A Thanksgiving Message from Carrie

During this season of gratitude, it is easy to have Skylark Bookshop on my list. Thankful seems too simple a word, really. Indie shops are treasures, and Skylark has brought much more than a bookshop into my life. Everyone I have the fortune of working with is now family. And everyone who walks through our doors brings their own light.

Alongside my to-do list for today . . . AKA "All the Things," I thought I would share some gratitudes running through my mind.

1. Walking into the empty shop (almost) every morning. It is a calming deep breath, peaceful, beautiful. I treasure my rituals, taking stock of myself and of Skylark. And yes, I really do a cartwheel up the isle each and every morning I am there.

2. Those events that make me glance over at Alex. We smile, silently say "this." And it means more than "this." It means "this is what we dreamed about, this is more than we dreamed, this is why."

3. Speaking of Alex . . . I am a supremely independent person. This dude gets it, pushes me when I need to be pushed and lets me be stubborn when I need to dig in. We vaguely knew one another going into this adventure. We definitely know each other now. It is pretty wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better business partner and friend.

4. The rest of our family is a special mix of spirit and soul. Becky, Beth, Carol, Chris, Erin, & Faramola are ridiculously wonderful people. They each stamp the shop and my life with their own vibrant skills and enthusiasm. I get to work with each of them every week, and know that there will be laughter, new knowledge, victories, and warm fuzzies every single time.

5. Also, Theo. He is literally warm and fuzzy.

6. You people.

When you walk in for the first time and we see your eyes turn into book shaped hearts.

When you bring in a friend for the first time and watch them come through the door to see them fall in love. Someday, I will get that little intake of breath on film.

When you curl up with your kid in the Treehouse reading and neither of you want to leave.

That guy who rushed in after the first ultrasound to get a book on being a dad. Because that moment made his heart explode and everything was suddenly real. And he had seen the book before he had all the feels. And with the feels all he could think about was what comes next.

Our Storytime littles. The ones who have been coming from the start and are getting SO BIG. The ones who are new or peek in every so often. We love seeing you growing into the pages.

The dude who wins at being a boyfriend and drops in for a carefully chosen book whenever his girlfriend is having a rough day. Seriously, be that dude. He wins.

The kid who said they finally felt like they were safe and had a home.

Every last one of you we get to talk bookish with.

When you know it when you see it and don't need a bag, because you really just need to see it and hold it right away.

When you want a suggestion and we get to know you better.

When you finish a book you bought from us and have to come back to talk about it.

Those of you who are more than "regulars." And sometimes we talk about books, but sometimes we celebrate and/or cry together.

When inside our doors is a break from the world.

When inside our pages helps you understand the world.

When you come inside our lives and make our world better.

That friend who knew they were going to lose at chess but went upstairs and sat down anyway. And when they walked out they were happier than when they walked in.

Our Authors, Storytellers, and knowers of things. You leaked a little bit of yourself on our stage and we love how crowded it is getting up there. Also, we finally moved the light up. Sorry about your head. I am short and oblivious.

When your parent is in town and they ask "can I buy you a book?" Then you get a little giddy. We feel you.

That lady who lives pretty far away and loves us anyway . . . even if we might only ever meet through email and packages.

Speaking of packages? Subscription day is one of the best days. I hope it is as fun on the other side of the wrapping paper.

Our neighbors (cheers, Shelly), who make our neighborhood shiny (with glitter).

Oh my word. I could keep going. For a very long time. But I have eight dishes to finish making in the next hour . . . 

So, in case you are wondering, I see you, too. I adore you. And truly, I can't wait to see your smile again.

Shop Local on Small Business Saturday!

Whether or not you choose to participate in the snarling, hand-to-hand combat experience that is mall shopping on Black Friday, we are please to offer a soothing, restorative antidote the next day. Saturday, November 30 is Small Business Saturday, where folks celebrate all things local by shopping at their friendly neighborhood stores (that would be us, people.)

To help matters go with a swing, we'll be offering discounts, teaming up with our friends at Yellow Dog Bookshop so you can get some FREE ICE CREAM, and we'll do a grand raffle to give away a ton of stuff, including some Advance Reading Copies of The Paris Hours, Alex George's new novel. It’s not actually coming out until next May, so this is what you might call an exclusive sneak peak. He'll even sign them for you, if you ask nicely.

And, we promise, no brawls.

Wimpy Kid Event Expanded!

We’ve had a wonderful response to our Wimpy Kid Wrecking Ball party on Sunday, November 10 - the event has sold out! But we don’t want to disappoint anyone, so we’ve expanded the event to accommodate more families! If you have tried to reserve free tickets and been told that there are no more available - try again! More have now been put online. Just click here to reserve your spot.

See you on Sunday! The fun starts at 11:00 and goes to noon!

Gabriel Bump is coming in February!

All right, we know it’s a long time away, but we’re excited to announce that one of the most talked-about debut authors for years will be coming to Skylark on Wednesday, February 12, to discuss his astonishing novel, Everywhere You Don’t Belong. Mark your calendars!

The experience of being young and black on the South Side of Chicago is largely portrayed in the media in one of two ways: either a childhood defined by gang warfare, police brutality, and hopelessness, or the diametrically opposite story of someone like Michelle Obama who rose above her origins to achieve greatness. Yet, for the majority of people navigating day-to-day life on the South Side (or in similar urban neighborhoods across America) reality falls well between these extremes. In his alternately witty and heartbreaking debut novel, Gabriel Bump portrays the life of just such a young everyman. Claude McKay Love isn’t dangerous or brilliant—he’s just an average kid coping with abandonment, violence, riots, failed love, and societal pressures as he steers his way past the signposts of youth: childhood friendships, basketball tryouts, first love, first heartbreak, picking a college, moving away from home.

Bump’s assured narrative is driven by fierce energy and percolates with an astute awareness of the ironic contradictions of our times. As a young black man trying to keep his head above water in the urban vortex, Claude is fundamentally searching for a place where he can fit. Raised with principles by his civil rights-era grandmother, he tries to escape issues of race when riots consume his neighborhood. But leaving Chicago for college (in Columbia, Missouri!) he discovers he can’t escape his own skin. There is no safe haven for a young black man in this time and place called America.  

Come and listen to this wonderful author and important new voice speak about his work.

Gabriel Bump grew up in South Shore, Chicago. His nonfiction and fiction have appeared in Slam magazine, the Huffington Post, Springhouse Journal, and elsewhere. He was awarded the 2016 Deborah Slosberg Memorial Award for Fiction. He received his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, and he currently lives in Buffalo, New York.

Lit Lunch next Wednesday - Asian Fiction

In case you missed it, this week’s Lit Lunch on Transgender Books caused something of a stir, and got us on the local news. We had a wonderful turnout for the event, and the conversation that ensued was engaging and respectful, and (we hope) enlightening for some.

Next Wednesday, Carrie will be talking about Asian books that she loves. She spent two weeks in Japan when she was . . . well, younger than her kids are now. While a return trip is overdue, she likes to visit as often as possible via literature. Come hear about some of her favorites, as well as titles representing India, Korea and other neighboring countries. As usual, things start at 12:15 (ish) - come bring your lunch and enjoy some bookish chat!

Newsflash: Wimpy Kid Party Just Announced!

We are VERY excited to announce that on Sunday, November 10, we will be hosting a special party to celebrate the publication of the next installment in the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series - WRECKING BALL.

And this will be no ordinary party. We will have copies of the book specially SIGNED BY JEFF KINNEY for sale - exclusively available for people who attend the event - but so much more…

• There will be a Wrecking Ball-branded TOUR BUS parked outside the shop, and you’ll be able to have your photo taken in front of it.

• We will have a, um, “real” Greg Heffley on-hand for fun photo ops! #selfie

• There will be a THREE FOOT WIDE wrecking ball piñata FULL OF CANDY which people will have a chance to bust open!

• We’ll be playing Wimpy Kid Bingo, with fun prizes for the winners

• There’ll also be specially-designed Wimpy Kid cookies for everyone

• There will also be a ton of other fun games, activities and prizes.

This event is free for everyone to attend, but you’ll need to register here as numbers are limited and we do expect demand to be heavy.

This Wednesday's Lit Lunch...

As many of you will know, recently there has been some local controversy about remarks made by a pastor of one of Columbia’s churches regarding transgender people. In light of that, and because we ardently believe that books can help all of us understand things better and facilitate dialogue over difficult issues, we thought it would be a good idea to discuss some fiction and nonfiction books that address this topic. Pastor Simon, you would be more than welcome to join us.

Drag Story Time is this Saturday!

Just a reminder that we’ll be having our regular Drag Story Time on Saturday, October 19 at 1:00 p.m. - but since it’s (almost) Halloween costumes will also be welcome for audience members! Come by and enjoy what is always one of the most joyful events we put on. We can’t wait! See you there?

Also, don’t forget that on Saturday morning we’ll also be welcoming architect Lynn Craig to Skylark for a talk about architectural drawing - we’ll be opening our doors early for this, at 9:00 a.m. The talk will be followed by a morning of building drawing by participants throughout downtown, culminating in a second gathering at Sager Braudis Gallery at noon.

Both events are free and open to the public.

Inclusion Celebration!

We’ve just added a new event to our calendar and wanted to tell you about it.

On Sunday, November 3rd at 3:00 p.m., we’ll be holding an Inclusion Celebration. This special event celebrates the release of Dr. Kathryn Fishman-Weaver's new book, When Your Child Learns Differently: A Family Approach for Navigating Special Education Services with Love and High Expectations. This family-friendly gathering features resource tables, children's activities, and a book talk and signing with the author. Additionally, we are thrilled to open with special performances by the DanceAbility dancers and possibly the Special Olympics Cheer team. Both this important new-release and our bookshop event celebrate advocacy, inclusion, and community. All children's activities have been designed with accessibility in mind.

The following organizations will be participating in the festivities:

• Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

• DanceAbility

• Special Olympics Missouri

• Columbia, MO Special Education, Parent Teacher Association

Advocating for a child who learns differently can sometimes feel like an isolating and daunting task. Dr. Fishman-Weaver’s new book reminds families that they are not alone. When Your Child Learns Differently is a compassionate guide that:

• Helps families navigate special education services from the inside out.

• Offers targeted advice to families of children with a wide range of disabilities and challenges.

• Shares valuable information about special education language, policy, procedures, and supports.

• Reminds families that they are the most important advocates in their child's success plan.

• Draws on the author's experiences as both a parent and special education teacher.

Local Author Night Line Up! (Thursday, October 10, 6:00 p.m.)

Heres’s who will be reading at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday at our regular Local Author Night:

Stan Adams. Drafted in late May 1968, Adams, barely 20 years old, was quickly transformed into an infantry rifleman on the front lines of the Vietnam War, where he survived a year of combat with the famed “Manchu” Regiment, 25th Infantry “Tropic Lightning” Division. In 2003, Adams began reaching out to the families of fallen comrades and reconnecting with his fellow Manchus. Fifty years later, through a photographic history featuring 250+ color pictures, Adams recounts his journey from a rural Midwestern town to the jungles of Vietnam, sharing what it's like to fight – and not die – for your country.

Jordi Alonso. Jordi Alonso graduated with an AB in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Kenyon College in the spring of 2014, where he studied poetry and literary translation. His first book, a collection of poems inspired by Sappho entitled "Honeyvoiced" was published by XOXOX Press in November of 2014. He is presently a graduate student at MU.

Lynn Rossy. What are you really hungry for? Is it food, happiness, or something else? In The Mindfulness-Based Eating Solution, mindfulness expert Lynn Rossy offers a proven-effective, whole-body approach to help you discover the real reasons why you’re overeating. She provides an innovative and proven-effective program to help you slow down, savor each bite, and actually eat less. This unique, whole-body approach will encourage you to adopt healthy eating habits by showing you how to listen to your body’s intuition, uncover the psychological cause of your overeating, and be more mindful during mealtime.

Tim A. Scherrer. Tim is the author of Crashed the Gate Doing Ninety-Eight: The Citizen's Band Radioand American Culture. The book tells the untold story of the very first electronic social network in America: CB Radio. Citizen's Band Radio grew from a small number of hobby users to a cultural phenomenon in the 1970s. CB life created it's own "slanguage," music and values. Users adapted CBs to their own economic and social uses, which in turn changed the character of the radio use. And then they disappeared.

Busy Times...

It looks as if fall might finally be here, and with that comes a busy time of year for us. We have four events coming up in the next two days!

• First of all, we’ll be hosting our usual Wednesday morning story time for our youngest readers today at 11:00 a.m.. This is always a wonderful event and we give away one of the books we read to a lucky participant in a raffle. Over the course of the last year, we have watched our guests grow from babies slumbering in papooses to energetic toddlers, full of vim and vigor. It’s our favorite thing in the whole week.

• Then, at 12:15 this afternoon, Carrie will be leading this week’s Lit Lunch, which will be all about blue books. Not, we should add, blue in content, but blue in color.

• Then, at 6:00 p.m. Carrie and her daughter Sky will lead the third installment of the Skylark intergenerational bookclub, which will discuss our biggest seller of the past several weeks, Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments.

• If all that wasn’t enough, tomorrow night, Thursday October 10, at 6:00 p.m., we will be hosting our next edition of Local Author Night. Come by and listen to some of our wonderfully talented local writers read from their work and answer questions. You will be entertained, moved, and inspired!

  See you at the shop!

Educators! Monday Night is Your Night.

We’ll be hosting our second back-to-school educator night on Monday, September 30 - which is a teacher training day for Columbia Public Schools. This event is open to all educators and librarians at all levels.

This will be an opportunity for educators to shop, chat, and to meet with Skylark staff to discuss how we can help you in the classroom.  Talk to us about teaming up for author visits, trips to the shop, custom classroom or library orders, help in finding materials related to curriculum or for outside-of-the-box approaches to reading.

We’ll be giving away a ton of door prizes, from neat tote bags to signed books and exclusive copies of forthcoming titles.

Most importantly, everyone will receive a 20% discount on all purchases during the event.

THIS EVENT IS ABSOLUTELY FREE! All you need is your educator ID to participate. You don’t have to register in advance to attend, although if you do you’ll be entered into our grand prize drawing. Just shoot us an email at mail@skylarkbookshop.com to let us know you’ll be coming! The event will start at 6:00 (after the shop is closed for normal business) until 7:30.

Mark your calendars, and if you know a teacher, please spread the word!

Murder at the Bookshop!

So we’re going to try something a little different.

To celebrate the publication of the brilliant new novel, IN THE HALL WITH THE KNIFE, a rollicking murder mystery based on, you’ve guessed it, the board game Clue, we’re hosting a very special evening during which our guests will attempt to solve a murder mystery of our own devising. Lord knows it helps to have a devious mind to work in a bookshop, and most of us at Skylark speak fluent Agatha Christie, so you can be guaranteed that you’ll be kept guessing until the very end. Some of the clues will be hidden in the shop, and some you will have to winkle out of your fellow competitors. There will be fantastic prizes for all participants - including a copy of the book for each team. We’ll feed and water you, too. All in all it will be an excellent (and very different) night out.

And since all teams will be working in pairs, it would make a memorable date night. Just sayin’.

Please note that tickets for this event (which will come per team, so each ticket admits two) will be very, very limited, so if you would like to reserve your place now, shoot us an email at mail@skylarkbookshop.com to let us know. The all-inclusive cost for two is $50, which includes all goodies and swag, all food and drink, and (of course) the book.

Stop Press: Just Added - Story Time with Hero Dogs this Saturday!

We are very pleased to announce that we’ll be hosting a VERY SPECIAL edition of Saturday story time this Saturday afternoon, September 28, at 1:00 p.m. We’ll be welcoming some of our local First Responders to come to Skylark to read from their favorite books - including Tiberon, pictured above. (It’s presently unclear if Tiberon himself will be reading, or just keeping us all safe while his human does the work.) Come by, meet our wonderful friends, and enjoy some excellent stories and books! The fun starts at 1:00 - and, as always, this event is completely free for everyone to attend.

Cli-Fi Book Club!

Beth writes…

We’re all familiar with sci-fi, but... cli-fi? Absolutely. Just as historically some of the most powerful pieces of writing and art often have been created during turbulent times, so too has climate fiction (cli-fi) emerged as a response to the global warming crisis.

One important early example of this relatively new genre is Barbara Kingsolver’s 2012 novel Flight Behavior, which examines the potential influence of global warming on monarch butterflies. When it was first released I devoured this book, and now I want to revisit and discuss it with other readers.

We will meet for a cli-fi bookclub on Wednesday, November 6, at 6 pm. Additionally, if a discussion of Flight Behavior isn’t enticing enough, we are excited to open our gathering with 15-20 minutes of performance from the MU Theatre Department’s Life and Literature Series, featuring Climate Change Theatre Action with Heather Carver, Artistic Director.

According to its website, “Founded in 2015, Climate Change Theatre Action is a worldwide series of readings and performances of short climate change plays presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations COP [Conference of the Parties] meetings. A global participatory project, CCTA uses theatre to bring communities together and encourage them to take local and global action on climate.”

The cli-fi literary genre is packed full of other books, and the list continues to grow. I’ll provide a selection of possibilities so that as a group we can choose a title for the next cli-fi bookclub meeting.

Hope to see you at this cool collaboration between Skylark and the MU Theatre Department, as we use literature and the arts to address global warming.

This week's Lit Lunch... short stories with Carrie

We had a great time at our inaugural Lit Lunch about British mysteries and thrillers - thanks to everyone who came and ate their lunch while Alex spoke. A lively discussion ensured afterwards about time travel and various other things.

This week Carrie will be talking about some of her favorite collections of short stories. Escape the office, stop by, eat your lunch, and enjoy some civilized book conversation in the middle of your working day! The conversation starts at 12:15. See you there?

Come and Have a Lit Lunch at Skylark!

Skylark strives to be a place where people can just come and hang out whenever the mood takes them. We love it when students spread out their homework on the upstairs table, or when people get locked in an epic chess game. And when it comes to folks browsing - well, in our view, the longer and more leisurely, the better.

In that vein, we’d like to invite you to lunch.

Every Wednesday, starting in September, we’ll be hosting what we’re calling a “Lit Lunch”. Come and escape your office (or home!) and bring your lunch to the shop for a bookish discussion with one or more of the staff. We’ll be talking about all sorts of things - the newest releases we’re excited about, beach reads, works in translation, ideas for book clubs… all sorts of stuff. The topic will change every week but it will be sure to be stimulating, fun, and always book-related.

The talk and discussion will start at 12:15 or so and go for about half an hour. Needless to say, it’s completely free to attend (although you have to bring your own lunch!!) and will be extremely informal. We’re looking forward to some excellent chats.

To kick things off, on Wednesday September 4, Alex will be sharing some of his favorite British mysteries and crime thrillers. He’s not quite sure why his fellow countrymen are so good at this twisted psychological stuff, but there’s definitely a trend…

Hope to see you there!

Thank you.

As I sit here at my desk this morning, cup of coffee by my side, and contemplate the very long day ahead of me, I am filled with nothing but gratitude.

Today I will go to a place that I love to do a thing that I love with people that I love.

It’s not a bad way to spend our first birthday.

It’s hard to believe that Skylark opened its doors a year ago. The time has flown by absurdly quickly. The pleasure that I feel every time I walk into that space has not diminished one bit. The gorgeous building, those beautiful fixtures, all those damn books - it really does feel like home.

So I wanted to take a moment to say thank you.

Thank you to Carrie for being the best, smartest, hardest working business partner a person could ever wish for.

Thank you to Becky, Carol, Beth, Faramola, Erin and Chris for all the passion and smarts and good humor that you bring to the job every day.

Thanks to Theo, for being the perfect bookshop dog.

Thanks to the wonderful community of independent booksellers across the country who have cheered us on and offered advice as we have embarked on this journey.

Thank you to the wonderful writers and poets who have come to speak at the store. We wanted to make the shop a space for the community to gather and talk about books and you have made that happen.

Thank you to all the authors whose books we sell. Without you, we wouldn’t be here.

But most of all, I want to thank everyone who has come in to see us over the past year, and bought a book. Thank you for believing in us, and for supporting us, for helping us create an amazing community at Skylark around reading and books. It’s a privilege to put exactly the right book into your hands.

I’m looking forward to many more birthdays to come. Come help us celebrate today, if you can.

More Birthday News...

So we’ve already told you about some of the excellent stuff that is going on this Saturday to celebrate our first birthday.

On Saturday we’ll be launching our fabulous new T-shirts, and anyone who spends more than $20 will be entered into our birthday raffle for some amazing prizes, including a 12 month paperback subscription, a book spa, and FIVE 3-month audiobook subscriptions courtesy of our friends at libro.fm. But we’re also just giving stuff away. Anyone who spends more than a hundred bucks will have the choice of either this fabulous Litograph print of Pride and Prejudice…

or one of our new and quite swanky Skylark tote bags…

And we’ll be giving away free temporary tattoos of our Skylark logo to anyone who buys anything. So much to celebrate. We do hope you’ll join us! Because there ain’t no party like a bookshop party.

New T-shirts coming this week!

You Know You Want One.

As you’re probably aware, Skylark is TURNING ONE this week, and are planning a big birthday celebration on Saturday, August 24. As part of the festivities, we’ll be selling these beautiful new T-shirts, which we’re all a bit in love with. They are made from the same, extremely soft and comfortable material that we chose for our regular shirts - and, well, look at that design. Cute, no?

On Saturday, for the duration of our day-long birthday party, we’ll donate $5 for every T-shirt we sell to The Center Project, in loving memory of George Hodgman. We like to think he would approve.