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Open for Shipped Orders!
Our physical store is closed, but you can still get many books shipped to you directly from our warehouse. Here's how:
1. Only order titles with an inventory status of "Available at the Warehouse"
2. Select the "
UPS/USPS Ground Shipping"
option
3. Pay with a credit card
We are happy to fulfill other orders, but will not be able to process them until at least May 4. Other options: try
Indiebound.org
or
Bookshop.org
- keep it indie!
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“… the kind of novel that, once you're done, you may go visit while wandering though a bookstore and touch on the binding, just to remember the emotions you felt while reading it.”
– Aimee Bender
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In 1999 when I was a junior in college, I was majoring in Spanish and doing a horrible job of it. That same year, Steven Chbosky’s
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
came out, and my life was never the same. But Spanish. Somehow I convinced myself that studying Spanish, French, and Russian all at the same time was somehow a good idea. Spoiler alert: it was not. That February when I found myself buried in Spanish-language short stories, learning the conjugations of every French verb ever, and trying to figure out the Cyrillic alphabet, I stumbled across
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
. It had just come out that Tuesday, and my local indie bookstore (the venerable Village Books in Bellingham, Washington) had multiple copies faced out on the shelf. I bought it for the cove. When I got home that night, rather than working on my Spanish homework, I read
Perks
. When I finished, I started over and read it again. And when I finished it that time, I read it a third time.
Long story short, I failed Spanish.
But the very next term, I changed my major to English and I’ve never looked back.
To that end, I thought now might be a good time to share some of my all-time favorite books—the ones that I re-read over and over again. The ones where you just say, screw life, I’ve got a book to read, and you disappear into the pages. I’m often asked what I look for in a book (I also work in publishing), and my go-to response is to recall the movie
The Neverending Story
.
Here’s the trailer for ol’ times’ sake.
In it, the lead character Bastian skips his classes and secrets himself away in the school attic to read a book.
That’s
the kind of book we’re talking about here.
What are some of your favorite books to re-read?
Here’s my list.
-Carter @ PSB
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Don't miss our next virtual event!
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Jennifer Finney Boylan
with Jodi Picoult
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Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs: Memoir
We are so excited to present our event for Jennifer Finney Boylan's new memoir
Good Boy
in
virtual form
,
taking place on
Friday, April 24th at 7pm, right on your computer screen.
And Jennifer will be joined in conversation by no less than
Jodi Picoult!!
From bestselling author of
She’s Not There
,
New York Times
opinion columnist, and human rights activist Jennifer Finney Boylan,
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs
, is a memoir of the transformative power of loving dogs.
Good Boy
is a universal account of a remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman—accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. “Everything I know about love,” she writes, “I learned from dogs.” Their love enables us to pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves.
Professor
Jennifer Finney Boylan,
author of more than a dozen books, is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University. Her column “Men & Women” appears on the op/ed page of the
New York Times
on alternate Wednesdays. She serves on the Board of Trustees of PEN America. From 2011 to 2018 she served on the Board of Directors of GLAAD and also provided counsel for the TV series
Transparent
and
I Am Cait
. Her 2003 memoir,
She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders
was the first bestselling work by a transgender American. A novelist, memoirist, and short story writer, she is also a nationally known advocate for human rights. She lives in New York City, and in Belgrade Lakes, Maine, with her wife, Deedie. They have a son, Sean and a daughter, Zai.
Jodi Picoult
is the #1 bestselling author of twenty-five novels including
My Sister's Keeper
,
Nineteen Minutes
,
The Storyteller
,
Leaving Time
, the acclaimed #1 bestseller,
Small Great Things
, which explored the issues of power, privilege and race, and has sold more than 1.5 million copies. Picoult's most recent novel,
A SPARK OF LIGHT
., published on October 2, 2018, was her tenth consecutive instant #1 New York Times bestseller, and was praised as “Picoult at her fearless best” by the
Washington Post.
This event is free (although if you love us and want to support more virtual programming, you can contribute a few dollars!) and hosted on Crowdcast. Register at the link below!
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Featured Staff Pick for Adults
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Love Real Food by Kathryne Taylor
Full of very accessible but always interesting and flavorful vegetarian recipes. Lately I've been cooking from this book or the author's blog, Cookie and Kate, multiple times per week. My favorites are the sweet potato black bean enchiladas and chickpea tikka masala, both of which use a lot of pantry staples! --Katie
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We've been parted from one of our closest friends, Bear, for far too long. In an effort to close the distance and keep Bear apprised of our doings, the team sent our most heartfelt missives.
PSBTV is proud to present the epic 5-part documentary mini-series event of the Spring, "Letters to Bear." If you need a smile, we're pretty sure these will do the trick.
Letters to Bear, Episode the Third:
Meaghan and the World Outside Her Window
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Digital Audio Books:
A terrific way to support local indies!
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For all the latest on events, new books, reviews, and more for young and young-at-heart readers.
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Virtual Bookseller
Looking to get some good book recommendations, personalized
just for you?
Check out our Virtual Bookseller! Just fill out the form with your likes and dislikes, genres and favorites, and we'll crowdsource a bunch of great picks for you with our crack team of
real life
booksellers. Give it a whirl!
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Preorders are a great way to support PSB while we're not able to actually be at the store for two reasons:
- They bring in income now while the store is closed.
- We can deal with them later!
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You can see all of the books from the future we're excited about here.
But you can preorder more than just what we're excited for. Any book with an inventory status (who knew you'd have to get to know our online inventory statuses so well) of "Coming Soon--Available for Pre-Order Now" or "On the Horizon--Available for Pre-Order Now," is, uh, available for preorder now.
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Miss one of our bedtime stories? Or one of the tours of our libraries in the epic YouTube series PSB: Cribs? Good news! We've made playlists on YouTube so you can catch up on all of them.
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Are you missing out on our recommendations, pining for our Staff Pick display?? Our April crop of staff picks is now live on our website! We'll feature titles throughout the month, but you can browse the full list at the link below. As ever, all staff picks are 20% off - so go crazy!
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PSB Pets Recommend
We're staffed by some pretty savvy readers who make great recommendations. Sometimes, though, even we have to outsource it to the experts. Just chalk it up to their animal instincts.
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Like many of us, I have been spending more time on social media than ever, and while sometimes I tell myself I need to get off my phone and read, I’m also just letting myself have that time when I need it. My particular social media of choice tends to be Instagram, in part because for the last few years I have been very involved in what people call “bookstagram,” which is—you guessed it—a corner of Instagram devoted primarily to pictures of books. Right now, I’m finding a lot of joy in bookstagram because I like that it’s full of pretty pictures of books—my favorite thing! And full of people who want to talk about books with me! I may not be able to be in the bookstore talking about books right now, but I’m enjoying getting to talk to people online about them.
If you want more pretty pictures of books in your life, and a little interruption from constant news, head over to Instagram and search #bookstagram, #books, or any genres that you like (#yabooks, #kidlit, #romancenovels are all ones I like). You can also look up some of your favorite authors—one of my favorites, Maggie Stiefvater, has been posting rewritten segments of her books where she replaces parts of the texts with COVID-19 advice, and they’re pretty wonderful (you can look up #sociallydistancedravenboys for all the posts). I hope that you find some pictures of books in your life or find the chance to talk about books today. --
April
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Due to some technical difficulties, we weren't able to capture video of Kate's live reading from Beatrix Potter's
The Tailor of Gloucester
last night. You had to be there!
Speaking of storytimes you'll want to schedule your calendar around - starting tomorrow, PBS Kids & Penguin Random House are hosting Mondays with Michelle, where our beloved First Lady will be reading some of her favorite children's books. You can tune in on PBS Kid's
Facebook page
or
YouTube channe
l.
She'll be there reading live every Monday at noon for the next four weeks!
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And of course, don't forget to meet us over at our Instagram story at 8:45pm for tonight's live bedtime reading!
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Support Cafe Zing baristas!
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Although Cafe Zing is its own business separate from ours, we really don't see it that way: Zing workers are part of the Porter Square Books family. They keep us well supplied - very well supplied - with caffeine, kindness, and some great tunes. Sometimes they give us staff picks; sometimes we give them exact change because we've bought the same, perfect, comforting, delicious beverage twice a day five days a week for how long, now?
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Featured Staff Pick For Kids
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My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan and Francesca Sanna
With its tender, lyrical text, gorgeous illustrations, and fun die-cut windows on each page, this book is the perfect reminder that the earth keeps turning and spring will come again. Send it as an Earth Day present to someone you love, or pick it up for yourself and let it transport you to prairies, mountains, forests, and oceans. --
Kate
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We Want to Hear from You!
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What aesthetic touches on a book will make you swoon?
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Deckled edged, spray painted - I love it when the pages themselves have flair.
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Nothing like a leatherbound tome!
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Metallic cover touches--all that glitters, you know?
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An unexpected size - very small or extra large - always catches my eye.
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A gorgeous illustrated jacket - books are art!
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I thought we weren't supposed to be judging books by their covers?!
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Deacon King Kong by James McBride
“Deacon King Kong is a quintessential New York story. Set in the Brooklyn projects in 1969, a perpetually inebriated deacon called Sportcoat aims a gun at the neighborhood’s main drug dealer in the public plaza and pulls the trigger. Incredibly well-constructed and hilarious at times, McBride’s story entwines a number of storylines that are kickstarted by this central event. The local Italian gangster, the veteran cop, the meddling churchgoers, and the drug pushers all have their own agendas, hopes, and dreams that are affected. And though Sportcoat doesn’t remember his actions and is always under the influence of gut-rot moonshine, I couldn’t help but root for him as I was reading this. His delightful ineptitude and absence of clarity made this book impossible for me to put down. If you’ve never read McBride before, this is a great introduction.”
--Stuart McCommon, Novel.
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See you next time here at Shelf Stable!
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We'll get out our next issue as soon as we can. In the meantime, don't forget about all the other places you can catch up with us from afar, on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube
:
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25 White St. Cambridge, MA 02140
617-491-2220
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