Yeah, I’m all about alliteration. Heh. See how I did that? Last night, we held a rally for The Book House. The purpose was to raise awareness of the situation itself, the possible shuttering of yet another indie bookstore in the area, and to talk, discuss, and network potential solutions. I didn’t do a head [...]

PR Web (press release)
SLCL Presents Award-winning Poet Susan Terris - PRWeb
PR Web (press release)
Books will be available for purchase at the event from Left Bank Books. St. Louis native Susan Terris presents a reading and signing of “Ghost of Yesterday,” a collection of new work and highlights from her 25-year career as a poet. Ms. Terris has ...

and more »

Elaine Viets Pens Latest Mystery - West End Word
West End Word
May 07, 2013. Many St. Louisans remember Elaine Viets as a popular columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She is also ... Elaine Viets will speak about "Board Stiff" on Sunday, May 12, 4 p.m., at Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave. Call 367-6731 ...

The Master of Historical Fiction Is Back: Edward Rutherfurd's Paris
Everyday ebook
At 800-plus pages, Rutherfurd's new book captures some of Paris's biggest moments — from the building of the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower, to the reign of King Louis IX and King Louis XIII, to the Black Plague and the St. Bartholomew's Day ...

Independent bookstores need help to survive
STLtoday.com
... St. Louis Independent Bookstore Alliance stand ready to assist our fellow member in any way we can. We urge your readers to do the same by signing the petition at http://tinyurl.com/bookhouse-stl. James Erwin, Main Street Books. Jarek Steele, Left ...

Washington State's Wrongfully Convicted
Seattle Weekly
Rubbing his stubbly beard, Henderson turns and begins to pace across the inlaid deck of his boat-home, a 49-foot Grand Banks Alaskan tied up on Lake Union in Fremont. Police, prosecutors—“They're actually ... Unfortunately, there's a demand for last ...

2008: Bank fraud detailed in indictment
The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines
The former chief executive officer of the kosher meat company was arrested at his Postville home Monday on federal charges of defrauding First Bank Business Capital of St. Louis, which recently foreclosed on a $35 million line of credit. If convicted ...

and more »

Join us at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, at St. Louis County Library--Daniel Boone when middle grade author Ridley Pearson will discuss his newest installment in the Kingdom Keepers series, Dark Passage as part of Children's Book Week.

In this sixth book in the series, the Kingdom Keepers discover the Overtakers are plotting a disastrous event.  The only way to prevent their chaos is to uncover a riddle hidden on the Disney Cruise Line's first trip through the Panama Canal.  There a stolen journal takes them through a series of tropical destinations, ultimately revealing that a powerful force is about to be unleashed.  Can the Keepers stop it before they become its first victims?

Copies of Ridley's books--which include the first five Kingdom Keepers installments:  Disney After Dark, Disney at Dawn, Disney in Shadow, Power Play and Shell Game as well as adult titles The Risk Agent and Killer Summer--will be available for purchase and signing.  If you can't make it to the event, call Left Bank Books at 314-367-6731, ext. 1, to order signed, personalized copies.

SLCL Foundation Presents Novelist Richard Paul Evans, 5/21
Broadway World
The St. Louis County Library Foundation and Left Bank Books are pleased to present New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans for a discussion and signing of his new novel "A Step of Faith" on Tuesday, May 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Library ...

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Reblogged from sslyblog: Beverly and Tamara: Welcome to SSLY Charlotte. Thanks so much for joining us today. So first why don’t you tell us a little about yourself. My name is Charlotte Howard, I’m a housewife and mother of two young children, and a writer! I live in Somerset and my first full-length novel ‘Seven [...]

Baudelaire's Femme Fatale
Daily Beast
The young poet had already taken a keen interest in the low life of the Left Bank and would spend long nights trawling taverns and brothels in a tangle of side streets and alleyways along the Seine. But Jeanne Duval was very different from the ...

Vanity Fair
From A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert “Believe It or ...
Vanity Fair
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his treacherous solo voyage across the Atlantic, flying his single-engine Spirit of St. Louis nonstop from New York to Paris and becoming an instant hero for accomplishing a feat long thought to be impossible—crossing ...

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey with a children's/YA version at Teach Mentor Texts.

This week I read a little more of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare for the May meeting of Teen Reads.  Not that much more, though, so I haven't really changed my opinion at all since last week.  I would like to get back to it though.

I was interrupted in the reading of that by The Complete Talking Heads by Alan Bennett.  In addition to the bookstore, I also have a career in the theatre and my current gig is stage managing a selection of these monologues for St. Louis Actors' Studio.  I decided to read through the whole collection, and it is fantastic.  Of course they are meant to be heard, but this is unusually satisfying reading for a theatrical (originally television) work.  Each monologue drops you into the middle of person's life which then slowly unfolds to let you in on all their secrets.  Masterful writing.

I also read The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf by Mark Teague for his author event.  This is a clever modernized retelling of the classic, guaranteed to make kids laugh.  (I've witnessed it in action!)















Next week, I'll be finishing both The Complete Talking Heads and City of Bones, then, if I get the chance, starting on Disney in Shadow, the third book in the Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson, for his Children's Book Week event.

What are you reading?

By now, you all have heard about the situation facing The Book House: eviction, closure, moving. If you haven’t, here’s a recap: We first heard that an out-of-state developer was purchasing the property and planning to put in a new storage facility; this would mean The Book House would be torn down and would be [...]

It’s my pleasure to introduce to you all to the first in the planned INNspirational Series of cookbooks from Rocking Horse Publishing! “INNspiring Breakfasts is the first in the series of scrumptious cookbooks straight from the High Street Victorian Bed and Breakfast in Boonville, Missouri. Ninety-seven recipes, most with full-color photos, grace the pages of [...]

Win A Copy of Julia Child Bio Dearie!
Riverfront Times (blog)
Next week Spitz stops in St. Louis to discuss his book, on Tuesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. at Left Bank Books (321 North Tenth Street; 314-436-3049) in downtown St. Louis. Always curious to learn more about the fascinating life of Julia Child, Gut Check ...

On Sunday, April 28, 2013, Fredrick McKissack--who with his wife, Patricia C. McKissack, wrote numerous children's books--passed away.

While Pat's name was the only one on many of their books, they truly were a team, from the research and development phase to the discussions with children after publication.  I was honored to meet both of them at a visit with our River City Readers classrooms at Patrick Henry Downtown Academy when the fourth- and fifth-graders received their latest collaboration, Never Forgotten (illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, the former of which we also lost last year).  While that visit demonstrated that in many way Pat was the public face of their work, Fred was always behind her, backing her with his research, his support and his love.  He never intended to make a career of writing, but when he saw it was her passion, it became his as well.  The result was a decades-long partnership that advanced immeasurably not only the state of fiction and nonfiction books for African-Americans of all ages and reading levels, but children's literature in general.  The McKissack's books have received the Newbery and Caldecott Honors, the Coretta Scott King Author Award and many more in the field.  Pat reports that they were working on another book, which she plans to finish, up until his death.  In the meantime, his vast legacy of writing will continue to inform and entertain those of all ages for many years to come.

For more on Fred and Pat's life and work, you can read his obituary and a republished feature article at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Community Calendar
Hattiesburg American
Email your events to be included in our calendar to calendar@hattiesburgamerican.com , fax to (601) 584-3130 or mail to Calendar c/o Hattiesburg American, 825 N. Main St., Hattiesburg, MS 39401. Please submit at least one week before the event. Be sure ...

 

[30th April update: We've been mentioned on boingboing.net, and an article by Robin Tidwell]

Well, it’s been a busy weekend.

For those of you not aware of recent events, a quick summary. Last week we let everyone know that a developer had plans to demolish The Book House to make way for a four story storage facility. This, to say the least, was upsetting.

What was comforting to find out was the sheer amount of support and messages we’ve gotten since letting everyone know this. Our Facebook page has been filled with messages from local customers and businesses, people have been mentioning us on Twitter, and generally, people have been acting so wonderfully that it brings a tear to the eye.

It appears this support has not gone unnoticed, either.

The Riverfront Times have picked up the story and interviewed Michelle, the developers, and local officials, and the developers (Great Northern Development llc) are now stating that everything so far is very preliminary and they’re very prepared to work with us.

Publishers Weekly has also picked up the story, and has their president, Bill Bowman, stating that  “absolutely no plan has been made on that house,”, ”We’re going to work with her to try and find a solution,” and ”The bottom line is, she wants to stay open and we want her to stay open.”

In other words, great news. This is a much more promising position to be in, and we suspect this statement is very much influenced by the public show of support we’ve received from you all. Whether we’re out of the woods or not yet remains to be seen, but all of us at the store would like to thank everyone who’s stopped by,  commented online showing their thanks, or just rallied round generally. It’s greatly appreciated.

We will, of course, keep you up to date with any further developments; this certainly isn’t over yet, but things are certainly starting to look a little more optimistic.

How you can still help:

Follow us online – if you aren’t already. We’re on Facebook and Twitter are above, and you can sign up for our newsletter on our website. And of course, there’s this blog, though if you’re reading this, you likely already know about that. You may be reading this because someone shared this post, though, which brings us to point 2:

Let everyone you know, know - Feel free to share this, our Facebook posts, the articles in the media, anything you like. Put them on your blog, share them with friends, let anyone know who you think would be interested. Then get them to share with their friends. The final decision as to what happens with The Book House will very much be influenced by how public opinion is perceived, and the more visible support we have, the stronger our position will be.

Sign the petition - A special thanks here to local author Robin Tidwell here, who quickly started a petition over at change.org. To date, this has gathered over 500 signatures and is still rising at a fair old clip. The petition can found here, please sign it if you haven’t already, and again, share the link with anyone you know.

If you’re not much of an online person, or you’d prefer to leave a phone message, you can contact Mr Bowen at Northern Developers on (586) 703-9882 or (734) 996-9979, or Rock Hill City Hall on  (314) 968-1410. We were also encouraging people to attend the town hall meeting originally scheduled for May 8th, though the date on this may have changed. We’ll keep you up to date regarding this. And finally:

It’s business as usual – Despite all the turmoil, we’re still here, and we hope we’re not going away any time soon. We’re open our usual business hours, selling new, used and collectible books, we can ship orders anywhere in the world, and if we don’t have the book you’re looking for, we can order it.

We also have various events coming up in May, from author signings to our now regular Poetry Night every second Thursday of the month. And we’re still accepting book donations for Second Chapter Life Center and charities we support.

Drop by and have a browse any time, we’d love to see you.

Join us at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 6th, 2013, at St. Louis County Library--Headquarters when picture book author and illustrator Mark Teague will offer a drawing demonstration as he reads and discusses his new book, The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf.

When the farmer and his wife move to Florida, his three pigs are paid for their work and sent on their way.  What better to spend their new-found wealth on than potato chips and sody-pop?  Well, the third pigs thinks building supplies might be the way to go.  And when a hungry wolf arrives on the scene, it turns out she might be right.  This modern retelling of The Three Little Pigs turns the tale on its head with good humor and good lessons.

Copies of Mark's books--which also include Firehouse!, Funny Farm, Pigsty, The Secret Shortcut, LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail, Detective LaRue: Letters from the Investigation, LaRue Across America: Postcards from the Vacation, Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School, Doom Machine (a young adult novel), and his books with Jane Yolen: How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?, How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?, How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?, How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Birthday?, How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies?, How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten?, How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends?, How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms?, How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors?, and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?--will be available for purchase and signing.  If you can't make it to the event, call Left Bank Books at 314-367-6731, ext. 1, to order signed, personalized copies.