Drunk Booksellers

Epigraph

Episode nine has finally dropped! We speak with the lovely and talented Benjamin Rybeck, Marketing Director and Events Coordinator at Brazos Bookstore and author of The Sadness.

 

Introduction   [0:30]

In Which Emma and Kim Have a Sponsor and Make Terrible Puns, Plus Ben Invents the Phrase “Page Turner”

Currently drinking: screwdirvers with Stolichnaya, inspired by Sabbath’s Theater by Philip Roth

This episode is actually brought to you by a sponsor! Books & Whatnot is an excellent and informative newsletter for booksellers; it’s quick to read and filled with tips! Brought to you by Beth Golay. Check out the newsletter archive here. Follow on Twitter at @booksandwhatnot.

Ben is reading: Nick Flynn’s memoirs, Maggie Nelson, The Other Side by Lacy Johnson, and Madeline E. by Gabriel Blackwell

Shout-out to cool indie publisher: Outpost 19!

Emma is reading: … spreadsheets? No, but seriously, she finally started Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel—but also the apocalypse causes her some anxiety, so she might have put it down.

Kim is reading: Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Shrill by Lindy West

When Kim started reading Uprooted, Emma was like

Kim recalls possibly the best customer interaction ever, in which a male teacher from an all-girls school requests recs for a primer on feminism; Shrill by Lindy West, We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozie Adiche, and Rad American Women A-Z by Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl (illus.) are among her recs.

New & Forthcoming Books We’re Excited About

• Underground Airlines by Ben Winters (pubs July 5 2016)
• The Well-Stocked and Gilded Cage by Lawrence Lenhart (pubs Aug 2 2016)
• Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn (pubs July 19 2016)
• The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan (pubs July 19 2016)
• Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel
• The Crimson Skew by S.E. Grove (pubs July 12 2016)
• Collections: Birds Bones and Butterflies by Leah Sobsey (pubs July 12 2016)

What do you do when a customer asks for a happy read? 

Emma tries to make them into a romance reader and, if that fails, recommends Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.

Kim recommends graphica (though Emma’s first three thoughts when she says graphica are Watchmen, Persepolis, and Fun Home—not the happiest of reads…)

Chapter I   [21:21]

In Which Ben Walks Into a Bookstore and Receives a Job, Coins the term “litizen,” and Says the Word Smartypants a Lot. Plus Emma Freaks Out About Events Coordinators/Drunk Booksellers’ Guests Not Reading Harry Potter

Longfellow Books of Portland, Maine was Ben’s childhood bookstore.

We discuss the joy of bookstores, record stores, and video stores—half-retail and half-cultural places where you go to meet friends and discover gems.

Ben’s advice for getting a job at a bookstore? Walk into said bookstore with no intention of getting a job (it worked for him!)

Learn more about Brazos Bookstore here. They do “down and dirty highbrow” bookselling.

In Houston this summer? Here are a couple fun things going on:

Houston Shakespeare Festival

Summer of Kubrick

Have you heard about this new Harry Potter book coming out? Kim imagines that it will be mostly about ennui of adulthood, and compares it to Ben’s book The Sadness. 

Chapter II   [37:46]

In Which Ben Pitches His Book Succinctly—It’s a Book About Film and Failure— and We Discuss Adulting

“Booksellers as adults is a strange thing; you’re asking people to become adults and go out into the world where their primary relationship to anything in their lives has been sitting alone in a room…that’s not going to end well.”

Chapter III   [44:34]

In Which We Speculate Alice Munroe’s Drinking Habits, Declare Adult Connect-the-Dots as The Next Big Thing, And Bring Up the Fact That Ben Hasn’t Read Harry Potter Again

Ben wants to drink with John Updike to see if he’s as insufferable a person as Ben finds him as a writer. Kim mocks his reasoning. His second choice is Alice Munroe (who may or may not listen to this podcast? We’re pretty sure she doesn’t. But we can dream.)

Ben’s bookseller confession is he doesn’t keep up with trends—but it’s ok, Emma and Kim haven’t read Knausgaard or Ferrante either.

Ben’s Station Eleven/Wild/Desert Island Books

• 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
• Collected Stories of Joy Williams
• How to Read a Film by James Monaco
• Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
• ALL the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling

Go-to Handsells

• Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
• Faces in the Crowd, The Story of My Teeth, and Sidewalks by Valeria Luiselli

Impossib

A year ago, we started this podcast with a discussion of our epic trip to 17 Seattle-area bookstores for the first annual Independent Bookstore Day. Naturally, Emma had to make the trip out to Seattle for Year 2!

It’s episode 8 of Drunk Booksellers, and we’re here with Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books in San Francisco, CA. Get psyched, y’all.

 You can also stream the episode on iTunes and Stitcher. Follow us on Twitter at @drunkbookseller for updates, book recs, and general bookish shenanigans.

Check out our show notes, after the jump!

Epigraph

Bitches in Bookshops

Our theme music, Bitches in Bookshops, comes to us with permission from Annabelle Quezada. It’s amaze-balls, and Kim just discovered Annabelle’s other literary Kanye parody, Hardcover Bound 2 AND IT’S ALSO AMAZE-BALLS (and, uh, you should stick around at the end of the episode for a nice lil hidden track). Check it: 

    Introduction   [0:30]

In Which, If You’re Interested in Reading Anything Where a Story Ends with a Boy Jumping on Top His Parents Bed Right After They’ve Finished Having Sex, Dumping Out the Ashes of Their Dead Cat onto Them, Then You’ll Probably like Ramona Ausubel.

Currently drinking: Boulevardier (don’t forget the orange peel...)

 

Pete’s reading: The Fear Project: What Our Most Primal Emotion Taught Me about Survival, Success, Surfing... and Love by Jaimal Yogis & Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (pubs 7 June 2016)

 

Emma’s reading: Uprooted by Naomi Novik (again) & Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina Maclaughlin

 

Kim’s reading too many books rn, incl: Marrow Island by Alexis M. Smith (pubs 7 June 2016; also mentioned: Glaciers), A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold (also mentioned: Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon), Klickitat by Peter Rock, Paper Girls Vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff K. Chiang, and Matt Wilson

 

Everyone’s REALLY EXCITED about Black Panther #1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates (of Between the World and Me fame). Available at your local indie bookstore soonish? Maybe? Or go to your local indie comic shop, ‘cause those places are great too.

New/forthcoming books we’re excited about:

• Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
• Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach (pubs 6 June 2016)
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (pubs 7 June 2016)
• Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger (pubs 24 May 2016)
• Zodiac Starforce: By the Power of Astra by Kevin Panetta & illustrated by Paulina Ganucheau (pubs 31 May 2016)
• I’m Just a Person by Tig Notaro (pubs 14 June 2016)
• Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel (pubs 14 June 2016; also mentioned: A Guide to Being Born)
• The Assistants by Camille Perri (pubs 3 May 2016)
• Everything is Teeth by Evie Wyld & illustrated by Joe Sumner (pubs 10 May 2016; also mentioned: All The Birds, Singing)
• The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes (pubs 10 May 2016)
• The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee (pubs 17 May 2016)
• The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman (pubs 31 May)

Chapter I   [16:25]

In Which Bookstores Can’t Count to 25, Pete is a Closeted Straight Man, and We Learn About Bitcoin

 

Read more about Green Apple’s history here.

 

But seriously, y’all. Those masks, amirite?

 

And, in case anyone other than Kim is interested in WTF Bitcoin is, here’s Wikipedia. Unfortunately, a bit of Pete’s audio was cut out, during which time he regaled us with the story of Dread Pirate Roberts (no, not that one). Interested now? WIRED has a pretty great read for you.

Originally posted by meeshmatched

  Chapter II   [31:40]

In Which We Discuss California Bookstore Day, the Rise of INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY, and Get to Hang Out with Samantha

Independent Bookstore Day started as California Bookstore Day, which was initially inspired by Record Store Day.

 

April 30, 2016 (Kim’s Birthday!!) will be the second official Independent Bookstore Day. 

 

Lauren Groff is the author ambassador. You might have heard of her. She wrote Obama’s favorite book of 2015: Fates & Furies.

Green Apple is doing a shit ton of events, including an appearance from Green Apple’s mascot, Mergatroid; Kate Schatz, the author/illustator of Rad American Women A - Z; a local poet, Sylvie, writing custom poems; prize wheels; KEGS; and a free-throw shooting contest.

 

Mergatroid welcomes you to Independent Bookstore Day.

Chapter III   [45:05]

In Which Pete is Not THAT Old, But He’s Totally On the Sleep Game

Pete’s Station Eleven, Wild, & desert island book: The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor (or maybe Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra)

Go-to Handsell: The Tenth of December by George Saunders, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler, The Plover by Brian Doyle

Impossible Handsell: Native Son by Richard Wright

Also mentioned: The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington

 

Originally posted by heartsnmagic

Welcome, friends, to episode 7 of Drunk Booksellers! We’re here with Sam Kaas, Events Coordinator at Village Books in Bellingham, WA.

 

Epigraph

Bitches in Bookshops

Our theme music, Bitches in Bookshops, comes to us with permission from Annabelle Quezada. 

Introduction   [0:30]

In Which We Reminisce About the Good Ol’ Days and Emma Only Has Time to Read Books About Productivity

Currently drinking: Left Hand Milk Stout from Longmont, Colorado.

Emma’s reading The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente, The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories by Etgar Keret, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (also mentioned: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, Naked Money: A Revealing Look at What It Is and Why It Matters by Charles Wheelan)

 

Sam’s reading Clinch by Martin Holmen (pubs 7 June), Goodnight, Beautiful Women by Anna Noyes, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth L. Ozeki

 

Kim’s reading Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens by Steve Olson, A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee (also mentioned: The Lives of Others), Curb Stomp by Ryan Ferrier

 

New/forthcoming books we’re excited about:

• Welcome Thieves by Sean Beaudoin
• Dodgers by Bill Beverly (pubs 5 April)
• The People in the Castle by Joan Aiken (pubs 26 April)
• Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Breslaw (pubs 19 April)
• Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss (pubs 5 April)
• The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing (also mentioned: The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking)
• All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister (also mentioned: Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick)
• Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

  Chapter I   [18:04]

In Which We Discuss Radioactive Bookworms, Lawnmowers, and What Makes a Good Event

 

 

Chuck Robinson wrote a book about opening Village Books & Paper Dreams: It Takes a Village Books: 30 Years of Building Community, 1 Book at a Time

Shout out to Watermark Books in Anacortes, WA.

Another shout out to Third Place Books (opening a new store this year in Seward Park).

If Tom Robbins requests a pocket road map of Venezuela, don’t question it, just get him one.

Len Vlahos is a rockstar. Here’s proof:

 

Shit. Wrong image. I meant this:

 

See? Rockstar. I mean, he’s also a bestselling author and co-owns a little store in Denver, CO called The Tattered Cover. NBD.

In other celebrity news, check out Chuckanut Radio Hour.

Our favorite events tip: People shouldn’t be calling to ask if there’s an author event tonight, they should be calling to ask what the event tonight is. (hat tip to the fine folk at Elliott Bay Book Company [Kim pumps her fists in victory, even though she has absolutely nothing to do with events at EBBC])

Originally posted by mtv

 

So, yeah, you should check out Village Books’ event schedule, ‘cause it’s pretty great.

Chapter II   [33:37]

In Which Sam Builds Us His Wheelhouse, Discusses e-Reading, and

Emma and Kim think dedicated e-readers are necessary for e-reading. You can buy one here. 

 

[sign from @wordbookstores​]

Kim can’t count. “A novel trying to answer big difficult questions and not necessarily succeeding but at least giving it a go.” = 19 words, not 16, but Sam still succeeded in the 20 Word Wheelhouse Challenge

 

Emma will read anything blurbed by Kelly Link. Sam will read things blurbed or compared to George Saunders or Sara Vowell. Also books about musicians. (Emma recs Rob Sheffield. Kim recs Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein)

Chapter III   [43:25]

In Which We Discuss Book Problems in the Apocalypse, Kim & Emma Learn About Cities in Canada, and Sam & Emma Get In a Fight

Sam’s Station Eleven book: Ulysses by James Joyce, assuming Shakespeare has been saved by wandering bands of theater nerds

Sam’s Wild book: Lyrics & Poems 1997-2012 by John K. Samson (songwriter, rhythm guitarist, & singer of The Weakerthans)

Emma and Kim are embarrassingly uninformed about Canadian geography, so in case anyone was wondering, here’s Winnipeg:

 

Sam’s Reader Confession (a la Bookrageous, Episode 85): Sam believes he might be the only millennial to not finish the Harry Potter series. Emma has lost all respect for Sam. We move on (kind of).

 

Sam’s go-to handsells: City of Thieves by David Benioff and The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

Sam’s impossible handsell: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Epilogue   [53:50]

In Which Sam Has Never Met a Bookstore He Hasn’t Liked and Discusses His Luddite Cynic Award

Sam’s favorite bookstore (aside from Village Books): Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, WA

Sam’s favorite literary media: LitHub, BookRiot, The Paris Review’s Art of Fiction interviews, and old-school physical magazines (such as The New Yorker)

Despite the fact that Sam has the Luddite Cynic Award hanging on his fridge and is the last bookseller on Earth not on Twitter, you can hang out with Sam and his mom on Facebook. Or email Sam at [email protected].

UPDATE: Just before we posted this episode, Sam made himself a Twitter account. Go welcome him.

You should probably follow us on Twitter @drunkbookseller if you’re not doing so already. We’re pretty okay.

Emma tweets @thebibliot and writes nerdy bookish things for B

Yeah, so, if y’all hadn’t noticed, we’ve lagged a bit in getting new episodes posted this year. We blame life. To make up for being assholes, here’s ANOTHER bonus episode to keep you occupied until our next real episode posts. Which will be soon. Like, it’s been recorded, we’re just editing, and it should be ready in, like, a week. Get psyched.

You can also stream the episode on iTunes and Stitcher. Find us on Tumblr at drunkbooksellers.tumblr.com, and follow us on Twitter at @drunkbookseller for updates, book recs, and general bookish shenanigans.

Check out our show notes, below.

Epigraph

Bitches in Bookshops

Our theme music, Bitches in Bookshops, comes to us with permission from Annabelle Quezada. It’s the best.

  Introduction   [0:30]

In Which Emma’s Excited About an Event That You Can’t Attend ‘Cause It Already Happened and We Discuss the Awesomeness of Tactile Covers

Emma’s drinking Schlafly Oatmeal Stout

Kim’s drinking Sierra Nevada’s Hop Hunter IPA

Emma’s reading: See You in the Morning by Mairead Case

 

Also mentioned: Slab by Selah Saterstrom, The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life by Jessa Crispin (of Bookslut fame)

Kim’s reading: Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen

 

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens by Steve Olson

Listening to: Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock

Chapter I   [7:07]

In Which Your Noble Hosts Look Back at Their Favorite Books of 2015

Emma’s Picks:

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

The Bread We Eat in Dreams by Catherynne M. Valente

Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (also mentioned: Lumberjanes)

Witches of America by Alex Mar

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua

Never Judge a Lady By Her Cover by Sarah MacLean

Kim’s Picks:

Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki (also mentioned: Skim & This One Summer)

Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick

The Small Backs of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch

Women by Chloe Caldwell

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

Chapter II   [27:00]

In Which Your Hosts Look Forward to 2016

Naked Money: A Revealing Look at What It Is and Why It Matters by Charles Wheelan (pubs 4 April 2016)

The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old and New by Annie Dillard

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi (also mentioned: White is For Witching and Boy, Snow, Bird)

Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss (pubs 5 April 2016)

The Crimson Skew by SE Grove (pubs 12 July 2016)

The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente (also mentioned: Radiance, Six Gun Snow White)

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh (pubs 25 October 2016) (also mentioned: Hyperbole and a Half, as well as Let’s Pretend this Never Happened and Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson)

The Lesbian Sex Haiku Book (with Cats!) by Anna Pulley, illustrated by Kelsey Beyer (pubs 19 April 2016)

  Chapter III   [40:53]

In Which Booksellers from Across The Land Recommend the Books They’re Looking Forward to in 2016

Ariana from Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, MT recommends The Reputations by Juan Gabriel Vasquez (pubs 20 September 2016)

Genevieve from the Boulder Book Store in Boulder, CO recommends Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye (pubs 22 March 2016)

Sam from Village Books in Bellingham, WA recommends Into the Sun by Deni Ellis Bechard (pubs 6 September 2016)

Carson from Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, MT recommends My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (pubs 17 May 2016)

Stacy from Book Bar in Denver, CO recommends After the Crash by Michel Bussi (published 5 January 2016)

Epilogue   [43:33]

In Which There Are Exciting Things On the Horizon

Have a favorite bookseller you’d like us to chat with on the show? Shoot us an email at [email protected] with their name, store, and contact info so that we can reach out to them!

Follow us on Twitter @drunkbookseller.

Emma tweets @thebibliot and writes nerdy bookish things for Book Riot. Kim occasionally tweets at @finaleofseem.

Share the love by rating/reviewing us on iTunes. And don’t forget to subscribe from your podcatcher of choice.

We’ll be back soon (in a week or so?) with a for-realsies episode. Until then, read ALL the books.

 

 

Did you leave all of your holiday shopping for the last minute? Fear not! Drunk Booksellers are here for you. We asked our coworkers and other rad bookseller folk to give you a quick holiday rec. Some recommendations are a little more... drunk than others. Enjoy!

You can also stream the episode on iTunes and Stitcher. Find us on Tumblr at drunkbooksellers.tumblr.com, and follow us on Twitter at @drunkbookseller for updates, book recs, and general bookish shenanigans.

Check out our show notes, below.

Epigraph

Bitches in Bookshops

Our theme music, Bitches in Bookshops, comes to us with permission from Annabelle Quezada. Kim tried to sing it at karaoke the other night, but the bar didn’t have the original Jay-Z & Kanye West song.

Originally posted by kanyeiwest

  Introduction   [0:30]

In Which Kim & Emma Give Their Holiday Picks

Emma’s drinking an unidentified white wine that she stole from the WORD holiday party. Kim’s drinking Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA.

Emma recommends Uprooted by Naomi Novik

 

Kim recommends Lumberjanes To the Max Edition Vol 1 by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis and Brooke A Allen

 

Emma recommends Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean

 

Kim recommends The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-It-All: Know Your Booze Before You Choose by Richard Betts, Crystal English Sacca, and Wendy MacNaughton

  Chapter I   [9:27]

Annie, Greenlight Bookstore - A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Ashanti, WORD Bookstores - Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles & Practice of Nineteenth-Century Surgery by Richard Barnett

Brendan, The Elliott Bay Book Company - John Barleycorn by Jack London

Bryce, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

Emily, New York Public Library Gift Shop - Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina Maclaughlin

Eric, The Elliott Bay Book Company - The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

Chapter II   [14:51]

Erica, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Find a Way by Diana Nyad

Geo, Greenlight Bookstore - Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting by Eilon Paz

Hannah Depp, Politics & Prose Bookstore - Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell & Hamilton: An American Musical

Hilary, The Elliott Bay Book Company - The Sleeper & The Spindle by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell

Holly, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald

Chapter III   [20:35]

Julia, The Elliott Bay Book Company - The Princess & The Pony by Kate Beaton

Justus, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Fox & The Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Katelyn, WORD Bookstores - Morte by Robert Repino

Kerry, WORD Bookstores - The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf

Liberty Hardy, Book Riot - Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Sam, The Elliott Bay Book Company - The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli

Sarah, Village Books - The Marvels by Brian Selznick

Tracy, The Elliott Bay Book Company - Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

Epilogue   [26:33]

In Which You Can Request a Guest for Drunk Booksellers 2016

Have a favorite bookseller you’d like us to chat with on the show? Shoot us an email at [email protected] with their name, store, and contact info so that we can reach out to them!

Follow us on Twitter @drunkbookseller. 

Emma tweets @thebibliot and writes nerdy bookish things for Book Riot. Kim occasionally tweets at @finaleofseem.

Share the love this holiday season by rating/reviewing us on iTunes. And don’t forget to subscribe from your podcatcher of choice.

Happy holidays, y'all.

In Episode 6, we chat with Josh Christie, manager at Sherman's Books and Stationery in Portland, ME. Get excited.

You also can stream the episode on iTunes and Stitcher. Find us on Tumblr at drunkbooksellers.tumblr.com. Follow us on Twitter at @drunkbookseller for updates, book recs, and general bookish shenanigans.

Epigraph

Bitches in Bookshops

Our theme music, Bitches in Bookshops, comes to us with permission from Annabelle Quezada. It’s the best.

Introduction   [0:30]

In Which We Drink Strong Stouts and Cat Valente Singing in Russian for a Talent Show

Josh is the perfect guest for Drunk Booksellers. He is the manager and book buyer at Sherman's Books and Stationery in Portland, Maine (not Oregon). He’s also the co-author of Maine Outdoor Adventure Guide and The Handbook of Porters & Stouts, as well as the author of Maine Beer: Brewing in Vacationland. In his spare time, he’s an adjunct professor on the The Maine Brew Bus and a co-host of The Bookrageous Podcast. 

Drink of the Day: As one might expect from a stout & porter expert, Josh gave us three options for our drink of the day.

• Lion Stout
• Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
• Anchor Porter

Josh is reading Drinking in America: Our Secret History by Susan Cheever, Judge This by Chip Kidd, and The Beer Bible by Jeff Alworth.

 

Kim’s reading Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss (pubs April 2016) and Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor.

 

Emma’s reading Thunderstruck & Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken, Nimona by Noelle Stevensen, Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente (also mentioned Six-Gun Snow White)

Books we’re excited about:

• The Witches: Salem, 1692  by Stacy Schiff (also mentioned Cleopatra: A Life)
• The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood (pubs April 2016)
• Embed with Games: A Year on the Couch with Game Developers by Cara Ellison  (pubs February 2016)
• Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (Bookmarked Series) by Curtis Smith (pubs March 2016)
• Harry Potter Coloring Book from Scholastic, Inc. 
• Contraband Cocktails: How America Drank When It Wasn't Supposed to by Paul Dickson (published by the ever-awesome Melville House)
• The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders & Lane Smith
• The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Favorite Bible Passages, edited by Andrew Blauner 
• Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

Chapter I   [20:17]

In Which We Love Everything Except Rap and Polka, Particularly Maps

Sherman’s Books & Stationery has 5 locations in Maine, with a 6th opening in 2016. 

Most surprising bestseller (other than adult coloring books): The Historical Atlas of Maine, edited by Stephen J. Hornsby

 

Also mentioned: Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Hector Tobar, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

If maps and books are your thing, definitely check out Plotted: A Literary Atlas by Andrew Degraff and Daniel Harmon . We all love it so hard.

 

From Plotted: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Chapter II   [32:23]

In Which We Lust after Built-in Bookshelves, Love Everything Except Rap & Polka

Josh loves some good narrative nonfiction: Mary Roach, Erik Larson, Stacy Schiff, John Muir, and Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kim and Emma get overexcited about handselling nature essays to Josh. Emma loves Limber by Angela Pelster. Kim’s excited about Annie Dillard’s forthcoming collection, The Abundance: Narrative Essays Old and New (pubs March 2016).

Josh recs the Best American series, particularly Best American Sports Writing

Go read anything published by Write Bloody. Especially Andrea Gibson (start with Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns). 

Originally posted by x-rayvisions

  Chapter III   [41:06]

In Which We Love Maps and Weirdos, Learn that Maine is More Than Just Lighthouses & Lobsters, 

Josh’s Wheelhouse includes books with maps, character indexes, and anything that’s super weird, such as Mort(e) by Robert Repino

Josh’s very practical Station Eleven/Wild book: SAS Survival Guide by John Lofty Wiseman 

Josh’s real Station Eleven/Wild book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Go-To Handsell: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed, The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner

Originally posted by cuddle

 

Generally Impossible Handsells: Poetry and Graphic Novels

If you’re not a graphic novel reader yet, start with Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, The Sculptor by Scott McCloud, or Habibi by Craig Thompson

That annoying Slate article that Josh mentions can be found here: Don’t Support Your Local Bookseller. Feel free to read it if you feel like angrily ranting at everyone you interact with for the next few years.

Epilogue   [51:27]

In Which Josh Tells Us About His Awesome Bookish Wedding and Where You Can Find Him On the Internet

Josh and his wife gifted each other literary tattoos as wedding presents, because they’re the coolest. Josh is getting the the Escapist’s key from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon and his wife is getting the the Brakebills seal from Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. Totes adorbs, right?

Favorite Bookstore other Than Your Own: WORD (aw, yeah!), Harvard Book Store, Porter Square Books, Northshire Bookstore

Favorite Literary Media: PANELS, Reading Aloud Podcast

If you’re not listening to Bookrageous, go remedy that immediately. We love it so hard. 

Find Josh on the interwebz at:

• Twitter: @jchristie
• Website: BrewsAndBooks.com
• Instagram: JChristie7

You should probably follow us on Twitter @drunkbookseller if you’re not doing so already. We’re pretty cool.

Emma tweets @thebibliot and writes nerdy bookish things for Book Riot. Kim occasionally tweets at @finaleofseem. 

Make sure you don’t miss an episode by subscribing to Drunk Booksellers from your podcatcher of choice. Also, if you read this far in the show notes, you should probably go ahead and rate/review us on iTunes too. The only compensation we get from this podcast is a nerdy ego-boost, so we’d lo

Epigraph

We’re here on episode number 5 with Liberty Hardy, contributing editor at Book Riot and co-host of the All the Books! podcast.

In addition to this LibSyn landing page, you can find us on Tumblr or stream the episode on iTunes and Stitcher. Follow us on Twitter at @drunkbookseller for updates, book recs, and general bookish shenanigans.

Bitches in Bookshops

Our theme music is awesome. Bitches in Bookshops comes to us with permission from Annabelle Quezada.

Introduction   [0:30]

In Which We Drink PBR and Discuss ALL THE BOOKS Coming Out in October

In addition to her Book Riot work, Liberty is a roaming bookseller, former bookseller at RiverRun Bookstore in New Hampshire, judge for Bookspan’s Book of the Month Club, volunteer librarian, and self-proclaimed velocireader.

Drink of the Day: Pabst Blue Ribbon. Yes, that PBR.

Originally posted by uponfurtherreview-mark

Emma’s reading Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan, and A Wild Swan: And Other Tales by Michael Cunningham

Kim’s reading Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson, My Fight/Your Fight by Ronda Rousey, The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray, and Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Liberty’s reading Mrs. Engels by Gavin McCrea, Twain’s End by Lynn Cullen, and Monsters: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Birth of Pathological Technology by Ed Regis.

October is a very exciting month for books, amiright?

• Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor 
• Slade House by David Mitchell
• The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
• Witches of America by Alex Mar
• Science of the Magical: From the Holy Grail to Love Potions to Superpowers by Matt Kaplan
• Plotted: A Literary Atlas by Andrew Degraff and Daniel Harmon 
• Our Spoons Came from Woolworths by Barbara Comyns
• Last Night’s Reading: Illustrated Encounters with Extraordinary Authors by Kate Gavino
• We Five by Mark Dunn
• The Mare by Mary Gaitskill
• Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
• The Givenness of Things: Essays by Marilynne Robinson
• Numero Zero by Umberto Eco
• Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente

Also mentioned: The Penguin Book of Witches by Katherine Howe, Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn, various books by Cat Valente (Six-Gun Snow White, Deathless, Speak Easy)

Chapter I   [16:45]

In Which Liberty Doesn’t Have To Wear Pants, Tells Us Her Secret to Reading ALL the Books, and Gives Us a Tour of Her Library and Cat B&B

Liberty’s last official brick-and-mortar bookselling gig was at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH. Now she talks about books on the interwebz at Book Riot and doesn’t have to wear pants, which seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

Originally posted by nevadatrek

If you’re not listening to Liberty’s podcast every week, you should. Like, stop reading this and go listen to All the Books! instead. We’ll wait. 

Want to read like a bookseller? You can score advanced digital copies of books from NetGalley and Edelweiss. Learn more about Edelweiss here.

Fun Fact: The average person reads 215 words per minute. Liberty reads 536 words a minute. How do you match up?

Liberty only sleeps 3 to 4 hours a night. So, that’s a thing.

Originally posted by redbullmediahouse

Chapter II   [31:30]

In Which Gary Shteyngart Writes a Successful Blurb, A Giant Crate of Books Washes Up On Liberty’s Desert Island, 

Liberty’s fav local bookstore haunt is Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH. She also “accidentally” bought a bunch of books from Small Beer Press in the middle of the night (including The Liminial War by Ayize Jama-Everett and Kalpa Imperial by Angélica Gorodischer, translated byUrsula K. Le Guin). And she gives a big shout out to Sherman’s Books in Portland, ME and their store manager Josh Christie who, spoiler alert, is our next guess on Drunk Booksellers!

Liberty’s a judge for Bookspan’s Book of the Month Club. Sounds rad.

Liberty’s wheelhouse: anything compared to Kurt Vonnegut or The Secret History by Donna Tartt

We talk blurbs. Gary Shteyngart blurbs everything, including this gem about Sloane Crosley’s new novel: “The Clasp reads like The Goonieswritten by Lorrie Moore.” It’s kinda brilliant.

Liberty’s Desert Island Books: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, The Giant’s House by Elizabeth McCracken, The Known World by Edward P. Jones, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, The Sorrows of a Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, My Name is Asher Levby Chaim Potok 

Station Eleven Books: Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy, Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt, a Charles Portis book other than True Grit

Wild Book: Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson. Possibly on an iPad? With an external charger? That’s probably cheating…

Epigraph

It’s episode number 4! Featuring bookseller-extraordinaire Hannah Oliver Depp from Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.

 

 

  Introduction   [0:30]

In Which We Drink To Detective Fiction By Dead White Guys, Become Jealous of Literary Paper Dolls & Ecstatic Raccoons, And Dive Into Frontlist Season With ALL the September Releases

Drink of the Day: The Gimlet a la Raymond Chandler (recipe and quote from Hemingway & Bailey's Bartending Guide to Great American Writers by Mark Bailey and Edward Hemingway)

 

 

Emma’s reading Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick

 

 

Kim’s reading Boss Life: Surviving My Own Small Business by Paul Downs and Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio by Jessica Abel

 

 

Hannah’s reading Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones (pubs 20 Oct 2015) and Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam

 

 

HOLY SHIT THERE ARE SO MANY SEPTEMBER RELEASES! Here are some:

• Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson (22 Sept 2015)
• • Also mentioned: The Monsters of Templeton and Arcadia and anything written by Zadie Smith)
• Trans: A Memoir by Juliet Jacques (22 Sept 2015)
• Fates & Furies by Lauren Groff (pubs 15 Sept 2015) 
• • Also mentioned: The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins (pubs 29 Sept 2015)
• Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! a Vagrant Collection by Kate Beaton (pubs 15 Sept 2015)
• • Also mentioned: Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
• The Story of my Teeth by Valeria Luiselli, translated by Christina Macsweeney (pubs 15 Sept 2015)
• The Culinary Cyclist: A Cookbook and Companion for the Good Life by Anna Brones, illustrated by Johanna Kindvall (8 Sept 2015) 
• • Also mentioned: Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats
• Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart (1 Sept 2015)
• • Also mentioned: The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks
• The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell (22 Sept 2015)
• Jonathan Franzen wrote another “Great American Novel” called Purity (1 Sept 2015). But you probably already knew that, so do yourself a solid and check out #FranzenAirQuotes instead. 

 

 

 

 

  Chapter I   [16:25]

In Which Business Books are Chauvinistic (Shocking!), Hannah Brings Wildlife Into the Store, Galleys Meet their Death, and the Drunk Booksellers Nerd Out About Writing Bookselling Manuals

Hannah is the Merchandise Display Manager at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C. aka. President Obama’s local independent bookstore.

 

 

[image credit Reuters]

Due to their recent partnership with Busboys and Poets, Hannah also rides the Metro around D.C. merchandising their displays.

 

 

[totally official Washington DC Metro map courtesy of Dave’s Geeky Ideas]

Interested in the business of retail? Kim won’t stop monologuing about Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping: Updated and Revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer, and Beyond by Paco Underhill

If you want to shell out a lot of money to travel abroad, you should do it with a book bent, obviously: Politics & Prose Trips

Remember what you liked about your major before you had to actually do all that fucking work? Join the rogue students taking Classes at Politics & Prose. It’s like in Center Stage where she goes to the wrong side of the tracks and moves her hips, but for books.

 

Originally posted by artecommovimento

 

Y’all remember Harry Potter release parties, right? Of course you do.

 

Originally posted by walkingdead3000

 

 

 

  Chapter II   [33:57]

In Which Hannah Schools the Drunk Booksellers on Lady Detective Fiction & a Couple Books Written By Dudes

Want to get into Mysteries?

Step One: Read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Originally posted by internetgirlwithnolife

Epigraph

For our third episode, we interview Kevin Sampsell, bookseller at Powell’s Books in Portland, OR. 

 

Introduction [0:30]

In Which Emma & Kim Feel Like Literary Underachievers Compared to Kevin’s Many Bookish Pursuits, Then We Order Lifestyles

[0:43] When he’s not bookselling at Powell’s Books, Kevin runs the small press Future Tense Books, along with their new ebook imprint Instant Future. He’s also the author of A Common Pornography: A Memoir and This is Between Us, as well as the editor of Portland Noir. 

 

 

[1:13] Drink of the Day: The Lifestyle - Jameson Irish Whiskey and ginger ale (from Ablutions: Notes for a Novel by Patrick deWitt)

 

collage by Kevin Sampsell

Chapter I

In Which We Discuss Rad Trans & Queer Books, Talk About Customer Anti-Merchandizing Techniques, and Discover that Kevin is a Greasy Buddy Holly

[2:35] Emma’s reading Witches of America by Alex Mar (pubs 20 Oct 2015)

 

[2:54] Kim’s reading Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson (pubs 22 Sept 2015)

Also mentioned: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson

[3:28] Trans/Queer books!

1. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
2. Trans: A Memoir by Juliet Jacques (pubs 22 Sept 2015)
3. George by Alex Gino (pubs 25 Aug 2015)
4. Please Don’t Kill the Freshman: A Memoir by Zoe Trope (Future Tense edition, here)
5. Being by Zach Ellis

 

 

Also mentioned: the Tin House Writer’s Workshop, Bad Blood Reading Series

[8:36] Kevin is reading SO MANY GOOD BOOKS RIGHT NOW

1. The Revolution of Every Day by Cari Luna
2. Savage Park: A Meditation on Play, Space, and Risk for Americans Who Are Nervous, Distracted, and Afraid to Die by Amy Fusselman
3. Yet another shoutout to Lidia Yuknavitch: The Small Backs of Children and The Chronology of Water: A Memoir. Have you read her books yet? Just go do it. Right now. We’ll wait.
4. Hollywood Notebook by Wendy C Ortiz (also mentioned: Excavation: A Memoir)
5. Cult of Loretta by Kevin Maloney (also mentioned: Adam Wilson)

 

 

[14:37] August Releases!!

1. The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips
2. The Scamp by Jennifer Pashley
3. Voices in the Ocean: A Journey Into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins by Susan Casey
4. Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

 

  Chapter II

In Which Kevin Discusses Working at Powell’s (Largest Bookstore in the World?), The Power of Small Presses, and Publishing E-Books

[20:58] Powell’s City of Books Store Map

[23:46] White Elephants: On Yard Sales, Relationships, and Finding What Was Missing by Katie Haegele

[24:20] Weirde Sister by James Gendron (coming 2016 from Octopus Books - check out an excerpt to get psyched)

[24:39] Sexual Boat (Sex Boats) by James Gendron

[32:56] Some authors that have moved between Small Presses and Big Publishers:

1. Alissa Nutting - Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls, Tampa
2. Lindsay Hunter - Daddy’s, Don’t Kiss Me, Ugly Girls
3. Maggie Nelson - Bluets
   

 

 

Small Presses Mentioned: Starcherone, Featherproof, Wave

[36:10] Future Tense’s e-book imprint Instant Future

[36:44] Starvation Mode by Elissa Washuta (author of My Body is a Book of Rules)

Chapter III

In Which We Talk About Even More Awesome August Releases, Kevin Observing Customers Buying His Book, Author Crushes, and MORE BOOKS

[40:22] More August Releases:

1. Dome of the Hidden Pavilion: New Poems by James Tate
2. New American Stories, edited by Ben Marcus (who previously edited The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories)

 

 

Pro-tip: the bathroom at Powell’s is upstairs in the Purple Room. Now you know.

[44:05] Kevin’s Go-To Handsells

1. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (available in paperback Jan 2016)
2. Stories in the Worst Way by Gary Lutz

 

 

Also mentioned: All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews, Home Land by Sam Lipsyte

[46:57] Kevin’s Impossible Handsells

1. Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso
2. Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures by Phoebe Gloeckner

 

 

Also mentioned: George Saunders, Lydia Davis, Barry Hannah, Donald Ray Pollock

[48:45] How to Keep Up with ALL the Books?

 

 

[49:00] Reading Backlist: <