July 2010

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Chronicle Books (Metreon) – San Francisco, CA

July 20, 2010 in bookstore by Kim | 1 comment

I’m usually hesitant about publisher bookstores, I tend to wonder if they are trying to schluff off their overstocks.  I can’t imagine that many of the books I saw at Chronicle Books (Metreon) were has-beens.  Situated on a platform in the center atrium of a mall, the store is fun.  Chronicle Books offers mostly non-fiction, I think I saw three novels, two of them the monsters in classics variety.  These are the fun books often placed next to the cash register of a standard bookstore.  A perfect example are the Worst Case Scenario series that Chronicle publishes.  How many of you have read the ‘How to Survive an Airplane Crash’ section standing in a bookstore?  I read it every time I see the book, every time, just in case.

I’m a sucker for those books by the cash register and I was alarmed at the thought of meandering around tables of tempting last minute purchases.  I was strong, mostly because I’m not strong enough to lift my suitcase into the overhead compartment if I have too many books.  I was close to buying one of the staff ‘picks,’ McSweeny’s Art, but it was heavy itself.  I did wonder if an author would feel rejected if her book wasn’t chosen as  ’staff pick’ in her own publisher’s bookstore.

All types of genres are represented, a kids section, animal books, housekeeping type books, a whole side of a table on printing and fonts (who knew there was so much to learn), and a section of ‘body’ books such as What’s My Pee Telling Me? or Penis Poke books.  I know you’re wondering what that is, envision a hardbound book the size of toddler’s book with a hole through the center where I’m guessing one would poke his penis.  Each page had different illustrations (bananas anyone) what would be ‘enliven’ by said penis.  That, I am not ashamed to say, is the first time I had seen a book used quite that way.

Chronicle has a fun line of stationary.  Last year I bought my daughter Chronicle’s Nancy Drew Fold and Mail stationary hoping she would find it so much fun she would write home from camp.  Nothing.  During my visit, I bought some beautiful mix and match stationary and sent it to her the next day at this summer’s camp.  I addressed and stamped an envelope, how much easier could I make it to write home?  I did receive a text saying how much she loved the stationary, but still no letter.  I hope Chronicle comes up with another enticing stationary that I can try for next year. How about lovely paper printed on the top “WRITE YOUR MOTHER!”

Chronicle Books

Metreon

101 Fourth Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

Tel:  415.369.6271

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“Stop Throwing Pigeons” says the Old Spice Guy

July 18, 2010 in Uncategorized by Kim | 1 comment

I grew up at at time when we had to watch commercials, no recording and fast-forwarding through them.  We had them all memorized like some sort of forced mantra after the zillioneth time of hearing the same old jingle or phrase.  Ugh!  I’m amazed that my kids want to watch commercials.  We fight over the remote, I want to run through commercials at speed 4 and they keep saying “no, no, this is a good one.”  I never believe them, it seems impossible.  Then, I met the Old Spice man.  We stop for all Old Spice commercials.  He’s nominated for an Emmy (I didn’t know commercials could receive an Emmy) and I hope he wins.

As this video shows, Old Spice guy is not only hot, he’s got a brain.  So stop throwing pigeons, jump on a camel, and help your local library.

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Court Street Bookstores – Brooklyn, New York

July 16, 2010 in bookstore, used books by Kim | 3 comments

I like it when Leslie travels, I like it more when I’m with her, but regardless of who she’s with, she finds bookstores.   Her daughters, who receive new books, and I, who learn about great stops, are direct beneficiaries of her adventures. Here’s a sampling of the bookstores she recently in Brooklyn (Book Court, Community Bookstore and Pranga Bookstore):

I LOVE Brooklyn.  During our latest trip, we spent much time discovering, yet again, a new Brooklyn. The borough dates back to the 1600’s when the Dutch settled it.  The population exploded in the 1880’s when the Brooklyn Bridge was completed. It’s gone through it’s ups and downs over the last hundred years, but in the last two decades most areas of Brooklyn have undergone major changes.  Brooklyn is “hot” again and just gorgeous. (By the way, the nickname for Brooklyn is “The City of Churches”. There are magnificent churches, of every denomination throughout the borough with stunning architecture and appointments including Tiffany windows).

One of my favorite neighborhoods is Cobble Hill.  It’s a neighborhood where there are scores of unique, reasonably priced, privately owned shops all within walking distance of each other.  Court Street runs the length of Cobble Hill and hosts three bookstores within a mile of each other.  Each is quite different. Nestled in between the book stores are other wonderful retail stores and restaurants or storefronts where one can get Brooklyn egg creams, Italian ices, fabulous pastries, Brooklyn style pizza, frozen hot chocolate  - which is just heavenly – Italian hoagie sandwiches, just baked bread and other gourmet goodies! Reading and eating are my two favorite past times, especially since you can do them concurrently.

Book Court

Book Court is the bright community oriented bookstore that every area needs to be a true neighborhood.  It has a terrific selection of staff picks, along with well chosen fiction, non-fiction and books about Brooklyn and other local sites. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, one of my bigger challenges is finding age appropriate books for my pre-teen girls. I’m a fan of any bookstore that can point me to books for them that are new to me.  Three cheers for Book Court, they suggested new reads for both of my around-the-clock reading daughters.

Luckily for the Court Street neighborhood, Book Court is expanding its role as a community anchor by expanding the store.  A plan is in the works to expand the store to allow for more books, a cafe and an event room.   I look forward to visiting it again when the expansion is completed, or if I’m lucky, even sooner.

Book Court

163 Court Street

Brooklyn, New York 11231

Tel.:  (718) 875-3677

Truly, books everywhere

Community Bookstore

Community Bookstore is truly the most unique bookstore I’ve ever seen. It is a large store by indie standards and offers just about any book, new or used, that you could possibly want. Best sellers and current fiction are available at fairly substantial discounts. This is the place to find literary treasure.   It is truly disorganized. Books are everywhere – scattered among overflowing bookshelves, stacked on the floor in the middle of the aisle and stacked on tables. I’m sure there was a method at one point, but there no longer seems to be a rhyme or reason to how things are arranged. Unfortunately, I did not meet the owner (he may know exactly where everything is), but I did browse around and found some very interesting finds at bargain basement prices. There probably are, among the stacks, some real gems waiting to be uncovered. Digging through the books in this Read the rest of this entry »

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Recommended Reading for Bastille Day – The Judgment of Paris by Ross King

July 14, 2010 in art, history, recommended reading by Kim | No comments

Cleverly named after Paris’ ordeal of picking the most beautiful goddess of them all and the resulting Trojan War, King covers the tumultuous birth of a new style of beauty in The Judgment of Paris:  The Revolutionary Decade That Gave The World Impressionism. King chronicles the decade between the Salon des Refuses and the First Impressionism exhibit arguing that these years “witnessed a struggle between the votaries of the past and those of la vie moderne.  This struggle concerned rival ways of painting as well as, ultimately, rival ways of seeing the world, and it would result in the greatest revolution in the visual arts since the Italian Renaissance.”  These years laid the seeds for the transformation of visual art being less about what one sees and more about “how one sees or expresses it.”  The book follows two artists, the then most successful artist in the history of France, Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (who?), and the vilified Edouard Manet.

King cleverly documents the rise of Meissonier knowing that most of his readers have never heard of the artist.  Meissonier is elected repeatedly to the Salon Jury, given Salon awards, showered with accolades, and paid unprecedented amounts of money for his pictures of horses and soldiers.  While an unpleasant and vengeful man (he campaigned for the exclusion of Courbet from the Salon due to his opposing political views), he had an incredible work ethic.  His major paintings took years (he worked on ‘Friedland’ for over ten) because of his painstaking studies and re-creation of the scenes.  Artistically and politically he was a mover and shaker, critics repeatedly called him the greatest living artist.  In addition to King’s lively telling of art and French history, he spins a moral tale of hubris by describing the heights to which Meissonier climbed during his lifetime, only to be largely non-existent.

In comparison, Manet was the dog almost everyone liked to kick.  He abandoned chiaroscuro, underpainting, and invisible brushstrokes to create a “new style better suited to capturing the energy and spirit of the modern age.”  King accurately casts Manet as the turning point of change.  Manet was constantly rejected from the Salon and ridiculed by critics, yet his works are deeply rooted in academic painting.  While his painting techniques were unconventional, he strove for the approval of the conservative art establishment.  He painted modern life, but in the Read the rest of this entry »

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Museum Monday – SFMOMA MuseumStore

July 12, 2010 in art, bookstore by Kim | 2 comments

Alexander Calder

I am an art history groupie.  The one topic that competes for my attention with writing and literature is art.  A member of a die hard Laker family (in case you weren’t aware, they won in Game 7 because (1) my daughter was banned to the other side of the house since every time she walked into the room during a game Ray Allen would shoot a 3 pointer, and (2) my husband was standing in his ‘spot’), I watched the first 5 minutes of Game 7, dashed to the Getty for a lecture by the curators of the Gerome exhibit, then dashed back for the last 6 minutes.  I love the Lakers, but a curator lecture is missed only for medical emergencies.  I combine my two passions on this blog by participating in the Art History Challenge.  I’ve considered writing about museum bookstores, they are frequently listed on Indiebound, but I wondered would anyone go to a museum just for it’s bookstore?  Well, maybe.  So, today starts an occasional and erratic series about museum bookstores.

Philip Guston

I spent a day last week with the Fisher exhibit, officially called Calder to Warhol, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  Loved the exhibit (it’s going to be weird talking about the bookstore more than the art).  For the first time ever on a museum tour, a docent recommended a book, Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston by Musa Mayer (the artist’s daughter).  I was unfamiliar with Philip Guston and fell in love with his work.  At the end of the day, I stopped by MuseumStore to look at the book.  The bookstore has a section called “exhibit hall” which displays books and items related to the current shows.  I was impressed with the offerings for the Fisher show.  There were several books related to the artists, plus the usual catalogue and t-shirts.  I enjoyed the variety of offerings about contemporary art (there are more than a dozen), but I was deeply disappointed by the catalogue.  I’m a pushover for exhibition catalogues, but I guess I’m starting to get a little picky.  This catalogue included an introduction and and interview with the Fishers, then photographs of the artwork.  All this information is readily available on the Internet, or if it isn’t now, it soon will be soon since the collection is open to the public.  I skipped the catalogue, but I did pick up Night Studio.

Beyond “exhibit hall,” the MuseumStore has a nice selection of books:  numerous shelves of monographs, a travel section (a rarity in museum bookstores, I looked through the Read the rest of this entry »

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