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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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Crown Point Press – San Francisco, CA

August 17, 2010 in art, art gallery, bookstore by Kim | 4 comments

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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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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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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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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