An AbeBooks.com trick or treat gift profiles
the Haunted Bookshop in Iowa City, Iowa, a store that features a ghost
named Claire, "part of the team," according to owner Nialle Sylvan.
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The Massachusetts Attorney General has approved Nantucket's anti-chain store amendment to the town's zoning laws that passed at the April 3 Town Meeting, the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror reported. The Attorney General's needed to O.K. the measure before it could be enacted (Shelf Awareness, April 4).
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Earlier this month, Eso Won Books moved to Leimert Park Village in Los Angeles. The store's new address is 4331 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90008; 323-290-1048. For a picture of the grand-reopening party of the highly regarded African-American bookstore two weeks ago, click here.
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Cool idea of the day: The Book Cellar,
Chicago, Ill., is the "last but not least" stop on the
Lincoln Square Wine Stroll, which will be held Thursday evening and is
sponsored by the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce. The sold-out
stroll visits four spots besides the bookstore--a grill, a café, a
bistro and a wine store--and costs $35 for wine and hors d'oeuvres.
The Book Cellar, an elegantly designed store, includes a café that
besides wine, sells coffee, tea, sandwiches, baked goods and more. The
store has a range of gifts; some magazines and other periodicals; a
strong fiction section; other sections that include children's,
cookbooks
and wine, health, local subjects, travel and mystery; staff
recommendations; a lot of signed copies; and plenty of very inviting
seating. Founded in 2004 and owned by Susan Takacs, who previously
worked in nursing, the store is open every day, usually until 10 p.m.
And here's another cool idea from the Book Cellar: wine is available at half price during book club meetings. Sign us up!
The Book Cellar is located at 4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60625; 773-293-2665; bookcellarinc.com.
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Another bookseller-politician? David Unowsky, longtime owner of the former Hungry Mind/Ruminator Books bookstore, has filed paperwork to run for a St. Paul, Minn., city council seat next year, according to the Pioneer Press. Reportedly he is seeking Democratic and Green party backing.
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When Mitch Albom visited Seattle, Wash., two weeks ago to promote For One More Day, he stopped at the headquarters of Starbucks, which is selling the book in its thousands of outlets. According to the Seattle Times,
Albom read to 600 employees at Starbucks, then during the rest of one
long day, he answered questions from some 250 people at a local
Starbucks and read at a literary salon.
"It's a win-win situation," said Kim Ricketts, founder and owner of Kim
Ricketts Book Events, which organizes readings at Boeing, Starbucks,
Microsoft and public nonbookstore places in Seattle and San Francisco.
"When I organize an event at, say, Microsoft, those employees get to
hear about something they're interested in. The author gets an audience
with a group of people interested in what he's doing, and the publisher
gets a room full of people who are buying books."
But one bookseller said it isn't quite a full win-win situation. "I
know for a fact that there are bookstores out there that rely entirely
on their five big author events a year," Robert Sindelar, manager and
buyer at Third Place Books, told the Times. "If those big authors stop coming, they'll shut their doors."