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| December 2008 Bestsellers |
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1. Sad Animals by Adam Meuse
3. 2666 by Roberto Bolano
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SKYLIGHT BOOKS' 2008 BESTSELLERS |
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What Your Neighbors Have Been Buying
2008 is over; let the tallying and retrospectives begin.
Fiction
1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage) 2. Well by Matthew McIntosh (Grove/Atlantic)
General Nonfiction
Children/Middle Readers/Young Adults
1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Little Brown) 2. Gallop! by Rufus Butler Seder (Workman) 4. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Little Brown) 5. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little Brown)
Regional/L.A. Interest
Graphic Novels/Art
1. Sad Animals by Adam Meuse (independent mini-comic)
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| Dear friend of Skylight Books,
What a remarkable neighborhood we have... in spite of all the dire (and dour) economic predictions, you--our neighbors and friends--made it a particular point (we know because many of you told us) to purchase books as gifts for the holidays and to purchase them locally, from your community bookstore. As a result, our December sales were actually dramatically higher than 2007's sales! I have been assured that this is a remarkable outcome, and far from the national trend. While we don't intend to take anything for granted in ever-precarious times, we can only THANK YOU... first, for appreciating the specialness of books as gifts; second, for recognizing the value of purchasing them from us, your neighborhood bookseller; and third, for supporting many of your other favorite local businesses.
 On a sadder note, January began with the unexpected death of a bookseller colleague, Glenn Goldman, the proprietor of the spectacular Sunset Strip  bookstore, Book Soup, which Glenn founded 35 years ago when in his mid-20s. In addition to his passion for books and bookselling, Glenn was a longtime supporter of other independent booksellers, serving on the Boards of the American Booksellers Association and the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association. While the form of its management is now being redefined, Book Soup will definitely be continuing on with Glenn's vision--and all of its events and activities will continue without interruption. (photo on left by Carolyn Kellogg)
We have a very few events at the end of January, listed below, and will soon be sending  out our February newsletter with a full list of remarkable events.
Kerry Slattery, General Manager
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| January Events at Skylight Books |
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AMITY GAIGE and SARAH SHUN-LIEN BYNUM |
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Thursday, January 22, at 7:30 p.m.
The Folded World (Random House) by Gaige; Ms. Hempel Chronicles (Harcourt) by Bynum
 Selected by the National Book Foundation for their first ever "5 Under 35" honor, Amity Gaige returns with an ambitious and luminous new novel, "The Folded World," the story of an idealistic young social worker drawn into the lives of his mentally ill clients. In Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum's "Ms. Hempel Chronicles," the title character, teacher of seventh grade, is new--new to teaching, new to the school, newly engaged, and newly bereft  of her idiosyncratic father. Grappling awkwardly with her newness, she struggles to figure out what is expected of her in life and at work.
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BEYOND NOVEMBER kickoff event:
CULTURE CLASH, singer/poet MICHELLE SHOCKED, and poets IMANI TOLLIVER and CARMEN VEGA, with author GARY PHILLIPS as M.C. |
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| Sunday, January 25, 3:00 - 5:30 p.m.
(An Ash Grove Event at Skylight Books)
 For the first time, Skylight Books will simultaneously use both its spaces (1818 and 1814 N. Vermont) for an in-store event, hosting the party-with-a-purpose for "Beyond November," recognizing the critical role of music, poetry and art in community organizing.
This "Beyond November" event is the kickoff for a series of community shows leading up to and following a summer music and social service festival, which will feature national and local talent, as well as a place for service organizations to provide direct counseling, referrals and aid to people who need it; as well as opportunities to join groups and/or actions around the critical issues of community health, youth, justice, employment and housing.
The series aims to inform and enthuse by tapping into the vast energy for positive change sparked by the Obama campaign.
The Ash Grove Foundation is committed to developing music and art festivals to bring people together to socialize and organize. For more information, email ag50vols@mindspring.com, or visit the Ash Grove Foundation website: www.ashgrovemusic.com |
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LOS ANGELES REVIEW, ISSUE 5, featuring: Timothy Green, Stephanie Eve Halpern, Eloise Klein Healy, Jamey Hecht, and our own Edan Lepucki
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| Tuesday, January 27 at 7:30 p.m.
To mark the arrival of Issue 5 of the local literary magazine Los Angeles Review, published by Red Hen Press, contributors Timothy Green, Stephanie Eve Halpern, Eloise Klein Healy, Jamey Hecht, and Edan Lepucki (a Skylight staff member!) will read from their published poetry and stories. |
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MORE EVENTS COMING UP IN FEBRUARY |
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| Back to a Full Schedule!
 Because of the holidays and our annual inventory, we just haven't been hosting as many author events these past months as usual. But never fear, more author signings are here! Here are some events we're excited about ( see our website for more info): Tuesday, Feb 3 at 7:30 p.m: Joshua Bearman, Kyle Minor, Kathleen Rooney
Wednesday, Feb 4 at 7:30 p.m.: Dustin Lance Black, Milk: The Shooting Script
Friday, Feb 6 at 7:30 p.m.: Cristy C. Road, Bad Habits: A Love Story
Saturday, Feb 7 at 5:00 p.m.: Young writers from"Write Girl"
Sunday, Feb 8 at 5:00 p.m.: Los Feliz: An Illustrated Early History
Thursday, Feb 12 at 7:30 p.m.: Aaron Glantz, The War Comes Home
Saturday, Feb 14 at 10 a.m.: Kids Heart Authors, feat. Eve Bunting, Susan Patron, Ann Paul, Erica Silverman, Kerry Madden, and Kathryn Hewitt
Saturday, Feb 14 at 4 p.m.: Skylight Literary Salon
Thursday, Feb 19 at 7:30 p.m.: Carol Lay, The Big Skinny
Saturday, Feb 20 at 7:30 p.m.: Ching-En Chin and Ely Shipley, The Heart's Traffic and Boy with Flowers
Sunday, Feb 21 at 5:00 p.m.: Carine Topal and David St. John, In the Heaven of Never Before (and many titles by St. John)
Monday, Feb 23, at 7:30 p.m.: T.C. Boyle, The Women
Friday, Feb 27 at 7:30 p.m.: USC Master of Professional Writing Program
Saturday, Feb 28, at 3:00 p.m.: Science Fiction Symposium, featuring Aimee Bender, David Sandner, Mark Von Schlegell, moderator Claire Phillips |
| CHECK OUT THE SKYLIGHT BLOG! |
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Find Us at www.skylightbooks.blogspot.com!
Just can't get enough of Skylight? Check out our blog for the insights, comments, and stories of our larger-and-more-eclectic-than-ever staff.
Here's a taste, from Anna's recent post:
Friday, January 2
 If you hurry and get your Five Year Diary today, in blue or red, you can give future and/or current grandchildren something to post on their blog. Just like my grandmother did for me. After about sixty years your Diary will become a fascinating puzzle of mysterious names and places and italicized words.
Read the rest of Anna's post here.
Jade recently explained the history of the poetry chapbook, a literary phenomenon that's getting more attention here now that we've reorganized the zine sections in our two stores. Here's some of what he has to say about it:
Friday, December 26
What the BLEEP Do We Know...about Chapbooks?
 But what is a Chapbook? Wikipedia defines it as "anything that would have formed part of the stock of chapmen, a variety of pedlar. The word chapman probably comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for barter, buy and sell." Which is obviously a lie. Everyone knows that the term Chapbook was coined by the late Earl Von Chap, founder of Chap Stick, and great lover of poetry. Earl Von Chap wrote volumes of what he considered to be the greatest poetry on Earth. Unfortunately, he was the only one who felt that way. Unable to get anyone to publish his poetry, including his wife who owned a publishing company, he bound his own books, and sold them wherever he could. Nowadays, we use the term to refer to any kind of sample book of poetry from a particular poet. Amongst the chapbooks of new up-and-coming poets, are chapbooks from world famous poets. I'll drop a few names for you: Robert Pinsky (former Poet Laureate of the United States of America), Gerald Stern, Cecilia Woloch, S. A. Griffin, and d. a. levy.
You can read the rest of Jade's post here, or visit our blog homepage here. Feel free to leave a comment after a post; we'd love to hear from you! |
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| Skylight Books in Los Feliz
1818 N Vermont Ave
(between Hollywood Blvd and Franklin) next door to the Los Feliz Cinema
Los Angeles, CA 90027
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