July 2019

April 25, 2020
With all that we’re missing lately, it can be hard to see what’s stayed the same. Today, I want to spend a little time talking about what’s still working for us here in the bookstore.

  • We’re making recommendations. You can call the store at 651/225-8989 daily from 10am to 3pm, and talk to a bookseller. We’ll browse the shelves with you, so we can find the perfect books for you. 

  • We’re getting books to readers. While we can’t offer curbside pickup, we’re mailing books every day. If you’re in St Paul, we offer contact-free delivery to your home--usually on the same day you order.

  • We’re connecting readers and authors. We’ve hosted four virtual author events, and we have more in the works, including our book club meetings and a conversation with Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Bird Way and The Genius of Birds next month. And we'll launch our first "Ask a Bookseller" event next week. Details are below.


How can you help?

  • Buy a book. I don’t want to seem crass, but we are at heart a book store. Selling books is how we keep the lights on. Remember that books, unlike bread, do not go stale. You can stack them up, and they’ll be just as good in a week as they are when they arrive.

  • Tell your friends about us. Did we recommend a book that you loved? Did a home delivery make your day a little brighter? Snap a picture and post it to social media. Tag us--we’re “Next Chapter Booksellers” on Facebook, @nextchapterbooksellers on Instagram and @nextchapterMN on Twitter. We love seeing what you're reading and reminding others to keep the literary flame burning.

  • Share our virtual events online. You can see them on Facebook and now on YouTube. If you like them, tell a friend, so they can enjoy the conversations, too.

  • Tell us what you’re reading. Tweet us, tag us, talk to us. Have your reading habits changed? Are you re-reading classics or embracing the new? More nonfiction? Less?




David Enyeart
manager, Next Chapter Booksellers




Announcing NCB's new "Ask a Bookseller"
virtual book consultation

Thursday, April 30, 4:00pm to 5:00pm

Looking for your next great novel? A gift for a graduate? A cookbook full of inspiration? We're starting an occasional series of informal meetings with booksellers. Tune in for some good old-fashioned bookselling and help us figure out how to recommend books in this brave new world. Ask a question or make your own suggestion. We'll spend an hour talking about books!





May's virtual book readings
Meet great authors in the comfort of your own home.

We love introducing readers to authors at our instore events. Sadly, that's not possible at the moment, so we're doing the next best thing--hosting author events online. Join us via Zoom or Facebook Live to meet fascinating writers. You can even ask questions.

It's easy to join us for these readings. Register in advance (links are below), and you'll get a reminder email on the day of the event. Click and join and enjoy!

Check out our recent online events on Facebook --and coming soon to YouTube .


William McKeever discusses E mperors of the Deep: Sharks--The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians --Thursday, May 7, 6:00pm

At once a deep dive into the misunderstood world of sharks—specifically, great whites, makos, hammerheads, and tigers—and an urgent call to protect them, Emperors of the Deep tells the true story about the ocean’s most mysterious, most misunderstood, and most important guardians. From the family-friendly waters of Cape Cod to the coral reefs of the Central Pacific, where great whites mysteriously congregate every fall in what scientists refer to as Burning Man for white sharks, Safeguard the Seas founder William McKeever introduces us to scientists, conservationists, and world-renowned shark experts who have started unlocking the species’ most closely guarded secrets. He also profiles activists around the world fighting to protect sharks and infiltrates a mako-only shark tournament in Montauk to figure out why fishermen continue to hunt sharks despite their declining numbers. 




Outside the Margins, NCB's Speculative Fiction Book Club, talks about Infinite Detail --Tuesday, May 12, 6:00pm

An act of anonymous cyberterrorism has permanently switched off the Internet. Global trade, travel, and communication have collapsed. The luxuries that characterized modern life are scarce. In the Croft, Mary—who has visions of people presumed dead—is sought out by grieving families seeking connections to lost ones. But does Mary have a gift or is she just hustling to stay alive? Like Grids, who runs the Croft’s black market like personal turf. Or like Tyrone, who hoards music (culled from cassettes, the only medium to survive the crash) and tattered sneakers like treasure.

“A singular speculative debut,  Infinite Detail  asks crucial questions about the nature of our relationship to technology. A lively and provocative novel particularly equipped for the challenges of our moment.” —Jeff VanderMeer, author of  Borne  and the Southern Reach trilogy




Jennifer Ackerman discusses The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think --Friday, May 22, 7:00pm

From the  New York Times  bestselling author of  The Genius of Birds , a radical investigation into the bird way of being, and the recent scientific research that is dramatically shifting our understanding of birds — how they live and how they think.

Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, from the tropical rainforests of eastern Australia and the remote woodlands of northern Japan, to the rolling hills of lower Austria and the islands of Alaska’s Kachemak Bay, Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary. It’s what we love about them. As E.O Wilson once said, when you have seen one bird, you have not seen them all.




#werecommendbooks

There are plenty of great books in the store, ready to be delivered or mailed to you. Here are a few suggestions. Click the cover to order online, or call us between 10:00am and 3:00pm daily at 651/225-8989, and we'll help you find what you're looking for.


Circe is now in paperback!

This gorgeous novel will transport you to ancient Greece. The goddess Circe tells her story in a powerful, hypnotic voice which will enthrall you as surely as her siren song lured Odysseus to her arms.

This is the perfect novel to draw you to another place and time. You won't easily leave Circe's island, and you won't mind being marooned with her company.








The Sarah Stonich novel you didn't know you were missing.

You loved Vacationland , and you tore through Laurentian Divide , but you might not have read Fishing . Originally published under a pseudonym, it's classic Sarah Stonich--funny, sharp, Minnesota nice.

Having fled the testosterone-soaked world of professional sport fishing, thirty-something RayAnne Dahl is navigating a new job as a consultant for the first all-women talk show about fishing on public television (or, as one viewer’s husband puts it, “Oprah in a boat”). After the host bails, RayAnne lands in front of the camera and out of her depth at the helm of the show. Is she up for the challenge? 


St Paul author Frederick Soukop takes you to Chicago in his novel.

Mid-Recession, Fredrick Soukup graduated college with two things: a fiction obsession and an alp of student-loan debt. So, while writing, he worked anywhere he could: as a meat slicer at a delicatessen in Fargo, a personal care advocate at a group home in Saint Paul, and a call center representative for an insurance company in Minneapolis. He found his most formative employment as a guard at the Juvenile Detention Center in Saint Paul. Working with disadvantaged black youth in the city he ultimately called home educated him about the privileges of being a white man in America.



History comes alive in this gripping account of the American Revolution.

“To say that Atkinson can tell a story is like saying Sinatra can sing. . . . Historians of the American Revolution take note. Atkinson is coming. He brings with him a Tolstoyan view of war; that is, he presumes war can be understood only by recovering the experience of ordinary men and women caught in the crucible of orchestrated violence beyond their control or comprehension.”—Joseph J. Ellis,  The New York Times Book Review




Adventure. Grit. Ponies. Need we say more?

At the age of nineteen, Lara Prior-Palmer discovered a website devoted to "the world's longest, toughest horse race"―an annual competition of endurance and skill that involves dozens of riders racing a series of twenty-five wild ponies across 1,000 kilometers of Mongolian grassland. On a whim, she decided to enter the race. As she boarded a plane to East Asia, she was utterly unprepared for what awaited her.

"Think the next  Educated  or  Wild . Palmer's memoir of beating the odds to become a horse champion is an inspiring saga of perseverance--and a classic underdog tale." -- Entertainment Weekly





Puzzles, too

You can't read 24 hours a day, it turns out. Call us at 651/225-8989, and we'll get you a jigsaw puzzle to keep your hands busy all weekend.




Thanks for reading all the way to the end.

We've got lots more great books in the store. We hope you'll talk to us soon for a recommendation. Follow us on social media for the latest news. We’re Next Chapter Booksellers on Facebook ; we’re @nextchapterbooksellers on Instagram ; and we’re @NextChapterMN on Twitter .


--all of us at Next Chapter Booksellers