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Shelf Stable: March 20
"Many times I have written something, and after it was published, I understood what I was saying." - Donald Hall
Hello readers,

I'd like to start by thanking you all again: we've been inundated with orders, recommendation requests, ideas, and well wishes. It's a lot different than having you all here in the store, and we're doing our best to safely keep you stocked with all your reading needs. Your patience and kindness in this time has been so appreciated.

I don't know about you all, but I've been craving creature comforts only: childhood favorites like Eva Ibbotson's The Secrets of Platform 13 ; well-trodden reads like A Prayer for Owen Meany  . I've been listening (again) to The Golden Compass on audio and my thoughts keep drifting to For Colored Girls Who've Considered Suicide (When the Rainbow is Enuf) whose rhythms and dips I have followed with dancing fingertips many times before. I guess it's for the same reason that in winter we crave hearty soups or steaming mugs of honey-scented tea: they are warming, familiar. They speak to cycles we know and understand. I remember who I am without the worries and stress of these current days a little more clearly when I fall into a book I know; I remember that I am more than a pair of eyes scrolling across news tickers trying to consume this crisis. Falling into another person's words, I find I am more myself.

I hope we're helping you find your way back to your own corners of peace, even a little bit.

Stay connected, stay well, and keep reading.
all the best, Leila @ PSB

PS: Next time you wash your hands (for the millionth time today, if you're on our schedule) throw in an extra round of Happy Birthday as you scrub for co-owner, valiant champion of indies, and bookseller extraordinaire Josh, who is 40 today.
Events We Missed
Andy Husbands
The Smoke Shop's Backyard BBQ: Eat, Drink, and Party Like a Pitmaster : Cookbook

On Saturday, we were meant to host local chef Andy Husbands for his new cookbook, The Smoke Shop's Backyard BBQ - he was even going to serve samples! We're sorry to miss out.

The local Smoke Shop BBQ restaurants are closed for the time being, but you can support them by purchasing a gift card -- or try your own hand at mastering the pit from your own backyard by picking up a copy of this new cookbook, offered at 20% off this month.

We can't wait for things to clear up enough that we can start sharing meals again.

Featured Staff Pick for Adults
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

Award-winning author Eric Larson, author of the bestselling The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake among others, tells the fascinating story of the first year of the Battle of Britain and how Winston Churchill rose to the occasion, stood firm and convinced the world the British would stay calm and carry on. - Nathan
Reminder: Cafe Zing, Puzzles & Games

Remember, we've got a range of Cafe Zing items available for curbside pick up and local delivery. Click here to see all the Zing goodness. They're also now accepting orders for gift cards. 50% of every gift card goes directly to the baristas we all know and love. Click here to order one today.

And have you seen our puzzle and games stock?? We've got more than a few! We're ready to get these to you via free local delivery and curbside pickup or priority shipping, so take a look.

Newly added : a whole lot of puzzles and games for the kids in your life! Gotta find some way to keep those hands busy.
Looking for ideas to keep kids entertained?
We're big fans of the industry newsletter Shelf Awareness, which today shared a terrific roundup of virtual readings, activities and resources for kids stuck at home:

" On Instagram, children's authors like  Oliver Jeffers  and  Mac Barnett  are using the live function to do daily readings of their picture books, while YA authors  Tiffany D. Jackson  and  Nic Stone  are chatting with readers and other authors;  Molly Idle  and  Dan Santat  are giving drawing and history lessons; and  Gene Luen Yang  is "touring as a cartoon" after having to cancel his "in-person" tour.

On the Kennedy Center website, author/illustrator Mo Willems is inviting viewers into his studio every weekday for the next few weeks to create   lunchtime doodles   with him. Kate DiCamillo has launched a  #writewithkate video series  on her Facebook page.  The Everywhere Book Fest , founded by authors Melanie Conklin, Ellen Oh and Christina Soontornvat, is an entirely online children's book festival scheduled for May 1-2. Their "aim is to bring the celebration and joy of the book festival experience directly into the homes of readers everywhere."

Several publishers, such as  Disney ,  Penguin ,  Albert Whitman ,  Harper Kids ,  Tundra Books  and  Cinco Puntos Press , are making sure parents and educators have access to teaching materials.

The  Children's Book Council  is "creating a resource page and eblast" which will link to educator and activity kits; if you have suggestions for them, you can e-mail  [email protected] . And  WeAreTeachers.org  has compiled "The Big List of Children's Authors Doing Online Readings and Activities." - -Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness

For more resources like this, consider signing up for Shelf Awareness's newsletter for Readers !
Digital Audio Books:
A terrific way to support local indies!
What have we been up to here at the store?
We're finding silver linings:
We're fighting to defend our book club picks:
We're supporting local businesses, also, dragons:
Kids' Newsletter
For all the latest on events, new books, reviews, and more for young and young-at-heart readers.
Virtual Bookseller

Looking to get some good book recommendations, personalized just for you? Check out our Virtual Bookseller! Just fill out the form with your likes and dislikes, genres and favorites, and we'll crowdsource a bunch of great picks for you with our crack team of real life booksellers. Give it a whirl!
Need some inspiration?
Feeling like you can't concentrate or get anything done? (Us, too.) Maybe you need a soothing art session to calm your nerves. And what would be better than drawing a soothing cup of tea?
The outline of a mug or cup is pretty simple (see above) - you could even find some outlines of mugs and cups online and print them. Then unleash your creativity on decorating them - with markers, gel pens, crayons; stickers or collaged magazine clippings. Have everyone in your quarantine pod decorate one and put them together to see your full set! And ask each other: what beverage would you be sipping on from your vessel? Who might own your cup? Maybe it was hand-painted by an artisan in Eastham going through a divorce; maybe it was found in the estate sale of the little old lady up the street. Maybe it's some sort of teacup genie in disguise! Let your own creativity foster more imaginings.

Kate Reads Mort by Terry Pratchett
We've shared a few of these reading videos already, but you've got to tune into Kate reading from Discworld classic Mort - she pulls out all the stops including some terrific dialect work. If you need to hear more, you can order your copy here.
Shelf Stable Exquisite Corpse
An "exquisite corpse" is a group writing exercise in which a story is built one line at a time. Someone kicks it off by writing one sentence on a piece of paper and handing it to the someone else. That person writes the next line, folds the paper so that only their sentence is visible, and passes it to someone else. This goes on until everyone in the room has added their line and then the "story" is read. With social distancing we ain't passing anything to anybody. So we'll do our exquisite corpse online. Here's your jumping off point:

The door refused to budge until you threw a handful of the beans (for they were the magical sort) and one skittered right into the lock, which clicked open at once.

Respond to this email with your next sentence. We'll pick our favorite and put it in the next newsletter. Rinse and repeat. Eventually, we'll publish the entire story on our blog.
Featured Staff Pick For Kids
Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1) by Scott Reintgen

This is a perfect series to tide you over while you wait for the second coming of the Hunger Games. While the "compete for survival" premise might sound familiar, there are plenty of sci-fi twists to keep you frantically turning the pages. And it's in space, where no one can hear you scream! Or CAN they....?  --Caleb
We want to hear from you! What section will you make a beeline for when we reopen?
New fiction!
New nonfiction!
Sci Fi / Fantasy, duh.
I want to browse gorgeous illustrated picture books!
Poetry is all that moves me these days.
SOCKS!!!!!!
Audio Book Of The Month
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

" Oona Out of Order is a work of fiction that genuinely encouraged me to reflect upon my own mortality and the trajectory of my life. Oona wakes up on her birthday every year in a different part of her life. The difficulty this imposes is fascinating. Pop culture and music is ever-present, as Oona is a musician and chapter titles are taken from song titles or lyrics. What would it be to live your life out of order? To instinctively want to second guess and redo what you saw as failures? At the heart, Oona Out of Order is about mastering the art of living in the moment and it is a terribly fun romp."
-Rachel, Avid Bookshop
See you next time here at Shelf Stable!
We'll get out our next issue as soon as we can between fulfilling and delivering your orders. In the meantime, don't forget about all the other places you can catch up with us from afar, on
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25 White St. Cambridge, MA 02140
617-491-2220