November Events and Updates
Pre-Order These Books Now and Have Them the Day They Come Out!
Dear Reader,

Somehow November has rolled around again, and we're fattening the store up for the holiday shopping season, which begins very late this year, on Small Business Saturday, November 30.  Small Business Saturday at Bookends & Beginnings is always a time to celebrate our community with festive events and author appearances. We want to affirm the principle that  locally-owned businesses generate substantially more economic benefit to the local economy than chain or online businesses . The widely cited  Andersonville Study of Retail Economics  found that for every $100 in consumer spending with a local firm, $68 remained in the Chicago economy, but for every $100 spent with a chain firm, only $43 remained local. I t makes a HUGE difference to us, to our fellow Chicago-area indie stores, and to our regional economy, when you shop local for the holidays!

In a few weeks, we’ll be sending along a full schedule of SBS events (including a special appearance by Evanston’s amazing author and children’s book guru  Betsy Bird,  who will offer holiday gift book recommendations and sign copies of her wonderful new holiday-themed picture book, The Great Santa Stakeout ).

Meanwhile, we’re designating this year’s holiday shopping theme “Fun & Games.” Besides our usual selection of books, gifts, journals, and jewelry, we’re focusing on a new expanded selection of games that are suitable for the whole family. These are all staff-tested and are primarily word-, history-, or literary-themed games that will help bring you and your friends and family together in super-fun, OFFSCREEN ways this holiday season and beyond. Join us on  Saturday, November 16 from 3-5 pm  when we’ll have games open and ready to test drive. In December, we’ll have several “Sip & Shop” nights on the calendar when you can enjoy light refreshments while you shop and try out the games.

Be sure to look for our special 16-page holiday catalog which will be inserted in 15,000 home-delivery copies of the  Evanston RoundTable on November 14th. If you don't get one, we'll have plenty available in the store and we'll send out a link later in the month that will send you to our online store for instant ordering. Remember, you can always order 24/7 at www.bookendsandbeginnings.com  for in-store pickup or delivery!

Just a few more quick announcements:  

  • Store owner Nina Barrett traveled to Washington DC in November to give a talk about her book The Leopold and Loeb Files at National Archives, where she was graciously introduced by the Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero. The talk was broadcast live on YouTube and is now available for viewing here.

  • We are now open until 8 pm EVERY THURSDAY! In December we will announce additional extended shopping hours.

  • In November and December, due to much heavier shopping traffic on Saturdays and Sundays, we are SUSPENDING OUR USUAL USED-BOOK BUYBACK HOURS. In case of a Used-Book Buyback Emergency on your part, please contact Brooke at brooke@bookendsandbeginnings.com  to make a buying appointment on a weekday.


We're packed with great events this month, so read on for info on appearances by  Pia Justesen, Christine Sneed (and friends from the Northwestern Masters in Creative Writing Program), Ryan Dohoney, Marra B. Gad, and Marika Lindholm and Katie Shonk (with friends from their new anthology about solo mothering). 

(Gmail users beware: Your email may not show up fully in your browser because of the length of our sometimes expansive descriptions. If you see   [Message clipped]  View entire message  at the bottom, be sure to click through to the rest of the newsletter!

And, as always, read on!
November Events
Saturday, November 9, 11 am - 3 pm Deana Rose Jewelry Trunk Show
Thursday, November 16, 3 - 5 pm Fun & Games Demo:Come Play With Us!
Wednesday, November 20, noon The Very Short Book Club: Anthropocene
Friday, November 22, 6 pm RHINO Poetry Night
Tuesday, December 3, 6 pm Sci-Fi Book Club: The Black God's Dr um s
Upcoming Events
From the Periphery  consists of more than 30 first-person narratives of everyday people who describe what it's like to be treated differently by society because of their disabilities. The stories are raw and painful, but also surprisingly funny and deeply inspiring, describing anger, independence, bigotry, solidarity and love—in the family, at school and at the workplace.
Pia Justesen is a Danish human rights lawyer, professor and writer who moved to the United States in 2014. She has taught disability rights at the University of Illinois and worked with the independent living organization Access Living. Pia currently splits her time between Evanston, Chicago and Copenhagen.
 
Mary Rosenberg is one of the oral historians who contributed a narrative to From the Periphery . She is an attorney on Access Living’s civil rights team. 
Please join us for a lively prose and poetry reading featuring three distinguished authors and writing professors, Faisal Mohyuddin, Gioia Diliberto, and Naeem Murr, along with three recent alumni from Northwestern University's School of Professional Studies' graduate creative writing program. Fiction writer and program director, Christine Sneed --author most recently of The Virginity of Famous Men --will host. Books from the faculty readers will be for sale. Light refreshments will be served.
Faculty readers
Naeem Murr is the author of three novels, The Boy , which was a New York Times Notable Book, The Genius of the Sea , and most recently The Perfect Man.
Named one of Bustle’s “11 women in nonfiction who are totally killing it,”  Gioia Diliberto  is the author of four biographies (including Paris Without End ), two novels and a play.
Faisal Mohyuddin n is the author of The Displaced Children of Displaced Children and the poetry collection, The Riddle of Longing .
Student readers
Patrick Bernhard's work has appeared in Wilder Voice , Funny In Five Hundred , and Maryland Literary Review , and he has work forthcoming in New Ohio Review . He currently teaches English at College of Lake County. 
Christine Pacyk has been published in Beloit Poetry Journal , Crannóg Magazine , Whiskey Island , Zone 3 , and other journals.
James Berg is a French/American novelist, poet, storyteller, short story writer and musician with publications in the United States and France
In the United States, more than 15 million women are parenting children on their own. In  We Got This , seventy-five solo mom writers tell the truth about their lives—their hopes and fears, their resilience and setbacks, their embarrassments and triumphs. Contributors include familiar personalities like Amy Poehler, Anne Lamott, and Elizabeth Alexander, as well as many others you may be meeting for the first time here. Bound together by their strength, pride, and—most of all— their dedication to their children, they broadcast a universal and empowering message: You are not alone, solo moms—and your tenacity, courage, and fierce love are worthy of celebration.
Co-editors of the book Marika Lindholm and Katie Shonk will be accompanied by several of the contributors, who will discuss their sections of the book and their experiences as solo mothers. Marika Lindholm  founded  ESME.com  to ignite a social movement of Solo Moms. A trained sociologist, Marika taught courses on inequality, diversity, and gender at Northwestern University for over a decade. After a divorce left her parenting two children on her own, she realized that solo moms lacked much-needed resources, support, and connection. She built her social platform, Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere, out of this combination of academic and personal experience.
Katherine Shonk is the author of the novel  Happy Now?  and the short story collection The Red Passport . Her writing has appeared in  Tin House, Best American Short Stories 2001, StoryQuarterly, The Georgia Review , and elsewhere. Shonk lives in Evanston, her hometown, with her husband and daughter and works as a writer and editor for Harvard University. She's currently writing a novel about immigration and motherhood. 
VersAnnette Blackman-Bosia  (“Why We Stay”) is a painter, published poet, speaker, and facilitator. Through her business, Soul Revival Healing Arts, she offers original paintings and products, and teaches workshops. Her first poetry collection,  Butterfly Spirit, was published in 2015. A former solo mom, she is ESME’s Domestic Violence Resource Guide. She and her family currently reside near Chicago.
Courtney Christine  (“I’m the Woman Who Hit Your Daughter with My Car”) is mother to two smart, brave, and kind little women, who reside with her in Evanston, Illinois. With much trepidation, she began her journey as a solo mom in 2017. Find her blog at  medium.com/@courtneychristine .
Mika Yamamoto  (“Deconstructing Kanji”) is a writer and ESME’s Public Assistance Resource Guide. Her work can be found in  Noon, Nelle, Hawaii Pacific Review, the Rumpus , and other publications.
Angela Ricketts  (“Grey Street”) is the author of the memoir  No Man’s War: Irreverent Confessions of an Infantry Wife. Daughter and wife of career infantrymen, she has a master’s degree in social psychology. You can follow her on Twitter at @angricketts and on Facebook at @AngMacRicketts.
Sharisse Kimbro  (“For My Sisters”) is a writer, mother, and stepmother who resides in the Chicago area. She has written extensively on empowering women, recovery from divorce, and managing single parenthood for a variety of outlets, including ESME, Divorced Moms, and For Harriet. Her debut novel,  Beyond the Broken , published in 2013, is a powerful story about what happens when the life you planned for isn’t the life you end up with.
Marianne Peel Foreman  is a prize-winning poet whose writing has appeared in  Muddy River Poetry Review, Belle Re’ve Literary Journal, Jelly Bucket,  and many other publications. Her poetry was recently published in  Unmasked: Women Write about Sex and Intimacy after 50  and she has a poetry collection forthcoming from Shadelandhouse Modern Press. 
Deana Rose Trunk Show
Saturday, November 9, 11 am - 3 pm
Join us for a display and sale of Deana Rose’s entire collection. Her jewelry is comprised of hand-picked semi-precious stones, freshwater pearls, and precious metals from around the world. Her sense of color and simple design shine through her earrings, necklaces and bracelets. 

Her new collections are “earth” “fire” and “water.” Each are inspired by the woods, the autumn colors and the stormy sea. Deana Rose has also created a new “End of the Day” collection inspired by the artisans on the Venetian island of Murano. Their millifiore (thousand flowers) glass paperweights and vases were created from the scraps of cane at the end of the day to create one-of-a-kind creations. 

We are hosting her first in a tour of trunk shows, so come in, get first pick of her holiday stock, and check some people off your holiday shopping list! We carry Deana’s work in the store, but this is the opportunity to see her full collection and get your questions answered about her cottage industry and her path to being a jewelry designer.  
What happens to the spirit after the body dies?

In  Life After Death , Deepak Chopra draws on cutting-edge scientific discoveries and the great wisdom traditions to provide a map of the afterlife. He tells us there is abundant evidence that “the world beyond” is not separated from this world by an impassable wall; in fact, a single reality embraces all worlds, all times and places.

Our Mortality Book Club reads and discusses books having to do with the important--but frequently avoided---issues we confront at the end of our lives. Regular book club members include hospital and hospice workers, but also the adult children of aging parents, or just anyone who wonders about the many questions--medical, emotional, social, and philosophical--raised by human mortality. The book club facilitator is Jasmin Tomlins , herself a practicing death doula.
Hatred of Translation , a book of essays on transgressive literary figures Marguerite Duras, René Char, Hilda Hilst (and more), thinks through the necessities and perils of translation with an emphasis on its disaggregation. Resistant to anything resembling a theory of a thing, these pieces provoke a persistent commitment to thinking in place of theorizing.
Nathanaël  is the author of more than a score of books written in English or in French. Nathanaël’s work has been translated into Basque, Greek, Slovene, and Spanish (Mexico), with book-length publications in Bulgarian and Portuguese (Brazil). The recipient of the Prix Alain-Grandbois for …s’arrête? Je (2008), Nathanaël’s translations include works by Édouard Glissant, Catherine Mavrikakis, and Hilda Hilst (the latter in collaboration with Rachel Gontijo Araújo). Her translation of  The Mausoleum of Lovers  by Hervé Guibert has been recognized by fellowships from the PEN American Center and the Centre National du Livre de France.
Jennifer Scappettone  is a poet, translator, scholar, and professor at the University of Chicago. 
Saving Abstraction: Morton Feldman, the de Menils, and the Rothko Chapel  tells the story of the 1972 premier of Morton Feldman's music for the Rothko Chapel in Houston. Built in 1971 for "people of all faiths or none," the chapel houses 14 monumental paintings by famed abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, who had committed suicide only one year earlier. Upon its opening, visitors' responses to the chapel ranged from spiritual succor to abject tragedy--the latter being closest to Rothko's intentions. However the chapel's founders--art collectors and philanthropists Dominique and John de Menil--opened the space to provide an ecumenically and spiritually affirming environment that spoke to their avant-garde approach to Catholicism. A year after the chapel opened, Morton Feldman's musical work proved essential to correcting the unintentionally grave atmosphere of the de Menil's chapel, translating Rothko's existential dread into sacred ecumenism for visitors.
Ryan Dohoney is a musicologist and historian who writes on U.S. and European Modernism in the 20th and 21st centuries. He is Assistant Professor of Musicology in the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, where he is also a core faculty member in the Program in Critical Theory. He holds degrees from Rice University and Columbia University.
Seth Brodsky is an author and musicologist at the University of Chicago who is also the director of the Richard and Mary L. Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry.

Fun and Games! Saturday, November 16, 3 - 5 pm
Come play with us! From 3 – 5 pm this afternoon, we’re inviting you to stop by, enjoy some light refreshments, and try playing some of the many wonderful games we’re featuring this holiday season, including: TENZI, PAIRZI, Paint Chip Poetry, Autocomplete, Foodie Fight, Haikubes, and more! We promise, this is much more than a sales pitch, it’s a chance to chill out (or rev up, if you’re that kind of competitive personality!) and have fun with friends and family or meet some new folks on a Saturday afternoon.
The Anthropocene--defined as “relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment”--remains very much a work in progress. Is this the story of an unprecedented planetary disaster? Or of newfound wisdom and redemption? This month’s selection of The Very Short Book Club— Anthropocene: A Very Short Introduction, by Erle Ellis--explains the science behind the Anthropocene and the many proposals about when to mark its beginning: The nuclear tests of the 1950s? The beginnings of agriculture? The origins of humans as a species? Ellis considers the many ways that the Anthropocene's "evolving paradigm" is reshaping the sciences, stimulating the humanities, and foregrounding the politics of life on a planet transformed by humans.
Anyone is welcome to join this Very Short Book Club, which is working toward a complete understanding of everything though the Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions series. The monthly discussions are mediated by Josiah and welcome all types of thinkers. Or just come browse our collection of 300+ VSIs, offering concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, and Literary Theory to History. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume provides trenchant and provocative--always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given topic. If you'd like to learn more about the group stop in and talk to Josiah or email him at  Josiah@bookendsandbeginnings.com 
Adam Frankel’s maternal grandparents survived the Holocaust, and afterward built new lives, with new names, in Connecticut. Though they tried to leave the horrors of their past behind, the pain they suffered crossed generational lines—a fact most apparent in the mental health of Adam’s mother. When Adam set out to examine his family history up close, he learned a shocking secret that unraveled his entire understanding of who he is and where he comes from. Adam's talk this afternoon at the main downtown site of Evanston Public Library is being co-sponsored by Bookends & Beginnings, which will provide books for sale and signing. Please pre-register online at the Library's website or call them at 847448-8630.
Adam Frankel is an advisor to Emerson Collective, a social change organization, and Fenway Strategies, the communications firm founded by Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor. Adam was a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama from the early days of the 2008 presidential campaign through Obama’s first term in the White House.  
The RHINO poets convene again at 
Bookends & Beginnings for their November gathering, with special guest poets and the traditional open mic. More details are available on the  RHINO Website  or keep an eye on our  Facebook page .
In 1970, three-day-old Marra B. Gad was adopted by a white Jewish family in Chicago. For her parents, it was love at first sight—but they quickly realized the world wasn’t ready for a family like theirs.
Marra’s biological mother was unwed, white, and Jewish, and her biological father was black. While still a child, Marra came to realize that she was “a mixed-race, Jewish unicorn.” In black spaces, she was not “black enough” or told that it was OK to be Christian or Muslim, but not Jewish. In Jewish spaces, she was mistaken for the help, asked to leave, or worse. Even in her own extended family, racism bubbled to the surface.

The Color of Love  explores the idea of yerusha, which means "inheritance" in Yiddish. At turns heart-wrenching and heartwarming, this is a story about what you inherit from your family—identity, disease, melanin, hate, and most powerful of all, love. Marra B. Gad has written an inspirational, moving chronicle proving that when all else is stripped away, love is where we return, and love is always our greatest inheritance.

Marra B. Gad was born in New York and raised in Chicago. She is an independent film and television producer and now calls Los Angeles home. Ms. Gad is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds a master’s degree in modern Jewish history from Baltimore Hebrew Institute at Towson University.

The store will be CLOSED on November 28th! Happy Thanksgiving!
Small Business Saturday featuring Betsy Bird and Sydni Gregg
Saturday, November 30
Small Business Saturday at Bookends & Beginnings is always a time to celebrate our own community with festive events and author appearances--and to affirm the principle that locally-owned businesses generate substantially more economic benefit to the local economy than chain or online businesses. We'll send full details of our day's events out in a separate email, but we especially hope you'll join us for appearances by these two wonderful authors!
At 10:30 am, Sydni Gregg will make a guest appearance at our usual Saturday morning storytime to read from her debut book Seagull and Sea Dragon , which explores an unlikely friendship—and how the two separate worlds of the seagull and the sea dragon might be more similar than they could ever imagine.
At 3 pm, author and nationally recognized children's book guru Betsy Bird will be here to chat with you about all her favorite children's books of the holiday season, and will happily sign copies of her wonderful new picture book, The Great Santa Stakeout.....
And the November Meeting of the Sci Fi Club is in December!!!
In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air--in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.
But Creeper also has a secret herself: Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations.
Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God’s Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans.
Anyone is welcome to join our Science Fiction Book Club, led by Brooke, who is excited to share her passion for diverse science fiction books. If you haven't looked at the science fiction or fantasy shelves in a while, you may be surprised at the influx of talented women, POC, and LGBTQ+ writers that are writing some of the most interesting and compelling works in the genres. Brooke's goal is to highlight these traditionally underrepresented groups. Each month, we'll explore a new read from a diverse SF/F author. So if you came last month, bring a friend, and if you weren't able to make it last time, here's your chance!
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Holiday Gift Catalog
Starting to think about holiday gift-giving? Our annual holiday catalog is already available in the store and is packed with great suggestions for everyone on your list! You can pick up a copy any time or if you normally get home delivery of the Evanston RoundTable, you'll find a copy bundled into your November 14 issue. Later in the month, we'll have an online version that will link directly to the books in our online store. And remember, you can ALWAYS choose us as your preferred online bookseller!  Our website  gives you access to everything currently in the store, plus millions of additional titles that we can usually obtain in a day or two. No shipping charges when you select "store pick-up" as your delivery method!
Storytime Every Saturday Morning at 10:30 am
For children ages 2 through 6, Storytime at Bookends & Beginnings is always fun! Our alternating storytellers are Nina Barrett (our store owner), Brooke Williams, elementary school teacher Chris Kennelly, and early childhood educator Ann Gadzikowski. Look out for Special Storytimes listed in our events! These extra special mornings often include a craft and activity to accompany our stories!

Bookends & Beginnings  is a community-centered and community-sustained, full-service, general-interest independent bookstore, now in our sixth 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 our social media. Remember that you can always see event photos and news updates on  our Facebook page , which is updated regularly. There you can subscribe to our events feed with a single click.
 
Keep reading good books! 
Bookends & Beginnings
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