For those on the fence about buying an Apple Watch, Waterstones in the UK launched a high-definition alternative today for readers. According to the promo video, the watch answers the question, "‘What would it be like if I had a book on my wrist all the time?”
Events
A Night of Philosophy in NYC (Tonight): A free 12-hour round-the-clock series of 20-minute lectures presented by 61 leading international philosophers begins tonight at 7p.m. at 972 Fifth Avenue (the home of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and Albertine Books) and at 2 East 79th (the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion, home to the Ukrainian Institute of America).
Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock (Continues through Sunday): Now in its 12th year, the festival, a program of the Central Arkansas Library System, has grown and features more than 90 authors including T. Geronimo Johnson, Jamaica Kincaid, and three-time Caldecott honor winner Bryan Collier.
Openings & Closings
Vermonters Look Forward to New Store: Phoenix Books, which has stores in Essex Junction and Burlington, Vt., plans to open a 2,400 sq. ft. store across from the children’s museum in Rutland before Labor Day.
Pop Up Spanish-Language Bookstore in Red Hook Section of Brooklyn to Close: Librería Donceles, which sells second-hand Spanish books, will leave New York on May 15 and relocate to Seattle. It has traveled around the country for the past two years.
Other News
Whistlestop Stands Tall: The 27-year-old bookstore in Carlisle, Pa., continues to thrive.
Mountain View, Calif., Business Scrambles to Stay Open: On the eve of BookBuyers’s 25th anniversary, owner Hotranatha Ajaya estimates that he has three months to turn around business at his used bookstore on Castro Street or close.
Philadelphia’s Port Richmond Books Gets High Marks: Spirit Newspapers calls the ten year-old rare and used bookstore, which is located in a silent-movie theater, “the greatest bookshop in Philly.”
No Physical Textbook Sales for GCU: When Grand Canyon Bookstore closes after commencement and reopens in August in a larger space, it will no longer stock textbooks. They will only be available online.
New Cafe for Elliott Bay: In June, Linda Derschang’s Little Odd Fellows will take over the café at the Seattle bookstore.
