Barbara Ehrenreich, 81, journalist and author of a number of books including Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch, Smile or Die, and more, died on September 1. Ehrenreich continued to write into her 80s and her daughter told the New York Times that she was working on a book about the “evolution of narcissism.” Literary agent Sterling Lord died on September 3, on his 102nd birthday. An agent for more than 60 years, he represented Ken Kesey, Joe McGinniss, Jimmy Breslin, the Berenstain Bears books, Art Buchwald, Willie Morris, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Howard Fast, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and many more.
Bookselling: New Owners For Bunch of Grapes Bookstore
Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard has been sold to new owners. Dawn Braasch, who has owned the store since 2008, has sold it to married couple Molly Coogan and Brendan Coogan. The Vineyard Gazette writes that Braasch is “retiring to spend more time with her seven grandchildren,” but “will continue to advise Ms. Coogan in a transitional role until she is up to speed on the business side.” Molly Coogan says she does not foresee any major changes to the store except “to expand the store’s gift selection to include more stickers and pins, items that […]
Baker & Taylor’s Systems Remain Offline
As of Friday morning, Baker & Taylor’s online systems remains down. The outage began the weekend of August 20-21. They write in an update on their website that they are “working around the clock to return to normal operations.” The update continues, “Our priority has been remediating our systems and ensuring they are sanitized. As that work is completed, our focus is transitioning to restoration, bringing our systems online, and returning to operations in a phased approach. We expect disruptions to continue this week but are hopeful we can provide timelines for individual systems and applications as the week progresses. […]
Bookselling: B&N To Reopen In Walnut Creek, CA
Barnes & Noble will reopen a location in Walnut Creek, CA on September 7. The store, which is located in Plaza Escuela, is in the shopping center adjacent to where a BN outlet closed in 2016 after 21 years in business. Thereafter, an Amazon Books opened a location in the same area in 2017, now closed following the company’s decision to exit multiple physical store businesses earlier this year. Store manager Allison Osborn said, “We’re incredibly excited to connect with readers in Walnut Creek and introduce them to this great bookstore we have created. It is to be so well […]