2009 was a challenging year for all of us, and we gratefully appreciate the support of those of you who went out of your way to purchase your holiday gifts from us and let us know that our continued existence is meaningful to your day to day lives.  We love being your bookstore!

 

Our volunteer holiday giftwrappers this year raised hundreds of dollars which will soon be in the hands of the following organizations (designated by the individual wrappers):

 

The Jenesse Center (domestic abuse support center), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Project NATEEN (services for pregnant and parenting teens), Breast Cancer Research Foundation, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, and Friends of the Los Feliz Library.

 

This is In addition to the several hundred dollars and many specific books which were donated by wrappers and customers for our book drive project for the Los Feliz Elementary School library, which relies on the neighborhood to help keep it stocked with new books.  We're still collecting books for this project, so contact monica@skylightbooks.com for more info.

 

Our shelves are now starting to fill up again with exciting newly published titles, and we're gradually restocking those sold over the holidays. 

 

January is usually a time we take a break from events, but we just HAD to do the ones you see below.

 

As always, I do appreciate hearing about your experiences here -- things we can improve as well as what you particularly appreciate.  It's the only way we can continue to offer the very best service.  See you soon!

 

Kerry Slattery, General Manager / Co-Owner

 

 
We've got a new endcap display in the store that's filled with "anti-resolution" books; i.e., all the smoking, drinking, drugs, and ill-advised sex you can handle. With that as inspiration, here are some book club reads that are about as far away from those ubiquitous resolution-minded magazine articles as you can get.

Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson
A notorious bad boy himself, Thompson spent nearly two years in the company of some truly unsavory characters -- the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang. They nearly killed him in the end, but the book he wrote about them has become a classic.

The Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliott
Another nonfiction title, this one features drug dependency, sadomasochism, and murder. Jerry Stahl writes about this book, "Phenomenal... Stephen Elliott may well have written the memoir of an entire generation."

Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill
Peopled by prostitutes, drug addicts, and other characters living on the margin, this short story collection was praised by Alice Munro as "startlingly original, with a sort of rhythm and fine moments that flatten you out when you don't expect it."


If you have a book group but you're not registered with the store, remember that book groups that do register get 15% off their pick each month. E-mail Emily at emily@skylightbooks.com now to find out how to register your book group! You can check out our registered book groups here.

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