to take the exciting but fiscally whimsical step of opening his very own bookstore. It had been a longtime dream, and one that I'm sure is familiar to many of us book lovers. (In my I-own-a-bookstore dream, there's a marmalade cat asleep on an overstuffed armchair in the corner, and I'm hanging out behind the counter making small talk with a curmudgeonly regular—I call him Mr. Peabody, and he has very definite views about the weather—and the whole place smells of new books and fresh coffee and… tranquility?) Joe wanted to open a store that thumbed its nose at Fifty Shades and instead stocked only the very best poetry, fiction, and journals from small, independent, utterly awesome presses. And he also wanted to provide a welcoming community space for literary enthusiasts—a venue for nightly readings and performances. And thus, buoyed by the cheering news that many independent bookstores have been experiencing increased sales of late, Malvern Books was born, and a brand spanking new bookstore will soon be opening its doors to Austinites…
But not yet. Not quite yet. Because it turns out opening a bookstore takes time. There's a site to find, a lease to sign, shelves to stock, and horrifying accounting software to
My name is Tracey, and I'm the lucky so-and-so that has the job of writing for Malvern Books, our irreverent internet presence. (The briefest of back-stories: I used to work for Host Publications, and have a background as a writer and editor. And I'm originally from New Zealand, which means you'll have to forgive my incomprehensible slang and my fondness for Vegemite.) We wanted to get the blog up and running as soon as possible, because we thought people might be interested in hearing more about the process of setting up a new bookstore. And, because I am a somewhat random human being, I also thought lit-geeks might be interested in reading about embarrassing library visits, a teenage crush on Kafka, and my penchant for crying in art galleries.
Yes sirree, we cover a wide range of topics on the Malvern Books blog. My brief was blessedly vague—“write about arty stuff, and don't be dull!”—and I'm happy to run with that. We write about books, movies, TV, and art. We write about the horrors of the book conference and the wonders of Janet Frame. And we even have a heavy metal correspondent, Joe's son Adam, who really knows his Megadeth from his Mastodon. Once the store has its grand opening in September, the blog will also be the place to go for event listings, special offers, local literary happenings, and bookstore gossip (so if you plop your leaking coffee cup down on top of a fresh stack of Smartish Pace journals, well, you can expect to be publicly shamed).
We hope you'll stop by and say hello—first at the blog, and then at the bookstore. We really look forward to meeting all you lovely book people. And though the prospect of launching Malvern Books might make some people as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs (I told you we was Texas), we're not-so-quietly confident that the Austin literary scene will welcome a little new energy and a big new venue (1900 square feet!), and that the blogosphere will make room for one more voice—even if it does have a peculiar Kiwi/Lone Star twang.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
Featured titles new to St. Mark's this week
New York, New York 10003
Tel: 212-260-7853
Fax: 212-598-4950
Open Monday through Saturday
from 10 am to Midnight
Sundays from 11 am to Midnight
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Greenlight Bookstore at BAM
Greenlight Bookstore, Fort Greene's much-loved independently owned bookseller, brings a curated selection of books and BAM gifts to BAM lobbies during live performances. For a full selection of merchandise, visit Greenlight Bookstore just a few blocks from BAM (686 Fulton St) or greenlightbookstore.com, where BAM members receive 20% off.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK AT THE DRAMA BOOK SHOP
This summer, The Public and The Drama Book Shop are teaming up to fill your summer with Shakespeare!
Visit The Drama Book Shop at 250 West 40th Street, NYC for a closer look at Shakespeare in the Park 2011.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Welcome to bookbook’s web-site
Formerly known as Biography Bookshop
We are located at 266 Bleecker Street between 6th & 7th Avenues in Greenwich Village
Telephone: 212-807-8655 or 212-807-0180
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Central Booking
A space in DUMBO, Brooklyn, NYC, focusing on artist's books and prints and their integration into the larger art world.
111 Front Street
Gallery 210
Brooklyn, NY 11201
347-731-6559
Gallery 210
Brooklyn, NY 11201
347-731-6559
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
NYC INDIE BOOKSTORES
MANHATTAN
Alabaster Bookshop (used)
Archivia Books (design)
Argosy Book Store (rare)
Bank Street Books (kids)
Bauman Rare Books (rare)
Bluestockings (activist)
Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks (food)
Bookberries (general)
Bookbook (biography)
Book Culture (general)
Books of Wonder (kids)
Chartwell Booksellers (general/rare/Churchilliana)
Choices (spiritual)
The Complete Traveller (vintage travel)
The Corner Bookstore (general)
Crawford Doyle Booksellers (general)
Dashwood Books (photography)
The Drama Book Shop (theater)
East West Living (spiritual)
Fashion Design Books (fashion)
Globe Trippin (general)
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe (used)
Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe (black studies)
Idlewild Books (travel)
Imperial Fine Books (leatherbound)
J.N. Barfield (rare)
John McWhinnie (art)
Kitchen Arts & Letters (food)
Left Bank Books (new/used)
Libreria Caliope (Spanish)
Logos Bookstore (Judeo-Christian)
McNally Jackson Books (general)
Mercer Street Books (new/used)
Mysterious Bookshop (mystery)
192 Books (general)
Partners & Crime Mystery Booksellers (mystery)
Penn Books (general)
Posman Books (general)
Potterton Books (design)
The Quest Bookshop (spiritual)
Revolution Books (revolutionary)
Rizzoli Bookstore (general)
Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers (general)
Sister's Uptown Bookstore (black studies)
Skyline Books (used)
St. Mark's Bookshop (general)
Strand Book Store (new/used)
Taschen Store (art/fashion/design)
Three Lives & Company (general)
Traveler's Choice Bookstore (travel)
United Nations Bookshop (international)
Urban Center Books (architecture/design/urbanism)
Ursus Books (art)
Westsider Books (used/rare)
BROOKLYN
Atlantic Bookshop (used/rare)
Babbo's Books (new/used)
BookCourt (general)
The BookMark Shoppe (general)
Brownstone Books (general)
The Community Bookstore (general)
Freebird Books (used)
Greenlight Bookstore (general)
Joanne Hendricks, Cookbooks (food)
Melville House (general)
powerHouse Arena (art/fashion/pop culture)
Pranga Bookstore (new/used)
Rocketship (graphic novels/comics)
Spoonbill & Sugartown, Booksellers (new/used)
WORD (general)
QUEENS
Seaburn Bookstore (general)
STATEN ISLAND
Clove Lake Book Store (general)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Discover Great New Writers
Barnes & Noble Booksellers offers seasonal picks highlighting the most impressive new works published each season. Here are four of the Fall 2009 book selections.
A newly widowed woman faces the harsh reality of her husband’s infidelity in this enthralling memoir.
Fans of Irvine Welsh and Roddy Doyle will find themselves immersed in this tale of John Devine, a young Irish boy.
This involving biography follows the remarkable life of African naturalist Joan Root, whose conservation work ended in tragedy.
The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas
Life in Venezuela is vividly portrayed in this novel, told in several voices, of a young girl’s disappearance.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Proust and Pynchon
How can a book trader admit they have never heard of Marcel Proust?
The conversation went like this...
the shopper (me): Do you have any books by Proust?
the store owner: Who?
the shopper: Marcel Proust
the store owner: Is he a philosopher?
the shopper: He's usually categorized under literature or classic literature.
the store owner: What has he written?
the shopper: Remembrance of Things Past
the store owner: I never heard of him, is he modern?
the shopper: Never mind. Do you have any books by Pynchon?
the store owner: (walking over to the science fiction section) Who?
the shopper: Thomas Pynchon
the store owner: Never heard of him either. Sorry.
the shopper: Thanks anyway.
I have been trying to downsize my library this summer and randomly frequenting various book traders in New Jersey. Believe it or not, there are only a handful and they are too picky or a rip off. Unfortunately, most store owners are also way too pretentious to be of any help or completely clueless. The above conversation is an example of the later.
Why is it that Proust and Pynchon, who are constantly mentioned in the literary world, are unknown to this store owner? Both names rolled off my tongue like Hemingway and Faulkner and I was flabbergasted when I received a "deer in the headlights" stare from this so called reader. I almost wished she were arrogant and corrected my pronunciation of Proust. A few years back a book trader did just that and I thought I was going to throw a shelf of books on him. So, my quest for the perfect book trader continues. One both educated about their product and willing to give at least a dollar credit for a hard cover trade in. Happy reading!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
New & Used Books
Spoonbill & Sugartown, Booksellers, specializes in Used, Rare and New books on Contemporary Art, Architecture and various Design fields, with an emphasis on Imported or hard-to-find — but we also hand pick thousands of good books every month for our voracious clientele. We stock Literature, Philosophy, Cinema, Magazines and even baby-books, but the most significant factor here is the element of serendipity: you never know what you might find. Spoonbill & Sugartown, Booksellers was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 1999. We pride ourselves on the books we offer, but our greatest achievement can be seen in the eyes and heard in the testimonies of our loyal customers.
Bank Street Bookstore
Broadway and 112th Street
New York, NY 10025
212.678.1654
Books for children, teachers, parents as well as cassettes, videos, CD-ROMs, educational games. NY's Best Bookstore For & About Children
Monday, April 13, 2009
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