Dear Booksellers and SinC Members, In this issue, our fabulous Sisters in Crime President, Stephanie Gayle, describes her favorite local bookstore—Porters Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A new winner will be selected in March, so I hope you consider applying for the Sisters in Crime We Love Bookstores $500 award. Find more information about the WLB award below. |
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Porter Square Books by Stephanie Gayle |
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You have never known true joy until you see that the Dress Barn in your nearby strip mall has been replaced by an independent bookstore. I experienced that joy in 2004 when Porter Square Books opened their doors in Cambridge, Massachusetts. With its cheerful interior, fantastic staff, and a mystery section near the very front, it was as if a secret wish had manifested, without my speaking it aloud. Over time, the store has grown and evolved. In 2021, it opened a second branch in the Seaport district, attached to the Grub Street literary organization’s shiny new digs. The booksellers know their stuff. Several are published writers. They’re willing to choose a book for you based on your favorite author or song. On Twitter they would play, “What book is (bookseller name) thinking of?” and through a series of Yes/No questions, people tried to guess the correct book. I was awful at this game, but it never stopped me from playing. |
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And, like many indie bookstores, they are much more than a seller of books, games, and cute socks. They support authors with readings, and they support their community with book drives that deliver books to children in need and they run a program to provide reading materials to incarcerated folks. They started a writer-in-residence program that gave the winning author a 40% discount on nearly everything in-store, access to their office for a wee writing haven, and a chance to read ARCs the store receives. Porter Square Books awards customers a coupon toward their next purchase when they spend a certain amount. One day, the bookseller checked my name in the system and said, “Wow. You have a low number. You must’ve signed up in the early days.” The sense of pride and happiness that filled me was akin, I think, to what Olympic medalists feel, minus the breathlessness. “Yes,” I said. “Yes, I did.” Connect with Porter Square Books |
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Stephanie Gayle is the Pushcart Prize-nominated author of the Thomas Lynch mystery series, including Idyll Threats, Idyll Fears, and Idyll Hands. Her first novel, My Summer of Southern Discomfort, was chosen as one of Redbook’s Top Ten Summer Reads. She co-founded the popular Boston reading series, Craft on Draft and she's the current President of the National Board of Sisters in Crime. She works at MIT and lives outside Boston. |
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Would you like to write an entry for We Love Bookstores News about your favorite shop or something else? Did you put together or see an amazing display? Submit your ideas to Susan Hammerman, Library Liaison at librarian@sistersincrime.org |
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Apply for the We Love Bookstores Award |
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To find out more about all SinC offers, including live webinars, please visit our website. Thank you for all you do for your community. Sisters in Crime loves bookstores. Best wishes and happy reading! Susan Hammerman Library Liaison Susan Hammerman, a former rare book librarian, is the Library and Bookstore Liaison and coordinator of the We Love Libraries program. Susan writes crime and neo-noir short stories. Her stories have been published by Mystery Magazine, Dark City Mystery Magazine, Blood and Bourbon, Mondays are Murder, and Retreats From Oblivion. We Love Bookstores Coordinator Robin Agnew owned the Raven Award-winning bookstore Aunt Agatha’s Bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for 26 years with her husband Jamie. Robin writes a review blog at auntagathas.com and the cozy column for Mystery Scene Magazine. WLL and WLB News Editor Gail Lukasik’s latest book, White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing, was named one of the most inspiring stories of the year by The Washington Post. She is also the author of the Leigh Girard Mystery series and the stand-alone mystery, The Lost Artist. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, such as The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and The Georgia Review. Gail appeared in the documentary, History of Memory, which is available on Amazon Prime. Website: www.gaillukasik.com Sisters in Crime is the premier crime writing association focused on equity and inclusion in our community and in publishing. Our 4,500+ members enjoy access to tools to help them learn, grow, improve, thrive, and reinvent if necessary. They also gain a community of supportive fellow writers and readers, both peers to share the peaks and valleys of writing, and mentors to model the way forward. |
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Sisters in Crime hosts LIVE webinars each month. Webinars last 60-90 minutes depending on the topic and the audience questions! These webinars are open to all. |
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We've put our member books in a spreadsheet that we'll update every month, and send as part of this newsletter. This month's releases are on a separate worksheet. Feel free to sort by author name, book title, or author location. |
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