Here at Island Books, we host a monthly story time that’s usually targeted towards kids three and up. It’s magic to watch the faces of pajama-clad kiddos light up as local storytellers and musicians take over our children’s section. These are the kinds of events that lodge themselves into children’s memories, and a good reason …
One of the occupational hazards of my profession is accumulation. Somehow all too many of the books I’m supposed to be selling to other people wind up coming home with me. Yes, you’re thinking, you know all about that–the to-be-read pile on your nightstand is a veritable leaning tower. Well, my nightstand is a to-be-read …
Congratulations to Island Books webmonkey and NWBL columnist Miriam Landis and her husband, Daniel! Twins Stephen Marc and Lynne Dena were born September 21, weighing 5lbs 3 oz and 4 lbs 13 oz respectively. Everything went well and the babies and “a very happy mom” are recovering nicely. Miriam says she hasn’t read them their …
Island Books’ bookseller/columnist James Crossley posted a fall books preview on the store’s blog, Message in a Bottle today, showing off not just a super fall line-up but some great blurbing. He handsells a bunch of new releases, including Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue, Zadie Smith’s NW and J.K. Rowling’s first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy …
Thanks to Miriam Landis at Island Books for putting together this Fourth of July reading list in the store’s journal, Message in a Bottle. Her stack includes 1776 by David McCullough, Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow and Paul Revere’s Ride by David Hackett Fisher. “Our country, the sweet land of …
Cheers to Island Books’ Miriam Landis, who just published her second ballet-themed novel, Breaking Pointe. The Mercer Island Patch featured a nice profile about Landis this week, covering her interesting career, from professional ballerina with the Miami City Ballet to pre-med student, then novelist, ballet teacher and bookseller (next up: mom; Landis is pregnant with …
Mercer Island appears as a sort of a geographical bullseye in the middle of Lake Washington when looking at a map of the greater Seattle area, and it just might have some kind of magnetic quality, judging by the concentration of thoughtful and whip-smart employees working for Island Books. This month’s store newsletter highlighted so …
“I’m not talking about Nancy Page, the gracious and lovely co-owner of Island Books. I mean that other Nancy, the one girls everywhere love and have admired through dozens of charming picture books. Fancy Nancy just graduated to chapters, and now she’s grown up into Nancy Clancy: Super Sleuth. There are more than 36 books …
Island Books’ Roger Page lead the store’s March newsletter with a thread that ran from his daughter’s Senioritis, to his long-tenured, very capable staff at the store. Though they all smile and nod, at this point “they pretty much know what to do and don’t have a lot of use for me.” Which is why …
“Booksellers are the envy of many. It’s rare for a receptionist in a doctor’s office, or for the doctor herself, to hear, ‘I’d love to do what you do,’ but it’s a regular occurence in the book trade. There’s a real romance to the idea of being around ideas all day. Now, we love what …
