“When I first arrived in LA,” Alex Heimbach writes at Bustle, “I was thrilled to discover the Library Bar. Unfortunately…the books were purely decorative… what I really wanted was a bookstore that also served booze — a place where I could simultaneously indulge my great loves for books and beer.”
She has collected some bookstores where you can do just that.
10 Awesome Bookstores Serving Booze
Prairie Lights Books — Iowa City, Iowa
Thanks in part to its proximity to the country’s most prestigious MFA program, Prairie Lights has a long tradition of hosting and nurturing great writers. Even better, the cafe is located in the former home of the city’s literary society, so you can have a glass of wine in the same place where authors like Robert Frost and e.e. cummings spoke to the local literati.
See the other 9 HERE
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Brooklyn’s Most Eccentric Book Seller Explains Why He’s Cashing Out
John Scioli (right) and a friend chat outside Community Bookstore (Scott Heins / Gothamist)
After 30 years running the beloved Community Bookstore, Cecilia D’Anastasio writes in The Gothamist, John Scioli is selling his building for $5.5 million and maybe moving to France.
“I’ve been going to the South of France since 2004 and I meet a lot of Russian women there—they go on holiday… I tell them I have a used bookstore, and they coo, ‘Oh, do you have Dostoyevsky?’ You know, they want to talk about literature.”
Scioli and his acerbic wit have roughly a year to move out of the bookstore and two more to leave his digs upstairs.
Read the whole story HERE
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Unicorn Cookbook Found at the British Library
A long-lost medieval cookbook, containing recipes for hedgehogs, blackbirds and even unicorns, has been discovered at the British Library.
Professor Brian Trump of the British Medieval Cookbook Project described the find as near-miraculous. “We’ve been hunting for this book for years. The moment I first set my eyes on it was spine-tingling.”
Detail of a unicorn on the grill in Geoffrey Fule’s cookbook, England, mid-14th century (London, British Library, MS Additional 142012, f. 137r).
Experts believe that the cookbook was compiled by Geoffrey Fule, who worked in the kitchens of Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England (1328-1369).
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Might explain Midsummer Night’s Dream…
Was Shakespeare high?
Scientists have discovered that 400-year-old tobacco pipes excavated from the garden of William Shakespeare contained cannabis, Bonnie Malkin writes in The Telegraphic, suggesting the playwright might have written some of his famous works while high.
Residue from early 17th century clay pipes found in the playwright’s garden, and elsewhere in Stratford-Upon-Avon, were analzsed in Pretoria using a sophisticated technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry, the Independent reports.
shakespeare Photo: ALAMY
Read the whole story HERE
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There are stories in here. Many. Try this one on for size.
Your Deepest, Darkest Fears
Illustrator Fran Krause asks people to tell him their deepest and darkest fears…but they never expected that he’d do this with them, BJ Rudd writes at Dose.com.
“Many of our fears have a connection to our childhood memories and have manifested over time to become what they are today. Krause started with his own fears, before venturing into others’ weird and creepy anxieties. He realizes that some fears might seem completely irrational to some people but are actually completely horrifying for others. Below you’ll find some of the submissions he’s received over the years and if you’re feeling adventurous, you can even submit some of your own.”
See more fears HERE
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THIS ‘n THAT
EReader Cases That Look Like Beautiful Old Books
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Sasquan is being held in Spokane this week, practically my backyard, so I’ll be there for my sixth Worldcon. I’ll be on a couple of panels, give a reading, attend a Kaffee Klatche with fans. I’ll also be hosting ‘Tea with the Duchess.’ If you’re coming to Sasquan, be sure and look me up.
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Quotes of the Day
“Some young people come in and they say, ‘Do you have a computer?’ I’m like, ‘No, do you want to buy a computer?’ and then they start to walk out. They don’t know how they’re supposed to find anything without a computer—like, they want Hemingway, and I tell him that their book is under the Hemingway section. ‘Oh my God, how did you find it?’ ” ~ John Scioli, retiring bookseller
“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” ~ William Wordsworth
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Alma Alexander My Books Email me
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