#Watchung Booksellers

[belascoainyneptuno]

Presentación de “Yo tengo un sueño” en Watchung Booksellers

Mi anhelo de declamar el texto en español respondía a varios motivos, pero este es quizá el más importante: a seis décadas de haber sido pronunciado, “Yo tengo un sueño” mantiene una relevancia abrumadora.

En Watchung Booksellers El lunes pasado —en honor al día de Martin Luther King, Jr. — leí mi traducción de “Yo tengo un sueño”, ese hermoso y emblemático discurso del líder de los derechos civiles. Mi idea original para este encuentro era reunirme con miembros del club de lectura que coordino en la librería, pero al mencionarlo a la coordinadora de eventos de Watchung Booksellers, de ella…

[swansongofalyre]

Where to Find Memento Mori (Updated 9/11/2024)

On August 13, two days before 광복절 (Korean National Liberation Day), my debut novel was released. The book is about Korean-American family, and also about Greek mythology, and I promise this combination makes sense in the end. (For those who are curious, I wrote an uncharacteristically personal guest post for Women's Writers, Women's Books on the topic of what inspired me to write a Eurydice and Orpheus retelling about my Korean grandmother.)

It was surreal to go to a store the other day and see it on a table next to Salman Rushdie and other acclaimed writers. After 13 years of this story existing in some form, I'm so excited that this book is finally out—both because it is a beautiful book that I am proud of and that I hope you enjoy, and also because I would love to stop being my own publicist (it is VERY awkward).

So here is an omnibus post of book-related info that I will keep updated and pinned going forward to finally give the memento mori tag a rest. Below the cut, you will find a running list of indie bookstores and public libraries that I know carry my book. (If you have a New York Public Library card and have 5 minutes, I will love you forever if you would email your local branch to ask them to carry my book, thus fulfilling my lifelong dream of living in the NYPL.)

Also below are a few upcoming events at which I have been invited to speak!

Bookstores by State (as of 9/11/2024)

Search for your local bookstore here!

Arizona

Changing Hands Bookstore (Phoenix and Tempe)

California

Gallery Bookshop (Mendocino)

Timbre Books (Ventura) Sold out for now (but you can still order online)!

Indiana

The Press (Valparaiso)

Iowa

Prairie Lights Books (Iowa City)

Maine

Longfellow Books (Portland) Sold out for now (but you can still order online)!

Massachusetts

Nantucket Book Partners (Nantucket) Sold out for now (but you can still order online)!

Porter Square Books (Cambridge and Boston both back in stock!)

Missouri

Skylark Bookshop (Columbia)

Montana

Chapter One Book Store (Hamilton)

New Hampshire

Water Street Bookstore (Exeter)

New Jersey

Watchung Booksellers (Montclair)

New York

Astoria Bookshop (Queens, 1 signed copy left!)

Book Culture (Signed copies at the 112th St. and Broadway stores; also available at LIC and Pittsford Pittsford has sold out for now!)

Books are Magic (Brooklyn, at both Smith St. and Montague St.)

Market Block Books (Troy) Sold out for now (but you can still order online)!

Greenlight Bookstore (Brooklyn) Back in stock!

Shakespeare & Co (Manhattan, Lincoln Center has signed copies; Lexington also as copies back in stock)

Yu and Me Books (Manhattan; comes with bonus goodies, see below!)

North Carolina

Quail Ridge Books (Raleigh)

Oregon

Powell's (Burnside, Cedar Hills, and Hawthorne locations)

Rhode Island

Heartleaf Books (Providence)

Vermont

Phoenix Books (Burlington and Essex)

Washington, D.C.

Politics and Prose (at both CT Ave NW and Union Market)

Washington State

Elliott Bay Book Company (Seattle)

Wisconsin

Woodland Pattern (Milwaukee)

Libraries (as of 09/10/2024)

Worldcat Listings (Probably the most comprehensive)

Libby (for e-books)

California

Berkeley Public Library

Illinois

Chicago Public Library

Kentucky

Lexington Public Library

Maine

Portland Public Library (On Order)

Michigan

Canton Public Library (On Order)

New York

Greenburgh Public Library (Available)

New York Public Library (Available)

Queens Public Library (Available)

Texas

Harris County Public Library (In Processing)

Virginia

Arlington Public Library (In Processing)

Wisconsin

Whitefish Bay Public Library

Washington State

Seattle Public Library

Online

Bookshop.org (US)

Bookshop.org (UK)

Massive Bookshop (all profits go to community bail funds)

Barnes & Noble

Target

KYOBO 교보문고 (Korea)

Upcoming Events

September 3: Astoria Bookshop in conversation with Maia Lee-Chin for the release of her incredible book Et Cetera

September 22: Narrative Bookshop (Somerville, MA) in conversation with Maia Lee-Chin

September 28: Brooklyn Book Festival for a debut authors panel moderated by THEE Edwidge Danticat

October 17: Fall for the Book Festival in Fairfax, VA for a panel on mythology with Rania Hanna, the amazing author of The Jinn Daughter

[toreadornot]

feeling called out as an Aquarius

(and Elaine U. Cho is one as well apparently)

Watchung Booksellers Instagram

[ronk]

A Poetry Reading About Time

I will be doing a poetry reading on the theme of "time" on April 29 in Montclair NJ

Photo by Andrey Grushnikov on Pexels.com Watchung Booksellers is hosting a Poetry Night on Monday, April 29, 2024 at 6:30 PM at da Pepo in Montclair, NJ. I will be reading three of my poems on the theme for this event: “Time.” I have to say that I have a fascination both for concepts of time and time travel. Join myself and other poets as we explore the ide of Time poetically.

[ommygod]

My favorite part of doing the Easter Egg Hunt at Watchung Plaza is buying myself books at @watchungbooksellers.

[abramsbooks]

Preorder Dune: The Graphic Novel and Receive an Exclusive Print!

Preorder your copy of Dune: The Graphic Novel from any of the booksellers below and receive an exclusive 8x10 print designed by Bill Sienkiewicz! After-Words Bookstore (Chicago, IL) Anderson’s Bookshops (Naperville, IL) Arcadia Books (Spring Green, WI) Ballast Book Company (Bremerton, WA) Bank Square Books (Mystic, CT) Bay Books (Sutton’s Bay, MI) Bethany Beach Books (Bethany Beach, DE) The Book Dragon Shop (Staunton, VA) The Book Nook (Ludlow, VT) The Book Seller (Grass Valley, CA) BookBar (Denver, CO) Bookbug (Kalamazoo, MI) Bookends & Beginnings (Evanston, IL) Bookie’s (Chicago, IL) Bookmiser (Marietta, GA) BookPeople (Austin, TX) Books Inc (Berkeley, CA) Bookshop West Portal (San Francisco, CA) The Briar Patch (Bangor, ME) Brilliant Books (Traverse City, MI) Broadway Books (Portland, OR) Byrd’s Books (Bethel, CT) Capital Books (Sacramento, CA) Carmichael’s Bookstore (Louisville, KY) Chapter 2 Books (Hudson, WI) Children’s Book World (Los Angeles, CA) Comic Book College (Minneapolis, MN) Copperfield’s Books (California) Country Bookshelf (Bozeman, MT) E. Shaver Booksellers (Savannah, GA) Eagle Harbor Book Co. (Bainbridge Island, WA) East End Books (Provincetown, MA) Epilogue Books (Rockford, MI) Hearthfire Books and Treats (Evergreen, CO) Hicklebee’s (San Jose, CA) Ink Spell Books (Half Moon Bay, CA) Inklings Bookshop (Rushland, PA) Katy Budget Books (Houston, TX) Kew & Willow Books (Kew Gardens, NY) Liberty Bay Books (Poulsbo, WA) Little City Books (Hoboken, NJ) Loganberry Books (Cleveland, OH) Lost City Books (Washington, DC) Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe (Asheville, NC) Misty River Books (British Columbia, Canada) Napa Bookmine (Napa, CA) The Novel Neighbor (St. Louis, MO) Orinda Books (Orinda, CA) Page 2 Books (Seattle, WA) Phoenix Books (Burlington, VT) The Printed Garden Booksellers (Sandy, UT) Read Between the Lynes (Woodstock, IL) Rediscovered Books (Caldwell, ID) Rivendell Bookstore (Abilene, KS) The River’s End Bookstore (Oswego, NY) Sassafras on Sutton (Black Mountain, NC) Schuler Books + Nicola’s Books (Ann Arbor, MI) Showcase Comics and Games (Bryn Mawr, PA) Source Booksellers (Detroit, MI) Skylark Bookshop (Columbia, MO) Split Rock Books (Cold Spring, NY) The Strand (New York, NY) Terrace Books (Brooklyn, NY) Third Place Books (Seattle, WA) The Toadstool Bookshop (Peterborough, NH) Tombolo Books (St. Petersburg, FL) Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop (New Orleans, LA) Watchung Booksellers (Montclair, NJ) Whitelam Books (Reading, MA) Wild Rumpus (Minneapolis, MN) Words Matter Bookstore (Pitman, NJ) Writer’s Block Bookstore (Winter Park, FL)

[sonnyflow]

Amazing first day. Thank you @watchungbooksellers for hosting me and giving me the confidence to do my very first story time and book signing event with children. Such an honor that the montclair community came out to support and sold out of Little Heroes books!! @cherylduncan thank you for all of your support and for the pictures. It was comforting to see a familiar face. @purobrand @sonnyflow mi hermano mil gracias por el apoyo!! @jess_lans no better feeling than seeing family in the crowd. A few hours later I rushed to NYC to take part in @booksofwonder Black History Panel event. I was honored to share a panel with such seasoned vets, many of which had published well over 65 books!! @jerrypinkneystudio @oge_mora @johnparraart @bandersonwriter @e.b.lewis I learned so much from you and thank you for sharing your knowledge with me. Afterwards, I signed over 50 books!! What an amazing first day! #heroesofcolor #scholastic #humbleyourself #2020vision #instaauthor #booksofig Reposted from @_heroesofcolor (at Watchung Booksellers) https://www.instagram.com/p/B86oQ96p7ff/?igshid=1v10w4c4uyqu1

[still4hill]

Hillary Clinton in Montclair, NJ

Hillary Clinton in Montclair, NJ

nj.com Hillary Clinton draws 1,000 to N.J. appearance Updated on September 26, 2017 at 8:59 PM 6-7 minutes MONTCLAIR — The line waiting for Hillary Clinton nearly shut down Watchung Plaza in Montclair Tuesday. It went from the entrance of Watchung Booksellers, snaking around the corner and continuing down several blocks of North Fullerton Avenue. Clinton greeted about 1,000 people who paid $30…

[belascoainyneptuno]

“I Have a Dream,” at Watchung Booksellers

Tomorrow, on #MLKDay, I will do a reading from my translation of “I Have a Dream,” that beautiful and emblematic speech by Dr. #MartinLutherKing, Jr. The event will take place at @watchungbooks, at 7PM. (If you’d like to attend, please register here.)

Tomorrow, on #MLKDay, I will do a reading from my translation of “I Have a Dream,” that beautiful and emblematic speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event will take place at Watchung Booksellers, at 7PM. (If you’d like to attend, please register in this link. The entire conversation will be in Spanish.) I will dedicate this event:– to #KeenanAnderson, a high school teacher, who was…

[writerswritecompany]

Watchung Booksellers, New Jersey (via)

[stillwithhernothim]

We're SOOOOOOOO jealous!!! We want!!! #Repost @ljsackman ・・・ We waited three hours for 30 seconds with @hillaryclinton at the @watchungbooksellers and it was beyond worth it to hear Truly say on the way back to the car: "Hillary Clinton told me I was cool. I definitely think I can be president someday." Thank you, Hillary, for inspiring the little ones whom we need to #rocktheworld someday. . . . #girlstrong #whoruntheworld #thankyouhillary #bookstagram #momentsthatmatter (at Watchung Booksellers)

[watchungbooksellers]

Our Nasty Women Book Club continues into the summer with our first graphic novel pick and a taste of Didion. Join us Tuesday, June 20th at 7pm to discuss Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maron, then mark your calendars for Wednesday, July 12th at 7pm for our meeting on Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking ✨🌊 (at Watchung Booksellers)

[discovermtc-blog]

A Day at the Beach - 5/18/2017

An Introduction

This week, Stephanie and I traveled to Long Branch, a beach that is a part of the string of beaches known as “the shore” to New Jersey natives and “The Jersey Shore” to the rest of the country. The Jersey Shore may be New Jersey’s top tourist attraction and one of New Jersey’s most notable landmarks. Made infamous by the sub par reality show “Jersey Shore”, beaches like Asbury Park, Seaside and Long Branch attract thousands of beach bums every summer. Being New Jersey natives ourselves, Stephanie and I decided that Long Branch would be the perfect place to start our journey of New Jersey discoveries. -Sophie

A Small History Lesson

Living in the relatively metropolitan town of Montclair, going to the beach seems like a far away journey. The beauty of New Jersey, however, is that city, suburbs, farms, beaches, and everything in between are within a 2 hour drive of Montclair. Due to this convenience, Sophie and I decided that no adventure was more perfect for a 93° day than a trip to the Jersey Shore. In addition to opportune weather, “the shore” (as many New Jerseyans affectionately call it) has an ever-evolving history and character.

Asbury Park and Long Beach are two beach towns that represent this history, so Sophie and I chose to look into those towns. The Asbury Park boardwalk was opened in the late 1800s and served as a hub of Jersey Shore activity throughout the 20th century. One of the most famous New Jerseyans, Bruce Springsteen, got his start at a bar/music venue called the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Although The Boss usually sells out MetLife Stadium when coming to Jersey rather than performing at a small general admission venue, a Springsteen concert and a concert at the Stone Pony are two great experiences I’ve had in the past that I would highly recommend.

Asbury Park is no doubt historic, but recently Long Branch (the next town over) has become a more popular destination among high school and college kids. Sophie and I decided that with the knowledge of Asbury Park in its heyday, we could see what all the hype was about in Long Branch. -Stephanie

Friends

Before I begin telling the story, I have to introduce two people who accompanied us on this trip to paradise. The first, a very good friend of ours, Elizabeth Laverty-Smith. She drives a baby blue Mustang Convertible and enjoys doing yoga in her free time. Liz was our co-pilot for the trip, scheduling our departure time both from Montclair and from the Beach, as well as keeping everyone posted on the changes in arrival time as we drove. There was never any confusion with Liz in the passenger’s seat. Our second guest for our first endeavor was another good friend of ours, Hanna Meziani. Hanna works at Watchung Booksellers and rocks sunglasses like no one you have ever seen. Hanna was the mother figure on this trip, always reminding us when to flip and when to reapply sunscreen. We would have burnt to a crisp without her by our side. -Sophie

Parking

When we first arrived to the Long Branch area, the first thing that we noticed, and probably should have expected, was the amount of people that flooded the boardwalk and the nearby shops of Pier Village. We mistakenly, to the fault of the GPS, started to drive through the busiest part of the boardwalk. This began our hectic search for parking.  After about ten minutes circling the nearby streets, watching those who had successfully parked skip happily to the beachfront, filled with longing for the sand in our toes and loathing of those who already had it,  we finally found parking a couple blocks from the boardwalk. I would say that there is only one way to combat the parking situation if you are planning on taking this trip during vacation. Don’t drive. You may be asking yourself well how then do I get to the beach? Conveniently enough, there is a train station about seven blocks from the boardwalk. Seven blocks might sound like a lot, but it beats scouring the abyss for open parking spots and wasting precious gas, that in this day in age, is not something most people can afford to waste. -Sophie

The Point

We made ourselves comfortable behind a group of college kids that we decided were interesting enough to sit behind, but not too interesting that they became annoying. Coerced by the heat and the strength of the sun, we began to lather sunscreen on our bodies, taking the correct precautions to make sure that we looked like anything but a tomato when we left. As we laid down on our blankets, books in hand, I began to watch the people in front of us for people watching is one of the most enjoyable activities to do at the beach.  My attention shifted from person to person, making up stories about them in my head, where they were from and what they were talking about. In fact, my favorite fantasy story that I conjured up in the tangled ball of yarn that is my mind is one very complicated love story. Looking at the group of college kids in front of me, one thing that I was sure of was that there were too many people for there not to be some kind of drama. So what did I do? I made drama. As two girls passed me, flicking up sand as they skipped by, I deemed them my new targets. In my mind they were sisters, both were in college and hadn’t seen each other in a while and what better way to catch up than tanning in the hot NJ sun. Plus, the younger sister, let’s call her Jen, couldn’t wait to introduce her older sister, Kaela, to the cute boy who lived on her floor during the year. Little did Jen know that her boy toy Jack was not so immune to his surging hormones as she originally thought. Jack was cute, his red hair captured the raise of the sun so much that at a glance you might think his head was on fire and his pale skin reflected the sun as much as his hair caught it. But oh Jack, even your glistening hair couldn’t get you out of this one. For as soon as Jen introduced you to her sister, you fell head over heels in love. What do you do now? I mean Jen is a great girl and all but nothing in comparison to Kaela. The whole thing was about to unravel in a flash of heat when my eye was caught by a familiar face. I couldn’t remember his name but I was almost certain that I knew him and I was almost certain that he had gone to Montclair High School the year before. - Sophie

Pier Village

When I felt my skin may have actually started to sizzle under the strong sun, we decided to explore the boardwalk area called Pier Village. Pier Village is a brand new area of stores with all of the 21st century New Jersey teen staples. An ice cream parlour, a pizza place, a sandwich shop, a cafe, and the infamous Playa Bowls were all packed with hungry teenagers. Pier Village is for millennials what the Asbury Park boardwalk was for baby boomers, a gathering space for a generation to enjoy the company of their peers and the shore itself.

After our time in Pier Village, we decided to brave the frigid North Atlantic waters to get relief from the 93° heat. It took a couple minutes of hesitant toe-dipping and internal pep talks, but Sophie, Elizabeth, and I finally sprinted into the freezing water. The cold shocked our bodies, making our legs and hands feel numb, the numbness quickly faded into a refreshing cool to contrast the aggressive heat of the day. As much as the Caribbean and other more exotic regions get all of the glory for their beautiful beaches, I’d still recommend taking a dip off the coast of good old NJ on a hot day. -Stephanie

The Alumni

As we thawed, I went back to reading my book, enjoying the breeze and the relaxation that only came when I was sitting on the beach. A couple minutes passed and again I looked up to continue my people watching endeavors and noticed that two more Montclair alumni had joined he who could not be named in a game of soccer. Long Branch is clearly a Montclair High School favorite, even after graduation. I tucked my head quickly behind my book, there was no way I was going to be caught staring at those people. I mean for god sake! I knew this was a popular beach, but I don’t go to the beach to see people that I already know, if I wanted to do that I could just stand outside my yard and wait for people to pass by. Did they see me? Even if they saw me would they recognize me? I mean am I even on that level? Like does anyone even know who I am? Do I want anyone to know who I am? Do I care if anyone knows who I am? No, I don’t. What am I some sort of fan girl? I don’t care if they see me. Let them see me! They should be grateful they saw me here! Crap how long have I been sitting like this? I should probably flip. -Sophie

Ending

Completely satisfied with our experience we left at four o’clock as initiated by our co-pilot Liz, but not before stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts and grabbing Iced Coffee because you aren’t really a Jersey Girl unless you have Dunkin’ Donuts in your hand. On the car ride home, iced coffee slowly turning into a watery soup and feeling a little crispier than usual despite my best efforts, I was struck with a moment of gratitude to be one of the many people whose spirits have been lifted by a day at the shore, a tradition that has existed for generations and hopefully generations to come. -Soph and Steph

[ommygod]

Made it to the Halfway There Reading Series at @watchungbooksellers earlier this week. It had a kick-ass lineup, including Melissa Febos and Marcy Dermansky, and I ended up purchasing two of Dermansky’s previous books. Yay new books!

You can learn more about the series itself here.