bluestockingbooks

[bluestockingbooks]

Hello booklovers and bluestockings, friends and readers,Kris Nelson, owner of Bluestocking Books, San Diego,

writing to you I have magic and books on my mind. My usual favorite busy Thanksgiving & Shop Small Weekend is coming up while Covid is at its worst. Boooo! Surreal & ironic, during this pandemic our block is more popular than it has been in years; even the Pernicano's front on 5th Avenue got brightly painted and cleaned. Still, my darkest days in 2020 are WAY better than the rise-of-the-internet-giant years. Even though Covid rages on, we are being discovered by new shoppers, both on the street and online, folks who prefer to shop small and keep dollars local.

BsB is operating 11am-6pm daily. Most requests are phoned or emailed in - I, or Mary or Dawn, check each title and see what we have and what we can get. We pull from the shelves & set up pre-orders, ship USPS or run them up to you at our door, or to your car. We keep a 'lil table at the front door between us and the germ-filled world: we greet and grant entry to the fully masked, keeping capacity at 5-6 + us. Once we are full, no one comes in until somebody leaves. Every purchase is tailored to be as safe and convenient as possible. 

I could not do this without Mary & Dawn's hard work helping out - Thanks Again, Ladies!! We 3 are feeling incredibly appreciative to be employed doing what we love most right now - helping people find books. We know and suggest titles for all ages. Especially during the pandemic, hearing a human voice or viewing artwork on the page resonates and connects. Books are full of great examples of human nature and its amazing resilience, patience, and ability to survive. I am now witnessing how learning does not stop. That you all are asking for & purchasing books every day is a most gratifying amazement - I am bursting proud when you call me essential. 

The alternative to Amazon.com, Bookshop.org is the feel-good book news of 2020. They do a secure, easy cart & keep information as does Amazon, but they are not: this owner specifically wanted to support existing independent bookstores. When you order and choose us as "your bookstore" on the site, we are credited with the $ale as if you had called us directly. Seriously - is that not the nicest thing you've heard in a while? I am excited to be a part of it, and blown away by this kindness. The cash infusions could not have come at a better time for bookstores like this one, trying to make expenses while keeping safe during a global pandemic.  

My stability for fall: new blue twinkly lights in the windows and Baby Book Drive. As always we're collecting funds and selling / accepting appropriate books for donation to a beloved local effort: the UCSD High-Risk Infant Follow-Up Program, via Reach Out and Read. Babies are given a book from doctor at their check-ups while parents learn that the cuddling up to read stimulates brain growth, helping baby learn to interact. One doctor who works with ROAR shared with us that babies are talking more on the very next visit after receiving a book(!) Anyone can help change a life with a book costing from $4.99-$16.99. We have free IBD & other schwag for supporters - see the website for details. Seeing people contribute to our big box is a big sweetness gut-punch every time. 

See how I am surrounded by magic and hope here in the bookshop, even though it's a global quarantine?!? People shopping us even though it's Covid, Bookshop.org creating payback for indie bookstores, strangers supplying babies & parents (who really need it!) with a book and some help, and most hopeful of all - your patronage here. I care for the books in this space, but YOU are the key ingredient to a delightful bookstore. Your curious minds wanting the latest books for yourselves and friends, for the babies and kids in your lives, and making that special effort to call here instead of ordering it on Amazon or B&N - this is amazing and sustaining me in every way, every day. Your social shopping selves, happily masked and as considerate of our health as much as your own, exclaiming as you see (the weird and wonderful array of mostly used & some new) books in person - it makes keeping the space make sense again.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PATRONAGE...we are all gonna get through this! 

I am reminded of the Velveteen Rabbit (c1922 by Margery Williams)... after many years of being loved as a sawdust-stuffed toy, sometimes forgotten and eventually a little threadbare, he was always a favorite. Then things did not make sense, he couldn't fit in, and then all he ever knew was gone, nothing would be the same again. Yet he found he could move - he twitched and reached out, and he was alive, his heart began beating. He hopped and darted into a new life that wasn't the same, nor did it need to be.  Okey this 2 tons o'books ain't hopping anywhere, but my heart beats inside of me today for the future bookstore. I work for BsB to have what every reader wants, a next chapter. You all are the heroes in the epic book-romance surrounding me - thanks for making Bluestocking Books a part of your story    Hope to help you all soon with your next read, gift or project. Best Holiday Wishes from me and the staff, our book-elves, helper-friends, and the benevolent bookshop ghosts. Happiness, Wellness, Chances to Notice the simple wonderful things, and Great Reading to You! -Kris

Bluestocking Books / (619) 296-1424 | info@bluestockingbooks.combluestockingbooks.comPlease add us to your email address book for best service!

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A sneak peek at our selection of February specials! 

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Still accepting books for the Reach Out and Read kid’s book drive! Through January! Books for kids 1-5 years old, please. 

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February!

For Valentine's day we have some fun cards and love poems with 20% off Mary Oliver's new book of love poems Felicity. We are also stocking Ta-Nehisi Coates Between the World and Me for 20% off in honor of African American History Month. Also have a bunch of classics in cheap Dover editions - W.E.B Dubois, 20 Years a Slave, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and more!

Our 60 day campaign from Dec 1-Jan 31 did GREAT! Lots of folks came and supported us with purchases for friends, gift certificates to send us new folks, donations to our Kiddy Book Drive and general good cheer! We are starting this year in a better place than the last couple of years and breathing a sigh of relief. We gathered over 100 books for Reach Out and Read - many kids will receive their 1st book via this program. Feeling GREAT about that also.

What can we do to steal you away from Amazon? Please let us know. Here’s a link to a new study on the Amazon effects on storefronts, jobs, etc. We are happily contributing members of a fantastic local and global community of readers that add to a diverse, wonderful world and would like to keep it that way!! Shop us first & please inquire regarding what you don’t find...we order and ship daily! Hope to hear from you soon! www.bluestockingbooks.com

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Book Drive for at-risk kiddos ends this weekend!! We are already at an all-time best of 90 books so far, but why stop?? Come on by to donate or purchase recommended titles!! :D We are working with Reach Out & Read.

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Support our small bookshop by purchasing or donating! This is the last weekend of the gofundme.com/bluestockingbooks !! But anytime is good for new or used book orders & gift certificates!! For more about our staff, check out our new Staff Picks page: http://www.bluestockingbooks.com/newsite/staffpicks.htm?_p=Y

[bluestockingbooks]

Valentine’s Cards & Birthday cards have arrived!! Some kinda sweet, some slightly snarky :D  We are still working with gofundme.com/bluestockingbooks and gathering up books for at-risk 1-5 years olds until Jaunary 31st! Call with questions or for shipping to wherever you is. 619-296-1424 Open Daily!

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Kiddie Book Drive until Jan 31st!! https://www.gofundme.com/bluestockingbooks is also still going until then - if you don’t want to buy books but like having a real bookshop with experienced help, please consider giving! We love books and the book tradition :D

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Hi Friends! Before the day gets away from me - THANK YOU for all the holiday purchases & support here & at our GoFundMe for Bluestocking Books, San Diego!! Especially gift certificates to send in new folks - triple win!! I will be thinking of & toasting you tomorrow on a lovely day off with mi familia smile emoticon Cheers & see you soon!

[bluestockingbooks]

BOOKSTORE ALERT!!

Hello Everybody! A panicky "they-might-close!" shopping spree from all of you, our local & internet community would greatly bolster our finances & spirits as we head into 2016. I/we (owner/staff) want very much to have better-than-good sales in the next couple of months to make up for worse-than-bad times. We are issuing this call to the enthusiastic people who tell us we can "never close!" or who haven't been in for years but say, "I've been meaning to" or tell us... "I love bookshops but I don't want any more books." Please Please Please purchase now or donate via our (Yes it's a dream job, but our financial position is in critical condition.)

Anything you’d like 20% OFF on between now and the end of January - just ask!! Or direct those who’d like to gift us or yourself to:

https://www.gofundme.com/bluestockingbooks 

Please Help Now : for Better Times to Come

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Book Drive!!! 8 books so far for the kiddos seen at the UCSD High Risk Infant Follow-Up Program. Donate or purchase appropriate tomes here to spark some little brains!! #blusoxsd #bluestockingbooks

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Book Drive for kiddos 1-5 years old via Reach Out & Read and UCSD High Risk Infant Follow-Up Program. Almost 2/3 of the families in this UCSD program are low-income. The books they give may be the only books the family has for their children. You may donate or purchase books here - please make sure they are in very good condition & not about religion, holidays or death. We Thank You!!!

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Coloring Books are In! Book Drive for little kiddos starts next week!!

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Book Drive for Kiddies! Holiday Orders Now!

November, we love you. Dark evenings to fill with reading, hot drinks and a lovely stack of books! And Gift-Giving Winter Visiting Season begins NOW! We encourage you to give yourself & our world a great gift this year: Share a book you love with somebody! Your literacy guidance will enlighten a young or bored mind and we hope you will share it.

We do Specialty Searches for collectible & out-of-print books. Anything for your Winter Holiday gift-giving should be started for asap to make sure it's here by the time Santa comes down the chimney! Call/email regarding price and availability of anything and we'll get back to you right away.

New books come weekly - safest last day to order for Dec 25th is: Dec 14th!

We'll be Closed on Thanksgiving, & then kick off our Reach Out and Read Book Drive!! We are again collecting books for 1-5 year old kiddos who get a book during their check-up at the doctor's if they (and their parents) need a little push to get those cognitive skills going! We'll be collecting books until January! Donate or buy books here for the kids  who really need it :)

American Express inspired Small Business Saturday is 11/28/15. Yes - we take American Express!

We ship books every day to just about everywhere, and any military base - just ask for details. We can also recommend title for your reading friends, kids and relatives. We've been doing this a long time and have good ideas about who might like what.

We've had a very bad/slow last couple of months and are very behind on bills and taxes. If we could have a better-than-good holiday season, we might be able to shake this worse-that-bad situation we are now in. We thank you for any and all support you can give this community bookshop!!!

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The holiday posturing begins!

Conversations about consumerism & what's really valuable is GOOD! What do you value most?

US? YES - We'll be OPEN Fri-Sun as always - Thanksgiving weekend is MAGIC in bookshops - multiple generations stroll & shop together, sharing thoughts about books before & after the feasting. Bliss! ++++Plus we accept American Express and are part of the ‪#‎SHOPSMALL ‬biz Small Business Saturday !!

What we value most is human connection through reading books. It's a nutso world out there - let's get our peeps reading books to cultivate conversation & gain understanding. We encourage you to share your favorite books (and chat about why!?) with folks this winter - especially youngsters, but friends & oldsters too! Of course we wish upon every star you'll order from us - we special order & can get most favorites in under 2 weeks. Send/email a list, call in - whatever works - and we will get back you with availability & prices. Further thought on this to come.... ;) - kris

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October Specials decided!

20% OFF:

Sleeper & the Spindle by Gaiman & Riddell (continued! pretty illustration from that above)

the Martian by Andy Weir -and-

Berenstain Bears & the Spooky Old Tree

We love October and spooky reading :) :) :) :)