The End of an Era: On the Closing of Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers

 When I approached Mark Wessel in late 1992 with the idea of opening up a bookshop little did I know the profound effect it would have on my life and the impact it would have on the Seattle book community and beyond. Now some 20+ years after we opened the shop will close its doors. All good things come to an end. The end of the road for Wessel & Lieberman does not alter the fact that I remain bullish on books and bookshops. The wear and tear of nearly twenty years of running a bookshop in an urban core takes...

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Of Interest: The Scribe, Etiquette for Freedom, Cocktails for Book Lovers, and some worthy bookseller catalogs

Still looking for some late summer reads and acquisitions? Here are some recent books and bookseller catalogs that have struck our fancy.  The Scribe by Antonio Garrido. Translated by Simon Bruni. Really enjoyed this one. Though I am not much of an historical fiction reader this one caught me and kept me in. We're talking 8th century and a time where woman had about as much status as an animal. We follow Theresa a women who thanks to her dad, defies all convention. She's literate, educated and adept at the craft of making parchment. These skills make for a very interesting journey...

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Straightjacket by Joseph DeCamillis

Joseph DeCamillis is a self described life-long reader. He was on the creative writing path when the art bug got him and he's never looked back. For the last 10 plus years his focus has been on book inspired art. One jewel is his autobiographical Straightjacket, an assemblage of hardback book covers and various items of deconstructed clothing. DeCamillis had two criteria for choosing the books used: 1.  Reading the book had a major impact on his personality at some stage of his life 2.  Title and/or subject of the book connects to some piece of his past. His tag line for the piece is...

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