Around Indie Bookstores

May 01, 2008

La Casa Azul Launches Online Bookstore

On April 28, La Casa Azul Bookstore hosted a launch party in East Harlem for its web store, www.lacasaazulbookstore.com. La Casa Azul's Aurora Anaya-Cerda said the store "online, and later this year at our own shop, offers shoppers an opportunity to share the richness of the Latino experience in writing, art, and culture."

(L to R) Store manager Becci West, owner Karen Spengler, and Joe Roetheli, a sponsor of the award and founder of S & M NuTec. Photo: Kevin Blayney Photography

I Love A Mystery Wins 25 Under 25 Award

Karen Spengler's I Love A Mystery in Mission, Kansas, has been named the winner of a 25 Under 25 Award, sponsored by Kansas City Small Business Monthly. Introduced in 2002, the awards honor 25 outstanding local businesses with fewer than 25 employees.

I Love a Mystery was chosen for the honor from among 750 nominated companies. A panel of third-party judges from the business community reviewed the applicants and selected the final 25 honorees according to the following criteria: financial stability; ability to overcome obstacles, adversity, and challenges; community involvement and service; distinguishing or defining characteristics and qualities; and company vision.

Photo by Jan Straley

Old Harbor Hosts John Straley & Upcoming Whale-Watching Cruise

Don Muller, the manager at Old Harbor Books in Sitka, Alaska, sent us this photo of John Straley signing copies of his new book, The Big Both Ways (Alaska Northwest), taken by the author's wife, Jan Straley. The bookstore sold more than 150 copies of the book, and the first 100 sales came with a ticket for a two-hour whale-watching cruise and reading on May 4. Straley is a Shamus Award winner for his first book, The Woman Who Married a Bear (Soho Crime).

To promote a May 12 event featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Rick Bragg, New Orleans' Octavia Books as created a podcast interview with the author about his forthcoming book, The Prince of Frogtown (Knopf). The interview is 12 minutes long and is posted at http://www.octaviabooks.com/podcast/01-Octavia_podcast.mp3. This is the first in a series of interviews Octavia books will create.

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