About Bookstores

Gauging from the sounds in the background as BTW recently interviewed Michael Raubertas of Four Seasons Books, the bookselling climate at the Shepherdstown, West Virginia, bookstore includes much sawing and banging.

Over the course of his long tenure at Giovanni's Room -- "America's World-Class Lesbian & Gay, Transgender & Bisexual Bookstore with all the trimmings" -- Ed Hermance has seen the second-oldest gay and lesbian bookstore (Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York City is the oldest) through some sea changes.

The December 8 issue of The New Yorker, which goes on sale December 1, will include the latest Book Sense insert, "Booked for the Holidays." The special 12-page feature presents the holiday picks of independent booksellers, which were drawn from the November/December Book Sense 76 list. (To view the full 76, click here.) The insert will also include publishers' picks, and the November/December Book Sense 76 Top Ten will be featured in a full-page ad.

When Joseph Biernat and his wife, Elizabeth, bought Hudson Valley Book Stop in Kingston, New York, from Elizabeth's parents last September, they weren't counting on a chain bookstore opening directly across the street. But, as in nature, in business adaptation is key, so the Biernats developed a plan. They are going to allow customers to bring in their used books for credit towards new or used books at Hudson Valley. "We'll use [the chain] for what they're good for, which is getting more books into the market," Joseph Biernat said.

Margie Ghiz (left), owner of Midnight Special in Santa Monica, California, with staff.

Midnight Special, closed since February, was finally able to open its doors on November 6 in a new location less than a half-mile from its previous site on the Third Street

"I guess we're bucking the trend," said Debi Echlin of 2nd Edition Books and Gifts in Oakland, California. Co-owners Echlin and Helen Talley reformatted their store from selling mostly used books to carrying only new titles. At a time when many booksellers are opting to add used books to their inventory mix, Echlin said she realized that her diminutive section of new books, comprised entirely of Book Sense Bestsellers and 76 picks, was substantially more profitable than the rest of the used stock.

On Thursday, November 6, Madison, Wisconsin's Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative and a local newsweekly were able to convince Madison Area Technical College (MATC) to reverse its decision to impose restrictions on a speaking event about the Middle East, featuring noted writer and University of Chicago researcher Ali Abunimah. MATC had attempted to limit the scope of the talk and to deny Rainbow's request to sell books in conjunction with the event after some residents protested the talk due to Abunimah's pro-Palestinian point-of-view.

Last year, Los Angeles (through the offices of its mayor and library system) chose an official novel for the entire city to read, a work by native son Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451, named for the temperature at which book-paper burns. For much of the past twelve days, as L.A. and surrounding communities suffered the unprecedented catastrophe of nearly a dozen huge wildfires raging over four counties, from Ventura to San Diego, that choice took on a dreadful aptness.

In 1998, as a result of the devastation of Hurricane George, many Puerto Ricans were left without power and other services for two weeks. During that time, members of the Muñoz family had the opportunity to consider and reconsider some of their life choices. The five children of an anesthesiologist and an administrator included two physicians, one medical resident, and two lawyers. According to eldest son Carlos J.

In September, Stacey's Bookstore in San Francisco celebrated its 80th anniversary with a day-long party replete with a string quartet, a huge cake, and an active popcorn machine, and throughout the month the store's front window featured a rotating exhibition of vintage photographs and memorabilia. Sydney Hannan, a staff member at Stacey's since 1979, joked that the customers had their priorities straight because they came in and immediately asked for cake.

"My family owned a newspaper, The Westerly Sun, so I grew up around bookish, writingish people," said Katie Utter of Other Tiger Bookstore in Westerly, Rhode Island, about her motivation to open the now two-month-old bookstore. That would also explain why her brother Robert Utter signed on. Robert's wife Constance Kilgore completes the new bookselling triumvirate.

For about five months now, Midnight Special's planned reopening on Second Street in Santa Monica has been hampered by financial woes and unexpected delays. Now, a movie star, a famous slam poet, three independent presses, and a literary arts club want to help put the bookstore back on its feet.

Over the years, booksellers have found many unique ways to put money in their cash registers, but the latest from Ruminator Books in Saint Paul, Minnesota, has reaped national attention and sent authors and friends of the bookstore rummaging through their homes.

Newtonville Books in Newton, Massachusetts, part of the Boston metro area, was conceived five years ago by an M.B.A. student at Boston University's Graduate School of Management. Writing a business plan for a new enterprise was the sole course requirement for one of Tim Huggins' classes, and he took the opportunity to create a viable design for his longtime passion, bookselling.