Ep 17: Holland Saltsman - The Novel Neighbor

Epigraph

Welcome to episode 17! We're interviewing the a.m.a.z.i.n.g Holland Saltsman, owner of The Novel Neighbor in Webster Groves, MO.

 

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Chapter I

In which We Discuss Bookstore Bathrooms, Discover that Staff Picks Work, and Talk About... Books...

Before we start drinking, check out Novel Neighbor's bathroom:

We’re Drinking

It's too hot for bourbon, so we're rocking dirty gin martinis out of mason jars, coffee mugs, and martini glasses (apparently Kim's the classy one this episode).

 

Holland's Reading

Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom by A E Hotchner (for Novel Neighbor's Subscription program) Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction by Gabrielle Moss (pubs 10/30/18) The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King (the audiobook is read by LeVar Burton!) Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature by Viv Groskop (pubs 10/23/18)

Emma's Reading

I'm Fine, But You Appear to Be Sinking by Leyna Krow They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib Betwixt-And-Between: Essays on the Writing Life by Jenny Boully Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Kim's Reading

Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity by Arlene Stein
When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Forthcoming & Newly-New Titles We're Excited About

Hannah's Excited About

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell What If This Were Enough? by Heather Havrilesky (pubs 2018 Oct 2) The Disasters by M K England (pubs 2018 Dec 12) - The Breakfast Club meets Guardians of the Galaxy! Hungover: The Morning After and One Man's Quest for the Cure by Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall (pubs 2018 Nov 20) Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

Kim's Excited About

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan (author of Half-Blood for folks who love Sing Unburied Sing and The Underground Railroad. author of Half-Blood Blues) Monstress Volume 3 by Marjorie Liu Vengeful by V E Schwab (follow up to Vicious) The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents by Pete Souza (author of Obama: An Intimate Portrait)

Emma's Excited About

Severence by Ling Ma Rosewater by Tade Thompson Also mentioned: The Murders of Molly Southbourne Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell and Mike Feehan (author of the Flintstones comic reboot) Bonus Podcast Recommendation: Super Skull All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung (pubs 2 Oct 2018) Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (pubs 23 Oct 2018)

Y'all. Hot take here. Staff picks work! Emma had a staff pick on All the Lives I Want and Holland actually picked it up at Elliott Bay while visiting Seattle before our episode! (Shout out to our episode with Amy Stephenson from The Booksmith, who initially recommended it to us, and to our favorite audiobook provider, Libro.fm.)

      View this post on Instagram

Picked this up @elliottbaybookco from their #stafffavorite shelf, cracking it open tonight. #essays #hollandreads #literarytourism #shoplocal @grandcentralpub

A post shared by The Novel Neighbor (@novelneighbor) on Jul 29, 2018 at 4:54pm PDT

 

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Chapter II [26:37]

In Which No One Tells Holland She's Crazy, People Love Their Greeting Cards, The Drunk Booksellers Marvel at Novel Neighbor's Ability to Handsell Events, and We Reiterate that Bookstores are a Business (whaaaa?)

The Novel Neighbor: More Than A Bookstore

The Novel Neighbor is not just a bookstore. In addition to author events, they host birthday parties, summer camps, bookstore yoga, and adult classes (like continuing ed, but sexier), among other things (sorry Amanda!).

Recommended reading for staff retreats:

StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura VanderKam

Beware of squirreling, y'all.

 

Chapter III [47:06]

In Which We Move From Books to Books, Talk About Hybridity, and We Finally Meet a Bookseller Who Has Read Harry Potter

Book Description Guaranteed to Get You Reading 

Anything meets anything. NOT "It's the next" NOT EVERYTHING IS THE NEXT HUNGER GAMES, Y'ALL. Hybridity.

Holland loved a book that was Comic Con meets The Help. FYI, it's called The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson.

Emma recommends Hawkeye by Matt Friction. It's Buffy meets Veronica Mars. Which apparently is listed on Emma's shelf talker. But, like, who reads those?

Desert Island Pick

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Emma hasn't finished The Secret Garden, but The Little Princess might be Emma's Desert Island pick. That said, she hearts Mandy by Julie Andrews, which is kinda the same thing, so that counts, right?

Station Eleven Picks

Practical: anything from the Did you Know shelf, such as How to Stay Alive in the Woods: A Complete Guide to Food, Shelter and Self-Preservation Anywhere by Bradford Angier

Political: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

Wild Pick

The Amazing Adventures of a Nobody and The Kindness Diaries: One Man's Quest to Ignite Goodwill and Transform Lives Around the World by Leon Logothetis

Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama

Bookseller Confession

Holland hated Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff and The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney. Also, she never read Catcher in the Rye, which both Kim and Emma are totally okay with. Emma says you should skip Catcher and read Franny and Zooey. 

Shout out to a bookseller who has actually read Harry Potter.

Go-To Handsell

Best book Holland has read since she opened the bookstore (whoa): The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood

Kids of Appetite by David Arnold (if you liked Outsiders, read this)

Go-To Picture Books:

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by John Funk, illustrated by Brendan Kearney

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt

Impossible Handsell

Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick (author of Silver Linings Playbook and The Reason You're Alive)

FYI: Emma's really into Richard Gere.  

Book for Booksellers

Throw back to Laura VanderKam

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works by Dan Harris

Favorite Bookstores

Flyleaf Books - Chapel Hill, NC Elliott Bay Book Company - Seattle, WA Strand Book Store - New York, NY novel. - Memphis, TN The Last Bookstore - Los Angeles, CA

Road Trips are for bookstores, right?

Favorite Literary Media

Shelf Awareness What Should I Read Next Podcast (hosted by Anne Bogel, author of Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything and I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life) Book Riot Drunk Booksellers

Epilogue

In which we tell you where to find Novel Neighbor on the Internets

Website: thenovelneighbor.com Facebook: @novelneighbor Twitter: @novelneighbor Instagram: @novelneighbor

You can find us on:

Twitter: @drunkbookseller Litsy: @drunkbooksellers Facebook Instagram Email Newsletter Website

Join us for our FIRST EVER LIVE EPISODE on Friday, September 28th at 10pm at King's Books in Tacoma, WA. Also, spoiler alert, this will be our next episode. And it will be fucking incredible. Promise.

Emma tweets from @thebibliot and writes bookish things for Book Riot. Kim occasionally tweets from @finaleofseem, but not enough to justify you bothering to follow her.

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