The Bookshop Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Jonathan Sanchez, Blue Bicycle Books, and Katie Crouch, Author Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

Hello Vermont and South Carolina!

Katie Crouch is the New York Times–bestselling author of Girls in Trucks, Men and Dogs, and Abroad. She has also written essays for The New York Times, Glamour, The London Guardian, Slate, Salon, and Tin House. A former resident of Namibia and San Francisco, Katie now lives in Vermont with her family and teaches creative writing at Dartmouth College.

Blue Bicycle Books is located in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1995 as Boomer’s Books by Lee and Jim Breeden, the store was bought in 2007 by local writer and longtime employee Jonathan Sanchez. Jonathan changed the name of the store to Blue Bicycle Books.

Links for this episode:

Katie Crouch

Embassy Wife, Katie Crouch (signed bookplate)

Girls In Trucks, Katie Crouch

Men And Dogs, Katie Crouch

The White Glove War, Katie Crouch, Grady Hendrix

The Magnolia League, Katie Crouch

Peter Orner

Early Morning Riser, Katherine Heiny

Blue Bicycle Books

YALLFest

Write of Summer

Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

The Bookstour, a documentary by Mason Engel

Binc – Book Industry Charitable Foundation

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Jo Heygate, Pages of Hackney, London, and Shaheen Chishti, Author Jun 21, 2021

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This week I’m virtually visiting London and India!

I chat with Jo Heygate the bookshop manager at Pages of Hackney in London. Pages of Hackney opened in 2008 and is an award-winning independent bookshop on the Lower Clapton Road owned by Eleanor Lowenthal. The bookshop stocks an eclectic mix of books in the areas of literary fiction, politics, feminism, essays, and life writing as well as philosophy, psychology, nature writing, music, and children’s books.

Shaheen Chishti is an Indian British author, world peace advocate, and thought leader. He was born in Ajmer, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and is a descendant of the revered Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. He is the author of The Granddaughter Project, which tells the stories of Helga, a Holocaust survivor, Kamla, who grew up during the Bengali Famine, and Lynette, who is beaten and left for dead during the Notting Hill riots of 1958. These warrior women tell their stories for the first time to their granddaughters, hoping that they can succeed where they failed and that they feel empowered, inspired, and supported to do what is best for themselves.
Enjoy!

Pages of Hackney

Pages of Hackney, Twitter

Pages of Hackney, Instagram

Pages of Hackney, Facebook

Octavia Butler

Patrice Lawrence

The Sellout, Paul Beatty

The Death of Francis Bacon, Max Porter

Cost of Living, Deborah Levy

Patrick Mills, Fields Books

The Record Deck U.K.

Shaheen Chishti

The Granddaughter Project, Shaheen Chishti

https://www.facebook.com/syedshaheenchishti/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/syed-shaheen-chishti/?originalSubdomain=uk

1958 Notting Hill Riots

Shaheen Chishti Blog

The Shaheen Chishti show

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Peter Gray, Ph. D., Self-Directed Education Jun 16, 2021

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Peter Gray, Ph.D., research professor at Boston College, is the author of Free to Learn (Basic Books) and Psychology (Worth Publishers, a college textbook now in its 8th edition). He has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He did his undergraduate study at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences at Rockefeller University.

His current research and writing focus primarily on children's natural ways of learning and the life-long value of play. He a founding member of the nonprofit Alliance for Self-Directed Education and a founding board member of the nonprofit Let Grow.

His own play includes not only his research and writing, but also long-distance bicycling, kayaking, back-woods skiing, and vegetable gardening.

Here are the links for this episode:

Let Grow

Tipping Points Press

Psychology Today

Peter Gray on Facebook

Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life, Dr. Peter Gray (available in 18 languages).

The Alliance For Self-directed Learning

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Stephanie Minett, The Bookshelf, Guelph, Canada, and Caitlin Hicks, Author, Playwright, Actress Jun 14, 2021

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Today, I’m in Canada, starting in Guelph, Ontario, and moving across to the Sunshine Coast, British Colombia.

In the city of Guelph, Ontario is a one-of-a-kind bookstore called The Bookshelf: A bookstore that shows movies. A cinema that serves dinner. A resto-bar that launches books. This is a family-run business, started in 1973 by Barb and Doug Minett, after visiting Britain and relishing all the British bookstores. I caught up with Stephanie Minett to find out more about this special place.

Caitlin Hicks is an author, international playwright, and acclaimed performer in British Columbia. Her debut novel A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE published in the US, won numerous awards: iBooks Best New Fiction, Bronze Book of the Year in Literary Fiction (Indiefab Award), Best Inspirational Fiction (Next Generation Indie Awards), Literary Fiction (Somerset Awards) Silver Medal: Inspirational Fiction (Reader’s Favorite) and JDC Top Must Read Books of 2015.

Enjoy!

Here are the links for this episode:

The Bookshelf

The Village Podcast

You And I Eat the Same, René Redzepi

Caitlin Hicks

A Theory of Expanded Love, Caitlin Hicks

Some Kind of Woman, Stories of Us

Migrations, Charlotte McConaghy

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Betsy Amster, Literary Agent Jun 09, 2021

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Today I’m chatting with Betsy Amster, literary agent and founder of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises, a full-service literary agency located in Los Angeles, California.

Before opening the agency, Betsy spent ten years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage and two years as editorial director of the Globe Pequot Press. She has been described in the Los Angeles Times as “a dogged prospector of…literary talent” and celebrated in a profile in the American Society of Journalists and Authors newsletter for her “no-nonsense style and whimsical sense of humor.” She frequently teaches classes on publishing at UCLA Extension’s Writers Program and participates in panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Enjoy!

Here are the links for this episode:

Betsy Amster Literary enterprises

Submission Guidelines

Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel

L. A. Weather, Maria Amparo Escandón

A Taste of Sugar, Marisol Vera

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Donna And Kate, Little City Books, and Jane Simon Ammeson, Author Jun 07, 2021

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On May 2, 2015, Donna Garban and Kate Jacobs opened Little City Books in Hoboken, New Jersey. Donna is by nature a salonista, and Kate likes the Russians and the Victorians, and some of the Edwardians, and is learning to like the Nows.

Jane Simon Ammeson is a freelance journalist, food and travel writer, and author. Her book Lincoln Road Trip: The Back Roads to America’s Favorite President, was a Finalist for the 2019 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the Travel category.

Her other books include How to Murder Your Wealthy Lovers and Get Away with It: Money & Mayhem in the Gilded Age, Hauntings of the Underground Railroad: Ghosts of the Midwest and Murders that Made Headlines: Crimes of Indiana.

Enjoy!

Links for this episode:

Little City Books
Kate Jacobs, Bar None Records

Fantasy Author Panel: Ava Reid, Alix Harrow, and R.F. Kuang

In The Heights! Book Launch with Lin-Manuel Miranda

Sutton Foster, Hooked

Chris Frantz, Remain in Love

Seven Silly Eaters, Mary Ann Hoberman, Marla Frazee

Why Sinatra Matters, Pete Hamill

A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson

Jane Simon Ammeson

Jane Simon Ammeson Book

Red-Headed Woman, Katherine Brush

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Andrew Chapman, Founder 180 Lab Inc. and Social Motion Publishing Jun 02, 2021

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Andrew Chapman has worked in many aspects of publishing over the past 34 years, including as a trade-published and self-published author, owner of two publishing companies, editor, designer, consultant, and in various positions in the publishing divisions of companies. In addition, he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Publishing and Writing from George Mason University, earned with a 4.0 GPA. This eclectic background matched with formal education is one of the things that makes him unique in the field.

Over the years, Andrew has literally taught thousands of authors and aspiring authors through his professional speaking (300+ seminars in the U.S., U.K., and Australia), writing (including 1,000+ publishing answers on Quora), and as president of a large regional publishing association. In this latter role, he led Publishers & Writers of San Diego in 2003–2010 from a dozen members to a thriving organization with 150 paid members and nearly 500 supporters. In 2012, he launched the first website to feature ratings and reviews of “self-publishing companies” by the authors who have used them (SelfPubSmart.com, now inactive). In 2015, he transformed his company July Publishing Inc. (started in 2000) into Social Motion Publishing.

Links for this episode:

Andrew’s TEDx Talk on social-impact books.

The 180 Lab

Social Motion Publishing

Seth Godin

The Practice, Seth Godin

What Spins The Wheel, Len Forkas

Hope Cam

The Way of Integrity, Martha Beck

Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert

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David Ebenbach, Author, and Allan Stypeck, Second Story Books May 31, 2021

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In the Spring of 2007, my husband and I and our two sons went to Washington D.C. with my in-laws. We visited memorial sites, art museums, the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, Mount Vernon, the White House. We ate great food, met wonderful people, lapped up the history of the United States, and snapped many photos of blossoms.

The trip was emotional, as it would be my father-in-law’s last visit to one of his favorite cities, one he’d visited many times in his long-spanning career in politics. We watched as his wife comforted him when he broke down in tears at the National World War II Memorial, and later at the Arlington National Cemetery. We listened to his stories while riding the United States Capitol Subway System beneath Capitol Hill and dining at his favorite hangouts.

Washington D.C. is a beautiful city, a museum-goers delight, a park-lovers haven. Today, I’m back in D.C. speaking virtually with two residents. And because my guest author, David Ebenbach, celebrated the birth of his latest book How To Mars last week, I’m switching things up and starting the episode with his interview. Then I chat with Allan J. Stypeck, Jr., owner of Second Story Books.

Links for this episode:

David Ebenbach

How to Mars, David Ebenbach

Tachyon Publications

The Artist’s Torah, David Ebenbach

Georgetown University, Center For New Designs In Learning & Scholarship

Georgetown University Center For Jewish Civilization

Writing Down The Bones, Natalie Goldberg

The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron

Klara And The Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro

Second Story Books

Allan J. Stypeck, Jr.

The Book Guys

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Linna Thomas, Coalesce Bookshop, and Dr. Christine Adams, Author May 24, 2021

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Oh, how I love a wonderful story!

On wintry Oregon nights Janet Brown & Linna Thomas dreamed of opening a bookstore. In July of 1973, their dream became a reality when they opened Coalesce Bookstore in Morro Bay, California.

This week I enjoyed a wonderful chat with Linna Thomas about the history of Coalesce Bookstore, her booksellers, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

My guest author this week is Christine B. L. Adams, M.D., a child and adult psychiatrist and author of Living On Automatic: How Emotional Conditioning shapes Our Lives and Relationships. Dr. Adams is responsible for bringing to the forefront the new concept of emotional conditioning and how it creates your personality and shapes your relationships throughout your life.
Link from this episode:

Coalesce Book Store, Morro Bay, California

When things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron

Markings, Dag Hammarskjold

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Christine B.L. Adams, M.D.

Living on Automatic, Christine B.L. Adams, M.D.

Dr. Adams' reading list includes the following authors:

E.M. Forster

John Steinbeck

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Doris Lessing

Pat Conroy

Shakespeare

Ken Follett

Voltaire

Moliére

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Cooper Hefner, Entrepreneur May 19, 2021

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I first met Cooper Hefner in 2007, and today he is my guest on the Wednesday Edition of The Bookshop Podcast. We chat about community service, his father's commitment to social justice and civil rights, politics, and a host of other topics.

Cooper Hefner is an American businessman, teacher, author, activist, and reservist in the United States Air Force. He has worked as the chief creative officer and chief of global partnerships at Playboy Enterprises, a company founded by his father Hugh Hefner.

In July 2020, Cooper launched an exploratory campaign to run as a Democrat for the California Senate in the state's 30th District. Because of a service obligation with the United States Air Force, he announced his decision to suspend the campaign on November 30, 2020.

Links from this episode:

In That Season Of Turmoil And Change, A Bright Light: The Story Of Hef, Jesse Jackson & MLK (Playboy article by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson SR.)

Pacific Council on International Policy

Children of the Night

Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell

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