Dear Cellar Door community,

As a reminder, we're closely monitoring the quickly developing effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. On June 1st, we will continue to be open for phone orders and curbside pickup, and we'll return our hours of operation to Monday-Saturday, 10 am-6 pm.

We are also adding browse-by-appointment slots of 20 minutes maximum. You must call or email ahead of time to sign up for an appointment and receive confirmation of your appointment by Cellar Door staff. No walk-ins are permitted, and no one will be allowed inside without a properly worn mask and a healthy administration of hand sanitizer upon entrance (which we can provide). Children must be old enough to keep their masks on, and understand that touching is limited or be held in a parent's arms. You will not be in the store with more than two other book lovers at once. No in-store seating is available at this time. Thank you for your understanding and patience while we all navigate these difficult times!

As we carefully, thoughtfully step towards exercising more freedoms, I want to share with you a story, an unexpected gift. I visit my acupuncturist once a week to relieve back pain (it so helps!) and since his business has slowed a bit, he had been spending more time at home, as have his teenage daughter, son, and wife. Before COVID, his daughter had become a puzzle to him, but his wife had a good relationship with her, and so he took comfort in that. Early in the shelter-at-home order, his rules, his daughter was reading The Giver and asked her father to read it too. I wish I could convey the excitement with which he told me of their conversations, about society's rules, who makes decisions, what memory - even horrible memories - grant us, and the price of utopia. They read the entire series, and it opened a world of discussion, contemplation, understanding, and connection. Now his son has joined in on their conversations. I look forward each week to hearing his stories, but mostly to seeing the depth of happiness this connection has brought him. In light of this story, I've offered some titles (click the buttons below) for you and your families. There is much to discuss, history to bring to life, issues to understand, and what better way to do this than with a story and your children?

Lastly, how do I begin to thank you, all of you, who have shown such love and support for Cellar Door Bookstore during this crisis? We have all struggled financially, emotionally, and physically to figure out how to manage, and you reached out with kind words, orders, and respect for each other and the power of books. Rachelle Cruz, thank you for coming up with, reaching out to authors, hosting, and doing all of the work to make #cellardoorseries the great success it is! To all of our amazing authors - Liz Harmer, Rachelle Cruz, Isabel Quintero, Roxane Gay, and Nalo Hopkinson - if only I could borrow your word magic to express my gratitude - thank you! And to all of you who donated money to keep us afloat, your money went to buying over a thousand dollars of books which were distributed to families who were picking up food at one of our schools. You gave the gift of a book to a child who had no access during this crisis and helped Cellar Door! Thank you! To those whose orders took longer than we are accustomed to, thank you for understanding that everyone along the way to getting those books to you (publisher warehouses, UPS and USPS workers, booksellers, etc.) is trying to keep people safe. Finally, I want to thank my amazing booksellers who are putting themselves at risk to get books to our community.

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