In such lovely spring-into-summer weather, nothing beats sitting out in your patio or balcony -- or in the park (Griffith, Echo, Elysian, Barnsdall, even the Silverlake Dog Park) -- with a tasty and creative lunch and a juicy book you've always been meaning to read, or one you recently heard about from a friend.  Our staff is particularly enthusiastic about making recommendations, so don't hesitate to ask them or take a look at their written 'picks' around the store.

 

Lots of activity going on this month in our neighborhood, including Friday night wine-tastings and Hollyhock House tours at Barnsdall Park (http://barnsdall.org/) and a Los Feliz First Friday Art Walk -- this time featuring art and info about Sister Corita and the "Rebel Nuns" of the Immaculate Heart community (http://www.losfelizartwalk.org/current.html).  Lots of our neighboring stores and galleries are participating. 

 

For the second year, we are honored  to have been invited to be the on-site bookstore at Dwell Magazine's Dwell on Design at the L.A. Convention Center (see the item on the left hand column).  It also helps us highlight the architecture and design sections in our "1814 N. Vermont" space next door to the main store.  

 

Kerry Slattery, General Manager and Co-Owner

 
First, an announcement!  In honor of our July 23 event with David Mitchell, our own in-store Coyotes Book Group will be reading Mitchell's Cloud Atlas over two months.  Read the first half of the book and come to the June 22 meeting at 8 p.m., meet Mitchell on the July 23 and offer him a pithy comment about it, then finish the book and attend our July 27 meeting, also at 8 p.m. RSVP to the meetings is appreciated but not mandatory: emily@skylightbooks.com

And now, on to our June picks!  The sports novel is a classic subgenre, and plenty of writers have taken a crack at it, from Hemingway to DeLillo. Suggest one of these to your book group, and you'll be in for an action-packed read and a fascinating discussion!

Summerland by Michael Chabon
A young adult novel, officially, but also the longest of these three. The author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Wonder Boys tackles the baseball novel form, with a charming fantasy tale about a magical land where a baseball star is needed to save the world.

Fat City by Leonard Gardner
A classic boxing novel set in Stockton in the '50s. It earned rave reviews when it was published in 1969 and was later made into a film by John Huston. "It is about desperate men doing the only thing they can do--fighting at once to stay alive and to die." --Los Angeles Times

End Zone by Don DeLillo
The Underworld and White Noise author delivers a football novel filled with humor, aggression, and the fear of nuclear war. "Powerfully funny, oblique, testy, and playful, tearing along in dazzling cinematic spurts. . . . A masterful novel." --The Washington Post Book World


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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