Around Indies

Back Pages Books Publishes Two Titles

As part of its fifth-anniversary celebration, Back Pages Books is publishing two new books through its Back Pages Publishers division. "The books…reflect our commitment to the idea that bookstores had things right a few hundred years back when they were also local printers," store owner Alex Green wrote in an e-mail.

The Sound of One Body, a short-story collection by Anara Guard, is endorsed by author Robert Goolrick. The Shaking Tent, about several of Ralph Waldo Emerson's sermons, is the first book in a local history series.

The Waltham, Massachusetts, bookstore began its publishing operation in March 2009 with The State of the Union 2009, by Howard Zinn.

Booksellers interested in ordering titles from Back Pages should contact Green.

Arundel Books Closes L.A. Storefront, Focuses on "Sustainable Book Arts"

Arundel Books has closed its Los Angeles store after more than two decades in business, but store owner Phil Bevis isn't getting out of the business.

The Center for Sustainable Book Arts will open in July in Vashon Island, Washington. "We are building a school to inspire and enable writers, artists and printers to express themselves creatively in the form of the book," said Bevis. "The book as we have known it for over 500 years is at a transition point, technically and culturally. But I think it remains a compelling vehicle and form for creative expression, and I am looking forward to joining the writers, artists, and printers who take workshops at the Center in exploring the possibilities."

Arundel Books will also continue to sell books online and through an affiliate store in Seattle.

Maria's Booksellers Stretch Vocabularies

Combining digital handselling and vocabulary-building, Maria's Bookshop has begun a video series featuring unusual words from some of the store's staff picks.

Two "The Word" videos, featuring bookseller Shay Lopez, have been posted on the Durango, Colorado, store's website. In the first video, Lopez introduces the word "coruscate," as seen in Keri Hulme's The Bone People. It didn't take long for Hulme's fellow New Zealanders to find the video and share it with that country's book community.

The most recent video explains "shibboleth" and features David Grann's Lost City of Z.