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Open for Shipped Orders!
Our physical store is closed, but you can still get many books shipped to you directly from our warehouse. Here's how:
1. Only order titles with an inventory status of "Available at the Warehouse"
2. Select the "
UPS/USPS Ground Shipping"
option
3. Five or fewer books per order if possible.
We are happy to fulfill other orders, but will not be able to process them until at least May 18. Other options: try
Indiebound.org
or
Bookshop.org
- keep it indie!
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“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—
Cicero
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Years ago I had the privilege of working on a television program called
Crockett’s Victory Garden
, renamed
The Victory Garden
after host Jim Crockett’s untimely death. We had our own garden and greenhouse in the parking lot of WGBH-TV on Western Avenue in Allston. Often I was called upon to water the plants in the greenhouse, or weed the raised beds, and sometimes sweep the pathways making certain the garden looked good not only for TV, but for the many tourists who came by wanting to see where the show was shot.
The original victory gardens began during World War I in Britain, Canada, the United States and other countries. Sometimes called Defense Gardens, the various governments encouraged people to use whatever available space they had in their back and front yards, and even public parks, to cultivate all kinds of vegetables: tomatoes, beets, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, as well as herbs and to plant fruit trees and berry bushes. Not only were the Victory Gardens useful in supplementing food, which at times was rationed, but these special gardens were a morale booster, as many gardeners felt a sense of patriotism in helping the war effort.
Now, with soaring food prices and summer around the corner, I would suggest if you have a yard, a patio, a balcony or can even rent a garden space that it’s time for a VOCG Victory Over Corona Garden – it’s a surefire way to feel useful, provide healthy food for yourself, family and/or neighbors and claim, as William James said, “a small victory.” So I encourage everyone to plant a seed and watch it grow.
Here’s a secret: One year at
The Victory Garden
for some reason we decided to grow cannabis. Seeing that it was illegal at the time we had to keep it top secret until one day we realized our huge cannabis plants were in the camera shot. Needless to say, our beautiful feathery pot plants were removed from the greenhouse post haste.
Here are a few titles that might help you start your own Victory Garden:
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In praise of a green thumb, Nathan
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Join our next virtual event!
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*Tomorrow!* Friday, May 22 @ 7pm
Welcome to the Neighborhood:
An Anthology Reading
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Welcome to the Neighborhood: An Anthology of American Coexistence:
Literary Collection
Join Porter Square Books virtually for a reading with contributors to the new anthology
Welcome to the Neighborhood: An Anthology of American Coexistence! Featured readers include Katherine Hollander, Aaron Devine, Sarah Green, Sonya Larson, Jennifer De Leon, Lynne Viti, and Lloyd Schwartz.
How to live with difference—not necessarily in peace, but with resilience, engagement, and a lack of vitriol—is a defining worry in America at this moment. The poets, fiction writers, and essayists (plus one graphic novelist) who contributed to
Welcome to the Neighborhood don’t necessarily offer roadmaps to harmonious neighboring. Some of their narrators don’t even want to be neighbors. Maybe they grieve, or rage. Maybe they briefly find resolution or community. But they do approach the question of what it means to be neighbors, and how we should do it, with open minds and nuance.
The many diverse contributors give this collection a depth beyond easy answers. Their attentions to the theme of neighborliness as an ongoing evolution offer hope to readers: possible pathways for rediscovering community, even just by way of a shared wish for it. The result is an enormously rich resource for the classroom and for anyone interested in reflecting on what it means to be American today, and how place and community play a part.
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You asked, we answered! Introducing fifteen gift bundles perfect for grads (or you, or anyone, we won't judge).
Look, even one of our favorite authors got in on this deal!!
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Be like Dr Tressie McMillan Cottom and send a bundle while supplies last! (Also, maybe pick up a copy of
Thick while you're at it. You won't regret it.)
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Face coverings are going to be with us for a while, so
we’re now offering non-medical grade cloth masks (including kid size) from a variety of makers. Right now quantities are limited, but additional styles are on the way. We’ll keep you posted!
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Digital Audio Books:
A terrific way to support local indies!
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Events are back, baby! Want to stay up to date on the full upcoming line up of virtual happenings? Make sure you're signed up for our events newsletter!
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For all the latest on events, new books, reviews, and more for young and young-at-heart readers.
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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!
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Preorders are a great way to support PSB while we're not able to actually be at the store for two reasons:
- They bring in income now while the store is closed.
- We can deal with them later!
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You can see all of the books from the future we're excited about here.
But you can preorder more than just what we're excited for. Any book with an inventory status (who knew you'd have to get to know our online inventory statuses so well) of "Coming Soon--Available for Pre-Order Now" or "On the Horizon--Available for Pre-Order Now," is, uh, available for preorder now.
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Are you missing out on our recommendations, pining for our Staff Pick display?? Our May crop of staff picks is now live on our website! We'll feature titles throughout the month, but you can browse the full list at the link below. As ever, all staff picks are 20% off - so go crazy!
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Make your shopping easy by buying bundles, handpicked by our expert booksellers. We'll be adding more of these so stay tuned.
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Sinny Recommends:
Mushroom Ravioli a la Twilight
Bella's Mushroom Ravioli in creamy besciamella with Olympic forest mushrooms
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Yes, the restaurant,
Bella Italia
in Port Angeles is real and yes, they do serve the
famous mushroom ravioli
. Hear me out before you shut down the recipe because mushroom ravioli was a delight before Bella Swan ordered it (and after too). And with the news of Stephenie Meyer's newest release,
Midnight Sun
, becoming a reality, I am reminded of the wonderful dish. I have not attempted to make it myself because making pasta from scratch looks intimidating, but all I've got on my hands is time these days. I will write a follow-up about whether I fail or succeed in the future with this recipe.
Here are a few recipes that I found that come close to Bella Italia's recipe:
Also, yes, I have been to Bella Italia and can vouch for the restaurant's most delicious mushroom ravioli recipe. No, I did not bring an Edward cutout board with me. --
Sinny
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I know I'm not alone in trying to fill this extra quarantine time with projects. I can't knit, and can only eat so many baked goods, so I've been writing. I often get hung up on naming characters, so for all of us with that problem, have a character name generator. I skewed a bit silly, and picked names that I thought a spy or a swashbuckler might have. If you're not writing, surely those new plants or sourdough starters could use names? -
Meaghan
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And of course, don't forget to meet us over at our Instagram story at 8:45pm for tonight's live bedtime reading!
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Support Cafe Zing Baristas!
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Although Cafe Zing is its own business separate from ours, we really don't see it that way: Zing workers are part of the Porter Square Books family. They keep us well supplied - very well supplied - with caffeine, kindness, and some great tunes. Sometimes they give us staff picks; sometimes we give them exact change because we've bought the same, perfect, comforting, delicious beverage twice a day five days a week for how long, now?
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Elizabeth Acevedo has done it again! Like in her award-winning
The Poet X, Acevedo gives us a beautiful, lyrical look into the life of her protagonists. What I love about this is that in spite of the gripping premise (two girls from opposite sides of the world discover they are half-sisters after their father dies) there’s such a focus on the specific lives of each main character. There are no blanket statements about the two cultures they hail from (though plenty of insights into both), just two people that seem so real they could walk off the page. --
Caleb
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The roads of tomorrow will be cleaner, emptier and you may not recognize (or own) the vehicles that use them.
--
John
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A Porter Square Books Choose Your Own Adventure!
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You dash to the tin of recipes as the Cerberus charges Summit. Thrusting the entire tin into your pocket, you pivot to head back to help Summit. Before you can reach him - before Summit can even unsheath his sword - Roger yells, "
Back, Beast," and with a plié as full of force as it is grace, launches the coverlet dangling over his bed into the air, directly covering the middle head completely. The other two heads snarl in surprise as they struggle to uncover their third - giving you, Summit, and Roger
just enough time to dash to the door.
As you slam the door behind you, you see Summit doff his leather hat. "My good sir," he says humbly.Not "Your maneuvering has saved a life I feared forfeit. I beg the honor to sail under your flag."
"Not now, you two," you say, and steer Roger - Summit close behind - back to his room. Roger settles the bed and himself underneath it in its original spot, and, cautiously, Summit sits upon it. You pull the tin of recipes from your pocket and begin to rifle through, checking the back of each.
"Pineapple upside-down cake, no.... roast duck, nothing... Roger, I'm not seeing -- hold on, is this it?" You pull out a recipe for duck cakes - whatever those are - with fine script covering the back, so small you can barely read it.
"That appears to be it," says Roger solemnly. He extends a hand to take it. "Yes... here it is. I, Roger of the Book, do agree to leave my Word Plot to become the Assistant to the Witch and sally forth on all manner of Adventures, yadda yadda... and - ha! Here we have it. Terms and Conditions." "Well?" you and Summit ask together.
"This Contract is Null and Void if and only if the undersigned Assistant is Unable to Discharge his Duties due to Inability to Read, Fowl Injury, or a Secondary Contract supersedes this one in Grandeur and Importance."
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Look in the book for a way to remove Roger's reading abilities.
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Find a duck and set him upon Roger and hope for the best.
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Try binding Roger into a new agreement, though you're no witch.
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Just rip up the contract and hope for the best.
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The Bird King
by G. Willow Wilson
“Fatima is a concubine of the sultan of the last emirate in the Iberian Peninsula to submit to the Spanish Inquisition. When her dearest friend, Hassan, a mapmaker who can map places he has never seen (and that do not always exist), is singled out by the Inquisition, she flees with him and a jinn, following the trail of the elusive and mythical Bird King, who may or may not be able to grant them sanctuary. Wilson’s latest novel is rich with the historical detail, lush description, and fantastical elements that we have come to know and love from her. A story of resistance, freedom, seeking, and strength, and a true fable for our times.
”
--Anna Elkund, University Bookstore
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See you next time here at Shelf Stable!
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Did you miss an installment, or want to share our Shelf with a friend? Check out the Shelf Stable Archive with all our past issues here!
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Looking for other ways to keep up with us? Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube:
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25 White St. Cambridge, MA 02140
617-491-2220
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