Punching the Air

We have an amazing weekly October literary opportunity that we are thrilled to share out with our community.  Rather conveniently, it occurs on Wednesdays, those amorphous (in these pandemic times) school days for high school students.  The American Booksellers Association is sponsoring a free virtual four-part reading series with Punching the Air authors Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam!  This young adult novel in verse was just published on September 1 and has received many outstanding reviews.

Here's a synopsis:  "Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy ... Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal's bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art"

And here are the details:

• This event will take place from 1 pm to 2 pm CST on Zoom every Wednesday on the following dates:

  • Wednesday, October 7, 2020

  • Wednesday, October 14, 2020

  • Wednesday, October 21, 2020

  • Wednesday, October 28, 2020 

• Registration for the free event series is required through Eventbrite; the event link and password will be shared with attendees a few days ahead of the event in a direct email. An attendee will only have to register once for access to the entire four-part series.  

• An educators' guide accompanies the series.

Topics covered include:

• My Punches will be my Paintbrushes – the importance of art for teens

• The Criminalization of Blackness

• The Prison-industrial complex

• The Emotional Work of Social Justice

Obviously, these topics are super current and will encourage thoughtful discussions.  Perhaps not so obviously, the fact that a book is labeled "young adult" doesn't mean that older adults can't benefit from it (once more, with feeling: YA IS FOR EVERYONE!)  Whatever your age, we have copies of the book and would love to get them into your hands.  As a member of the event's sponsor, the American Booksellers Association, we at Skylark Bookshop hope that you enjoy learning through Punching the Air authors Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam!  Give us a call at (573) 777 6990 or email us and we’ll take care of you!

Secret Skylark Online Party!

We had a WONDERFUL time on Thursday night celebrating our second birthday remotely and sharing stories about our favorite books. In addition to a lovely crowd of Skylark customers, we were thrilled to welcome some of our favorite writers: Will Schwalbe, Mamta Chaudhry, Christina Baker Kline, Jennifer Rosner, Mary Morris, Elliot Reed, Joanna Eleftheriou and Caroline Leavitt all joined in the fun.

During the evening we had some Skylark trivia quizzes and gave away some excellent goodies; shared bookshop stories (ask Will Schwalbe about Warrior Cats); and we heard from Garrett of City of Refuge who talked about the organization (Secret Skylark participants have raised over $1,000 for them, for which we are beyond grateful.)

And we talked about so many books! Here is an incomplete list of some of the books we discussed:

Is Rape A Crime? by Michelle Bowdler (Michelle did an event at Skylark earlier this week and her book was just long-listed for the National Book Award, so we raised a glass to her)

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

The Paris Hours by some guy

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

The Moth Presents

Warrior Cats

All the Way to the Tigers by Mary Morris

The Magus by John Fowles

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

The Knock-Out Queen by Rufi Thorpe

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

Across the Nightingale Floor by Gillian Rubinstein

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

Our deepest thanks to everyone who has participated in Secret Skylark. We’ve had over 100 people who have played, and there is still time to get involved! We will be running the program until the end of September. You can read more about it here. We’ve so loved reading your notes to other readers about why you love the books you chose. (As if we weren’t already emotional enough, these days.)

Finally, congratulations to Kaitlyn Burke, who won the grand prize of the evening, this fabulous basket of books and other assorted goodies.

Caroline Leavitt brings her swag A-Game!

Thursday evening’s edition of Must Read TV saw the mighty Caroline Leavitt discuss her brilliant new novel, WITH OUT WITHOUT YOU. It was a wide-raging, entertaining discussion which touched on many topics about the novel, the writing life, and many things in between. If you would like to watch the whole thing, you can! Here’s the link.

Caroline also made a series of wonderful offers to Skylark readers which we wanted to remind you about. She is, you see, the Queen of Swag, and so you have three (count ‘em) different options:

1. If you purchase a copy of WITH OR WITHOUT YOU from Skylark, then in addition to the exclusive Skyku bookmark, Caroline will also paint a small watercolor, just for you, for free. Seriously. Her specialties are dogs, cats, and coffee mugs. Your choice!

2. If you purchase WITH OR WITHOUT YOU and a copy of the tenth anniversary edition of PICTURES OF YOU, then Caroline will give you a free consultation on three pages of your writing. She does manuscript consultations professionally, people, so this IS A VERY BIG DEAL.

3. If you purchase four books from Skylark, one of which is WITH OR WITHOUT YOU, then if you send Caroline your book, she will annotate it for you - that is, she’ll write all over it, with inside information, secrets about the characters and plot, probably some silly stuff, and more. It will be a unique collector’s item, a genuine one-of-a-kind thing. How often do you get that chance for something like that?

We’re so thrilled that Caroline has been so generous! If you’d like to take advantage of any of these offers, give us a call at (573) 777 6990 or drop us a line at mail@skylarkbookshop.com, and we’ll take care of you.

Christina Baker Kline discusses THE EXILES - ICYMI

We had a wonderful time on Wednesday evening welcoming Christina Baker Kline to our virtual author series. Over a thousand people (!!) tuned in to watch the discussion about Christina’s beautiful and powerful new novel, The Exiles. If you missed it, it’s now been posted to our You Tube channel, and you can watch it here at your leisure.

And yes, we have copies to sell you at the shop! With free Skyku, composed and signed by the author exclusively for Skylark customers, while (strictly limited) stocks last!

Secret Skylark - Now For Fledglings!

Carrie writes:

Some of you might already know about our Secret Skylark Book Exchange. If not, click here to learn all about it! This project has turned into a beautiful glimpse into all of the joy, compassion, & laughter in the Skylark reading community. Your notes have made me cry (more than once), and laugh out loud. It reminds me how deeply I yearn for our shop to be filled to the brim, with all of you talking to us, talking to each other, about books . . about everything. But, as tired of the pandemic world consequences as I am, it also warms my soul to know that our caution is helping us all keep a little safer. We are all worth it. I love that our non-local friends are able to take part in our Two-Year-Old celebration. I love packaging these treasures for someone else to meet. I love that our younger friends have been asking to take part. And I love that we can help make that happen!

Check out Secret Skylark for Fledglings. This is essentially the same as the original Secret Skylark festivities, but for hardcover picture books and board books. Our chapter book loving adults and youth should continue to utilize the original form - as we already have several chapter book goodies in that nest. We should also note that our not-so-young-friends-who-love-younger-books should feel free to partake. I already have my picture book selected. Can’t help it. The memories . . . We will not be including a free copy of Setting Free the Kites with these Board and Picture books, but there is a stash of secret goodies to add to packages while supplies last. You will have until the end of the month to get your title into the Nest, and the Fledglings will begin to head out as soon as they need more space to spread their wings!  

Natalie Jenner!

We had a wonderful evening of chat and insight last night as we welcomed Natalie Jenner to Skylark to discuss her lovely debut novel, THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY with Mary. It was a sparkling conversation, and the hour whizzed by. Our thanks to everyone who participated in the very animated Q and A session, and of course to Natalie for being so generous and gracious with her time and her answers.

If you missed it, don’t worry - the video is on our You Tube channel (yes, we have one now, and all of our Thursday night events are there for your enjoyment whenever you want.)

We still have copies of Natalie’s book available, together with signed book plates. Give us a call at (573) 777 6990 to reserve your copy, or drop us a line.

And don’t forget, next week we have TWO fabulous treats for you - Christina Baker Kline on Wednesday, and Caroline Leavitt on Thursday!

Now We Are Two. And Announcing: Secret Skylark.

Skylark opened its doors for the first time on August 25, 2018, and so today is our second birthday! It’s strange to think that a quarter of our existence has been spent with our doors closed to the public, thanks to the COVID-19 virus. We could not have survived this pandemic without you, our beloved customers and supporters. How we wish we could thank you in person by throwing a big party for you all – but rules is rules. Instead we’ve come up with a different way to celebrate with you, our Skylark community. It’s a way to share the books you love, to discover new titles for yourself, get a free book, and to meet new people, all at the same time. We do hope you’ll join in.
 
We’re calling it: Secret Skylark. Basically, you buy a book for someone else, and get two books back.
 
Here’s how it works:
 

1. Purchase your favorite book for inclusion in the Secret Skylark Reading Nest. You can add a note explaining why the book means so much to you. If you like, you can also make a donation to a fund to buy books for City of Refuge, to help spread the reading love a little further.

2. In return, we’ll send you somebody else’s favorite book, and to thank you for participating we’ll also send you a free signed copy of Setting Free the Kites, by Alex George. Alex will also personalize the book for you, if you wish.

3. Join us at our online birthday party at 7:00 p.m. on September 17 and get to hear about all the books that people have chosen – and (if you want) talk about your book, too! There’ll also be other fun stuff going on – we’ll do some raffles and giveaways of books and Skylark merch, we’ll be reading some of the Skyku that our visiting authors have written for us, and maybe even have a few author appearances, as well!

 
How does it all work? Just go here to complete the google form to get started, and we’ll be in touch! You'll be able to participate for the next month.

Have fun, and we'll see you on September 17! Thanks for the last two years. It's been a blast.

The Natural World - Calming Reads in Difficult Times

Beth writes…

Two exquisite books of the finest nature writing are coming out:  First, a brand new release titled Vesper Flights by Helen MacDonald on August 25, and second, a publisher’s anniversary edition of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer on October 13.  

I was fortunate to have obtained an advance reader copy of Vesper Flights last March.  Here the author of H is for Hawk returns with a glorious collection of essays about the natural world. The title essay refers to swifts ascending every evening into the sky and disappearing, as regularly as one might utter an evening devotional. In each essay author Macdonald not only shares factual information about creatures or plants, but relays human stories, too, often about her own life. In this particular essay about swifts, she also examines her personal evening ritual of counting geological layers between herself and the center of the earth. In another essay, “Symptomatic,” Macdonald compares her migraine experiences with current ecological breakdowns; in both cases she allows for the possibility of miracles. This is a book that easily might be read straight-through, or, if desired, by chosen topic, be it goats, hares, or mushrooms.

Additionally, I recently listened to a fascinating author conversation between MacDonald and Kimmerer, two kindred spirits when describing the natural world.  Some highlights from this event included their following observations:

• Kimmerer: “The pandemic helps us remember how little we need in the world and what it is.”

• Kimmerer:  “Both science and literature are grounded in attention.”

• MacDonald:  “To learn to love difference is really the pathway to justice.”

• Kimmerer:  “Grief is a measure of how much we love vs. apocalyptic thinking, which leads to despair.”

• MacDonald: “The local can be universal.”

Both authors remained optimistic about the future, focusing on young people’s learning about and democratizing nature by, for example, using digital devices for photography and identification.  Finally, both shared personal reading recommendations: MacDonald suggested Animals Strike Curious Poses by Elena Passarello, and Kimmerer favored books by Louise Erdrich.

Such titles about the natural world act as panaceas during stressful COVID times; feel free to contact us, and we’ll have them ready for you on their release dates.  

Support Downtown Businesses on Saturday, August 15!

We’re looking forward to participating in a local telethon to support downtown businesses who (like us) have been struggling to stay afloat thanks to the effects of COVID-19. From 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. there’ll be a ton of local musicians to delight and entertain you. For more details and links to watch (either Facebook or YouTube) click here.

See you there?

Charlotte McConaghy celebrates the launch of #1 Indie Next List Pick MIGRATIONS at Skylark!

Thursday night saw the second installment of MUST READ TV, and we were so excited to host Charlotte McConaghy’s worldwide (virtual) launch party for her wonderful novel, MIGRATIONS. Charlotte was in conversation with her editor at Flatiron Books, Caroline Bleeke, and their discussion was fascinating and wide-ranging.

If you’d like to order a copy of the book from us, we also have a strictly limited number of signed Skyku - a haiku composed by Charlotte just for Skylark customers - which we will include at no extra cost, while stocks last.

We’re already looking forward to next Thursday, when we’ll be welcoming Samantha Downing to Skylark to discuss her fabulous new thriller, HE STARTED IT. Click here for free registration to this event.

All of our online author events are available 24/7 on our You Tube page, and you can watch last night’s conversation below:

Did You Miss Byron Lane on Thursday Night? Also, SKYKU.

This guy.

We had a wonderful start to our late summer/fall reading series on Thursday night. The first installment of what we are calling MUST READ TV featured playwright and novelist Byron Lane in conversation with Mary about his debut novel, the much buzzed-about A STAR IS BORED. Byron and Mary talked about the book, writing, what it’s like to work with Carrie Fisher, and a bunch of other stuff, and there were special guest appearances by Byron’s fiancé Steven Rowley and their dog, Tilda.

If you missed out on the fun, the whole conversation is available for viewing on Facebook and also on our brand-new YouTube channel, where we will posting all our online author events from now on, together with those little staff recommendation movies that we sometimes do.

We announced a fun new thing last night, too. We’re asking all of the authors who appear on MUST READ TV to compose a haiku specifically for Skylark customers. The first 25 people who buy that author’s book from us will receive an extremely limited edition and totally exclusive haiku, each one signed and numbered by the author. Which we thought was pretty fun. And then we thought: we can call them Skyku. Which made us giggle. If you would like to receive one of Byron’s Skyku along with your first edition of A STAR IS BORED (with signed bookplate), drop us a line at mail@skylarkbookshop.com to be sure to snag one. They are going fast!

Next Thursday, August 6, Charlotte McConaghy will be discussing her astonishing novel MIGRATIONS with her editor at Flatiron Books, Caroline Bleeke. Charlotte’s novel has been receiving rave advance reviews and was recently voted the #1 Indie Next Pick for August - the title that independent booksellers are most excited about selling next month. We wholeheartedly concur: it’s an utterly gorgeous novel - sad, revelatory, inspiring, and just beautifully written from start to finish. Click here for more information and to register for free!

Where's Waldo? (Pandemic Edition)

Every summer, independent bookstores and their communities partner to put together a Waldo scavenger hunt, complete with a party and prizes. It's a pretty big deal, and a whole lot of fun. This was to be our first year participating, until Coronavirus put an end to all things social, and our finding Waldo ended before it even began. While we will miss having you search for Waldo throughout The District, we are excited to have you help us provide Waldo with adventures in all sorts of fun places!

Waldo's publisher, Candlewick Press, has put together a pile of tools to help bring the Waldo fun back to life for the summer, and we're all in for it! 

For  the rest of the summer we'll be doing "Waldo Wednesdays." Each Wednesday will come with a new challenge and a new way for kids and adults to have fun with our beloved traveler. 

Each challenge will be posted on our Instagram and Facebook pages on Sundays, from July 19th through August the 30th. Simply follow the instructions for the week and comment on each post with your entries. At the end of the summer, we will have a prize drawing. The more times you enter, the better chance you have of winning!

If you would like to be involved, shoot us an email at mail@skylarkbookshop.com and we will send you everything you need to get started! Then you’ll just have to add the imagination! We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Spread the word! 

More New Children's Books!

Beth writes with the second part of her new children’s book update…

I’m back with Part II of BookExpo’s Children’s Book and Author Virtual Dinner that I attended!  About a week ago I shared three upcoming titles for younger booklovers:  1) Natalie Portman’s Fables by Natalie Portman, 2) Bunheads by Misty Copeland, and 3)  No Reading Allowed: the Worst Read-Aloud Book Ever.

This week I’m introducing a couple of upcoming fantasy titles for older readers.

In the webinar Marie Lu discussed how the 2016 presidential election prompted her to write Skyhunter, which will be released on September 29 for $19.99.  Her latest created world highlights hopeful young warriors in a broken society.  Typical of Marie Lu, who once designed as an artist in the video game industry, this book contains lots of action, and it is geared toward readers aged 12-17.  

The other featured author in the webinar was Kwame Mbalia, whose second book in the Tristan Strong trilogy--Tristan Strong Destroys the World--is being released on October 6 for $17.99.  In this title seventh-grader Tristan must return to Alke, the land of African American folk heroes and African gods, in order to rescue his grandmother from a baffling villain.  First fun fact:  Kwame Mbalia was participating in the webinar from his wife’s maternity room bathroom after she had just given birth to the couple’s fourth child.  Second fun fact:  Kwame assumed very amusing character voices while he was reading an excerpt.  This title is aimed at readers aged 9-12.

I’m really excited for readers to enjoy these upcoming titles from outstanding authors for young people.  Give us a call at the shop if you’d like for either of them to be ready for you to pick up on their release dates.

Mary Morris speaks!

Back in June we had the immense privilege and pleasure of welcoming Mary Morris to our virtual world to discuss her brilliant new memoir, ALL THE WAY TO THE TIGERS. If you missed that discussion, we’re pleased to present it here - just click on this link.

We have signed copies of Mary’s book in the shop - if you’d like to order a copy, call us at (573) 777 6990 or drop us a line.

Here’s what a few people had to say about the book:

"Mary Morris’s All the Way to the Tigers is a travel memoir and quest. Alluringly written in short, meditative chapters, it whizzes back and forth between America and India . . . he conceptual opportunity in a memoir such as this is to understand that the reader is stalking the elusive striped beast alongside the narrator."
--New York Times Book Review

“Fact: Mary Morris is the best travel writer alive. I am humbled by her skill at using the bones of a journey to get to the heart of herself. She's a master of the craft.”
--Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things

"Mary Morris has long been a master memoirist, and All the Way to the Tigers is among her finest works. Brave, layered, complex, and deeply human, this is a story of a woman traveling alone, only now she is older, wiser, and has even more to teach us about the lengths to which we must go to reach our deepest selves. I loved this book.”
--Dani Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Inheritance and Hourglass

"In All the Way to the Tigers, Mary Morris so seamlessly combines her interior and exterior experiences, the effect is simply magical, the work of a virtuoso. The journey inside the author’s own mind is every bit as captivating as the trip itself. I’d follow her anywhere."
--Robert Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road

"Morris is frank, funny, and incisive as she revisits her 'free ranging' Chicago childhood, single motherhood, and her start as writer, and expounds on tigers in the world and in the imagination . . . Morris’ epigrammatic memoir is a finely wrought mosaic of unexpected and provocative pieces cunningly fit together."
--Booklist

"Engrossing . . . Morris’s descriptions of remote beauty, grinding urban poverty, and exotic adventures will captivate armchair tourists and travel memoir fans."
--Publishers Weekly

"In short meditative chapters that go back and forth in time, Morris documents her own evolution, as a traveler and a writer, always returning to the tiger, in history, as image, as symbol, as uber-predator whose numbers are dwindling, and finally as that breathing furnace of power and beauty that stalks our dreams, rousing from deepest slumber the little that’s left of the wild in our hearts.”    
--Valerie Martin, author of Ghost of the Mary Celeste and Property

"I have long been a fan of Mary Morris,  and this wry and luminous new memoir only deepens my admiration for her gifts."   
--Dan Chaon, author of Ill Will

"In this extraordinary memoir, Mary Morris explores the wild--and her life--with passion, lyricism, wisdom, and wit. I could not stop reading till I got to the last page. Dazzling."
--Judy Goldman, author of Together

Enjoy the conversation!

Meet Mary!

We’re very excited to welcome bookseller extraordinaire Mary OMalley to the Skylark team! Mary has been slinging books at the fabled Anderson’s Bookshop in Illinois for several years, and is beloved far and wide throughout the independent bookstore world. As the world adapts to a more online existence, we recognized an opportunity for Mary to join the Skylark team as our Roving Virtual Bookseller At Large, even though she won’t be coming to Missouri any time soon. She is super smart, reads absolutely everything, and really, really knows her stuff.

Mary will be posting reviews and other bookish content on the website and our social media pages, so we think you’ll get to know her pretty quickly. One of the things she’ll be doing is posting a weekly book talk via Facebook Live. The first of these will be tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. - go to our Facebook Page to see her in action and say hi!

Mary OMalley is a Ridiculously Enthusiastic Bookseller. An avid reader all her life, she rediscovered her passion for all things literary as a Bookseller for Anderson's Bookshop at their LaGrange location. She has been known to mildly stalk her favorite authors through social media, and reads across a large range of genres. When not reading, she and her husband are tending to their little suburban homestead with two cats, two dogs, two fish, and soon-to-arrive four chickens. She and her husband live outside Chicago and have three children and one adorable grandson. You can find Mary on FB, Insta and Twitter at Blurb Your Enthusiasm. 

Hilary's "Read For Each Other" Library Fundraiser!

One of the rewarding bits about being an independent business is the ability to focus on local impact with our donations and outreach. It isn't something we talk about much, mostly because we believe in the actions more than the publicity of those actions. Right now, however, we are going to share a link with you, because one of our wonderful customers had a very cool idea and it turned into a real thing, and we’d love as many people as possible to get involved.

Hilary is one of our customer-friends and also one of the amazing and involved teachers with CPS. In the vein of birthday fundraising she asked us to help create this little adventure. The idea is to get reading materials into the hands of educators to help provide them with tools necessary to understand cultural, ethnic, and religious groups that they are not a part of. This will allow educators to better understand their students, colleagues, community members, and other stakeholders.

For every dozen books that are purchased, Skylark will make an additional contribution to the fundraiser.

Click on this link to learn more. It’s a really great project, and the more people who get involved, the better for everyone.

Thanks, Hilary!

New Children's Books to Look Forward To!

Beth writes…

Although like the rest of you I’m feeling pretty Zoomed-out, I recently squeezed in the Children’s Book and Author Virtual Dinner as part of BookExpo 2020, which is usually a huge in-person book publishing event.  I was glad to have caught it, because it featured some notable children’s authors discussing their upcoming books that I want to share.  This list constitutes Part I, where I’m focusing on younger booklovers.

Natalie Portman's Fables by--you guessed it--actor Natalie Portman is being released on October 20 for $19.99.  She offers retellings of The Tortoise and the Hare, The Three Little Pigs, and Country Mouse and City Mouse.  In the webinar Natalie talked about striving to present these familiar  tales in a more modern way so that she’d want to share them with her own children.  This book is aimed at children aged 4-7.

Bunheads by another performing artist, dancer Misty Copeland--the first black woman to be promoted to principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre--is coming out on September 29 for $17.99.  Aimed at children aged 5-8, this title is the first in a series of picture books based on Misty’s own early life in ballet.

If you’re familiar with P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever that humorously addresses silent letters, you’ll be delighted to hear that Raj Haldar is returning with No Reading Allowed: The Worst Read-Aloud Book Ever, out on November 10 for $17.99.  Aimed at children aged 4-8 (along with the rest of us), this release that highlights homonyms promises to be just  as hilarious as his first title.  During the webinar I discovered that Raj is a rapper, hence his love of wordplay. 

I’ll be back with Part II of BookExpo’s 2020 Children’s Book and Author Virtual Dinner, where I’ll share a couple of upcoming titles for older readers.  In the meantime, let us know if you’d like to reserve any of these sure-to-be-popular titles for pick-up at the shop on release date.

New (=old) Hours!

We know we don’t need to tell you what a strange few months it’s been. We’re so grateful to you all for your patience and support as we have worked to come to terms with this new, COVID world. The shop has been through many strange transformations over the past several weeks, but now actually looks more or less like a shop again - if you ignore the boxes of quarantined books on the floor by the front stage.

We are constantly monitoring developments and keeping track of the progress of the disease, both locally and nationwide. And while things aren’t looking great right now, we’re doing our best to stay positive while also doing everything we can to keep our staff and our customers as safe as possible.

Our doors remain shut. Much as we would love to see you all again, we don’t feel that this is a safe option at this time. However:

• Appointments are now available, and as of today we will be offering four per day. Go here to reserve your spot - but please read our terms and conditions first.

• As of today, Monday, June 29, we’re expanding our hours for curbside pick-up and telephone assistance back to our pre-pandemic operations - almost. We’ll be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday. So: no late night opening on Friday and Saturday, and we’ll still be closed all day Sunday. But it’s progress.

Again, thank you all for your continued support. We are keeping all extremities crossed that we’ll be able to see you soon.

Anti-Racist Reading, Appointments, and Mary Morris! The June Newsletter.

COPYRIGHT JANE MOUNT

First of all, friends, we hope this finds you well. 

Like everyone else, we have been watching the events of the past several weeks with grief and anger.  Every day brings fresh horrors, new outrages of injustice and systemic racism. Sadly these troubles are anything but new, but recent events have once again brought them into a wider public eye.

As booksellers, we like to believe that you can find the answers to most problems inside the covers of a book, but that is not the case here. What books can provide is context, perspective and insight - and that can be a good place to begin or continue a difficult and uncomfortable journey toward better understanding.

In the last few days we have been deluged with requests for books that address racial inequality and discrimination in America. Some of the most requested titles are Stamped From the Beginning  by Ibram X. Kendi, The New Jim Crowby Michelle Alexander, and White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo. These are titles that we have been selling enthusiastically ever since we opened Skylark, but now copies have become hard to come by due recent events. The publishers (often small houses with limited resources) are scrambling to keep up with the sudden demand. Every day we are speaking to publishers and wholesalers and hunting down copies where we can. Give us a call at (573) 777 6990 or send us an email to let us know what you want - if we can't put our hands on a particular title right away, we can probably recommend something else that we do have in stock. If you or your book group wants to read a particular title, we'll give you our most recent information about availability and arrival estimates. You might also consider listening to the audiobook - Libro.fm is not restricted by reprinting schedules and so everything is immediately available there.

Just to be clear: it isn't enough just to read a book or two. All we can offer, really, is information. Then it's up to each of us to get to work. 

Black Lives Matter.
 

Appointments!

To happier things.

We thought that this newsletter would mainly be about COVID-19 and our on-going work to get through the crisis. Even though under the terms of the city ordinances we have been allowed to open our doors for some weeks now, we have chosen to remain closed to keep our staff and their families safe and healthy. However we are slowly (and cautiously) inching our way back. The next step is to introduce appointments for browsing in the shop, which we are introducing with immediate effect. We'll be offering two slots a day, at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and these will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. We would love to see you and talk books! Go here to sign up - but please, do read our terms and conditions.  
 

Mary Morris Discusses "All the Way to the Tigers"

To more happy things.

We're holding a very special event on Wednesday, June 24, at 7:00 p.m.. Mary Morris, legendary novelist and travel writer, will be coming to Skylark (virtually!) to discuss her wondrous new memoir, All the Way to the Tigers, with Alex, who read the book last year and fell in love with it.  The discussion will take place online, and you can register for it here. Like all our events, it's absolutely free. Mary has kindly agreed to sign some Skylark bookplates for us, so if you would like a signed copy of the book, give us a call or drop us a line and we'll take care of it for you.

Support Independent Bookshops with #ReadIndieForward!

We’ve been so bowled over by your support over the past eight weeks and are so appreciative. Thank you so much to everyone who has called and written to buy books from us during this difficult time.

As many of you already know, although we are now allowed to open our doors, we have chosen not to do so until we are sure that it is the right and safe thing to do. In the meantime we are still mailing out books and doing curbside delivery (on which subject, have you seen our masks? We all have very natty ones that we put on when we run out to give you your books!)

Recent figures from the publishing industry have shown encouraging growth in sales of print books during the pandemic. (Only so much Netflix you can binge, huh.) But despite this good news, things remain perilous for independent bookshops. Thanks to your support, we have managed to keep staffing levels more or less as they were before the virus struck, but there is no way of knowing how sustainable this is. All of which is to say, we - and our local small business friends in the District - continue to rely on your support.

And here's a fun way to help with that. It’s called the #ReadIndieForward campaign. Participating is fun, simple, and easy:

1. Buy a book from your favorite independent bookstore and send it to a loved one;

2. Post to social media that you #ReadIndieForward by gifting a book to a loved one;

3. Tag the person receiving the book, tag the independent bookstore you bought the book from, and use #ReadIndieForward;

4. Encourage your friends and family to #ReadIndieForward too!

We’re looking forward to helping you spread a little bookish love across the universe! Give us a call on (573) 777 6990 or drop us an email at mail@skylarkbookshop.com, and we’ll take care of you!