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We send monthly email newsletters (with occasional extra updates). We don't share our list with anyone. | Holiday Hours
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Christmas Eve
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Christmas Day
CLOSED
New Year's Eve
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
New Year's Day
Noon to 10 p.m.
All other days, we're open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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| Gift Ideas from Southern California Booksellers | 
The Southern California Independent Booksellers Association's annual Wish Book is a great way to find holiday gift picks recommended by booksellers from across the region!
Pick up a copy in our store (and check out our display of featured titles!), or read the Wish Book online here.
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Los Feliz Village
Holiday Festival
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Saturday, December 4, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.!
Los Feliz Village's 5th Annual Holiday Festival features lots of incredible gifts, cheer and goodwill. Trolley and an open-air bus transport revelers around the main streets of Vermont Ave. Hillhurst Ave. and Hollywood Blvd. Magicians, musicians, elves and carolers create mirth and an unforgettable holiday experience.
Stop by Skylight Books to check out our winter wonderland window (featuring a model train!). We'll be serving coffee, juice, and cookies to passing revelers.
More info here.
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Stay Tuned!
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Coming soon, a big announcement about e-books!
As some of you may be aware, we're already selling e-books on our website, but that service is about to get a whole lot better. We can't say any more now, but a big development is in the works and will launch very soon!
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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:
Sunday, December 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Rhapsodomancy presents Diane Lefer, Candace Pearson, Robin Ekiss, and Steve de Jarnatt, reading from their recent work at Good Luck Bar, 1514 Hillhurst Ave. $3 suggested donation. Click here for info.
Tuesday, December 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Writers Bloc presents presents Dick Cavett in conversation with Mel Brooks, discussing Cavett's new book Talk Show, at the Saban Theater, 8440 Wilshire Blvd. Tickets are $23. Click here for reservations/info.
Tuesday, December 7, 7:00 p.m.
Zocalo Public Square presents Antonio Damasio, discussing his bookSelf Comes to Mind, at The RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica. Click here for reservations/info.
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| Skylight Books November 2010 Bestsellers |
Store Bestsellers
1. Life by Keith Richards
2. Just Kids by Patti Smith
3. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
4. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
5. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
6. What Was the Hipster? by N+1
7. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
8. Autobiography of Mark Twain
9. Slake, ed. Joe Donnelly and Laurie Ochoa
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5 by Jeff Kinney
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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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Mary's View from the Skylight
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 It's beginning to look a lot like the holiday shopping season here on Vermont Avenue! Stores up and down our street are sprucing up, stocking new items, and decorating -- we have so many paper snowflakes (all hand made and, yes, all different) hanging in our annex that you'd think we actually lived in a cold climate.
Of course, Los Feliz and its many independently owned retailers are gearing up for the fifth annual Holiday Festival, this Saturday (Dec. 4) from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. It's a great chance to check out the shops and restaurants in your backyard, and a wonderful reminder of the kind of vibrant community you all have nurtured, by valuing uniqueness and shopping local. (More info in the sidebar.)
Speaking of shopping, read on for suggestions, gift guides, tips, deadlines, freebies, new services, and info on all the different ways you can buy gifts from Skylight. We're excited to share our favorite books of 2010 with you so you can share them with your loved ones!
Mary Williams Events Manager
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RETURN OF THE
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE!
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Pick Up a Copy in the Store or Read Online!
 Skylight staffers have been working hard on putting together this year's Holiday Gift Guide, a full-color booklet with our book recommendations, including hot new fiction, must-read graphic novels, gorgeous art books, picks for the kids in your life, and more!
Printed copies are available in the store, and the guide is also online (just follow this link).
And, as always, all of our staff members are happy to work with you one-on-one to find the perfect gifts for everyone on your list. Come by and let's get some of those names crossed off!
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| CURBSIDE PICK-UP! | |
Because We Live in L.A., After All
 We know how busy you are during the holiday season, and we want to help. For the first time ever, Skylight Books is offering curbside pick-up on books and sundries ordered and paid for online ( www.skylightbooks.com) or over the phone (323-66-1175). Pull up in one of the two loading zones in front of our store, and either run in to pick up your package, or give us a call and we'll take your purchase out to you. If you'd like your books gift wrapped before you pick them up, just let us know when you call in your order, or make a note of that in the comments field of the online checkout. Happy shopping!
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| GIFT WRAP | |
Buy Your Gifts Here and We'll Wrap Them for You --For Free!
 We offer a free gift wrap service year-round, but it really seems in high demand at the end of the year. With holiday wrap (and non-holiday wrap, should any birthdays or other occasions fall in the month of December), we've got you (and your books) festively covered!
And a little later in the month we'll be bringing in volunteer gift wrappers, who will be wrapping for a cause. They'll be donating their tips to nonprofits of their choice, so you can get a book wrapped and help out a charity at the same time.
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ORDER ONLINE
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Buy Any Book in Print at skylightbooks.com
 Our website is a fast, easy, and secure way to do your holiday shopping from home and support a locally owned business at the same time!
Your order can be picked up in the store for no shipping or handling charge or shipped anywhere using USPS Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. To have your order gift wrapped or to arrange for curbside pickup, just leave a note in the comments field as you check out.
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GIFT CARDS
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For the Reader Whose Bookshelves Are a Mystery to You
 Just can't think of what to give? Don't despair! You can buy and redeem gift cards in-store or online. Use them to purchase any book on our shelves (including some titles you just can't find at big box retailers) and any other book in print!
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ORDERING DEADLINES
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In Case You Want to Give a Book We Don't Have in Stock
As many of you know, we can order any book in print and usually get it in a few days or a week. But if you'd like to pick your book up by Christmas Eve (note that our Christmas Eve hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), here are some deadlines to keep an eye on.
For new or popular books (most likely to be in the closest warehouse): Order by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 21
For older or harder-to-find books (coming from farther warehouses): Order by 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 15
For publisher orders (books no longer carried by major distributors): Order by 2 p.m. on Friday, December 10. We can't always get these books, but we're more than happy to look into it.
These dates refer to books that will be picked up in the store. Allow an extra three business days for books that will be shipped to another location. And for online orders, allow an extra day.
E-book purchases on our website are, of course, available immediately, and may be ordered 24/7.
How do you know which deadline applies to your order? Just give us a call (323-660-1175). We'll search the distributor databases, find out where the book is coming from, and give you our best estimate on when it'll arrive. It just takes a minute, and is the best way to get your book on time.
And, of course, while we make every effort to get special orders here by Christmas Eve, we can't guarantee that your book will get here on or by a specific date. But there's no obligation to buy and we don't ask for payment until you pick up the order (only print-on-demand books require prepayment). Call us with any questions -- we're here to help!
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NEW AND NOTABLE FICTION
AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS
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Big New Titles for the Avid Reader on Your List
Good news for you, gift shopper! There have simply been too many major books published in the past few months for the dedicated reader you know to have bought them all. Here are several of note -- but this list is hardly exhaustive (stop by to check out new titles from John Grisham, Armistead Maupin, Elmore Leonard, Henning Mankell, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Mona Simpson, Susan Straight, Gunter Grass, and others).
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Probably the biggest "publishing event" of the year; also, according to staffer Kevin (and, you know, all major review publications), a damn fine book. "A masterpiece of American fiction." --The New York Times Book Review
 An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
The latest from the master of many media. The New York Times Book Review calls this tale of the New York art scene "thoroughly delightful, evoking a vanished gilded age with impertinence but never contempt."
Palo Alto by James Franco
Another actor who is showing some serious literary talent. This story collection by Franco examines underage amorality in the eponymous suburb. "A collection of beautifully written stories that are also uncompromisingly stark and somber." --Kirkus Reviews
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
From the author of Absurdistan, a dark comedy about America's dystopic future. "A rich commentary on the obsessions and catastrophes of the information age and a heartbreaker worthy of its title, this is Shteyngart's best yet." --Publishers Weekly
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
The much-anticipated new novel from the author of The Hours and A Home at the End of the World. Library Journal describes By Nightfall as "extraordinary... breath-catching, thought-shaking lines gilding the perfect narrative."
Nemesis by Philip Roth
The latest from the author of a startling number of brilliant novels (Goodbye Columbus, Portnoy's Complaint, The Plot Against America). "As exceptional as those novels [Everyman, Indignation, The Humbug] are, this latest in the series far exceeds its predecessors in both emotion and intellect." --Booklist
Great House by Nicole Krauss
"Great House -- much like Krauss' exquisite and widely acclaimed The History of Love before it -- is an exercise in kaleidoscopic storytelling, a novel that seeks to weave four groups of characters into a larger meditation on memory and loss." --Los Angeles Times
 20 Under 40: Stories from The New Yorker, ed. Deborah Treisman
In June 2010, the editors of The New Yorker announced their selection of "20 Under 40" -- the young fiction writers who are, or will be, central to their generation. This anthology contains a story from each of the writers, including Joshua Ferris, Jonathan Safran Foer, and the aforementioned Krauss and Shteyngart.
Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
Latest in the Culture series (a favorite here at Skylight)! Our book buyer, Charles, says of the series, "All these novels are excellent and Banks is a master of juxtaposing the macro-scaled elements of the story with the real wit and pathos found on the micro-scale of the characters lives."
Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre
The master of spy fiction (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Constant Gardener) returns with a tale of international money laundering. "As fresh as this morning's dish on Twitter and as nerve-racking as the evening news, this novel is sure to thrill faithful fans and attract newcomers." --Library Journal
The Reversal by Michael Connelly
Connelly's beloved characters Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller reunite on another case. We have a very limited number of signed copies left -- come by soon to claim one! "Connelly's new novel might be his best: a crackling-good read, smart and emotionally satisfying." --Los Angeles Times
Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
Just out from the author of Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses, this fantasy revisits the world Rushdie brought to life in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. "Exuberant wordplay is evident on every page." --The New York Times Book Review
Three Stations by Martin Cruz Smith
Russian police detective Arkady Renko, the character Smith first created for his novel Gorky Park, returns in his seventh novel. "Fans everywhere will be eager to get the latest installment in the Renko saga, a terrific oeuvre." --Library Journal
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley
The latest literary novel from the author of the Easy Rawlins mysteries (Devil in a Blue Dress). "Powerful... Mosley's depiction of the indignities of old age is heartbreaking, and Ptolemy's grace and decency make for a wonderful character and a moving novel." --Publishers Weekly
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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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