Western Book Roundup
Bankrupt Borders to Close Several Western Book Stores
By Jenny Shank, 2-23-11
Last week, Borders Books filed for bankruptcy and announced the closure of 30 percent of its stores. The stores slated to close include six in Colorado (in Boulder, Dillon, Littleton, Aurora, Greeley, and Grand Junction), two in New Mexico (Santa Fe and Albuquerque), two in Utah (Murray and Logan), and one in Montana (Bozeman). The Wall Street Journal put together a chart of the closing stores here.
Meanwhile, EdRants.com offers a list of independent alternatives to the closing Borders stores, with the mileage between the closing store and the existing indie bookstore. In Colorado, there are indie bookstores close at hand in every city with a closing Borders. Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article stated there were no independent bookstores in Grand Junction, Colo. In fact, there are two: Twice Upon A Time Bookshop at 2885 North Avenue and Grand Valley Books at 350 Main Street.
• Irish novelist Emma Donoghue, author of Room, which won all kinds of international awards and is popular with Westerners, too (it’s on top of the Denver Post and Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association bestseller lists currently), will be in Aspen tonight as a part of the Aspen Writers Foundation’s Winter Words series. She will appear at Aspen’s Little Nell tonight at 5:30 p.m. Tickets start at $15. The series will continue with Tobias Wolff on March 7, Ethan Canin on March 16, and Joyce Maynard on March 24. For those looking ahead to the annual Aspen Summer Words Festival, this year’s theme will be Middle Eastern writers.
• The Los Angeles Times announced the finalists for its book prizes Monday. The winners will be announced on April 29, when Powell’s Books of Portland, Oreg. will be honored with the 2010 Innovator’s Award. (It’s good news for Powell’s, who shared some bad news earlier this month: they laid off 31 employees.) Montana’s Rick Bass is a finalist in the Fiction category for his most recent novel Nashville Chrome, which I think is the best of the three novels he’s written.
• Washington-based novelist Jonathan Evison, author of West of Here, will be swinging through this neck of the woods on his book tour next week, with stops at the Tattered Cover (Feb. 28), the Boulder Book Store (March 1), and The King’s English in Salt Lake (March 3). West of Here looks to be one of the most popular books in the region this spring—Tattered Cover just selected it for its Very Impressive Book feature, and it’s climbing up the MPIBA bestseller list just a week after its release. Look for my review of West of Here next week.
Please follow me on Twitter and with any regional books news or events.
Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.
Comments
Add your comment below
jcw
As the proud and grateful owner of both stores, I encourage readers to stop in and browse at both of our stores. We offer an eclectic mix of both new and used books with a focus on Regional History, Western Americana, Native Americana and bestselling fiction and non-fiction at wallet-friendly prices. Grand Valley Books offers a calendar of events including lectures, signings, Lunch and Literature (20% discount with a receipt for lunch at any of the downtown restaurants) and lively discussion groups. Both stores have a knowledgeable staff and offer world class customer service.
We partner with other independent bookstores in the West when searching for out of print and rare titles. Stop in for a visit and make yourself at home in two of Colorado's best independent bookstores.
Thanks for the correction! I got my info from the list of indie bookstores on EdRants.com, so you should head over there and let them know about your stores. I will update this article.