November Updates
Greetings!

Due to the Cook County COVID guidelines and Governor Pritzker's new retail shopping restrictions, we are going to begin limiting store occupancy to 10 customers at a time, starting Friday, November 20. The Good News is, we aren’t entirely shutting down for in-store browsing—yet. But if things get worse, that could still happen.

It’s now 22 days till Hanukkah, 36 days to Christmas, and 37 days to Kwanzaa. There are widespread shipping slowdowns and supply-chain issues. And we have been warned by most of our suppliers that ORDERS PLACED AFTER DECEMBER 16 cannot be guaranteed to arrive before Christmas.

THEREFORE, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST:

IF IN-PERSON SHOPPING IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, VISIT US VERY SOON!
       Our general browsing hours are noon to 5 pm, seven days a week.
Seniors (over 65) and high-risk individuals ONLY are invited to shop during our early bird hours of 10 - noon.

TO MINIMIZE OR AVOID IN-PERSON SHOPPING, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR CONCIERGE SHOPPING SERVICE.
         *Fill out this survey to let us know who’s on your shopping list. Or just call us at 224-999-7722, or email us at concierge@bookendsandbeginnings.com
          *We’ll put together a stack of suggested items tailored to what you tell us about your recipients
          *We’ll consult with you about the suggestions in whatever mode you feel most comfortable: in-person in the store; via phone, Zoom, or email
          *All your gifts will be wrapped in our signature B&B holiday wrapping
          *Gifts can be delivered straight to your doorstep (within any Evanston, Rogers Park, Wilmette, or Skokie zip code, $5 delivery charge applies), or with standard shipping charges, sent off to your recipients.
           *Questions? Email us at concierge@bookendsandbeginnings.com

SHOP OUR WEBSITE 24/7 at www.bookendsandbeginnings.com
          * You can order anything we stock in the store PLUS thousands of other titles in our distributor’s warehouse.
           *Gifts can be delivered straight to your doorstep (within any Evanston, Rogers Park, Wilmette, or Skokie zip code, $5 delivery charge applies), or with standard shipping charges, sent off to your recipients.
SHOP OUR HOLIDAY CATALOG
              *Use this easy link to pop right into our annual gift catalog. You’ll find links within the catalog to conveniently order these books directly from our website, which we can wrap and hold for you for pick-up, ship out to you, or deliver directly to your home (within any Evanston, Rogers Park, Wilmette, or Skokie zip code, $5 delivery charge applies). We can also ship directly to your recipients.

ENJOY WINDOW-SHOPPING AT OUR 1716 SHERMAN AVENUE STORE
       *Sadly, while we intended to open the store for holiday shopping, and it is in fact ready to open, we cannot open it at this time. Monitoring social distancing and occupancy requirements in this relatively small space while doing it in the alley space as well is simply overwhelming for our staff. In the meantime, though, we will be filling the window with gift suggestions for everyone on your list, including kids; foodies; history buffs; mystery, sci-fi, and general fiction readers; nature-lovers; art & architecture aficionados, and more.

We've paused Literary Lunchbreaks and other event programming (except our final Sci-Fi Club meeting of the year) to devote all our staff time and energy to helping you have the most Bookish Holidays ever. Read on for great gift ideas.

And as always, read on!

Yours,
Nina
IT'S HERE! And it does not disappoint! In the words of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, writing in the New York Times, "Barack Obama is as fine a writer as they come. It is not merely that this book avoids being ponderous, as might be expected, even forgiven, of a hefty memoir, but that it is nearly always pleasurable to read, sentence by sentence, the prose gorgeous in places, the detail granular and vivid." 

What are you waiting for? You can order A Promised Land here or stop by the store!
Upcoming Events
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

Anyone is welcome to join our Science Fiction Book Club, led by Brooke, who is excited to share her passion for diverse science fiction books. If you haven't looked at the science fiction or fantasy shelves in a while, you may be surprised at the influx of talented women, POC, and LGBTQ+ writers that are writing some of the most interesting and compelling works in the genres. Brooke's goal is to highlight these traditionally underrepresented groups. Each month, we'll explore a new read from a diverse SF/F author. Stop by the store to chat with Brooke if you want more info about the club, or send her an email at brooke@bookendsandbeginnings.com.
Thu, Dec 3, 2020 6:00 PM CST
Sci-Fi Book Club: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue
Books You Could be Reading...
...and Buying from Us!
Pre-order these books and get them when they're released!
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 Ave Alley #1
Evanston, IL 60202 
224-999-7722

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