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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 April 7. Other options: try
Indiebound.org
or
Bookshop.org
- keep it indie!
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“Generally speaking, books don't cause much harm. Except when you read them, that is. Then they cause all kinds of problems
.”
– Pseudonymous Bosch
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Hello readers,
Y
ou know that book in your house. The one that you bought with a ton of excitement a few years ago. The one that your friend gave you, or your mom gave you, or your favorite person in your book club lent you. That book that came into your life with such excitement and promise and then...well. You put it down and there it stayed. Maybe you weren't in the mood at the moment or you had a ton of other books going (I certainly know how that is) or you were traveling and didn't want to bring it with you for whatever reason. You promised yourself you would get back to it.
And then...
You didn't. You were never in the right mood, it was never the right time, you always had another galley to read, and the book just sat there.
Not anymore. We are officially declaring Saturday, March 28 (the last Saturday in March going forward)
#StartThatBookDay
.
Inspired by Open That Bottle Night from the wine world, #StartThatBookDay is your chance to...uh...Start that book! No more waiting for the perfect situation (because the perfect situation is never going to come).
Some
of our
libromancers
are already
trying to decide
what
book
they'll
start
.
On Saturday, send us pictures of you reading that book and tweet at us with the hashtag #StartThatBookDay. We'll celebrate our own impromptu bookish holiday.
Stay connected, stay well, and keep reading.
all the best, Josh @ PSB
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Helen Epstein and Helen Fremont
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Franci's War and The Escape Artist: Nonfiction, Journalism
We were really excited to host Authors Helen (you know, like Attorneys General), tonight, Helen Epstein and Helen Fremont.
In the summer of 1942, twenty-two year-old Franci Rabinek--designated a Jew by the Nazi racial laws--arrived at Terezin, a concentration camp and ghetto forty miles north of her home in Prague. It would be the beginning of her three-year journey from Terezin to the Czech family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, to the slave labor camps in Hamburg, and Bergen Belsen. After liberation by the British in April 1945, she finally returned to Prague. Franci was known in her group as the Prague dress designer who lied to Dr. Mengele at an Auschwitz selection, saying she was an electrician, an occupation that both endangered and saved her life. In this memoir, she offers her intense, candid, and sometimes funny account of those dark years, with the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends.
Franci's War
is the powerful testimony of one incredibly strong young woman who endured the horrors of the Holocaust and survived.
The Escape Artist
is a luminous family memoir from Helen Fremont, author of the critically acclaimed
Boston Globe
bestseller,
After Long Silence
, lauded as “mesmerizing” (
The
Washington Post Book World
), “extraordinary” (
The
Philadelphia Inquirer
), and “a triumphant work of art” (
Publishers Weekly
, starred review).
In the tradition of Alison Bechdel’s
Fun Home
or George Hodgman’s
Bettyville
, Fremont writes with wit and candor about growing up in a household held together by a powerful glue: secrets. Her parents, profoundly affected by their memories of the Holocaust, pass on, to both Helen and her older sister, a penchant for keeping their lives neatly, even obsessively compartmentalized, and a zealous determination to protect themselves from what they see as danger from the outside world.
She delves deeply into the family dynamic that produced such a startling devotion to secret keeping, beginning with the painful and unexpected discovery that she has been disinherited in her mother’s will. In scenes that are frank, moving, and often surprisingly funny, Fremont writes about growing up in such an intemperate household, with parents who pretended to be Catholics but were really Jews—survivors of Nazi-occupied Poland. She shares tales of family therapy sessions, disordered eating, her sister’s frequently unhinged meltdowns, and her own romantic misadventures as she tries to sort out her sexual identity. In a family devoted to hiding the truth, Fremont learns the truth is the one thing that can set you free. Scorching, witty, and ultimately redemptive,
The Escape Artist
is a powerful contribution to the memoir shelf.
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Featured Staff Pick for Adults
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The Seep by Craig Fehrman
What if the inevitable alien takeover happened not with a bang, but with a caress? The sweet caress of intoxicants, immortality, and easy access to everything you ever wanted. There’d be at least one person who found the whole “the world is perfect thing” utterly depressing, right? Meet Trina FastHorse Goldberg-Oneka. Her story is a funny, heartfelt ride.
-Meaghan
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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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Digital Audio Books:
A terrific way to support local indies!
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What have we been up to on social media?
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We're figuring out how to use Slack:
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And starting to have fun with it! (Yes, we now have a Bear and a Maxie emoji.)
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We're finding more ways to have fun with books online:
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(We've got even more planned for you. Don't want to give anything away but think MTV's Cribs but for PSB Libromancers. Which, I guess, kinda gives it away.)
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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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If you know PSB at all, you know we're huge fans of Mo Willems. (We've probably thought more about his Elephant and Piggy series than anyone in the world BUT Mo, himself and even then...
well, he probably never thought about it like this.
) Mo has started doing a Lunch Doodles from the Kennedy Center. Check out his most recent episode.
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Did you know we had a YouTube channel before we started social distancing? Well, calling it a channel is a probably a bit much because it just had one video in it. But it's a good one! Here is Joe Hill in conversation with Stephen King at the Somerville Theater.
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Just because Shakespeare wrote
King Lear
and Mary Shelley wrote
Frankenstein (or the Modern Prometheus)
while social distancing, doesn't it mean it has to be life defining plays and genre creating works. Furthermore, you think Will and Mary didn't kick back a bit too. (We know Mary certainly did!) Not like you can write all day. So here are some fun things we found to do on the internet.
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Featured Staff Pick For Kids
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American Royals by Katharine McGee
Everyone knows that when America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown—and he accepted it. This is how
American Royals
begins. Imagine a world where America is about to have its first queen regent, where the age of monarchies never ended, and where the love of a young woman is powerful enough to change history. A soapy, escapist blockbuster full of drama, scandals, and romance. Perfect for fans of
Red, White, and Royal Blue
and
The Royal We
!
--
Apr
il
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We want to hear from you! What are you gonna start on #StartThatBookDay?
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A classic I somehow missed
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The bookclub book for the meeting I had to miss
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My mom's/dad's/sibling's favorite book
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What was that one Josh was going on about? Maybe that one.
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A book someone gave me as a present
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The "hot new book" that was "hot" and "new" many years ago.
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Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
"
Oona Out of Order
is a work of fiction that genuinely encouraged me to reflect upon my own mortality and the trajectory of my life. Oona wakes up on her birthday every year in a different part of her life. The difficulty this imposes is fascinating. Pop culture and music is ever-present, as Oona is a musician and chapter titles are taken from song titles or lyrics. What would it be to live your life out of order? To instinctively want to second guess and redo what you saw as failures? At the heart,
Oona Out of Order
is about mastering the art of living in the moment and it is a terribly fun romp."
-Rachel, Avid Bookshop
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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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