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Skylight Books Newsletter

Los Angeles / April 2011                     www.skylightbooks.com
In This Issue - Events and News
PAUL VANGELISTI
UC RIVERSIDE MFA STUDENTS
MICHELLE LATIOLAIS
JIM KRUSOE
NANCY ROMMELMANN
AMBER BENSON and PATRICK ROTHFUSS
SMART GALS' DEAD POETS SLAM
FREE POETRY MONTH WORKSHOP
POETS AT WORK READING
COLLIER NOGUES
DEBORAH VANKIN, JEN WANG, and AMY KLEIN
WILLIAM POWERS
BLAKE BUTLER and JUSTIN TAYLOR
Release Party for DAVID FOSTER WALLACE'S THE PALE KING
LEO BRAUDY
ARYN KYLE and DAVID GOOWILLIE
MEGHAN O'ROURKE
READINGS FROM DAVID FOSTER WALLACE'S THE PALE KING
MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PARTY AND SIGNINGS
LA TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS AT USC
SKYLIGHT'S BLOG: JIM KRUSOE
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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 (please check the links, some events require tickets or reservations):

 

Thurs., April 7 at 8 p.m.

Zocalo presents Doug Saunders (Arrival City: How the Largest Migration in History is Reshaping Our World) at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda. Reservations/info here. 

 

Thurs., April 14 at 6:45 p.m.

Los Feliz Library presents Architecture and Beyond, featuring Douglas Woods (Classic Homes in Los Angeles). (323) 913-4710. 

 

Sun., April 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Rhapsodomancy presents Sarah Manguso, Collier Nogues, Tomas Mournian, and Jessica Goodheart. Reservations/info here

 

Wed., April 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Zocalo presents Charles Kenny (Getting Better: Why Global Development is Succeeding--And How We Can Improve the World Even More) at Goethe-Institut Los Angeles, 5750 Wilshire Blvd. Reservations/info here


  
Skylight Books
March 2011
Bestsellers
Store Bestsellers

1. Just Kids by Patti Smith
2. Secret Stairs by Charles Fleming
3. Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

4. Slake #2
5. Tinkers by Paul Harding 
6. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
7. Cometbus in China (#54) by Aaron Cometbus 8. Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba
9. Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle
10. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

    

Event Bestsellers

1. Blind Sight by Meg Howrey 

2. Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr

3. Deus Ex Machina by Andrew Altschul

4. Blowout! by Mario T. Garcia and Sal Castro

5. Last Rose of Summer by Monte Schulz   

 

  

Services
Shop Indie! Go to
IndieBound.org for some other indie bookstores and businesses

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
 ____________________

Kerry's View from the Skylight

 

Who do you think we are?

 

Spring is a time for renewal, and we're using the opportunity to re-evaluate who we are, so we can better get the message out to the world. In particular, we're looking at Skylight Books' slogan and descriptive paragraph - what we use when we talk about ourselves, or when others want to describe us.  So we've been doing some internal soul-searching about what's important and unique about us.

 

This will help us in redesigning our website, our logo, promo and advertising, window signage & offsite event signage, to be more effective, efficient, and current. 

 

Up to now, we've been often using:   "what a neighborhood bookstore should be," - a phrase the L.A. Times once used in an article about us.  And talking about our unique neighborhood and that we're 'fiercely independent'.

 

But we think people know those things and that it's time to reflect more fully about who we are today,, what we do and what's important to us, as well as define our place in the city (and even the world), as well as to let more people know about us.    (We'd even like to encourage them to purchase one or more books from us  each month that they would otherwise  have purchased elsewhere!)

 

Our entire staff has been brainstorming and we'd love to have your suggestions as well.  These are some of the major points we came up with:

 

- 'L.A.'s Bookstore since 1996"

- a PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: 'bookselling with a heartbeat' (reflected in our hand-made signs, drawings of our staff members on shelf-talkers, website), etc.

- a warm, light, lively physical PLACE with HELPFUL PEOPLE WHO CARE a place to meet friends, browse, encounter new authors, ask about the neighborhood

- individual, HAND-PICKED SELECTION of books, cards, art & literary zines, smart gifts; unexpected choices and provocative titles as well as bestsellers

- an ANCHOR for literature, arts and activism in L.A.

- we LISTEN to our customers, and pay attention to their needs

- we GIVE BACK to the community

- we're ACTIVE - we're constantly re-thinking our displays,  thinking of new projects, letting people know about new or overlooked books

- we're POLITICALLY ENGAGED

-  RELEVANT TO THE TIMES  and technology (lively ONLINE ORDERING,  E-BOOKS on our site , place daily special orders, - people now know about us around the world

-

Of course, we can't SAY all of this - we need some simple ways to capture the essence - a phrase, an image, a graphic style.  But tell us YOUR THOUGHTS on this - both about what's most important to you about us - or your ideas in how to say that.  You can email me ([email protected]), or one of your favorite staffmembers, or jot it down and give to one of us at the store.

kerry drawing

 

-Kerry Slattery,   

General Manager and Co-Owner

 

   

 

Upcoming Events at Skylight Books
feat. National Poetry Month Readings!
 

Poetry:

PAUL VANGELISTI   

Saturday, April 2nd at 5:00 p.m.

Two (Talisman House)

 

Paul Vangelisti makes his long awaited return to Skylight Books to celebrate a new collection of work.  

 

"Two finds Paul Vangelisti at the height of his poetic, intellectual and philosophical powers. Simply put, there are precious few poets writing now who can match Vangelisti's brilliance" --Dennis Phillips


   more info...

Fiction and Poetry:

UC RIVERSIDE MFA STUDENTS    

Sunday, April 3rd at 5:00 p.m.  

Students from the University of California, Riverside, Master of Fine Arts program will read from their work.

The student readers are Eric Shonkwiler (fiction), Leonid Leonov (ficiton), Kamala Puligandla (fiction), Samantha Lamph (fiction), Rachelle Cruz (poetry), and Angel Garcia (poetry).



 more info...

Fiction:

MICHELLE LATIOLAIS  

Monday, April 4th at 7:30 p.m.

Widow: Stories (Bellevue Literary Press )

 

A new book of stories from the author of A Proper Knowledge.  

 

"Bracing, exposed, ruthlessly mercurial . . . The writing thrums with aggression and a lush, rooted sensuality . . . the rewards here are enormous." -The New York Times Book Review

 

  more info...

Fiction:

JIM KRUSOE  

Tuesday, April 5th at 7:30 p.m.

Toward You (Tin House Books )

 

The wonderful storyteller and local favorite Jim Krusoe returns with a new book!

"Krusoe's surrealistically skewed, oddly affecting novel blurs the borders between life and the afterlife, what's real and what's imagined, to highly entertaining effect. . .A seriously strange, funny and affecting novel about imagining another life while being stuck in this one." --Kirkus Reviews

 

 more info...

Fiction:

NANCY ROMMELMANN 

 

 

Thursday, April 7th at 7:30 p.m.

The Bad Mother (Dymaxicon) 

 

Award-winning journalist Nancy Rommelmann launches her first novel here at Skylight!  

 

Nancy Rommelmann's articles and profiles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the LA Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Reason, and other publications. Her Op-Ed pieces and book reviews appear in the Oregonian. She is also a contributor to the media website LA Observed.


 more info...

 Speculative Fiction:

AMBER BENSON and

PATRICK ROTHFUSS  

Friday, April 8th at 7:30 p.m.

Serpent's Storm (Ace) by Benson; The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two (Daw) by Rothfuss

 

Amber Benson Patrick Rothfuss

 

Authors Patrick Rothfuss and Amber Benson will be vigorously debating urban fantasy vs epic fantasy, as well at taking questions and chatting about whatever else comes to mind.

 

We're excited to have these two creative folks here at Skylight Books to do one of our rare Speculative Fiction events.

 

 more info...

Poetry:

SMART GALS' 

6th Annual DEAD POETS SLAM:

MONARCHS vs. MINIONS 

Saturday, April 9th at 7:00 p.m. 

Christine Berry 

8 Dead Poets, 3 Judges, and 1 winner!


How do poems from monarchies fare against poems by the oppressed? Can royal stanzas stand up to the power of the people? Will the crown be plow-shared into submission by her former subjects? Find out April 9th, at Smart Gals 6th annual Dead Poets Slam (held at Skylight Books for the first time!), when a team of anonymously performed, deceased, monarchial poets face off against poetic minions of colonized countries.

Hosted by Christine Louise Berry (Smart Gals), and featuring No�l Alumit, Daniel Bess, Jerrod Cardwell, T.K. Carr, Kathleen Coyne, Juli Crockett, Imani Tolliver, Steve Tom, and Lori Yeghiayan. Our esteemed judges will include writer and poetry professor Chris Davidson, playwright Katy Hickman, and well-read physicist Clifford Johnson. The behind-the-scenes team includes poetry seekers Tori Patterson and Laura Louden, who is also a baker of delicious things for the slam.

Photo of Christine Berry by Sahra Sulaiman.

 more info...

Poetry:

FREE POETRY MONTH WORKSHOP:

How Do Poems Do What They Do?

 

 

Sunday, April 10th at 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. 
Free Workshop for National Poetry Month: How Do Poems Do What They Do

Instructor: Terry Wolverton
There is no charge for the workshop, but please pre-register by emailing [email protected] no later than April 6.

This workshop will look at many of the techniques that make a poem a poem. We'll read published work by local poets and discuss the techniques at work in the poem; those poets will be present to dialogue with the participants about the work. If time permits, we'll try our hands at some of those poetic techniques. Bring paper and pen.

more info...

Poetry: 

POETS AT WORK READING

Sunday, April 10th at 5:00 p.m. 

A Reading for National Poetry Month

A poem can show you the world in a way you've never seen it before. Poets At Work members Kim Dower, Yvonne M. Estrada, Steven Fleet, Dylan C. Gailey, Brett Guitar Hofer, Eric Howard, Sharon Venezio and Terry Wolverton will read poems that make you laugh, ache, swoon and think.

 more info...

Poetry: 

COLLIER NOGUES

 


Monday, April 11th at 7:30 p.m.

On the Other Side, Blue (Four Way Books)


Collier NoguesA launch party for Collier Nogues and her new poetry collection On the Other Side, Blue!

Collier
Nogues has been a MacDowell Fellow and a Ucross Foundation Resident, and was recently the Fishtrap Writer-in-Residence for two years in Enterprise, Oregon. Her poems were a special feature of the Spring 2010 issue of Pleiades, and other poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Jubilat, The Massachusetts Review, Blackbird, and The Pinch, among other journals. She's a graduate of UC Irvine's MFA Program in Poetry, and lives in Long Beach.

  more info...

Graphic Novels:

DEBORAN VANKIN  

JEN WANG

and AMY KLEIN 

Tuesday, April 12th at 7:30 p.m.

Poseurs (Image Comics) by Vankin;
Koko Be Good (First Second) by Wang 

 

Deborah VankinJen Wang

 

Graphic novelists Deborah Vankin and Jen Wang will discuss and sign their new books, joined by writer Amy Klein.  

 

Deborah Vankin is a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, where she covers arts & culture, entertainment and nightlife.

 

Jen Wang has worked as a photolab assistant, sandwich maker, animation assistant, and at the front desk of a hostel. She is currently in Los Angeles.


  more info...

Nonfiction:   

WILLIAM POWERS  

Wednesday, April 13th at 7:30 p.m.

Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid & Beyond the American Dream (New World LIbrary)

 

William PowersSkylight welcomes writer and activist William Powers to discuss and sign his new memoir of off-the-grid living.

 

This event is being co-sponsored by Wildwoods Foundation, Green LA Coalition, CSA California, and Post Consumers. Thanks to these great organizations for their support!

 

William Powers hails from Long Island, NY and has worked for over a decade in development aid and conservation in Latin America, Africa, Washington, D.C., and Native North America.

 

  more info...

Fiction: 

BLAKE BUTLER  

and JUSTIN TAYLOR 

Friday, April 15th at 7:30 p.m.

There Is No Year by Butler; The Gospel of Anarchy by Taylor (both published by HarperPerennial) 

 

Justin Taylor
We're thrilled to have Blake Butler and Justin Taylor here to read and sign their new novels.  Butler's Ever is a staff recommendation, and based on Taylor's pieces in a who's-who of hip-and-smart print publications, we're really looking forward to his debut novel!

"Butler's an endlessly surprising, funny, and subversive writer." --Publishers Weekly

"[Justin Taylor is] a new voice that readers -- and writers too -- might be seeking out for decades to come" --New York Times Book Review

 more info...

Fiction: 

Release Party for

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE'S

THE PALE KING

Saturday, April 16th at 5:00 p.m.

The Pale King (Little, Brown) 


As you may have noticed, we're pretty huge fans of David Foster Wallace's books, and we know our customers are, too (Infinite Jest is among our bestselling fiction titles ever).  So the upcoming release of his posthumously published, unfinished, final novel is a really big deal to us.

It's called The Pale King, it's about IRS agents (but in the DFW-ian way, also about lots of things), and it's officially out on Tax Day (we'll almost certainly have our copies out for sale before then, if you can't wait).

To celebrate, we're throwing a shindig open to everyone who's ever enjoyed a page-long footnote or a "w/r/t" aside, and we'd love for you to join us.  Details are forthcoming, so keep an eye on the link below!

 more info...

Regional Interest:

LEO BRAUDY  

Sunday, April 17th at 5:00 p.m.

 

leo braudy

The Hollywood Sign: 

Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon (Yale University Press)


Leo Braudy presents the fascinating history of the Hollywood sign -- a temporary real estate billboard turned permanent icon of the film industry and Los Angeles at large.

"A short, lively book . . . artfully distilled." --Paul Brownfield, Los Angeles Times

  more info...

Fiction: 

ARYN KYLE

and DAVID GOODWILLIE   

Monday, April 18th at 7:30 p.m.

Boys and Girls Like You and Me by Kyle; American Subversive by Goodwillie (both books published by Scribner)

 

Aryn Kyle and David GoodwillieThese two acclaimed authors, Aryn Kyle and David Goodwillie, will present their new books of fiction, just out in paperback out from Scribner.

 

Praise for American Subversive:
"A triumphant work of fiction." -Associated Press

 

Praise for Boys and Girls Like You and Me

"No one captures millennial adolescence quite like Aryn Kyle...Her new story collection, Boys and Girls Like You and Me (Scribner), features young women making their way in an America of stultifying suburban sameness-strip shopping malls, generically named apartment complexes-who go to ruthless lengths to get what they want, sleeping with married men and betraying everyone, most of all themselves." --Vogue

 more info...

Memoir: 

MEGHAN O'ROURKE    

Monday, April 25th at 7:30 p.m.

The Long Goodbye: A Memoir (Riverhead)

meghan o'rourke 

The Slate writer and award-winning poet will discuss and sign her moving, beautiful memoir about her grief following her mother's death.

"Meghan O'Rourke, a celebrated poet and critic, writes prose as if she was born to it first. Her memoir The Long Goodbye is emotionally acute, strikingly empathetic, thorough and unstinting intellectually, and of course elegantly wrought. But it's above all a useful book, for life-the good bits and the sad ones, too." --Richard Ford

more info...

Fiction: 

READINGS FROM  

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE'S

THE PALE KING

at the SABAN THEATER 

Thursday, April 28th at 7:00 p.m.

The Pale King (Little, Brown)

pale king event poster 

David Foster Wallace's unfinished novel is being released and we are celebrating by joining PEN Center USA for a special reading hosted by David L. Ulin. This is a ticketed event and will take place at the lovely Saban Theater. There will be an exciting cast (stay tuned to our website for updates!) that will read monologues from the book as we all give homage to this unique and sadly missed author.

You won't want to miss this event! Click the link below for ticket information.

 more info...

Crime Fiction: 

Mystery Writers of America

SoCal Chapter presents 

FESTIVAL OF BOOKS PARTY

AND AUTHOR SIGNING

feat. STUART WOODS,

BRETT BATTLES,

and MARCIA CLARK 

 

Friday, April 29th at 6:00 p.m.

Bel-Air Dead by Stuart Woods (Putnam); The Silenced by Brett Battles (pub); Guilt by Association by Marcia Clark (pub)

 

The Mystery Writers of America's Southern California chapter presents their pre-Festival of Books party, here at Skylight Books for the first time!

 

It's a great opportunity to mingle with mystery authors and mystery fans on the night before the two-day Festival of Books at USC.  Three hot mystery writers will be signing their books (this is a signing only):

 

6 p.m.: Stuart Woods signs Bel-Air Dead: A Stone Barrington Mystery 

7 p.m.:  Brett Battles signs The Silenced: A Jonathan Quinn Thriller

8 p.m.: Marcia Clark signs Guilt by Association, her debut legal thriller introducing D.A. Rachel Knight

 

Light refreshments will be served.  This event is free and open to the public, so stop on by!  


more info...

 

LOS ANGELES TIMES

FESTIVAL OF BOOKS AT USC!

 

Saturday, April 30th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

 

Festival of BooksThe Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is moving into the neighborhood!  At the USC campus for the first time, the Festival will have the same great bookstores, panel discussions, author signings, and entertainment stages as before, but now without the long commute.

 

We'll have an even bigger than usual presence at the Festival this year, so stop by our booth (#84) near the USC stage on Trousdale Parkway.  We'll also be selling books for some of the author panel signings.  And, most exciting of all, we're going to have some really fantastic authors signing in our booth!  Here's the schedule for our booth signings as it stands now, but check back for additions and updates:

 

Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: DANIEL CLOWES

Saturday, 3:30 to 4:00 p.m.: MICHAEL CONNELLY

Sunday, 11:00 to 11:45 a.m.: T.C. BOYLE

Sunday, 1:30 to 2:15 p.m.: PATTON OSWALT

 

more info...

SKYLIGHT BOOKS

BLOG

"Comments and insight from people who spend a lot of time underneath a tree surrounded by books."
We're honored to have author Jim Krusoe contribute an entry to our store blog. Read on for a poignant, true-life backstory of the city he created for his novels Iceland, Girl Factory, Erased, and his latest, Toward You. Once you do that, you'll definitely want to check out his new book here, and come see his event at the store on Tuesday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m.!

Tuesday, March 29

Farewell to St. Nils by Jim Krusoe

 

I invented the town of St. Nils so I could write a novel. As a former poet, my sense of reality was so shaky (and still is) I couldn't imagine writing about any real, accountable city. I needed a city that would be mine alone, one that would hold still as I filled it with my dubious content, and the only way to find a city like that was to make one up. St Nils was named with a tip of the hat to nihilism, naturally, but it started with more or less the same components as the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica, where I had wandered lost and confused for many a day in my youth and middle age. So St. Nils became the setting of my first novel, Iceland. Then, with the next two books, Girl Factory and Erased, it morphed, grew, and gained population until now, with this new book, Toward You, I bid it (I'm pretty sure) adios.

 

Read the rest of his post here, check on our blog regularly here, Tumblr here, and join the discussion on Twitter by following  skylightbooks. We're also on the Facebook as Skylight Books.
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)

metroWe are about 4 blocks north of the Vermont/Sunset subway stop and directly on many bus routes, including the Hollywood DASH. Bicycle racks are in front of the store.