We will have our special Valentine’s Sundaes for Two tomorrow to celebrate with your Sweetie(s). Stop in for a yummy treat or great gift options!
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Storybook Tree Tradition Continues – Come Enter!
Chocolate Art Walk 2017 – Recap
Super crowds and perfect weather were out for the annual Chocolate Art Walk! We thoroughly enjoyed music by The Muldoon Family Trio (Michael, Elijah and Matt Muldoon), plus the watercolors of Lynn Marit Peterson, pottery from Michael Cooke and Bart Godett, jewelry from Julie Prange, and all the other artsy wonders of the store!
Thank you so much to our crew of Courtney, Thomas and Ella for putting in a long evening to welcome the customers and dish the ice cream, and a huge thanks also to the artists who made it such fun. Note that many of the works are still available for your holiday shopping!
Lynn Peterson peers around her stunning display of watercolors.
Michael Cooke brought in a wonderful fresh selection of Cooke’s Clay.
Michael Muldoon says he had to raise his own band – and he and his wife have done a fine job!
Books as Art – a few examples
The Calico Quilters brought the 2017 Raffle Prize Quilt, tickets are still available!
The Muldoon Family Trio
From illustrators to fancy endpapers, some books are just beautiful.
Happy crowds
Diane and Thomas, apparently moving to fast for photos
Courtney behind the counter and helping customers.
On the way to the Death By Chocolate Ice Cream samples.
Once Upon a Time…the Bookstore was Haunted!
The Roberts sisters enjoy a good Haunted Bookstore!
Gretel and Rapunzel were awesome help!
Enchanted by Erin in the Storyteller’s forest.
Someone needs to distract the wild beasts! Blake is on the job.
Poisoned apples, Snow White’s apple pies, and Belle’s Pretzel bites were on the treat table.
There IS room on the Broom!
Sometimes the Queens chair is the best spot.
Thanks for the help Gretel!
The Miller’s Bag Toss attended to by Thomas and Walker.
So happy to see these two faces!
Whose the fairest of them all?
Just say No to Gaston!
Good fortune and good stories follow Erin!
Maddi helps some cuties create the Big Bad Wolf.
Kristen was a patient and talented helper
This is how to get a win!
Multigenerational fun!
Riddlemaster Elon and his friend kept the crowd puzzled.
Red Riding Hood Maddi.
Creating wolfish art.
My what fierce teeth you have!
Red Riley is equipped to feed Grandma!
Rapunzel has to hoist that hair!
And what a big smile you have little one!
We still have lots of locally and organically grown pumpkins for sale! Great for jack o’lanterns tonight or cooking tomorrow! #rangeandriverbooks #thegreatpumpkins #booksandpumpkins
We still have beautiful classic fairy tales, which every child needs.
A lurking wolf.
Yes. The Bookstore is for Sale
Well this is a hard post to write, but I need to stop putting it off. I have decided to sell the book store in order to pursue other avenues with my family. It has been so much fun, and a very fulfilling occupation, but I need to do other things. If you are interested in the specifics, please contact Diane at 760-937-7317.
Since the intent is to sell the whole business, our operations will remain the same for the time being. I’m hoping that all of you bookish folks who read the blog posts will know the perfect new store owner – send him or her my way if you do!
Let me list some of the positives:
- Ideal central location in Bishop with excellent foot traffic, decent parking, decent access. Approximately 2,000 square feet including health department inspected kitchen for ice cream and beverage services, plus more if desired. Upstairs space currently under utilized, but has potential.
- Outstanding inventory in fiction, nonfiction, and popular genres. Almost 5,000 books listed on on-line sales inventory.
- Loyal customer base
- Well trained, creative, and enthusiastic employees
- Increasing online sales
- Well designed web site established
- Front porch
- Varied and beautiful items from consignment sellers
- City of Bishop working on enhancing downtown with various programs
- Improving nationwide health of independent bookstores
- As much or as little help/training from Diane as the new owner wishes
Of course we all know book sales have seen drastic hits since about 2008, but the news is improving. Our store mirrors that trend, and we have the advantage of being able to sell food items and gifts/souvenirs. It is such a pleasure to match people with good books, I know someone else will step in to carry on the 35 year tradition of The Worn Bookworm/East Side Books/Range & River Books. Please call me if you have any questions.
The Art Opening Project
If you have noticed the very creative artwork gracing our walls in the Children’s area and hallway, we have The Art Opening Project to thank! Artists and teachers Erin Boehme and Hannah Burgoyne are working with local classrooms to publicly display student’s artworks.
The Art Opening Project – Tending the Gardens of Creativity – is funded through the Dorcas Birchim Art Fund and is in partnership with Wild Roots Forest School Eastern Sierra. The goal is to support children’s creativity and contribution to our community through inclusive art projects, individual creations, public display and community involvement. Learn more about the project at the website (http://www.theartopeningproject.org) or by contacting Erin at theartopeningproject@gmail.com.
The first show to arrive on our walls is the work of Mrs. Arcularius’s Fourth Grade class from Round Valley Elementary. The students learned about Native American storytelling traditions and read some wonderful retellings of Native American legends. Each student then created a multimedia collage representing a legend/book, with stunning results. As a bonus for displaying their work, in addition to the recognition for their creativity, each student will receive special coupons for visiting their display.
Erin will coordinate future displays with classroom teachers. Please contact her if you are interested!
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Anyone up for a special Storytime?
I haven’t been getting children lately on Thursdays for Storytime, but this week it falls on Dr. Seuss’s birthday. That seems like a great reason to come down and celebrate with a few Seuss books! I’ll be here at 10:30!
The ABA and Free Speech
I hold the annual dues bill from the American Booksellers Association with trepidation each year. It seems like such a large chunk in the slow winter months when I could send that money in so many other directions. So I annually reevaluate the decision to participate. I do love the Indie Next Lists we offer to customers, the Book Page reviews, and bookstore news though, so I eventually send off my check.
The ABA is also a strong and active voice to protect free speech, something we have become a little complacent about. Stir up some controversy though, and we remember how fragile the right to free speech really is.
With the cancellation of Simon & Schuster publishing contract with “conservative firebrand” Milo Yiannopoulos for his book Dangerous, due out in June, the ABA published a thoughtful and appreciated article in its bookseller newsletter on the topic. Some booksellers were boycotting Simon & Schuster for agreeing to publish the book, which of course is a protected First Amendment right, but one that may cause publishers to limit their taking on controversial topics in the future. I don’t want to read Yiannopoulos’s book, I probably wouldn’t stock it in the store, I don’t even know why his views should interest me. I resent the label conservative being linked with hatefulness. But the controversy could just as easily be over something else – Harriet Beecher Stowe and Nelson Mandela were controversial. Wendell Berry, a writer I adore, is an activist, sometimes angrier than others, and I would be devastated if his work went unpublished. Obviously this is just a simple little example of a giant topic, but I’m glad the ABA is taking the principled stand they have.
Below is the summation of ABA’s statement. I can only respond with “Well put and thank you, my check is on its way.”
Simon & Schuster Cancels Yiannopoulos Book | American Booksellers Association
Memorial Gathering Planned for Robert Miller
To cover all of my contact bases, I just wanted to let all of Robert “Bob” Miller’s friends know that his family has scheduled a memorial gathering for Sunday, September 18 at 2:00. Location will be at Izaak Walton Park, West Line Street Bishop.
This will be an informal potluck get together, a time to share memories and stories over good food. Please bring a dish to share if possible and your own drink. (The park doesn’t allow alcohol). Utensils will be provided. Izaak Walton Park is the beautiful, tree filled County Park on Bishop Creek, just west of Manor Market on West Line.
His family is coming from Oregon, California, Florida and Nevada to celebrate Bob’s remarkable life in the community and mountains he loved so well. They wish to meet his friends and fellow artists here in Bishop, so please attend if possible. If you cannot attend, please keep Bob in your thoughts on that afternoon with us.
Contact Diane at the store if you have any questions – 760-873-6882, or cell, 760-937-7317.
Bon Voyage to BUHS 2016 Grads
Well saying thanks and so long to this year’s crop of students who have been a part of the store is certainly bittersweet. Yes, my baby Katie is graduating!
First let me thank two others who have volunteered (or been conscripted) with such enthusiasm for special events. We are sure going to miss Katrina Biehl and Joe Morgan!
Joe, an avid hunter and hiker I gather, and also a phenomenal photographer, is off to study at the University of Idaho next fall. He makes a great pirate, so I’m sure becoming a Vandal won’t be too hard! After getting to know him as Katie’s friend and classmate, I had to laugh to find out I’ve known his grandma since buying the store! Good luck and thanks Joe.
Katrina, also an avid hunter and adventurer, is headed to University of Nevada Reno. She has been a big part of the past four years in our house, and clearly made her share of party crews! We appreciate your cheerful help and sense of humor Katrina. Don’t be a stranger, and best of luck to you!
And our Katie….what can I say? We bought East Side Books when she was seven, so she has grown up with and in the store. She’s read through more than one shelf, and been a part of every event and party as well as moving to the new digs. It hasn’t always been her favorite activity, but she is used to being part of our family businesses and knows how much we rely on her and her brothers. As trade off, she always had plenty to read, gets to taste test the ice cream, and she’s a great tractor driver! Yes we will miss her next year in so many ways!
Katie is headed to Washington State University to study Organic Agriculture Systems and Basic Medical Science. She is interested in studying how food is grown affects health, and possibly watching some fun Pac 12 football games. Congratulations Katie!
Which brings to mind another matter, I am going to be short of party help in the near future…if you know young people who might be interested, please let me know! Since the parties are free community literacy events open to the public, they have successfully been used as community service hours when needed.
