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Books Inc. – Palo Alto, CA

August 25, 2010 in bookstore by Kim | 4 comments

About a year ago, Keith came home from a business trip with a present for me.  When the kids were younger, his business trips meant three things:  1) we all camped out in our bedroom while he was gone, 2) we had dinner at the Philly Cheese Steak place at the mall, and 3) Keith always came home with something for the kids.  For the kids, not me, which was fine, I didn’t want any of the doodads from the airport that the kids craved.  Now the kids are teenagers and all of our ‘Dad is on a business trip’ traditions are gone, so I was surprised when Keith arrived home with a present for me.  Moreover, he brought the best present of all, a book. Keith visited Books Inc. in Palo Alto, told the bookseller about me, and she recommended that I read The Pig Did It by Joseph Caldwell.  Keith said the bookstore is terrific, I should write about it.  The problem was I didn’t have anything to say other than ‘my husband really likes Books Inc.’

Ronald's Recommended Books

Fortunately, on our way to dropping our daughter off at camp, we stopped at restaurant just across a parking lot from Books Inc; I ordered lunch and walked over.  I spent most of my 10 minutes at a small table dedicated to Ronald’s choices (Ronald is one of the booksellers at Books Inc.).  I’m not sure if it was his favorite books or the ones that were most meaningful to him, but I was struck by how much I felt I was getting a peek into the mind of a stranger by looking at the books he personally chose to recommend.  Anchee Min said that she felt like she knew Mao because she read what he read, in her opinion the best way to learn about another person was to read his books.  I didn’t think about the comment then, but it rang true as I perused Ronald’s books.  Having never met him, I would describe him as thoughtful and searching for a sense of balance in his life.

It goes without saying that Keith is right, it’s a lovely store.  Books Inc. isn’t huge, but there were a few bookshelves dedicated to each genre.  I found the choices in literary fiction and YA (the two areas I can evaluate fairly quickly) well chosen.  I didn’t have a chance to talk to anyone (lunch was going to be served), but I witnessed booksellers chatting with customers, a bright atmosphere, event and book club notices, and people buying books.

What did I find on the general recommendation table?  The Pig Comes to Dinner by Joseph Caldwell, the sequel to The Pig Did It, which I bought to give to Keith over lunch.

Here’s a review of Compass Books located in the San Francisco Airport and a sister store to Books Inc.

Books Inc.

Town & Country Village

855 El Camino Real #74

Palo Alto, CA 94301

Tel:  650.428.1234

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Fun Literary Links

August 23, 2010 in Uncategorized, bookstore by Kim | 2 comments

Here are a few things I’ve been looking at that I wanted to share:

  • Penguin Books celebrated it’s 75th Birthday!  Whenever I’m reading a classic, I choose the Penguin edition.  I like the notes, I like the print, I like the blank pages in front and back where I can take notes (actually could use a couple more of those), and I like that I have a bookshelf of matching black spines.
  • New York Magazine published a cluster of articles about the emergence of independent bookstores in New York City noting that the area is “suddenly, unexpectedly in the midst of an indie-bookstore renaissance.”  With shout outs to great stores, the economics of book selling, a list of books to look for this fall and the favorite stores of NYC authors, it all makes for interesting reading.
  • Think you’re a bibliophile?  There’s a new test for how much you really love books:  did your wedding have a literary theme?  When Non of A Thousand Screaming Rabbits married Jessica, our favorite YA bookseller the guests each received a book as a party favor, the table top decorations were books and the cake topper was a tribute to the bride and groom and their favorite books.  Scroll down this post (full of beautiful photography) for the literary pics
  • Now I know what I’m getting Claire for her birthday!  Out of Print Clothing offers t-shirts with the original cover of several classics.  My daughter’s required reading for the summer is The Lord of the Flies, I asked her if she wanted a t-shirt to wear when her English class is discussing the book, I got the eye roll.
  • Do we need another article on e-books vs. the paper book?  Yes we do, so we can play Bookavore’s drinking game.  “Will e-books wipe out/kill/decimate/pulverize/HULKSMASH/angry verb real books?” — one drink, or my favorite, “smell of a real book” — clean out the liquor cabinet, drink until you pass out, wake up next morning, puke, then continue drinking.  Happy drinking!
  • The Guardian has pics of favorite bookstores and you can add your own shots.  Plus, I just returned from England and found this site very helpful for finding bookstores.  Posts about English bookstores will be coming in the next couple of weeks!

Enjoy the links!

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Crown Point Press – San Francisco, CA

August 17, 2010 in art, art gallery, bookstore by Kim | 1 comment

After spending the day at SFMOMA, I walked around a couple of corners and down a flight of stairs to quiet art gallery and bookstore, Crown Point Press.  The store is perfect for this neighborhood of galleries, a modern art museum, and the Academy of Arts.  With just under half the space devoted to books,  the offerings are used (as in ‘like new’ or ‘not newly published’) art books.  I found a Lichtenstein at SFMOMA that interested me, so I pulled out the catalogue from an exhibit of his work that occurred years ago and looked for similar paintings.  Once I noticed the price, $225, and the excellent condition of the book, I flipped through carefully.  The price made me wonder about whether or not I should take another look at the catalogues of art exhibits that I have shoved on bookshelves, maybe they are worth more than I thought.  More importantly, it reminded me that the exhibit catalogues are full of information, good ones aren’t just expensive picture books.  Crown Point Press has a wall full of luscious monographs and exhibit catalogues.

The bookseller was incredibly helpful.  While a good museum bookstore has a concentration of art books, what I have yet to find is a bookseller at a museum store.  Don’t take me wrong, people are often helpful at the stores, but they aren’t booksellers.  This woman was a bookseller who specialized in art.  I asked about an artist I heard about at the Getty Research Institute, Malvina Hoffman.  Actually, what I said was ‘there is an interesting artist that I’d love to find more information about and for the life of me, I can’t remember her name, but I’m sure her initials are MG.” (Note, the initials are MH, good grief.)   I apologized and said my memory has a new tendency to fail me, she replied “it’s only going to get worse” and then started pulling down books about women artists.  She went through several books while I told her Hoffman’s story trying to find something about my sculptor.  Coming up empty, I took her card to contact her the next time I start looking for books about Hoffman.  This is the store to contact if you need someone to keep an eye out for unique art books.

The art criticism and essay shelves were full of out of print gems.  Unfortunately, most of the books were pricey and I was too tired to evaluate if I should spend that much money.  In the end, I left empty handed, but of all of the stores I visited in San Francisco, it’s this little corner bookstore that I remember the most.

Crown Point Press

20 Hawthorne St.

San Francisco, CA

Tel:  415.974.6273

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The Books of Wonder will have a Wonderful Event

August 11, 2010 in bookstore by Kim | No comments

It felt pretty luxurious to spend a few days in New York City without my kids.  I only had to get myself out the door (Keith was with me, but he doesn’t need my help), I could spend as long as I wanted in front of a single painting at an art museum or bookshelf in a bookstore, and we could start each evening watching the sunset from a roof top bar.  I didn’t think I would visit any kid’s bookstores, this was adult time. But, it was raining and I had an extra half hour before Idlewild Books opened so I headed north a block and found refuge in the Books of Wonder.

People Were Reading Everywhere

It was a wonderland of reading!  A Mom was sitting with her kids reading to them.  A young couple cuddled on a bench, she had her head in his lap and was reading a picture book to him.  A kid was on the floor in the aisle flipping through a book.  Two teens were hogging the YA aisle passing books back and forth.  I loved the vibe.  I especially enjoyed how the picture books were divided along two sides of the aisle, contemporary picture books on one side and classic picture books on the other, all on shelves allowing most of the covers to face out.  What I would have given to have been there after Kyle was born and I was constantly trying to remember a classic picture book to share with him and I could only conjure up a partial name or a vague cover.  This would have been my Mecca.

I wasn’t struggling around the teens in YA long before a bookseller came up and asked if I needed help.  I described Kelsey, that she reads everything, and she handed me gimme a call by Sarah Mlynowski, a story of a senior getting a phone connection to her freshman self.  Kelsey had just told me that she wanted to write a story that is a series of letters to her older self, what a perfect book for her!

SUZANNE COLLINS IS LAUNCHING MOCKINGJAY AT MIDNIGHT ON AUGUST 24TH AT THE BOOKS OF WONDER

The bookseller asked me if Kelsey had read Hunger Games, I laughed and said “Pssh!  Before anyone in her school, she is famous for her love of that book!”  Then she told me that at midnight on August 24th, the first moment that anyone will be able to purchase Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins will be at Books of Wonder.  I squealed.  I asked how many copies they ordered and she said “more books than any independent bookstore has any business buying.”  We laughed and acknowledged that they won’t have any problems selling signed first editions of Mockingjay.  I told her that we timed when we were flying home from vacation to be back from the airport long enough to Read the rest of this entry »

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Museum Monday – de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor – San Francisco, CA

August 9, 2010 in art, bookstore by Kim | No comments

The blockbuster California art show this summer is the Birth of Impressionism at the de Young Museum.  The exhibit is a selection of paintings that portray the art of the early 1860s and the growth of Impressionism (click here for a review of the catalogue).  A much quieter and subtler companion show, Impressionist Paris:  City of Light, is at the sister museum, the Legion of Honor.  I was able to see both exhibits a few weeks ago.

The Impressionism show is cultural hand-to-hand combat.  There are so many people that it takes over half an hour to progress from the timed ticket line to the entrance of the exhibit.  Once inside, a good dose of patience and ability to negotiate crowds is necessary to see many of the paintings unobstructed.  There was even a woman with her dog at one point.  It reminded me of Ross King’s description of the Salons in The Judgment of Paris where on some Sundays over 50,000 people would throng to the halls.  Despite the masses, it’s worth the effort to see, the art is beautiful and rarely seen outside the Musee d’Orsay (which can also be very crowded).

The bookstore at the de Young bore the brunt of so many people, in some places it looked like Target at noon the day after Thanksgiving.  I’m guessing that the de Young customer is more interested in art objects than books though.  The store is two floors, approximately half of the lower section is devoted to books.  It was uninspiring, only a handful of books were associated with the exhibits.  There was a decent selection of monographs and a table for selling catalogues of past exhibits at a nice discount.  Upstairs the store is a museum gift store akin to the Metropolitan of Art mall stores of a few years ago.   There is a lovely selection of jewelry, scarves, and knick knacks.  Every store stocks what sells and it looks like the gift section of the store is far more popular than the books.

After a few hours of battling the crowds and enjoying the truly splendid art, I was ready for the quiet exhibit at the Legion of Honor where I found maybe a dozen people.  The point of Impressionist Paris:  City of Light is to provide a sense of the Paris that the Impressionists were working in, from the new boulevards, to the building of the Eiffel Tower, to the advertising posters that lined public walls.  It felt more like a historical exhibit than a traditional art exhibit.

Why the de Young did not have a significant book section was answered at the Legion of Honor.  Just as the two museums are partners and the exhibits reflect one another, the store at the Legion of Honor complements the de Young store.  About one-third the size of the sister store, at the Legion of Honor store the focus is on books (there are several gift items also).  For me, this store was a treasure.  There were multiple large bookshelves devoted to ‘layman art history,’ books accessible to people interested in art history but not professionals in the field (i.e., Ross King’s books or Art Instinct by Denis Dutton).  I could have bought the entire contents.  There were also several books that delved deeper into the Impressionism art exhibited at the de Young.  This is a compact bookstore worth visiting even without entering the exhibit halls.

Just a side note, the two museums while administered together are miles apart.

de Young Museum Store

50 Hagiwara Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park

San Francisco, CA  94118

Tel:  415.750.3642

Legion of Honor Museum

Lincoln Park

100 34th Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94121

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