Howdy! We're the largest independent bookstore in Texas. This is our blog.
I’ve mentioned it before, but I love Melville House Publishing. If you like reading about books online, their blog, MobyLives (http://mhpbooks.com/mobylives/), is must read material. Over the next year, I’ll be reading and reviewing Melville House’s series, The Art of the Novella (http://www.mhpbooks.com/bookseries.php?id=151). When we read fiction, it tends to be a novel between 250 … Continue reading The Lesson of the Master (of Punctuation)
In the last three years, BookPeople's mystery section has grown into something special. Our stock as well as our sales have increased-- especially with titles like Reed Farrel Coleman's Moe Prager series, and some you can't find at other stores. Mystery authors like CJ Box and Craig Johnson now make this store a stop on practically every book tour they have. We've attracted more fans of the genre, even from outside the city, to where it feels like we're becoming Austin's de facto mystery bookstore. So we've decided to make it official. On November 7th we're launching our own mystery bookstore within a bookstore, MysteryPeople.
Good news dear readers! Our trusted man, E.D Williams has once again stared into the abyss and returned with a rollicking and invigorating post. Now into our third installment, E.D. battles against the dull blade of summer with only his pen and wits to protect him. Enjoy his prose thoroughly, but remember, Williams is a trained professional - any injuries or fatalities incurred during your attempts at mimicry have no legal recourse with this fine online publication. With that said, I give you....E.D. Williams: The rolly pollies are rolling in their graves. The banana spiders have grown as thick as a milk maid's wrist and the mosquitoes are blood drunk and buzzing. Butterflies are liars and anyone worth their weight in Bacillus Thuringiensis knew them from before as very hungry caterpillars. This is summer in the garden of sweat and swelter; the throes of the heat index, if you will. Hello again. I'm Engle Dale Williams and more so than any book, I would recommend a stiff drink and a deep woods insect repellent. It's only practical. But enough of all this rigamarole. Let's reminisce.
The Passage by Justin Cronin comes out tomorrow (Tuesday, June 8th), and our staff is beyond excited. This book has dominated our water cooler discussions for the past two months. We've been passing around advanced copies, wearing out the binding on more than one as Passage fever spreads throughout the store.
This Sunday, June 6th at 7PM, we are hosting three outlaws who break the rules of genre and blur the lines between escapist and literary fiction. They take it, twist it, fuse it with other genres, and turn it upside down. All three have a talent for slamming literary style with low brow punch and … Continue reading Outlaws of Pulp Mystery event, this Sunday, June 6th at 7PM
I first spotted John Phillip Santos sitting in the lobby of a San Antonio hotel. I had no idea who he was, but his appearance made me take notice. Santos was dressed in a tuxedo shirt and jeans, wore freshly polished cowboy boots on his feet and had a tan blazer laid across his lap. He has a long mane of peppered gray hair, dark at the temples. I didn't know who he was yet, but he sure wasn't a tourist or business traveler. Santos definitely had an intriguing aura. As he sat in the wingback chair, looking lost in a deep stream of thought, I took another glance and headed to my meeting.
Choose your weapons! Opium magazine and the Writer's League of Texas are hosting a LITERARY DEATH MATCH tonight at the Speakeasy on North Congress. The event will be judged by a trio of local literary all-stars: Owen Egerton, Sarah Hickman and John Pipkin and will include readings by local writers Spike Gillespie and Anna Mitchael. The death match is free for all Opium magazine subscribers, $8 for non-subscribers and $5 for anyone with a valid student ID. The doors open at 7PM, and the show begins at 8:05 (sharp). Check out the facebook page for more information.
Can I have a word with you? Or you can have a word by yourself if you want. For only $5, you can purchase your very own vocabulary-expanding, friend-impressing, sentence-swelling word from our Austin Bat Cave display. The best part is that the money goes to a great cause.
Jennifer Ross' new novel, The Icing on the Cupcake, is a naturally sweet tale of redemption through baking. After Ansley Waller's fiance cancels their wedding, she leaves the south and moves in with her widowed grandmother in New York. When Ansley's grandmother insists she do more than just wallow in self-pity, she begins to bake batch after batch of wildly inventive cupcakes.
Dear BookPeople Blog readers: It is my sublime pleasure to introduce you to our resident short story expert E.D. Williams- a gentleman, scholar and trusted confidant. By reading the following post, you are taking the exhilarating first step on a twelve part journey inside the mind of a true American genius. I wish you luck, you'll need it.
BookPeople 