A Little Fright Reading

Chris writes…

We are living in fear inducing times.  The pandemic we are suffering through likely has many of us feeling more frightened than we have experienced before.  Some may find horror to be the wrong genre to explore presently, but for me it has been a source of refuge. Monsters, ghouls, and evil humans offer a type of fear we can easily accept and understand.  Particularly when compared to a virus we know little about and which we have received contradictory information about. I happily embrace the boogeyman over a fear I have little control over.  

The horror genre has many short stories.  Short stories have been appealing because presently my body is flooded with stress hormones which has left me with a decreased attention span.  After finishing a short story I am left with the same feeling of accomplishment from reading a full length novel, but have a much smaller level of commitment I must dedicate.  Despite the length, these tales pack quite a punch. Think of Edgar Allen Poe for example; he has very few lengthy works, but provides a concise and powerful explanation of civilization, human motivations, and the fears which drive each of us (no matter how much we attempt to repress them.) 

Fear isn’t going to leave us, even after the pandemic subsides.  Fear is ingrained in humanity. It is a core emotion; fear is a survival mechanism.  Fear is uncomfortable, it is overwhelming, it changes the ‘us’ we understand ourselves to be.  Fear is powerful, but it is not negative. Fear changes how we see and understand the world around us, and facilitates ways in which we can respond differently.  Being frightened forces us to think outside the box, to search for new solutions, and encourages us to find out how we can become the heroine of our life story.

To be a hero we need a monster to scare us.  

Horror is a powerful genre! It teaches ways to cope with fear, and how to adapt when the world becomes frightening.  Through literature we can experience a controlled fear, and a fear we can control will help us learn how to manage fear in situations we have little control over.  Literature lets us practice fear in safe settings. Scare yourself a little with a frightening tale, so the world doesn’t do it for you. No matter what story you pick I am certain you will find parallels to what you are experiencing now.  

Here We Are. Thanks To You.

First of all, and most importantly, we hope that you are all well.

It’s now been two weeks since we closed our doors to the public, and we are continuing to adapt to ever-changing circumstances here at the shop. Since the Columbia City Council passed its Stay At Home order, we’ve been in touch with city officials to check (and double-check) that we are complying with all requirements. We continue to follow CDC best practices to ensure the health and safety of our staff and customers. We no longer share phones, pens, or keyboards, and of course we are practicing social distancing. And boy, are we ever washing our hands.

Our day-to-day lives have changed beyond recognition; we are a mail order business now. We have been thrilled, and so, so grateful, for the good wishes and book orders that have been flooding into the shop. Thank you all so much for your incredible support during these difficult times. It means the world to us. We’ve been talking to customers on the telephone, via email, and (when we remember to check!) via Facebook messages and Instagram. We love hearing your voices - we miss you all so much! - but a word to the wise: it’s probably easiest if you write to us at mail@skylarkbookshop.com. That way we can keep track of the conversation, which is helpful when we get a shift change.

We’ve repurposed some of the display tables at the front of the shop as workstations since nobody is doing any browsing any more. By the end of most days, one table looks like this:

We go to bed at night dreaming of tape dispensers. (OK, maybe that’s just me.) But we’re here, we’re working hard and staying safe, and we’re ready to find the perfect book to help you through this time. Oh, and if you haven’t done so recently, you should check out our Instagram and Facebook pages. We’ve been having a lot of fun on social media lately.

And if there’s a book you need, or if you’d like a recommendation or two - well, we’re here for you, as always. It might take us a little longer than usual to get back to you as we can get bit submerged at times - but we will get back to you!

Thanks for your patience, and for your messages of support. We miss you! Please stay safe. We can’t wait to see you all soon.

A Mighty Blaze!

Adversity affects us all in different ways. Some scuttle off to hide until things improve; others step up and face the problem. Like every other facet of our society, the publishing industry has been mightily affected by the terrible rampage of COVID-19 across the globe. Bookshops have closed; festivals have been canceled, book tours have been obliterated. All at a time, ironically, when people need books more than ever as we shelter in place and self-quarantine.

Two author friends of Skylark, Jenna Blum and Caroline Leavitt, faced the problem like heroes. They decided to do something to help authors with books being published at this difficult time, and they created A Mighty Blaze, an online forum where authors can celebrate the publication of their books online.

Skylark is proud to have been one of the first partners in this wonderful project (as is the Unbound Book Festival) and we’re especially excited that tomorrow, Wednesday, April 1, we will be the featured independent bookstore on the site’s Indie Wednesday.

What does this mean? Well, we’ve been given the keys to A Mighty Blaze’s online kingdom, which means that we’ll be doing a social media takeover. We’ll be posting all morning from the shop, giving book recommendations and tours of the place, possibly interviewing Theo, and other things. There may well be giveaways and other things, too. Check in at A Mighty Blaze’s Facebook Page to find our more - and we’ll see you tomorrow for all the fun!

The New (Temporary) Normal

From Carrie:

Things aren’t changing week-to-week, or even day-to-day. Alex and I seem to be making tweaks and adjustments on a permanent basis now. It is a strange universe right now, and to be honest, we are pretty tired.

While the doors are closed to the public, we are in the shop receiving and sending shipments and making deliveries. At the moment I type this, you can reach us by phone between 11 am and 5 pm Monday through Saturday. You can email anytime, but those are the primary hours we will be responsive.

We love our shop. We love all of you. And we will continue to do our best to get books into the right hands (even if you put them in quarantine in the middle there – my house can’t be the only house with a slotted mail quarantine box). This experience really shows us how much we miss handselling, having you in the shop to talk about books and life (and everything). But, like you, we are figuring out how to make it work. We are emailing, Facebooking, Instagramming, talking on the phone – so many long distance versions of what we do. It takes time, it takes patience, and it is a strange juggling act, and it is still wonderful.

Our shop has been rearranged, with stacks of books in various stages in display cubbies labeled things like “options pending email” and “incomplete” (thank you for your laughter and patience on the phone as we try to navigate our labels). Two tables have been stripped bare, one for our amazing mail dude (Seriously, Lowell is our hero), and one for Alex and Carrie to divide and deliver (you should see us at the end of the day trying to figure out routes). Still, amidst all the chaos, the shop feels like home. We are surrounded by books and beauty.

We miss the daily moment, when someone new walks in and has that little gasp of awe. We miss you taking a picture from the top of the stairs. I bet you all could fill a gallery. We miss you telling us the store smells good (we can’t smell it). And we miss standing there at the computer trying desperately to remember your last name to enter you into the computer, because we actually do know you, but last names are hard!

In the meantime, waving from the car as we drive away and you grin at the bag on your stoop feels good. Getting an email when your package arrives is exciting. We are caught up in it all. The knowledge that these books are providing distractions, learning experiences, or helping you process things feels pretty dang good. We feel heart warmed as we package your gifts to friends and loved ones, knowing your surprise will bring them love. You are letting us witness such kindness.

To be honest, we are working longer hours and harder than ever, and it might be a bit of exhaustion speaking, but we are pretty teary on a daily basis. Okay, so if you know us . . . that isn’t out of the ordinary. Seriously though, there are a lot of huge and beautiful moments happening in the Skylark community right now. So although I linger a bit longer at home to see my family settle into their day together before I head into the shop, I still get giddy when I unlock the door. Though I am tired and sore and hungry by the time I finally pull into my garage after deliveries, my soul is full.

Each day I feel a little less scared about the now, and a little more hopeful about seeing you all on the other side. Every day you are showing us that you love us as much as we love you. And while we can’t wait to have you back to browsing with your own hands, for now, I will sleep with a paste of lotion under gloves every night, so that I can wash my hands all day and touch the books for you.

Books are essential. You are essential. Thanks for helping us be essential.

Columbia's Stay at Home Order - What It Means For Us

As most of you probably know, yesterday the City of Columbia issued a Stay at Home order (Order 2020-03) mandating that everyone stay home unless on “Essential Business.” This is of course an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 throughout our community and beyond, and is a measure we whole-heartedly support, even though it poses certain challenges for us.

First of all, we would like to say a personal and heartfelt thank you to Mayor Brian Treece and his colleagues for such strong leadership during this unprecedented time. We are lucky, as a community, to be in such good hands.

So what does the Stay at Home order mean for Skylark Bookshop? Well, we’ve read it very carefully and have been in touch with the leadership at both the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and the City in order to clarify a few points and get firm guidance as to what we can and can’t do. We’re still waiting to hear back on a few issues, but as of right now, here’s the deal.

Until we hear back from the City authorities, we will no longer be offering curbside pick-up. However we will still be offering free delivery within the city limits and can still mail books anywhere in the country at a reduced rate.

We continue to be inundated with orders and requests for book recommendations, and we’re so grateful to each and every one of you who has reached out to offer support. We’ll be back at work this morning (keeping our distance of course), getting your orders ready and dispatching them. Please keep ‘em coming - email us at mail@skylarkbookshop.com or call us at (573) 777 6990. (Although email is better: we only have one line and it’s usually busy!)

We’re hoping to get the go-ahead to do reinstate curbside pick-up again, but won’t do so unless and until we receive confirmation from the City that it’s OK to do so. We’ll let you know if and when that happens - we love to see your smiling faces!

Finally, we want to reassure you that we continue to take the utmost precautions within the shop to keep everything clean and everyone healthy. We wash our hands religiously and scrub surfaces obsessively. Every book that leaves our shop is wiped down and then wrapped up.

Thank you all for your continued support of our little shop. We’re humbled and grateful beyond measure. Oh, and without customers to worry about, Carrie has adopted a new kind of footwear which allows her to scoot about much more quickly:

Closing Our Doors, But NOT Our Business!

In the light of the developing news about COVID-19, and in order to do our part to protect the health of our customers and staff, we have reluctantly decided that until further notice, Skylark will close its doors to regular browsing customers. We’re heartbroken about this - a bookshop isn’t really a bookshop without readers pulling books off the shelves - but we know it’s for the best. We’ll still be here, though. Our hours will remain 11:00 to 5:00 every day, and we will now be open by appointment. So give us a call at (573) 777 6990 or drop us an email at mail@skylarkbookshop.com. Or you could just try knocking on the door. You never know.

And we’re still selling books! Curbside pickup is the new thing, don’t you know - everybody’s doing it - and we’re still mailing books all across the country at reduced rates. Home delivery, too. We are so grateful to everyone who has called and emailed with orders and requests - please, please, keep them coming. That is how we are going to survive this thing.

Thank you all for your wonderful support during this unprecedented time. We’re buckling up, knuckling down, and ready for the long haul. Thank goodness there’s lots of good stuff to read on the way.

New Hours

Please note that until further notice our hours will be from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day.

We are so grateful for all your telephone and email orders! Please consider calling ahead and doing curbside pick-up so we can minimize contact and keep everyone as healthy as possible!

Call us at (573) 777 6990 or drop us a line at mail@skylarkbookshop.com!

Going Viral

There’s a joke going around right now that the “social isolation” required by the spreading COVID-19 virus is every reader’s dream come true. Whether for solace, entertainment, or education, books and reading feel more important than ever right now. And, of course, if you’re reading a book it’s difficult to touch your face.

So: we are open, and we plan to stay open. We are also getting really good at cleaning stuff. Counters, computer keyboards, door handles, books – much of our days right now is spent wiping things down. 

We realize, though, that some people may feel anxious about going out, even for ultra-necessary items like books. That’s why we’ve come up with a few things to help you out:

QUESTION ONE: WHAT TO BUY 

1.              If you already know what book you want…

If you already know what you need, email us at mail@skylarkbookshop.com with your titles, address, & phone number. We will pluck your book off the shelves with freshly washed hands, give you a ring to settle up. If it is not on our shelves, give us a few extra days and we will take care of it. 

2.              If you don’t… 

Email us a photo of your bookshelf or stack of favorite books, or just tell is what you’re in the mood for, and we’ll call or write back with some recommendations for great reads based on what we see. Choose what sounds good and we’ll get everything packed up and on their way to you!

Either way, please email us at mail@skylarkbookshop.com. Please don’t call – help us keep our phoneline open! 

QUESTION TWO: HOW TO GET IT

When we speak with you about your order, we’ll ask you to choose one of the following delivery options:

1.              Free Home Delivery 

If you live within Columbia city limits, we will deliver books to your door at no extra charge. We will do our best to deliver the same day if you place your order before noon. To qualify for this service, you must be over 55 years old or have an immunocompromised household member (honor system!) and the overall value of the order must be over thirty bucks. 

2.              Mail

We will mail books anywhere in the country, prettily gift-wrapped and tied up in string. We will mail orders over $100 free of charge. For the time being we’ll knock two dollars off the mailing charge for all other orders. 

3.              Curbside Pick-Up

If you pre-pay over the phone, we’ll walk out to your car and deliver your books to you. It’s kind of like a drive-through, with less calories. 

AND DON’T FORGET: AUDIOBOOKS

If you want to completely avoid contact, you can always download a good audiobook: use Libro.fm! 

We could all use a good book stack right now. Let us make yours enticing, distracting, and wonderfully local. And please, wash your hands, people.

Why We Say Hello.

Erin writes…

As we were opening the shop this morning, Carrie and I were listening to NPR’s piece on the importance of locally-owned independent bookstores. Obviously none of the information presented was new to us, but it struck a chord with me due to a very recent experience I had at a not-so-local-or-independent store just last week. It really got me thinking not only about the importance of what we do here at Skylark each and every day, but of how our care, concern, and passion for our customers truly sets us apart.

Last week my boyfriend and I were on a mission to find the perfect jigsaw puzzle to get us through the next bout of bizarre weather that Missouri threw our way. After looking for one at the places we thought were the most obvious, and coming up empty-handed at each place, we trekked to the Big Store in hopes of finding one there, as we knew they had a fairly decently-sized selection. The first thing I noticed was that, immediately upon entering, nobody even realized we were there. No one greeted us, no one offered assistance, (or even asked if we needed any), and no one seemed concerned about the fact that we were wandering, clearly in search of something specific. In fact, I quickly realized that our presence there did not really factor into the ways in which anyone there was doing their job. We could walk out and no one would notice. We were just two people in the store among many others, and it felt strange to me, not only because I work at a locally-owned business, but also because I was raised in the locally-owned and independent business world.

My father owned a record shop for twenty-some-odd years and my very first job was dusting and alphabetizing records and tapes in his store, Four Seasons Records in Louisville, KY, a store where we knew every customer by name. Not only that, but we knew their children’s and pet’s names, where they were from, what they did, and, more than anything, their musical likes and dislikes so that we could assist them in the best way that we possibly could. Even now, twenty-five years after my father closed his doors, he still has customers contact him simply to say that they truly miss what he had, because customer service matters. This same attention to customer service is one of my favorite things about working at Skylark Bookshop, that it is a place not unlike Cheers, “where everybody knows your name,” and that is exactly what I did not feel in the Big Store last week. 

Here at Skylark, we truly care about our customers and we want each and every person and pet that walks into our shop to feel that care. We have a commitment to making our customers happy because we value and appreciate the fact that they, YOU, have made the decision to shop locally. Not only are you keeping your dollars local, but on a larger level you are becoming a part of our vibrant community and readership and we could not continue to open our doors day after day without each of you making the choice to do so. Sometimes I wonder if our greetings and offers to assist come off as annoying or pushy, but this experience has reiterated to me once more the importance of customer care. We greet you because we are truly happy to have you in our shop. You will never be simply a face among many here, but a unique reader with unique tastes that we are so excited to explore with you. From all of us to all of you, thank you for giving us the opportunity to get to know you through our little bookshop. We are so happy to see you, and we will continue to greet you and offer our assistance, because that is how we get to know you better. Caring for our customers matters, and it’s just what we do here at Skylark Bookshop.

Announcing Cal's Book Club! THIS TUESDAY!!

We’re pleased to announce a brand new book club for readers who are 12 and under. This was the brainchild of one of our amazing younger customers, Cal. We’ll let him tell you about it. See you on Tuesday?

I’m Cal. And I’m starting a kids’ book club. I am doing this because I enjoy reading books and talking about them. Kids twelve and under are invited to come. The first book we will be reading is Stick Dog by Tom Watson. We’ll vote on the next book together. The goal is to read at least 20 different books. And any kind of reader is welcome! Please note: every child MUST be accompanied by an adult.

Our first meeting will be at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28 at Skylark Book Shop. I hope you’ll be able to come!

On Reading Diversely

Faramola writes…

A couple of weeks before Christmas, I called my mom because I made a decision. She had been nagging me about what I wanted for Christmas, and while I had been racking my brain, I could not think of anything that I really wanted. My siblings had already submitted their lists to her, while I was yet to mention a single object of my desire. Then, it sort of came to me, but at the same time...it was always there in the back of my head. So I called her, and I finally told her what I wanted: “Mom, I just want a gift certificate from Skylark.”

While my request was met with a bit of speculation (I think she was hoping for an excuse to spice up my closet) that is what I was granted come Christmas morning. And while I knew it was coming, I was filled with elation, for I could not wait to walk through those doors not as an employee as I usually do, but simply as a book loving customer. 

Armed with my handy “to be read” journal, coffee, my gift certificate (which was indeed fat) and myself, I waltzed (yes, I like to think that I am truly that graceful when I walk) into the store knowing that I would likely not walk out of there for hours.

And so I browsed, I created stacks, I made really tough decisions that made my soul hurt when I put some books on my “save for later list”, until I walked out with a selection of books that made my heart sing. 

However...it was not until I got home and I took a closer look at all thirteen of my books that something struck me. All of these books were written by minorities- that is either women, people of color, and/or  writers of the LGBTQ+ community. I was surprised because I did not seek out minority writers while I was finalizing my stack of books. This was not a standard that I held, as my only intention was to get books that I was truly and genuinely interested in reading, nevermind who the author was. Honestly, I was captivated by the stories, not by who wrote them. But the more I think about it, I think that while it was unintentional, there was a subconscious part of me that gravitated to the likes of Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, James Baldwin, and Naomi Alderman. I think it's because they have this ability to tell stories that I can relate to, but also stories that I could not relate to, stories that are bound to make me uncomfortable because that is oftentimes the condition of the minority writer, reader, and human being.

A single (fat) gift certificate reminded me how important it is to read diversely, to read the stories of people that you identify with as a minority, but also stories of people from other minority groups. While there is not always the promise of enjoying the book that you read, there is always the promise of learning something new about the world and the people around you, and that is the best gift that you could get. 

So, while there was no initial planning on my part, I got, as Chigozie Obioma so tactfully named his book, “An Orchestra of Minorities”.

Faramola’s Christmas haul!

Our Top Sellers of 2019: Local Heroes

One of the most fun things we’ve done since opening Skylark has been learning our customers’ tastes and interests, and catering to them. When we meet with sales reps from the major publishing companies, we usually know right away whether a particular title will work in the shop - because we know our customers so well. It’s a frequent refrain in this industry that every bookstore is unique, and it’s true.

We present, as evidence, our list of our bestselling titles for 2019. We’re willing to bet that no other list from any other bookshop in the country looks anything like this. Three of the titles are by Jill Orr, Laura McHugh, and Deborah Zemke, beloved local authors who launched their latest novels at Skylark, and three are by speakers at last year’s Unbound Book Festival - George Saunders, Jacqueline Woodson, and Garrard Conley. Three more - Wright Thompson, Emily Wilson, and (in absentia) Jeff Kinney - did events at the shop during the year. The other titles are there because we loved them so much and couldn’t stop talking about them. Which, you know, is kind of the point. We’re proud of this quirky, idiosyncratic list of fabulous books!

1. The Ugly Truth by Jill Orr

2. The Wolf Wants In by Laura McHugh

3. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Wrecking Ball by Jeff Kinney

5. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

6. Field Guide to Dumb Birds by Matt Kracht

7. The Cost of these Dreams by Wright Thompson

8. The Book of Delights by Ross Gay

9. Homer’s Odyssey by Emily Wilson

10. Nomadland by Jessica Bruder

11. Bea Garcia - The Tree and Me by Deborah Zemke

12. Boy Erased by Garrard Conley

13. The Overstory by Richard Powers

14. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

15. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Unbound Book Festival and CoMoGives: Can You Help?

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that you got all the books you were hoping for! We were very busy at the shop, right up until the last minute, and we're grateful to everyone who did their shopping with us. If you received a Skylark gift certificate, we'll look forward to seeing you soon and helping you spend it!

Unlike most of our newsletters, this is not really about things going on at Skylark, but it is about books. Specifically, it's about the Unbound Book Festival, the literary festival that takes place in Columbia every April. We are sponsors of the festival, and are proud to be the official bookseller at the event. (Our owner, Alex George, is also the founder and director of the festival, but the bookshop and the festival are wholly independent entities.)

If you've never attended Unbound, here's a short movie to give you a sense of what you're missing...

Unbound is a nonprofit organization that brings acclaimed writers and poets to Columbia to read from and speak about their work. Last year, 57 authors attended the event and over 9,500 people attended an Unbound event. Next year's festival takes place from April 23 to 26, 2020. The keynote speaker will be the Pulitzer Prize winning U.S. Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith. Past keynotes have been Michael Ondaatje, Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith and George Saunders.

Through their "Authors in the Schools" program, last year over 3,500 local students had the opportunity to see a writer in the flesh - including 1,100 very excited middle schoolers who filled the Missouri Theatre to hear Jacqueline Woodson.

We think Unbound is a pretty great thing for our community, and it's absolutely free for everyone to attend. Which is why we're writing.

Throughout December, Unbound is participating in CoMoGives, the annual online charitable giving campaign for mid-Missouri charities. Because the festival doesn't charge for tickets, it largely relies on donations to meet the considerable expenses of bringing those wonderful writers to Columbia every year. So may we ask a favor? If you love books and reading (and since you're receiving this, you probably do), would you please consider making a gift to help keep the festival free before the end of the year? It's tremendously easy to give, and every little helps. And because Unbound is 100% volunteer-run, every cent goes directly to bringing those amazing authors to town.

Thank you, thank you! We look forward to seeing you in the shop (and at the festival!) in 2020.

New Release News - Fantasy Binge Edition

Beth writes…

Are you exhausted from hearing about holidayish-this and Christmasy-that?  You might feel continually bombarded by ultimate “best of “ lists, cheerful holiday pop music, frazzled shoppers, crazy crowds….it all can feel quite overwhelming.  Fortunately, we’ve got you covered at Skylark.  To get you thinking ahead to 2020, here’s a nice announcement about an upcoming reading possibility, especially for you, fantasy fans.  

The first volume of a projected four installments in the brand new Nine Realms series, A Queen in Hiding by debut author Sarah Kozloff is being released in January. This title includes significant world-building, a huge host of characters, and--yes--battles.  

This news is exciting enough, but the coolest and most unique factor is that it’s being released monthly over a four-month period.  How perfect for winter binging is this?!  You can’t beat the price either: at $12.99 for a 496-page paperback version, you’ll be lounging in fantasy heaven. The Queen of Raiders is released in February, A Broken Queen in March, and finally, The Cerulean Queen is out in April.  

Give us a call to order the first volume.  If it’s a good fit for you, you won’t have to wait years for the subsequent volume, just the next month!

December Gift Giving (Non-Holiday Edition)

Not actually Erin. But let’s all pretend that it is.

Erin, the December baby on our staff, writes…

Ah, December.

Who doesn’t love December? Even if you hate cold weather like I do, there’s just something about December that just gets you right in the heart, regardless of what, if, or how you celebrate. Maybe it’s the lights, the music, the end of the semester, or just the general spirit of good cheer that accompanies the darkest month of the year, but most people find something to enjoy about December. I like December so much that I even have a special name for it, one that my Skylark friends have kindly (if, perhaps, halfheartedly) accepted, as well. So, let me begin again, if I may.

Ah, Erin’s Birthday Month.

That’s right. It’s my birthday month.

Those close to me, and quite a few not-so-close acquaintances, know that my birthday is December 27. I know that they know this, because when I sent out The Most Important Text Of The Year on June 27, which read, “HEY, GUESS WHAT?!?!” my family and friends knew exactly how to answer – “Six months till your birthday!” Clearly, they are well-versed on how this goes, and each month on the 27th they are counting down with me (or at least to humor me) to that most important date, December 27, (which is in just a couple of weeks, by the way). I have been doing this as long as I can remember (in fact, there was a countdown on the chalk board in the band room of Louisville Male High School during all four of my years there, because people should just know), and no matter how old I get, I will continue to advertise my birthday.

You may laugh or roll your eyes, and that’s fine. However, it’s not easy being born so close to the Sagittarius-Capricorn cusp in a society that pegs December as a holiday month. Those of us born during this time know the annoying irritation that comes from being given a pair of anything as a gift and being told, “one for Christmas and one for your birthday!”

This does not work for us.

Though my parents were always good about differentiating between the two, they did try to celebrate my birthday in January for several years when I was young. Their reasoning was that they didn’t want me confused about the conflation of days. My brother and sister, both born in July, still ridicule me when I remind them of my birthday, but they have nothing else in July to compete with. My own children have birthdays in August, October, and May, so they will never know the real struggle that we late-December babies are forced to endure yearly, so this post today goes out to my late-Sagittarius and early-Capricorn cohort because I hear you, I feel your pain, I support you, and we deserve the best birthday gifts of all for being forced to share our birthday with no less than four major holidays this month (I’m looking at you, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Yule).

The biggest question birthday shoppers face this month is HOW DO WE LET OUR DECEMBER BIRTHDAY PEOPLE KNOW THAT WE RECOGNIZE THEIR BIRTHDAY AS A DISTINCT AND SEPARATE HOLIDAY, and that’s an excellent question that I would love to answer. Skylark Bookshop comes to the rescue here with two fantastic gifts that your book loving Sagittarius or Capricorn will appreciate more than anything – the monthly book subscription and the Skylark Reading Spa.

Both are based on the recipient’s preferences, so there is very little work for the buyer to do. These are truly gifts that keep on giving long past December and are nice reminders to your December birthday friends that you remember their birthday all year long, because trust me, we need that. Both are like giving your loved one a personal book shopper, and who doesn’t want that? Email, call, or stop in to find out more about these unique gift ideas that will keep all of your December-born friends feeling remembered and loved this month and beyond, and know that, from the bottom of my heart, I am wishing you and yours a peaceful and lovely Erin’s Birthday Month season.

Oh, and one more thing: do not wrap my presents in Christmas paper.

Under The Covers - A Guest Blog Post!

Hi, my name is Faith Koo, a senior at Rock Bridge High School, and under the guidance of James Meyer and Carrie Koepke, I have an EEE internship at Skylark Bookshop for which I’m carrying out an event tomorrow, Sunday December 9, called Under the Covers. This is a book-focused, sleepover-like party. The beginning of the event will start with a discussion of books and will end with a read aloud and is aimed toward high schoolers and college students who love books or just want to leave the house and relax in a cozy environment with books and food. The event is free to all and will have free cookies and hot chocolate, (If you don’t go for the books, go for the food!)

High schoolers and college students aren’t often given opportunity to relax in a public space. I am hoping to give young people a chance to open up and de-stress before finals season. We hope to see you there. The fun starts at 5:00 p.m.

Make sure to bring pillows and blankets!

All Aboard for Polar Express Story Time!

In what has quickly become a Skylark tradition, please join us for a special evening edition story time on Saturday, December 14, at 7:00 p.m.

We will be reading the beloved classic, The Polar Express, by Chris van Allsburg. There will be celebrating with cookies, cocoa, and crafts galore! Wear your favorite pajamas and join us for a fun evening!

This event is free, but please let us know if you'll be coming either by indicating on this page that you'll be coming, or by dropping us an email at mail@skylarkbookshop.com.

Psst... if you didn't win our raffle on Saturday...

We had a wonderfully busy weekend in the shop, what with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Now We Can Breathe Again Sunday (OK, we made that one up.) Our thanks to everyone who came out to support us and other small businesses! We can’t do it without you!

If you were not one of the three lucky raffle winners on Saturday, we wanted to let you know that if you would still like to win an Advance Reading Copy of THE PARIS HOURS by Skylark owner Alex George, then his publisher, Flatiron Books, is presently doing a giveaway on its Instagram page. There are five copies up for grabs, but the contest closes tomorrow at midnight, so zip on over there and enter before it’s too late! Good luck!

Cyber Monday Audiobook Deals With Libro.fm!

We’ve written on this blog before and on the website about our friends at Libro.fm, providers of quality audiobooks to listeners and book lovers everywhere. When you purchase your audiobooks from Libro.fm, you’ll be supporting your local bookshop rather than putting yet more billions of (tax-free) dollars into the coffers of the Evil Behemoth Corporation whose name we shall not speak. Audiobooks are awesome, Libro.fm are awesome, and we’re big fans.

To encourage more people to become new members, on December 2 - Cyber Monday - Libro.fm will give all new members four new audiobooks for the price of one. For $14.99 you’ll get three audiobook credits plus a copy of Circe, by Madeline Miller - the audiobook of the year (which is completely brilliant on audio. Ask Alex to do his impression of the narrator next time you see him.)

This offer lasts for one day only - and all you have to do is click here.

And for those of you who have already signed up, there’s an offer for you, too - if you refer a new member who signs up tomorrow, then you’ll receive two audiobook credits for yourself!

For more information on audiobooks generally, click here.

Small Business Saturday is Here!

All This Could Be Yours.

Well, it’s finally here - one of our busiest days of the year, Small Business Saturday!

There is free parking in all garages in downtown Columbia all day today and to celebrate all things local we will be doing a number of fun things:

Raffle: every $20 you spend qualifies you for one entry into our grand Small Business Saturday raffle. We’ve put together a bunch of cool things (pictured above) and will endeavor to squeeze them all into that adorable tote bag for the winner. There are also two runners-up prizes of T-shirts and exclusive advance copies of Alex George’s new novel, The Paris Hours, which doesn’t come out until next May.

Free Ice Cream: everyone who buys a book from us and from our friends down the road at Yellow Dog Bookshop will be eligible for a token for free ice cream from Sparky’s. (And, you guys, it’s supposed to get up to 65 degrees today. It’s like someone knows, or something.)

Discounts: We have a ton of delicious titles all of which are 50% off for today only.

Hey Big Spender! Bonuses: We have lots of other stuff that we’ll be giving away as bonuses for people who GO LARGE.

It’s going to be fun! Come out and support small businesses throughout the District - there are so many wonderful shops and boutiques to visit! And come and check out Alex’s T-shirt, which he’s very proud of: