According to an email from Ezra Goldstein, the new owner of Park Slope’s Community bookstore, which will soon celebrate its 40th year in the neighborhood, the holiday season meant strong sales at the store that has managed to persist through thick and thin as a mainstay for local book lovers.
Long live brick and mortar bookshops. Long live a neighborhood that values such a thing.
Goldstein writes: “We are still adding up the figures (and still catching up on lost sleep), but it looks like we had our best holiday season since before the recession.”
That’s good news for everyone in a neighborhood that does not want to see its independent bookstore succumb to difficult market forces in tough economic times.
Click on read more to see a list of the exciting events this brick and mortar bookstore has to offer:
Tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 6, 7pm: A reading by two important, up-and-coming young writers: novelist Nadia Kalman (The Cosmopolitans) and poet Melissa Range (Horse and Rider). The Cosmpolitans is a very funny, very touching story of three sisters coming of age in a Russian-American-Jewish household. Horse and Rider is the winner of the 2010 Walt McDonald First-Book Prize in Poetry. The Park Slope Jewish Center is co-sponsoring this event, which will be at the bookstore. There will be wine, cheese and, as a special treat, brownies baked by bookstore devotee Carol Levy. More details may be found at www.psjc.org or www.communitybookstore.net.
Friday, Feb. 11, 7:30pm: Jane Gardam! The famed British writer makes us her only independent bookstore stop on her first promotional tour in the U.S. in 25 years. We are delighted to announce that the Montauk Club has agreed to host the event at their beautiful, landmark space at 8th Avenue and Lincoln Place (a space that seems especially appropriate for a Gardam reading!). We have stocked up on Gardam’s books in advance of the reading, so now is a good time to discover (if you haven’t already) such gems as Old Filth, The Man in the Wooden Hat, The Queen of the Tambourine, The People on Privilege Hill and God on the Rocks.
Monday, Jan. 10, 6-8:30 pm: Knitting Group. Knitters and would be knitters: Can you imagine a better setting to learn or hone your skills than a bookstore? Come, bring your own materials, your latest project, share your thoughts and browse through the knitting books at the store. Knitters of all levels welcome.
Thursday, Jan. 13, 7pm: Readers Sampler: The former Monday Night Writer’s Group of The Community Bookstore brings you an eclectic evening of readings of new works by Barbara Agosin, Stephen Bluestone, Vincent Collazo, Paola Corso, Narelle Hill, Stephen Lippman, Donna Minkowitz, Matt Mitler and Andrew Taggart. Featuring poetry, memoir, literary extravagance, philosophical meditations, and comedy. Everyone welcome!
Wednesday, Jan. 26, 7pm: the Modernist Book Group reads Pilgrimage: Pointed Roofs by Dorothy Miller Richardson. The Modernist Book Group is a lively bunch who delight in a “modern” book and await the opportunity to discuss it in an informal setting at the back of the store. Drop-ins are always welcome–no formal induction or secret handshake required. Brooklyn College Professor Ken Estey is the convener. The book for February will be The Waves by Virginia Woolf.