Cellar Door Books
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News & Events
 February 2020
5225 Canyon Crest Dr. #30A, Riverside CA | 951.787.7807 | cellardoorbookstore.com
Store Hours: Mon - Sat 10 am-8pm | Sun 10 am-6 pm
Upcoming Events
Kids and Young Adult
Adults
Friday, February 7 at 6 pm
Teen Advisory Board Meeting		 Thursday, February 6 at 6 pm
Reading & Signing with John Jennings
Friday, March 13 at 6 pm
In Conversation with Patrice Caldwell		 Friday, March 13 at 6 pm
In Conversation with Patrice Caldwell
January Best "Cellars"

1. My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite
     Anchor  |  9780525564201
2.  Dog Man: Fetch-22, Dav Pilkey
     Graphix |  9781338323214
3.  Whose Body, Dorothy Sayer
     Vintage |  9780525565116
4. Postern of Fate, Agatha Christie
      Willaim Morrow |  9780062074348
5.  Flights, Olga Tokarczuk
    Riverhead Books. |  9780525534204
6.  The Lost Daughter, Elena Ferrante
     Europa Editions |  9781933372426
7. American Dirt, Jeanine Cummins
     Flatiron |  9781250209764
8.  The Poppy War, R. F. Kuang
     Harper Voyager |  9780062662583
9. Sex on the Kitchen Table, Norman Ellstrand
     University of Chicago Press   |  9780226574899
10. Where the Dead Sit Talking, Brandon Hobson
     Soho Press |  9781641290173
February Staff Picks
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Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian (2/4 release): 
In some ways, Omar is like most kids who have just moved - worried about making friends at his new school, wondering about his new teachers. In others, Omar's family is different: his mom wears a hijab, they celebrate Ramadan. This is a combination of laugh-out-loud humor and a tribute to how kindness can help us overcome hate. - Linda
 
Pre-order your copy here.

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha: Take the powder keg of race relations from the 90s through now, settle it into the distinct geography and humanity of LA, and infuse it into two families affected by the fear and anger it is impossible to avoid, and you have Your House Will Pay.   Grace works hard at her family's pharmacy and doesn't understand why her sister is estranged, but when violence strikes, long buried secrets are revealed and Grace must try to piece together who she really is.  Shawn's family, broken by his sister's murder and the murderer's lack of punishment, have each dealt with the tragedy in their own ways, but when they are again drawn into the country's racial fault lines, the epicenter shifts, and Shawn is forced to reexamine his choices.  Brilliant and as tense as the relationships it explores, this book should be read and discussed by any who want to understand the human tragedies of our volatile race relations. -Linda

Buy your copy here.
Reading & Signing with John Jennings
Thursday, February 6 at 6 pm

Illustrator and professor of media and cultural studies John Jennings returns for a signing of his latest graphic novel, Parable of the Sower.

In this graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler's groundbreaking dystopian tale from writer Damian Duffy and illustrator John Jennings (the award-winning team behind Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation), follow the odyssey of fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina as she travels in search of safety and to spread her new system of belief: Earthseed. A startlingly prescient work with a glimmer of hope, nothing can prepare you for this journey.
Patrice Caldwell in conversation with Nalo Hopkinson
Friday, March 13 at 6 pm

We're pleased to welcome Patrice Caldwell for her debut anthology A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope (out 3/10)! She'll be in conversation with the amazing Nalo Hopkinson. 

Beyonce's Lemonade meets Octavia Butler in sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors (including Elizabeth Acevedo, Amerie, and Ibi Zoboi) that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science-fiction, and magic. Linda says of Phoenix, " If story is the ground in which we plant the seeds of our stronger, prouder selves, more comfortable in our skins no matter what shade, what gender or non-conforming gender, then give Caldwell's collection to every teen you know and watch the blooms."
Save the Date! Discussion with Matthew W. King
Wednesday, April 1 at 6 pm

Join us and the History Book Club in welcoming assistant professor and author Matthew W. King for a discussion of his book, Ocean of Milk, Ocean of Blood: A Mongolian Monk in the Ruins of the Qing Empire.

The first book to explore the countermodern Buddhist monastic thought and practice along the inner Asian frontiers, it illuminates previously unknown religious and intellectual legacies of the Qing and offers an unparalleled view of Buddhist life in the revolutionary period. 
We're Running a Donation Drive!

We've been given the opportunity to send author Torrey Maldonado to schools in April, and we need your help getting books into the hands of students who may not be able to afford them otherwise.

From now until Thursday, April 16th, you can pre-order a copy (or multiple copies!) of Torrey's new book,  What Lane?, to give to students during our school tour. Our goal is to reach 70 copies by April 16th! You can donate in-store with one of our booksellers, give the store a call at (951) 787-7807 and pay over the phone, or go online - just be sure to leave us a comment on your web order letting us know that you're pre-ordering for the What Lane? Donation Drive.  The Cellar Door team thanks you in advance!
A Farewell Message from a Bookseller

When Linda first asked me to write a goodbye message for the newsletter, I didn't know what I would possibly say. How could I encapsulate nearly seven and a half years into a paragraph or two? I think the best way is to give a little of my own story.

As a kid, I always wanted my first job to be at a bookstore. I was a voracious reader and could imagine nothing better. Instead, I worked a two-month stint selling knives - which I despised - and around the time I quit that job Borders had just shut its doors. So when I discovered that a new bookstore was opening in my community, I was ecstatic. I remember walking up to the sign announcing Cellar Door's arrival, my friend pushing me to peek through the window to see if I could get a job there. It was Linda who saw me gawking, and she opened the door to find me, eighteen and fresh out of high school, timidly ask if she was hiring.

That first year, I can't tell you how many times I sat and looked out at the bookshelves and thought to myself, I can't believe I work here. And through the years, as the store grew and more authors came for events and I was given the opportunity to learn so many different professional skills and roles, as I attended bookselling conferences in places I'd never been to before, learning even more and falling more in love with the publishing world, I would still think to myself, I can't believe I do this for a living. But all good things do, in fact, come to an end.

By the time you read this, I've already had my last shift at Cellar Door. I'm incredibly grateful to have had the experience of being a bookseller for our community; thanks to everyone who walked through our doors to ask for recommendations, or attended one of the book clubs I facilitated. I don't know what my next venture will be, but these last years have been such a formative part of my life, and it'll always inform what I do. And, whatever you do, please continue to support your local bookstore!

- Destenie
Book Clubs for Adults

Cellar Door Book Club (Meets the fourth Sunday of the month at 2 pm)
Sunday, February 9: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Sunday, March 8: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Mystery Book Club  (Meets the third Thursday of the month at 6 pm)
Thursday, February 20: Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers
Thursday, March 19: Good Morning, Midnight by Reginald Hill

Science-Fiction & Fantasy  (Meets the third Saturday of the month at 5 pm)
Saturday, February 15: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Saturday, March 21: Exhalation by Ted Chiang

Historical Fiction Book Club  (Meets the fourth Saturday of the month at 5 pm)
Saturday, February 22: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Sciety by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Saturday, March 28: Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

Agatha Christie Book Club  (Meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm)
Tuesday, February 18: Postern of Fate
Tuesday, March 17: Third Girl

Philosophical Horror  (Meets the third Monday of the month at 6 pm)
Monday, February 17: Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
Monday, March 16: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Black Lit Book Club  (Meets the final Friday of the month at 6 pm)
Friday, February 28: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Friday, March 27: A Phoenix First Must Burn edt. by Patrice Caldwell

Speculative Fiction Book Club  (Meets the second Saturday of the month at 4 pm)
Saturday, February 8: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Saturday, March 14: Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callendar

LGBTQ Book Club  (Meets the fourth Thursday of the month at 6 pm)
Thursday, February 27: Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness
Thursday, March 26: Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis

Bucket List Book Club  (Meets the third Sunday of the month at 3 pm)
Sunday, February 16: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Sunday, March 15: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Phy-Sci Book Club  (Meets the fourth Wednesday of the month at 6 pm)
Wednesday, February 26: Sex on the Kitchen Table by Norm Ellstrand
Wednesday, March 25: Possible Minds by John Brockman

Current Affairs Book Club  (Meets the second Sunday of the month at 4 pm)
Sunday, February 9: The Curse of Bigness by Tim Wu
Sunday, March 8: One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson

Feminist Book Club  (Meets the first Tuesday of the month at 6 pm)
Tuesday, February 4:  The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante
Tuesday, March 3: The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West

Graphic Novel Book Club  (Meets the first Monday of the month at 6:30 pm)
Monday, February 3: The Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan, ill. by Cliff Chiang
Monday, March 2: Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons and Dragons by Patrick Rothfuss

History Book Club  (Meets the first Wednesday of the month at 6 pm)
Wednesday, February 5: The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Wednesday, March 4: Joan of Arc by Helen Castor

NEW!  Outdoor Lit ( Meets  every other month the first Sunday at 2:00 pm)
Sunday, March 1: The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California by Mark Arax
Sunday, May 3: The Invention of Nature: Alexander Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf


Book Clubs for Kids and Youth

Early Readers Book Club (Meets the second Saturday of the month at 1 pm)
Saturday, February 8: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney
Saturday, March 14: Zoey and Sassafras #1 & #2 by Asia Citro

Kid's Book Club (Meets the second Thursday of the month at 6 pm)
Thursday, February 13: Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Thursday, March 12: Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

NEW! Teen Book Club (Meets the first Friday of the month at 7 pm)
Friday, February 7: Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Ellison

There are no official sign-ups or fees for our offered book clubs, but we do ask that you purchase these books from us in order to participate. *Starred meetings are not held at their usual date and/or time. 

Visit our Book Clubs page here for more info.
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