First off, an enormous thank you to everyone who's come to us for books in the past days and weeks! We've seen a huge increase in orders--so much so that we're a bit behind. Please be patient as we work to catch up.
Meanwhile, we're back with some suggestions, some great author events, and some whether you're shopping for yourself or for Father's Day. And if these don't tickle your fancy, we'd love to make more suggestions. Give us a call any day from 10am to 3pm at 651/225-8989, and we'll get you reading right away.
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Call for writers!
Black Writers Open Mic
Monday June 15th from 6pm-8pm
Next Chapter Booksellers has always prided ourselves on being a place for new and emerging writers to find an audience. To amplify the voices of our black community members, we will host a virtual open mic on Monday June 15th from 6pm-8pm.
riley[at]nextchapterbooksellers.com.
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Books to Inform, Educate, Activate
It's never been more critical to learn about and reflect upon issues of race and social justice. Here is a brief list of books to consider.
In light of recent events, many of these titles are flying out of the store and out of publishers' warehouses. Simply put, it may take longer than normal to get you your book. Place your order now, and we'll get your books to you as soon as possible.
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IF YOU ONLY READ ONE BOOK THIS MONTH...
“Sun Yung Shin has brought together a collection of passionate literary warriors whose fierceness is equaled and at times surpassed only by their love of community, and of us, the people for whom they speak. The unburdening that takes place here is specific and yet representative. Either way it is heavy. Deep. You will not be able to read this book without changing. Minnesota will never be the same.”—Alexs Pate, author and president, Innocent Technologies, LLC
In this provocative book, sixteen of Minnesota's best writers provide a range of perspectives on what it is like to live as a person of color in one of the whitest states in the nation. They give readers a splendid gift: the gift of touching another human being's inner reality, behind masks and veils and politeness.
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June's virtual book readings
Meet great authors in the comfort of your own home.
We have several new events to announce since our last email. Leslie Lavery's discussion of teacher's unions is tonight. We're looking at LGBTQI history on Friday, and next week authors take you to Deadwood and Washington DC.
It's easy to join us for these readings. Register in advance (links are below), and you'll get a reminder email on the day of the event. Click and join and enjoy!
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Lesley Lavery discusses
A Collective Pursuit Teachers' Unions and Education Reform-
-Thursday, June 4th, 7:00pm
Teachers’ unions are the organizations responsible for safeguarding the conditions of teachers’ employment. Union supporters claim strong synergies between teachers’ interests and students’ interests, but critics of unions insist that the stance of teachers in collective bargaining may disadvantage students as unions reduce the power of administrators to manage, remove, reward or retain excellent teachers.
In
A Collective Pursuit
, Lesley Lavery unpacks how teachers’ unions today are fighting for contracts that allow them to earn a decent living and build “schools all students deserve.” She explains the form and function of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions. Lavery then explores unionization campaigns in the Twin Cities charter schools. also examines teacher strikes and contract negotiations, school finance and finance reform, and district and union attempts to address racial achievement gaps, to provide a context for understanding the economic, political, and demographic forces that inspire teachers to improve conditions for students.
A Collective Pursuit
, emphasizes that while teachers’ unions serve a traditional, economic role, they also provide a vast array of valuable services to students, educators, parents, and community members.
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Award-winning historian Eric Cervini presents
The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America
--Friday, June 5th, 6:30pm
In 1957, Frank Kameny, a rising astronomer working for the U.S. Defense Department in Hawaii, received a summons to report immediately to Washington, D.C. The Pentagon had reason to believe he was a homosexual, and after a series of humiliating interviews, Kameny, like countless gay men and women before him, was promptly dismissed from his government job. Unlike many others, though, Kameny fought back.
Based on firsthand accounts, recently declassified FBI records, and forty thousand personal documents, The Deviant's War unfolds over the course of the 1960s, as the Mattachine Society of Washington, the group Kameny founded, became the first organization to protest the systematic persecution of gay federal employees. It traces the forgotten ties that bound gay rights to the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism, and trans resistance. Above all, it is a story of America (and Washington) at a cultural and sexual crossroads; of shocking, byzantine public battles with Congress; of FBI informants; murder; betrayal; sex; love; and ultimately victory.
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Jennifer Chiaverini presents
Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters-
-Monday, June 8th, 7:00pm
The
New York Times
bestselling author of
Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker
returns to her most famous heroine, Mary Todd Lincoln, in this compelling story of love, loss, and sisterhood rich with history and suspense.
In May 1875, Elizabeth Todd Edwards reels from news that her younger sister Mary, former First Lady and widow of President Abraham Lincoln, has attempted suicide.
Mary’s shocking act followed legal proceedings arranged by her eldest and only surviving son that declared her legally insane. Although they have long been estranged, Elizabeth knows Mary’s tenuous mental health has deteriorated through decades of trauma and loss. Yet is her suicide attempt truly the impulse of a deranged mind, or the desperate act of a sane woman terrified to be committed to an asylum? And—if her sisters can put past grievances aside—is their love powerful enough to save her?
Maternal Elizabeth, peacemaker Frances, envious Ann, and much adored Emilie had always turned to one another in times of joy and heartache, first as children, and later as young wives and mothers. But when Civil War erupted, the conflict that divided a nation shattered their family. The Todd sisters’s fates were bound to their husbands’ choices as some joined the Lincoln administration, others the Confederate Army.
Now, though discord and tragedy have strained their bonds, Elizabeth knows they must come together as sisters to help Mary in her most desperate hour.
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Mary Logue talks about
The Streel: A Deadwood Mystery
--Tuesday, June 9th, 7:00pm
From “the reigning royalty of Minnesota murder mysteries” (The Rake) comes a striking new heroine: a young Irish immigrant caught up in a deadly plot in nineteenth-century Deadwood
Mary Logue brings her signature brio and nerve to this story of a young Irish woman turned reluctant sleuth as she tries to make her way in a strange and often dangerous new world. Logue’s new thriller conjures the romance and the perils, and the tricky everyday realities, of a young immigrant surviving by her wits and grace in nineteenth-century America.
Mary Logue has published thirteen mysteries, nine in the Claire Watkins series, as well as poetry and young adult nonfiction and fiction, including the novel Dancing with an Alien (an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age) and the best-selling
Sleep like a Tiger
, which won a Caldecott and a Zolotow honor award. She has taught at Hamline University in St. Paul and lives on both sides of the Mississippi River, in Minnesota and Wisconsin, with writer Pete Hautman.
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Outside the Margins: A Speculative Fiction Book Club discusses
The Taiga Syndrome
by Cristina Rivera Garcia--Sunday, June 28, 4
:00pm
Fairy tale meets detective drama in this David Lynch-like novel by a writer Jonathan Lethem calls "one of Mexico's greatest...we are just barely beginning to catch up to what she has to offer."
A fairy tale run amok,
The Taiga Syndrome
follows an unnamed female Ex-Detective as she searches for a couple who has fled to the far reaches of the earth. A betrayed husband is convinced by a brief telegram that his second ex-wife wants him to track her down--and that she wants to be found. He hires the Ex-Detective, who sets out with a translator into a snowy, hostile forest where strange things happen and translation betrays both sense and one's senses.
Tales of Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood haunt the Ex-Detective's quest, though the lessons of her journey are more experiential than moral: that just as love can fly away, sometimes unloving flies away as well. That sometimes leaving everything behind is the only thing left to do.
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Curbside pickup continues
As much as we miss you, we're not ready for browsing. We are continuing to develop a plan for reopening, but we're not there yet.
We continue to get books out via USPS, home delivery (within St Paul, for orders over $50), and curbside pickup.
- Curbside pickup is available 10am to 3pm daily.
- Call us at 651/225-8989 a few minutes before you arrive at the store.
- We’ll put your order on the small table outside our front door.
Fine print: All orders must be paid for in advance (either online or by phone). We cannot accept payment at the time of pickup.
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Thanks for reading all the way to the end.
We've got lots more great books in the store. We hope you'll talk to us soon for a recommendation.
Follow us on social media for the latest news. We’re Next Chapter Booksellers on
Facebook
; we’re @nextchapterbooksellers on
Instagram
; and we’re @NextChapterMN on
Twitter
.
--all of us at Next Chapter Booksellers
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