Also, our Mother’s Day Goodie Bags were such a success that we’re going to continue to offer the same bags on an ongoing basis as
All-Occasion Goodie Bags
, which you can give people for graduation, teacher appreciation, birthdays, or just to say thanks. And we’ve add a new
Dad Bag
that's perfect for Father's Day!
Finally, we’ve also
launched a blog
. One of the main things that differentiates an independent bookstore from a Ginormous Online Bookstore is the passion that our staff brings to the business. People who work in indie stores are people who, for the most part, would rather read than do anything else. And the other thing they would rather do than anything else is to tell you, the customer—a fellow book-lover looking for your next great book—about whatever amazing book they’re reading now, or just finished reading, or read in third grade that completely changed the course of their lives.
Read on for more details about all these developments—and as always, read on!
Yours,
Nina
and here is a compact link for sharing:
|
|
A MIDWEST ADDRESS Event, co-sponsored with Evanston Public Library
Thursday, May 21, noon – 1 pm
REGISTRATION REQUIRED, CLICK LINK BELOW
|
|
The mesmerizing story of a Latin American science fiction writer and the lives her lost manuscript unites decades later in post-Katrina New Orleans,
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau
was published earlier this year to the kind of literary acclaim most debut authors only dream of getting:
It was named A
Library Journal
Best Winter/Spring Debut of 2020; A
Boston Globe
Most Anticipated Book of 2020; and a Best Book of February 2020 at
Salon, Lit Hub, Vol 1. Brooklyn,
and
Chicago Review of Books
. In its starred review,
Booklist
summed it up this way:
“In a lyrical tale spanning a century and veering from the colonized Caribbean to revolutionary Russia, from mid-twentieth-century Chicago to Katrina-besieged New Orleans, Zapata spins an iridescent web of grief, loss, and memory...A lush, spellbinding tale.”
Join us to find out more, as author Michael Zapata chats with
Chicago Tribune
reporter Christopher Borrelli.
|
|
Michael Zapata is a founding editor of the award-winning
MAKE
Literary Magazine. He is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Award for Fiction; the City of Chicago DCASE Individual Artist Program award; and a Pushcart Nomination. As an educator, he taught literature and writing in high schools servicing dropout students. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa and has lived in New Orleans, Italy, and Ecuador.
|
|
Christopher Borrelli is a
Chicago Tribune
features reporter/columnist whose subjects include shadow puppet theater, acclaimed authors and cartoonists, Godzilla and people who hoard copies of “Jerry Maguire.” Before joining the
Tribune
in 2008 he was the film critic at the
Toledo Blade
. He grew up in Rhode Island and lives in Rogers Park.
(Note: Before the COVID crisis struck, we had planned to launch a monthly reading series with Evanston Public Library called the Midwest Address, which would highlight new books in all genres by writers from our region. Our planned inaugural events had to be cancelled, unfortunately, but going forward we’ll be incorporating at least one Midwest Address event per month into our regular Thursday series, starting with this one.)
|
|
|
Literary Lunchbreak with Michael Zapata
|
|
|
DATE AND TIME
05/21/20
12:00pm -
05/21/20
1:00pm
Everyone who registers for this Literary Lunchbreak will be emailed the event's Zoom URL before the event.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, May 28, noon – 1 pm
REGISTRATION REQUIRED, CLICK LINK BELOW
|
|
Fury: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Trump Era
brings together a diverse community of women who reveal the impact Donald Trump’s behavior, words, and presidency has had on each one of them, how each is confronting the problem, and how she is fighting back. In a nutshell, they see Donald Trump as an affront to the entire feminine ethos of caring: He is the ultimate self-aggrandizing, toxic male who will always act on his own behalf, and as a public health danger to women, emotionally. This anthology aims to help readers feel less alone, work through some of their own hurt and pain, and formulate a plan for what they can do to bring about an end to the Trump presidency. Join us for short sample readings by five of the contributors—including editor
Amy Roost, Dawn Marlan, Suzanne Clores, Lea Grover and Evanstonian Dina Elenbogen
—and pose your questions and comments in the chat Q&A that follows.
|
|
|
Literary Lunchbreak with Featured authors from the Fury Anthology
|
|
|
DATE AND TIME
05/28/20
12:00pm -
05/28/20
1:00pm
Everyone who registers for this Literary Lunchbreak will be emailed the event's Zoom URL before the event.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We’ve created
the blog
as a way for the staff to try to stay in touch with you: to let you know what books we’re reading, what authors we’re admiring, what other bookstore’s we’re admiring and what kinds of things we chat about with other booksellers.
We’re launching the new Bookends & Beginnings blog at a moment, during the COVID-19 crisis, when one of the hardest things for us is foregoing those conversations with you. We are working very hard right now to make sure the books you order get shipped out to you, but what we’re not doing every day that we miss incredibly is actually talking to you about books. Check it out, bookmark it, and look forward to more regular updates!
|
|
There are only a few days left to order
our limited run of B&B hoodies, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and tote bags
,
which will let you show your pride in us as your favorite local indie bookstore, while actually providing financial support for our operations during these difficult months. We can't wait to see you model them in person when we open the doors again! Plus if you get the tote bag, you can come fill it up with books as soon as we open our doors again! These shirts and tote bags will only have a limited-edition run,
so order by May 15
and you'll have a collector's item forever!
|
|
May Staff Recommendations
|
|
 |
by Sally Gardner
This is such a fun, quirky book in which a little girl goes on a grand adventure with her parents, a tiger, and his circus troupe. Betsy is the daughter of an ice-cream maker and a mermaid. She discovers that a certain berry picked at the right time will make wishes come true. The book is printed in Dyslexie in order to make reading easier and a more positive experience for those with dyslexia! Great for fans of Norton Juster's
The Phantom Tollbooth.
-Lotte
|
|
|
|
by Elena Ferrante
A collection of short essays Ferrante wrote over the course of 2018 that cover a vast range of topics, from motherhood to addiction to writing and beyond. Most of the essays stay true to the collection's name, in that they have a rather spontaneous quality, but Ferrante is such a capable writer that reading her musings is always an interesting and illuminating endeavor. It is in the nature of the form that some of the ideas are less developed, but even Ferrante’s less developed is worth reading. Her prose is so effortlessly compelling that I would consider reading through her old shopping lists to see what literary gold can be gleaned from them.
-George
|
|
|
|
|
by Mark O'Connell
It may be a weird time to be reading this, but my tastes have always run towards the eschatological. This is a funny and fascinating read for anyone who feels a sense of creeping dread about the future. O'Connell travels the world, talking to doomsday preppers, right wing conspiracists, luxury bunker salesmen, and Silicon Valley billionaires who are alternatively buying land in New Zealand to prepare for the collapse of civilization and trying to colonize Mars. It's an intriguing mix of investigation and personal introspection, and is ultimately strangely hopeful. I read it all in two sittings because I couldn't put it down!
-Brooke
|
|
|
|
by Svenja O'Donnell
What about the Germans who weren’t ideological Nazis? The ones who just tried to keep leading “normal” lives by pretending not to notice that a madman was leading them deeper into disaster every day? This compelling story by a journalist reconstructing her grandmother’s life under Hitler is fascinating in its own right, but even more so for how it resonates in today’s political climate.
-Nina
|
|
|
|
And here's what you could be reading
(and ordering online from us!)
|
|
Walter Thompson-Hernandez
|
|
|
|
Pre-order these books and get them when they're released!
|
|
Kathleen Rooney
August 11, 2020
|
|
Tamsyn Muir
August 4, 2020
|
|
Ottessa Moshfegh
June 23, 2020
|
|
Suzanne Collins
May 19, 2020
|
|
Katharine McGee
September 1, 2020
|
|
Bethany C. Morrow
June 2, 2020
|
|
|
|
Thomas Frank
July 14, 2020
|
|
Lindsay Ellis
July 21, 2020
|
|
Bookends & Beginnings
is a community-centered and community-sustained, full-service, general-interest independent bookstore, now in our sixth calendar year. We are a member of the Chicago Independent Bookstore Alliance (
ChIBA
), the Great Lakes Independent Bookstore Association (
GLIBA
), and the American Booksellers Association (
ABA
). Show your support by shopping in our store (and
other Chicago-area independent bookstores
), by trading in or donating books of quality and in good condition, by bringing your local and out-of-town friends and family to shop with us, by attending our events, and by "liking" us on
Facebook
and posting reviews on other social media. Remember that you can always see event photos and news updates on
our Facebook page
, which is updated almost daily. There you can also subscribe to our events feed with a single click.
Above all, keep reading good books!
|
|
|
|
Bookends & Beginnings
1712 Sherman Avenue Alley #1
Evanston, Illinois
224-999-7722
RSVP for events to
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
