"Every story I create, creates me. I write to create myself." - Octavia E. Butler

Processing online orders can be monotonous, but it has highlights: discovering books someone has ordered that I want to read, getting to add a special post script for a friend, selling my staff pick, and seeing the local sales trends.

Today, that trend is for Dune. I've no doubt it's because the movie trailer was just released, but every time I see one, I have flashbacks to reading the series. I read the first book the summer before 9th grade. We were on vacation in Colorado, staying at my aunt & uncle's house, and, having finished all my books on the flight there, I pulled it off a shelf and devoured it.

I spent math class that year reading the rest of the series...on top of the desk. As long as I got A's, my teacher didn't care what I did, so I spent the year reading through the series: some yellowed paperbacks, but mostly the huge hardcovers, covers crinkling from Mylar library sheets. When I finished the original series I moved onto the prequels. While I liked the details about the world they provided, the writing was nowhere near as good, (most were done by Herbert's son) and I eventually moved on to other series.

The series, like any older sci-fi, has problems, but what I liked about the series was the thorough world building: not only did Herbert build societies on multiple worlds, but also politics, religion, history, sacred texts, and manuals.

As a writer, I know how much one accumulates when writing- even if you're not doing extensive world-building. When I look back on my time with Dune, I realize it taught me ways in which the developmental documents can be used in a published text, but also what doesn't need to be included. Many works of sci-fi and fantasy need additional editing to remove the developmental writing an author wrote into their manuscript, amounting to an info dump. Now, this writing is important. Often, you need to write through an idea or struggle, but editing is where it gets cut.

To everyone who ordered Dune this week, thank you for reminding me of the time I spent with this series, and what I took from it.

Marika

Curbside Pick Up: Daily, 3PM-7PM

Virtual: Carol Hay with Tiziana Dearing, Think Like a Feminist

Porter Square Books is pleased to bring you a virtual talk with Carol Hay, author of the new book Think Like a Feminist, in conversation with Tiziana Dearing! Think Like a Feminist is an audacious and accessible guide to feminist philosophy—its origins, its key ideas, and its latest directions. This event takes place on Crowdcast, and is free and open to all.

Think Like a Feminist is an irreverent yet rigorous primer that unpacks over two hundred years of feminist thought. In a time when the word feminism triggers all sorts of responses, many of them conflicting and misinformed, Professor Carol Hay provides this balanced, clarifying, and inspiring examination of what it truly means to be a feminist today. She takes the reader from conceptual questions of sex, gender, intersectionality, and oppression to the practicalities of talking to children, navigating consent, and fighting for adequate space on public transit, without deviating from her clear, accessible, conversational tone. Think Like a Feminist is equally a feminist starter kit and an advanced refresher course, connecting longstanding controversies to today’s headlines.

We celebrate independent bookstores everyday, but there's only one day a year where it's celebrated across the country. It couldn't be quite the party it usually is this year, so if you missed it here's another chance at some of this year's exclusive items!

Every year we create our signature "Bad Citizen" Graffiti Stencil to highlight the authors and the words that push us to think, read, and be disruptive when necessary. This year's stencil features a timely quote from Toni Morrison.

Featuring artwork by Jon Klassen!

Thena Khole and Cody Blue are among the universe's most-wanted felons. Each the leader of their own criminal ops, they run heists across the galaxies-hopping from ship to ship to fleece everyone inside. But when both women are betrayed by their crews, the bandits only have one thing on their minds: REVENGE. Collects SPACE BANDITS #1-5

This is the first semester in 7 years I'm not teaching. I miss it, but it's also an excuse to share some activities with you. Here are directions for making a simple folded book; all you need is paper, glue, scissors, drawing utensils, and cardboard (cereal boxes work well.

If you want a challenge, you can glue additional folded pages together where you would glue the covers.

If you try this, we'd love to see what you make!

-Marika

Our bookseller bundles have expanded again! For the kiddos Stacey will send you three middle grade (ages 8-12) paperbacks. They'll be quirky or heartwarming or maybe creepy or maybe esoteric or maybe all of the above! But whatever they are they'll be great books. Kate will send you 3 paperbacks from all over the store. Type a word or phrase in the order comments and Kate will pick out three paperbacks for you. Kate reads widely, but you may especially like her picks if you enjoy slightly-off-kilter fiction, works in translation, poetry, and little books about big landscapes.

Shana recommends this delightful webseries about a bunch of classic authors trapped in a murder mystery at Edgar Allen Poe’s house. Think Clue meets dream dinner party!

And don't forget to subscribe to our Events Newsletter for the full line up of events coming up, and to our Kids Newsletter for all the latest on events, new books, reviews, and more for young and young-at-heart readers.