Around Indies

Palin Appearance at Joseph-Beth Draws 1,000-Plus

In Norwood, Illinois, local TV station WLWT reported that former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "arrived to a rousing welcome Friday" at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, where "she told the sold-out crowd of more than 1,000 people that it showed courage for them to carry her book [Going Rogue] in public."

"It's refreshing for me to get to call it like I see it and not worry about what anybody else is going to say," Palin said. "Just get out there and speak truth, and I know that's how you guys are wired, too."

WLWT reported that "Palin fulfilled her promise to sign 1,000 copies of her book, but about 200 people left the event without getting their copies signed." A bookplate with Palin's signature will be affixed to those copies.

On December 4, Palin is scheduled to appear at Legacy Books in Plano, Texas. The Dallas Morning News reported that Legacy Books expects that the Palin event will be the store's biggest since it opened about a year ago. The store is now taking reservations for Going Rogue with signed bookplates.

Bookshop Santa Cruz Offers Sarah Palin's Just Plain Nutz

California's Bookshop Santa Cruz is continuing its long-standing commentary on political books with what it describes as "an essential ... companion to the new Sarah Palin book, Going Rogue." The bookstore is giving away a free bag of nuts, Sarah Palin's Just Plain Nutz, to be exact, with every Going Rogue purchase. The bookstore also noted that a bag of Sarah Palin's Just Plain Nutz is available for $3.98 "to those who can stomach a one ounce bag of walnuts, but can't stomach 432 pages of Sarah Palin's writing."

The bookstore's newest product has garnered the bookstore coverage in the Mercury News and the Santa Cruz Sentinel and on several local TV and radio stations.

Bookshop Santa Cruz invites other booksellers who are interested in selling Sarah Palin's Just Plain Nutz to contact store owner Casey Coonerty Protti.

Griffin Bay Bookstore Celebrates 30th Anniversary

On Saturday, November 14, Griffin Bay Bookstore celebrated 30 years of bookselling in Friday Harbor, Washington.

The San Juan Journal noted that Laura Norris, who has owned the bookstore since July 2006, has maintained the "vital connection to book lovers" and adhered to the tradition "of stocking the store with all manner of books, paying particular attention to customers' preferences and tastes, and choosing books she believes will feed their love of the written word," established by former, longtime owner Susan Eyerly.

Norris has also expanded the bookstore's role as "a cultural, literary, and social hub of the community." The newspaper noted that a 2007 move to a larger space allowed Norris to open a caf, which has become a popular meeting place for loyal customers and visitors alike.

San Juan Journal said that for 30 years Griffin Bay has been "known for its service, its well-read and informed staff, and for finding and ordering books for customers."

Congratulations Also Go to...

Watermark Book Co. in Anacortes, Washington, which marked its 20th anniversary with a weeklong celebration and 20 percent off specials culminating with a party on November 20.

And Grass Roots Books and Music in Corvallis, Oregon, which, at 38, is "the oldest independent bookstore under the same owner [Sandy Smith and Jack Wolcott] in Oregon," according to PNBA's Footnotes.