July - News from Pearl Street Books

July 2023 | Rooted in Community

Bits from Beth

Happy July!

This month I thought I would share a few of the reasons I love owning an independent bookstore:

I never have to feel guilty about reading - it is my job after all!
Each week, I get to select which new titles we will order for the store. There are so many great options.
Working with our store team to create window displays that will draw passers-by into our store is more fun than I ever anticipated.
It is extremely satisfying to tidy books after a day filled with readers exploring our shelves.
Nothing is better than seeing a young child settle down to independently read a book after browsing through the shelves and selecting a favorite.
Creating a space for readers/community members to gather individually or collectively really is the heart of why I love this work so much.
And of course, all of this allows me the chance to get to know each of you better. Pure joy!

Speaking of joy, have you ever had a chance to attend a Scholastic Book Fair at an elementary school? I loved attending these book fairs with my children and remember wishing that there was one for adults. If this sounds fun to you, too, please join us on Tuesday, July 18 from 7:00PM - 9:00PM at the Root Note (115 4th Street South | La Crosse | WI) for an evening filled with specially curated books for you to browse and purchase -- an adult book fair (boozy options)! The Root Note team will have two specialty drinks to pair with our books (plus their usual menu of coffee, teas, beer, cocktails and pours). Note: Our store will close at 7:00 on the 18th to allow our full team to join the fun!

Happy Reading! ~ Beth

Tsundoku

Tsundoku is Japanese for the act of acquiring reading materials and letting them pile up in one’s home. We thought it a perfect heading for this section, as we’ll feature books that are new or popular in the store. If you’re like us, tsundoku is a constant state of being.

The All-American, Joe Milan Jr., $28.95

Narrated in sharp, visceral prose, this is the story of Bucky Yi, a seventeen-year-old Korean kid adopted in the United States and dead-set on being a star football player. The story takes a wild turn when he gets deported back to Korea and has to contend with the consequences, outside and within. Bonus for reading this one: the author will be here this month, on Friday, July 21, at 6:00 pm. Come listen!

To Govern the Globe, Alfred W. McCoy, $19.95

McCoy holds the Harrington Chair in History at UW-Madison, and his writing often centers on modern empires. Expanding on this theme, To Govern the Globe spans five continents and seven centuries, narrating the rise and fall of empires as they navigate various world-shaking catastrophes, including our own current grapple with mounting climate crises the world over.

Entry Level, Wendy Wimmer, $17.95

Since we seem to have a slightly Wisconsin-themed tsundoku this month, here's another: Wimmer is a Wisconsin-based author, and this offbeat, quirky collection of short stories is refreshingly light while still carrying weight. The fact that many of the stories pivot around workplaces seems appropriate in this age of jobs, second jobs, and side hustles, and Wimmer has a knack for giving the menial work drag an existential kick and twirl.

A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing From Soil to Stars, $20

This collection, edited by Erin Sharkey, offers a chorus of black voices that flings wider our perspectives, experiences, and definitions of nature. Disruption is a common player when it comes to nature's whims, and this book is a force, disrupting and rearranging how we think about our environment and our role within it.

Ask a Booktender

Our goal for this section is to have a regular dialogue amongst our booksellers (booktenders, if you will) and our customers. Feel free to send us a message via email, Facebook, or Instagram asking about books, genres, plots, characters, anything (within reason).

For July, we're switching up this section; we want to get into some of the idiosyncrasies of working amidst thousands of books. What follows are some of our favorite bookstore quirks:

We love scoping the hidden treasures that come tucked into the books people bring in: old receipts, photographs, airline tickets, pressed flowers, business cards, love letters, birthday cards, party invitations, even the occasional dollar bill. You, dear readers--your bookmark game is strong.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, something loves to knock books off our shelves.
We've all come to know our store regulars, so whether you know yourself as a regular or not, when we don't see you for while, we notice. And then we worry about you. You're welcome.
Often enough for it to be a Thing, when we move a book on the shelf, even just a slight shift, that book will sell within a few days or even a few hours; seems there really is magic touch.
It is maybe one of the best things in the world when you--our customers--find a book, bring it to the counter, and can't help but tell us a story about that book. Whether its the hunt for that book, or the first time you read it, or why it matters to you, we love hearing your book connections; part of why we do this is we're all suckers for a good story, and you--you have good stories.

Image: Just a few of the MANY bookmarks we find in gently-used books.

Monthly Pearl

Featuring our Community

Here’s our chance to play Mr. Rogers and be a good neighbor. This month we're featuring Mexcal.

One of the perks of working in a downtown bookstore is that we're surrounded by places to eat, all just a few doors or a few blocks down. One such staff favorite is Mexcal, the Mexican restaurant on the corner of 4th and Main.

If you've been, you likely know Cesar, the cook and creator of all the fantastic dishes on Mexcal's menu. Originally from Michoacan, Mexico but a La Crosse local for years, Cesar has long been bringing authentic Mexican food to the community. True to the restaurant's name, Mexcal also features a wide variety of mezcals, tequila's hipper, sultrier cousin. Next time you work up an appetite book hunting with us, check this place out for food and/or drinks (and definitely try the homemade hot sauces).

[Image of bottles of mezcal at Mexcal.]

Customer Corner: Scout

We want our store to feel like a community safe space to all who enter. This means bringing in new titles each week as well as gently used books on a diverse range of genres. It also means trying to keep our aisles and shelves accessible to customers. It means curating books representing voices which have not always been well represented in mainstream media/education/markets. It means keeping our doors open more hours. And it means keeping a bag of treats for our non-human friends of Pearl Street Books. Scout (see image below) is one of our favorite friends.

[Below image of Scout sitting on a chair while his owner browses.Well-behaved leashed dogs are always welcome.]

Happy Reading!

Keep in Touch!