October 2022 Dear Booksellers and SinC Members, In honor of Halloween, for this issue of We Love Bookstores News, I spoke with Jude Feldman, general manager of Borderlands Books in San Francisco! What could be better at this time of year than a bookstore that specializes in scary books, mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy? Please see details below. A new We Love Bookstores winner will be selected in November. Please find more information and a link to the online application below. |
|
Borderlands Books is one of the largest genre bookstores in the country, and what became obvious very quickly during my conversation with Jude Feldman was that she knows her subject. She has been the general manager of Borderlands Books for more than twenty years. Jude and the three other booksellers who work for the store are all enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable about genre fiction. So is the owner. Alan Beatts opened Borderlands Books in 1997, following a career in law enforcement and private security. The store started as a secondhand and used bookstore, and as an avid fan of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery, Alan Beatts was able to fill the shelves of the bookstore with his own vast collection of books. Now, most of the books that line the shelves are new, but Borderlands still carries used titles and maintains its popular program of trading used books for store credit. |
|
Anyone who strolls into Borderlands Books or calls the store will be assisted by someone who will be able to recommend a fantastic new or used book. I like to pick up something scary during the month of October, and I asked Jude to recommend three titles that would make great Halloween reading. She suggested Devil House by John Darnielle and The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. She warned me about the cover of Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw. It is terrifying, but Jude assured me I could handle the novel. I can’t wait to read them! To give customers the chance to meet their favorite local authors, Borderlands holds lively holiday parties for the local chapters of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. The bookstore also hosts LGBTQ, and science fiction and fantasy book clubs. Events are currently still on hold due to the pandemic. The bookstore’s sponsorship program is open to anyone and includes members from across the United States and Europe. The $100 annual fee supports the store and helps to ensure it stays in business, and sponsors get all kinds of perks and benefits. Many of the perks, such as being able to rent out the store after hours and use the bookstore’s office equipment are for locals, but the staff are open to suggestions and are thinking up special benefits for members who live outside of the area. |
|
As a fixture in San Francisco for twenty-five years, the location of the shop has moved neighborhoods a few times. The temporary location of the store is just four blocks away from the new permanent home in Haight-Ashbury, which is being finished and should be open soon. Want a creepy treat? Check out Borderlands Books: Website: https://borderlands-books.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/borderlands_sf Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/borderlands_books/ |
|
Write for We Love Bookstores News! 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 bookstore display? Submit your ideas to Susan Hammerman, Library and Bookstore Liaison at librarian@sistersincrime.org |
|
Apply for the We Love Bookstores Award |
|
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. Happy reading! Susan Hammerman Library and Bookstore 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 appeared in Mystery Magazine, Dark City Mystery Magazine, Blood and Bourbon, Retreats From Oblivion, and the Stories (Within) anthology. Website: www.susanhammerman.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/shammerman1 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. Her fifth mystery, The Darkness Surrounds Us, a Gothic, historical mystery, will be released in Fall 2023. Website: www.gaillukasik.com |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
|
