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We send monthly email newsletters (with occasional extra updates). We don't share our list with anyone. | Skylight Around Town: Join us for these offsite events! | These are just a few of the events where we'll be selling books this month:
Friday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Z�calo Public Square presents Meghan Daum, author of Life Would Be Perfect if I Lived in That House (Knopf), in conversation with Dinah Lenney, a lecturer in the USC Master of Professional Writing program, at MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave. Free! Click here for reservations/Info: Tuesday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. Z�calo Public Square presents education expert Ben Wildavsky, author of The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World (Princeton Univ. Press), at NPR West, 9909 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City. Free! Click here for reservations/info
Thursday, May 13 at 6:45 p.m. Los Feliz Branch Library Architecture & Beyond Series presents Jon and Nancy Wilkman, who will present their book Picturing Los Angeles (Gibbs Smith). Free! 1874 Hillhurst Ave; (323) 913-4710.
Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. Z�calo Public Square presents Isobel Coleman, author of Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women Are Transforming the Middle East (Random House), at MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave. Free! Click here for reservations/Info
Friday, May 21 at 6:00 p.m. The Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum presents a screening of Midnight following by a discussion and book signing with Ira Resnick, author of Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood (Abbeville Press). $10. Click here for tickets/info.
Sunday, May 23 at 1:00 p.m. The Chinese Historical Society of Southern California presents Grace Young, author of Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge for a talk and book signing, Plum Tree Inn, 913 N. Broadway. Click here for info.
Monday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Z�calo Public Square presents Carlos Ruiz Zaf�n, author of The Shadow of the Wind and, most recently, The Angel's Game, who will discuss his work. Free! Click here for reservations/Info
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Skylight Books April 2010 Bestsellers | Store Bestsellers 1. Secret Stairs by Charles Fleming 2. Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 3. Just Kids by Patti Smith 4. Los Angeles Noir 2, ed. Denise Hamilton 5. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurson 6. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson 7. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann 8. The Big Short by Michael Lewis 9. Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself by David Lipsky 10. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Event Bestsellers 1. Alone with You by Marisa Silver 2. Wild Child by T.C. Boyle 3. Pain Killers by Jerry Stahl 4. Robin and Ruby by K.M. Soehnlein
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Services |
We Accept AmEx, MasterCard, Visa and Discover
Special Orders Welcome!
10% off all book purchases on your birthday
Senior Discount Tues before 4pm
Frequent Buyer Program--ask us for details
Free Gift Wrapping
Gift Cards
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May Events at Skylight Books |
Kerry's View from the Skylight | |
Events this month -- literary names, graphic novelists, regional history
This is amazing month of events for us -- so be sure you scan the whole event list below. We're hosting some legendary literary figures, as well as an unheard-of number of hot graphic novelists (Clowes, Johns, Watson, Harkham), and a number of regional culture must-sees.
Up to now, our store's gift cards could be redeemed at indie bookstores around the country, and vice versa. That program has changed, so the cards must be redeemed at the store (or store website) where they were purchased.
So we have created our own new cards -- designed by our staff member, artist Frieda Gossett-Clayton. The one that's getting the most attention so far is the dramatic silhouette of palm trees against the red sky of fires in the mountains, with a quote from John Fante. We'll soon be adding a design with a more child-friendly theme. Of course, all gift cards purchased from our store (including ones purchased in the previous program) never expire and there are no extra fees.
In the news: Skylight Loves its Locals
We were just featured in Bookselling This Week ("Skylight Loves its Locals"), in an article about how we often offer our front window space to other neighborhood businesses.
(photo at left is a window by do-it-yourself screen printing store, Fresh Pressed, located just south of us on Hollywood Blvd)
For the article:
http://news.bookweb.org/7481.html
Too many Frannys
Please forgive us if we're a little Franny-obsessed at times, but our store cat does keep us entertained. Staffmember Frieda just created a number of lifesize cutouts of Franny in different poses around the store. Franny couldn't resist checking them out.
In Our Neighborhood
The acclaimed theatre production, Influence, continues through May 9 next door at the Skylight Theatre. It will be followed shortly by a new play by Peter Lefcourt, The Jesus Hickey. For more info: http://www.katselastheatre.com/
We have a gem in our neighborhood, and if you've never been to the Barnsdall Art Park down the street from us, you owe it to yourself to stop by. There's a gallery, a theatre, a fabulous Frank Lloyd Wright House you can vist, art classes for adults and children... or just a great place to bring your lunch and have a picnic! With city arts funding in great jeopardy, be part of the solution in keeping this amazing landmark alive. For more info: http://barnsdall.org/
As always, I appreciate hearing from you -- and your thoughts about how to serve you better.
Kerry Slattery, General Manager and Co-Owner
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CONTRIBUTORS FROM MAKE/SHIFT MAGAZINE
| | Sunday, May 2 at 5:00 p.m.
Two editors and five contributors will be here to present the new issue
of this great feminist culture magazine! Editor/publishers Jessica
Hoffmann and Daria Yudacufski (pictured above), along with contributors
Ruth Blandon, Emily Hobson, Erin Aubry Kaplan, James McKeever, and
Christine Petit, will read. Make/shift magazine creates and documents contemporary
feminist culture and action by publishing journalism, critical
analysis, fiction, poetry and visual art.
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BRAD WATSON
| | Monday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives (W.W. Norton)
National Book Award finalist Brad Watson (for his first novel, The Heaven of Mercury) will be here to read from and sign his new short story collection, Aliens in the Prime of their Lives.
"Brad
Watson's stories worm their way through you. Watson's talent is
singular, truly awesome; he reminds me of Raymond Carver, Flannery
O'Conner, Chris Offutt in his bravery, his unflinching willingness to
look at what might set others running. And yet these are not exactly
dark stories-that is part of their magic, they are infused with an
uncanny beauty in which even at the most god awful moments, something
is salvaged." --A. M. Homes, author of This Book Will Save Your Lifemore info... |
CONTRIBUTORS FROM LOS ANGELES REVIEW ISSUE 7
| | Wednesday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Review Issue 7 (Red Hen Press)
Join The Los Angeles Review, the literary journal of Red
Hen Press, as they release their seventh issue. Dedicated to Judy Grahn,
Issue 7 features some of the finest poetry and prose from the West
Coast, the nation, and the world.
Tonights readers are Ching-In Chen, Donna Emerson, Stephanie Barbe Hammer, Tyke Johnson, Howard Rappaport, Ryan Ridge, Harry Thomas, Kim Young, and Bonnie ZoBell.
more info...
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GREIL MARCUS
| | Friday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m.
When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison (PublicAffairs)
Greil Marcus, music and culture critic, Believer columnist, and author or editor of many Skylight staff and customer favorites (Lipstick Traces, A New Literary History of America, and others) will be here to discuss and sign his new book of criticism on another Skylight favorite person: Van Morrison.
"No critical testimonial is more welcome than this assessment of Morrison's work
by one of Americas most astute cultural critics."--Booklist more info...
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GEOFF JOHNS
| | Saturday, May 8 at 5:00 p.m.
Absolute Green Lantern: Rebirth (DC Comics)
The popular and prolific comic book writer Geoff Johns will be here to discuss and sign Absolute Green Lantern: Rebirth, the deluxe edition of the series that relaunched one of DC Comics' greatest heroes.
DC Comics sent us lots of Green Lantern swag for this one, so buy a Green Lantern book at the event and get a treat!
Geoff Johns
has written highly acclaimed stories starring Superman, Green Lantern,
the Flash, Teen Titans, and Justice Society of America. He is currently working on the story for The Flash feature film, which he will also co-produce.
more info... |
FINALISTS FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARDS
| | Monday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Selected finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards will read from their
nominated work. Tonight's readers are James Morrison, Stacie Cassarino,
Kathleen Bradean, Dexter Flowers, Ariel Schrag, and Dayle A. Dermatis.
The "Lammy" is the most prestigious, competitive, and comprehensive
literary award offered specifically to LGBT authors. For more than two
decades the Lambda Literary Awards has brought attention to and honored
exceptional writing about queer lives across multiple genres published
by large and small presses.
more info... |
ESTHER WATSON | | Wednesday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Unlovable, Vol. 2 (Fantagraphics)
Esther Watson, co-author of Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine? and author of Unlovable will discuss and sign the second volume in her hilarious and
heartbreaking series that's loosely based on the 1980s-era diary of a
high school girl that she found in a gas station bathroom.
"Watson's graphic style and messily scrawled confessions read like a genuine diary, filled with humor and despair. Unlovable makes me grateful to be past that painful stage." --The Seattle Weekly
more info...
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PETE NELSON
| | Thursday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m.
I Thought You Were Dead (Algonquin)
Novelist Pete Nelson will read from and
sign his latest book, about the heart-wrenching and hilarious
relationship between a down-on-his-luck man and his talking dog.
Pete Nelson is the author of several books, including Left for Dead.
He is also a singer-songwriter with a select but devoted following. He
is not, however, the Pete Nelson who writes books about tree houses,
although he has nothing against them. He lives in Westchester County,
New York.
more info...
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DANIEL CLOWES with DANA GOULD
| | Friday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Wilson (Drawn and Quarterly)
Daniel Clowes, the acclaimed cartoonist behind Ghost World (the graphic novel and the Oscar-nominated screenplay), the minicomic (turned movie) Art School Confidential, and the Eightball comic series will be here to discuss and sign Wilson, his first all-new graphic novel! After a slideshow, he'll be joined by comedian and tonight's special guest moderator Dana Gould for a discussion and Q&A session.
And, Drawn and Quarterly sent us really nice double-sided posters -- one side is the book cover and the other side is an enlarged page from the book -- which are available with the purchase of a copy of Wilson here at Skylight (while supplies last)!
more info...
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DAVID McCONNELL
| | Saturday, May 15 at 5:00 p.m.
The Silver Hearted (Alyson Books)
David McConnell will read and sign his novel The Silver Hearted.
"The Silver Hearted is our Heart of Darkness. It is just as
ominous, as violent, as exotic, as darkly colonial. But it is a lot
better written than Conrad's book. Whereas Conrad is always resorting
to 'the unspeakable,' McConnell tells us everything in glowing detail
and in fresh, eloquent language. Sexy, demonic, elusive, The Silver
Hearted is a perfect work of art. " --Edmund White
more info... |
UC IRVINE MFA STUDENTS
| | Sunday, May 16 at 5:00 p.m.
Students from the University of California, Irvine MFA program will read from their work.
Reading this evening will be Greg McClure (poetry), Zana Previti (fiction), Rachel Hinton (poetry), and Ryan Hume (fiction).
more info...
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DEANNE STILLMAN, REBECCA K. O'CONNOR, and RUTH NOLAN
| | Tuesday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m.
No Place for a Puritan: The Literature of California's Deserts (Heyday Books)
Deanne Stillman (Twentynine Palms), Rebecca K. O'Connor (Lift), and Ruth Nolan will read from
their included pieces in No Place for a Puritan, a new
anthology of California desert literature, edited by Nolan.
"You could argue that the great California desert is such an
idiosyncratic landscape that stories of lives spent there are too
regional to have universal meaning. But, as this thrilling and necessary
collection attests, you'd be wrong. A landscape that captivates writers
as diverse as Joan Didion and John Steinbeck, that provokes unexpected
works of literary beauty from obscure Spanish missionaries and
Chemehuevi Indians must be a place that reflects something deep and true
about us all." --Marisa Silver, author of God of War more info...
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EMILY GOULD
| | Thursday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m.
And the Heart Says... Whatever (Free Press)
Emily Gould will discuss and sign her new humorous essay collection And
the Heart Says... Whatever. "This is not a 'nice' book, but it comes by its anger and melancholy
honestly, and it makes sense of much that is puzzling about our cultural
moment." -Jonathan Franzen
Emily Gould has written for The New York Times, the New
York Observer, and Jezebel.com, among other
publications. Before becoming editor of Gawker.com, a job she quit and
then described in a cover story for The New York Times Magazine
in 2008, she was an associate editor at Hyperion.
more info...
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CASSANDRA LOVE
| | Friday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Swagger Is a Woman (Mouthfeel Press)
Los Angeles poet Cassandra Love will
read from and sign her new poetry collection, Swagger Is a Woman.
Cassandra Love was born in Beverly
Hills, California but considers the Pacific her native home. As a Yale student, she played basketball and
studied literature. She has published her work in Falling Star
Magazine, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, and FORTH
Magazine. Her work has been featured in the anthologies Mezcla:
Art & Writing from the Tumblewords Project, Silhouette:
Bold Lines & Voices from WriteGirl and Listen to Me.
She is currently at work on a book of poems about mothers and
motherhood. She
also hosts the radio show "For the Love of Poetry" on BlogTalkRadio.
more info...
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JOSEPH MATTSON
| | Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Empty the Sun (A Barnacle Book)
Skylight Books and A Barnacle Book present Joseph Mattson reading from
and signing Empty the Sun!
Please note that, unlike most of our weekend events, the reading will
begin at 7:30 p.m.
This will be a multimedia extravaganza featuring a reading from author
Joseph Mattson, the book's soundtrack by Six Organs of Admittance
(included with the purchase of the book), and archival 8 mm footage
(available on DVD) compiled as a companion to the novel.
more info...
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STEVEN REIGNS
| | Sunday, May 23 at 5:00 p.m.
Inheritance (Lethe Press)
A launch party for the latest poetry
collection by this acclaimed local poet!
"This is such a naked book. It falls neatly into no school of poetry,
nor
does 'gay poetry' sum it up. I turned the pages of Inheritance pretty
hungrily,
glad to encounter such honesty about a gay life lived with
pleasure and bitterness and companionability." --Eileen Myles, author of
Sorry, Tree and Skies
more info...
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GLEN DAVID GOLD
| | Wednesday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunnyside (Vintage)
Glen David Gold returns to Skylight to read from and sign his novel Sunnyside, now out in paperback!
"A breathless stupendous novel that recreates both a young brash America on the verge of becoming itself, and Chaplin, one of its most bewitching quixotic citizens. From lighthouse to Hollywood to starlets to war to stardom to madness to genius Gold's startling narrative carries us across the world and back. Gold proves himself yet again to be the hungriest craftiest funniest and most humane novelist we have." --Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao more info... |
BEN SCHWARTZ, SAMMY HARKHAM, and ROBERT FIORE
| | Thursday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Best American Comics Criticism (Fantagraphics)
Ben Schwartz, editor of the new anthology Best American Comics
Criticism, will discuss comics and comics criticism with Kramers
Ergot editor Sammy Harkham and comics critic Robert Fiore. More information is on the way, so check our website in the coming weeks to hear more!
more info...
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SKYLIGHT READS!
| | Saturday, May 29 at 4:00 p.m.
Did you know that many Skylight staffers have been published in journals
like McSweeney's (Kerrie Kvashay-Boyle), Black Clock
(Monica Carter), Penny Ante (Steven Salardino), and more? And
that frequent event host Noel Alumit has published two novels? Come see
the other side of your favorite bookstore clerks at a very special
Skylight Reads event. More details are forthcoming, so check back, and
we hope to see you there!
more info...
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CHARLES FLEMING
| | Sunday, May 30 at 5:00 p.m.
Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles (Santa Monica Press)
Join us for a fascinating look at our very own corner of L.A.! Author Charles Fleming will present and sign his walking guide--chock full of local history--about the historic staircases of Los Angeles, many of which are in our surrounding neighborhoods.
Charles Fleming is the author of the novels The Ivory Coast and After Havana and the respected Hollywood "how-not-to" book High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess, and co-author of the recent non-fiction bestseller My Lobotomy. A veteran reporter for Variety, Newsweek, the LA Weekly and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Fleming teaches entertainment reporting at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism.
more info... |
Skylight's Blog: GEEKING OUT
| | Find us at www.skylightbooks.blogspot.com
We're geeks here -- this is no secret. Whether it's about books, music, movies, or comics, you can usually overhear a contrarian opinion or a statement of pure hyperbole when you're here. And that brings us to this picture:
With our event with Geoff Johns coming up on May 8, we created a pretty cool Green Lantern display window (if we do say so ourselves), and when DC Comics sent us some goodies, it felt like the thing to do was put on some GL buttons and rings and take a picture. This photo accompanies an entertaining blog post by Darren, who will be moderating an in-depth discussion with Johns at the May 8 event:
Thursday, April 29, 2010 In Brightest Day: Geoff Johns & You
Hi. I'm Darren Clavadetscher
and I've been reading comics my entire life. In that time, I've
watched comics evolve from a cult pursuit of hardcore fans to widespread
acceptance in popular media. Any legitimate artform deserves to be
judged on its own terms. The comic book, in particular, the superhero
comic, is no different.
Which brings us to Geoff Johns,whose impact on the development of the modern American
Super-hero mythos is incalculable. As a writer he shifted the focus of DC Comics' classic characters, such as the Flash and Green Lantern, firmly into the modern day, without sacrificing the core concepts that made them great.
Read the rest of this post (with more pictures!) here, check on our blog regularly here, and join the discussion on Twitter by following skylightbooks! We're on Facebook as skylightbooks, too.
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BOOK GROUPS: STAFF PICKS!
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If you see a staff pick hanging off a shelf, it's because we're really excited about a book. Every once in a while, however, we get so excited about a particular book that we declare it to be the "best ever," "best of the year," or some such. This month's book club recommendations are all novels that merited that kind of declaration.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Emily says: "Everyone has told you to read this book, right? I'm telling you as well -- it's one of my favorite books of the last decade. AND, if you read it now, you can meet David Mitchell when he reads at Skylight on July 23rd! "
The End of Vandalism by Tom DrurySteve says: "This is the best book I have read in years. Tight, perfect sentences take the reader on a somewhat plotless journey at turns hilarious and moving. Proof that everyone is the main character in their own novel." The Song Is You by Arthur PhillipsMary says: "This was one of my favorite novels of 2009. Phillips sets up a cast of characters, all unpredictable, all with different agendas, and lets them go. It's impossible to predict what happens 20 pages ahead of wherever you are in the book, and yet after you read the ending you realize it ends in the perfect and only possible way." 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 [email protected] now to find out how to register your book group! You can check out our registered book groups here. |
Skylight Books
1818 N Vermont Ave (between Hollywood Blvd and Franklin)
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323 660-1175
Next door to the Los Feliz Cinema and across the street from the Post Office (where you can park after 6pm)
We are about 4 blocks north of the Vermont/Sunset subway stop and directly on many bus routes, including the Hollywood DASH. Bicycle racks in front of the store. |
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