No, it’s not too early to talk about Holiday Shopping because
a) I definitely saw snowflakes on my way in to work on Monday
b) We will be experiencing many of the same crazy supply chain issues we encountered last year, including publishers selling through their whole first printing of that cookbook everyone wants and not having enough time to reprint it
c) I have a plan that will make you feel optimistic and cheerful about Holiday Shopping!
The plan is this: Remember how last time I talked about how happy we are when customers bring their Amazon wish list in on their phones and say, “I’d rather order this from you”?
Well, as of now, we are going to start making our own wish lists! And you can do this in one of two ways:
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MAKE AN ONLINE WISH LIST: You can do this on our wonderful website at www.bookendsandbeginnings.com. Just click the button that says “Add to Wish List” next to the book you want. You will be asked to create or select the wish list you want to add it to. Once you have a created a list, you can email the link to everyone who’s anxious about what to give you by going to the MY ACCOUNT tab, and going to Wish List. For more info and instructions, check out this page.
You can also make Wish Lists for others! For your kids, so everyone knows what book they’re up to in what series, for instance! Or for a book drive or for your child’s classroom or teacher.
OR YOU CAN MAKE AN IN-STORE WISH LIST: In the very best tradition of being paper-lovers, we are also maintaining a very old-fashioned box full of index cards in alphabetical order by last name. We invite you to ask for one, next time you come in, and spend a little time browsing the store for books you’d probably never discover online. That, after all, is what we’re really here for! Then send friends and family in to ask for your list in person. Hopefully you will not only get all the great books you discovered in the store, but also that person will have the great pleasure of discovering great books they didn’t know about.
I want you to feel very happy about your wish list, because even though it's all about books that YOU want, it is going to make someone else's very busy and overstressed life much easier in the coming weeks because they won't have to guess, and it's going to encourage them to shop at your local independent bookstore instead of shopping you-know-where, and if they do actually come into the store, they're going to remember what a pleasure it really is to do your book shopping in person, in an environment where the books really matter.
Meanwhile, we have a full calendar of author events and Bookends University workshops coming up, so please read on in the newsletter.
And, as always, read on!
Yours,
Nina
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Our twice-weekly Story Times take place Saturday and Thursday mornings from 11:30 am to noon. Stories will be selected for kids aged 3 to 6, but older and younger sibs are welcome to come along. |
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AN IN-PERSON EVENT AT BOOKENDS & BEGINNINGS
October 20, 2022 | 6:00PM
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Join us in person as Dr. Christopher Evans (Boston University) joins Janet Olson (Archivist, Frances Willard House Museum & WCTU Archives) for a conversation and book-signing event to introduce Evans’ latest book, Do Everything: The Biography of Frances Willard. In this first new biography of the social reformer (and Evanstonian) in over 35 years, Evans makes use of primary source materials not accessible to previous biographers, and highlights Willard’s importance to the fields of women’s history, Gilded Age/Progressive Era studies, and religious history. “Underscoring both the breathtaking ambition and profound limitations of Willard's moral vision, Evans recovers a too-often forgotten past--one that matters for our future," says Heath W. Carter (author of Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago).
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Janet Olson has been the part-time Archivist for the Frances Willard House Museum and WCTU Archives in Evanston, IL, since 2007. Meanwhile, from 1998 until her retirement in May, 2020, she was the Assistant University Archivist at Northwestern University. Olson is a Certified Archivist, and has held leadership roles in local, regional, and national professional organizations. She has written articles, book chapters, and exhibit catalogues and has an MA in History from Loyola University-Chicago, with a research focus on 19th-century social reform. |
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AN IN-PERSON EVENT AT BOOKENDS & BEGINNINGS
October 22, 2022 | 6:00PM
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From the fraught, sexually charged groves of academia and elevators of corporate America, to the imagined diary entries of Brett Kavanaugh and the tragicomic travails of a woman swiping right on Tinder in order to dispense advice to men whose profiles she finds lacking, these stories offer a blend of humor and horror, victory and heartache, righteous anger and rueful recrimination. It's a collection that's sure to leave a mark on readers' minds--and earn a place in their hearts.
We are delighted to welcome anthology editor Christine Sneed along with six other contributing authors for an engaging reading and timely conversation. Click below to view their bios and recent works.
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AN IN-PERSON EVENT AT BOOKENDS & BEGINNINGS
October 27, 2022 | 6:00PM
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Please join us in-person at Bookends & Beginnings for an author showcase featuring the work of three wonderful local writers: Ivy Sundell, Patricia Rickets, and J.S. Puller. Each author will speak briefly about their work and do a short reading. Presentations will be followed by a reception and book signing. |
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Visions of Life 2 is an anthology of short stories inspired by art and edited by Ivy Sundell. Ivy will be joined by several contributors to the anthology, including writers Paco Aramburu, Elizabeth DeSchryver, and Barbara Joyce, and visual artist Jacqueline Moses.
Speed of Dark by Patricia Rickets is a novel set in Chicago, told through three distinct voices--including the voice of Mishigami (AKA Lake Michigan).
J.S. Puller is a playwright and author celebrating the paperback release of The Lost Things Club, a children's book about the aftermath of a school shooting.
Please come help us support and celebrate these three outstanding members of our rich literary community.
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AN ONLINE EVENT
November 1, 2022 | 7:00PM
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Please join us online for an interactive 90-minute workshop with Maren Ellingboe King, author of Fresh Midwest: Modern Recipes from the Heartland, a debut cookbook from the heart of Minnesota, inspired by an archive of recipes from the author's grandmother and great grandmother. Publishers Weekly calls it a "wonderful introduction to Midwestern cooking and its rich traditions."
This will be a fun, interactive, cook-along event! Participants will receive a list of ingredients ahead of time and together we'll create a number of seasonal cocktails and appetizers, including a Lingonberry Old Fashioned, Hot Smoked Salmon Dip, and Norwegian Fondue to help inspire you for the holidays ahead.
Tuition: $45. This includes a copy of Fresh Midwest, a gorgeous, hardcover book, which you can pick up at Bookends & Beginnings or have mailed to you.
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Maren Ellingboe King is a recipe developer and food stylist who grew up outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. A former Food & Wine editor, she has worked with the likes of Sunset, New York Times, Williams-Sonoma, Target, and more. Maren lives with her family in Minneapolis.
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AN ONLINE EVENT
November 3, 2022 | 7:00PM
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Please join us online for an interactive 90-minute workshop with Professor Robert Gottlieb, the author of Care-Centered Politics: From the Home to the Planet, an important and agenda-setting book that presents a framework for creating a more just and equitable care-centered world. This workshop will be divided into segments on topics including:
- Why Care is everywhere and how Care Politics informs it.
- What is the Care Economy and what is its importance to the household, the pandemic, and the climate crisis?
- How a Care Politics addresses issues of race, class, and gender, as well as issues like reparations and redistribution.
There will be time for feedback and interaction from workshop participants during each segment.
Tuition: $45. This includes a copy of Care-Centered Politics, which you can pick up at Bookends & Beginnings or have mailed to you.
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Robert Gottlieb is Professor Emeritus of Urban and Environmental Policy and the Founder and Former Director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. He is the author and co-author of fourteen books, including his most recent book, Care-Centered Politics: From the Home to the Planet.
Professor Gottlieb is the editor of two MIT Press series, "Urban and Industrial Environments" and “Food, Health, and Environment” that include nearly 100 publications. He is the recipient of numerous prizes for his contributions to the fields of urban planning, environmental studies, environmental history, food studies, and urban policy, including the Carey McWilliams Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Studies Association.
A long time environmental and social justice activist, Bob has been engaged in researching, writing, and participating in social movements for nearly 60 years.
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AN ONLINE EVENT
November 9, 2022 | 7:00PM
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In this online, interactive, bake-along class, bestselling cookbook author and baking instructor Erin Jeanne McDowell will teach you her tricks for the lightest, fluffiest biscuits ever. Once you've mastered the dough, she'll talk you through dozens of ideas on how to use your newfound skills to get creative and bake up a bounty of biscuity treats in your own kitchen! Erin is the acclaimed author of The Book on Pie and The Fearless Baker, and her new book, Savory Baking: Recipes for Breakfast, Dinner, and Everything in Between is beautifully illustrated and overflowing with recipes for delicious baked goods you'll want to make and eat any time of day.
Tuition: $45. This includes a copy of Savory Baking, a gorgeous, hardcover book, which you can pick up at Bookends & Beginnings or have mailed to you.
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ERIN JEANNE MCDOWELL is a bestselling author, recipe developer, and award-winning food stylist with specialized focus in baking. She's a regular contributor to New York Times Cooking, Food52, and Food Network Kitchen. She is the author of The Fearless Baker, which was named one of the Best Baking Books of 2017 by The New York Times, and The Book on Pie, a New York Times bestseller. She hosts the IACP-award winning series "Bake It Up a Notch" for Food52. She lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri. |
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AN IN-PERSON EVENT AT BOOKENDS & BEGINNINGS
November 16, 2022 | 6:00PM
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In 28 years as the architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, Blair Kamin wrote with clarity and power about all aspects of the built environment. His “activist criticism” not only shaped civic debate but often influenced its outcome, bringing him journalism’s highest honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. He has authored or edited six books, including Why Architecture Matters: Lessons from Chicago (2001); Terror and Wonder: Architecture in a Tumultuous Age (2010); and Who Is the City For? Architecture, Equity, and the Public Realm in Chicago (2022). Kamin’s work also has been recognized by the Society of Architectural Historians and the International Committee of Architectural Critics. He lives in Chicago’s northern suburbs.
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Neil Steinberg is a news columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he has been on staff since 1987. He has also written for numerous other publications, including Rolling Stone, Esquire, Forbes, Sports Illustrated and the Washington Post. He has written nine books that were featured on Oprah and CBS Sunday Morning, and reviewed in publications from the Times of London and the Wall Street Journal to the Boston Globe and the New York Times Sunday Book Review. He lives in Northbrook with his wife; they have two adult sons.
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Save the dates! An early RSVP guarantees you a spot! |
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Pre-order these books and more and get them when they're released!
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Bookends & Beginnings is a community-centered and community-sustained, full-service, general-interest independent bookstore, now in our ninth 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!
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Bookends & Beginnings
1712 Sherman Ave Alley #1
Evanston, IL 60202
224-999-7722
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