Roberta Rubin Achievement Award

Congratulations, Roberta!   

 

We're pleased to report that Roberta Rubin has been named the 2014 Women of Achievement Honoree for Arts and Culture by the YWCA of Lake County. She and other distinguished honorees will be feted at the 36th Annual Women of Achievement Awards Dinner on Friday, May 16, at the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort. Please join us to honor Roberta. To read more about this event and for information on registration, click here.

The Passing of the Baton...

 The Passing of the Baton...

   

...but First, a Celebration

 The Book Stall formally changes hands on Monday, July 1, when Stephanie Hochschild of Winnetka becomes the new owner. Last night, a big crowd of faithful customers, fellow Winnetkans, and dear friends from the publishing world turned out to celebrate Roberta Rubin Day and the woman who has steered the ship for the past 31 years. There were tributes, toasts, happy stories, lots of laughs, and a tear or two.  We're delighted Roberta will still be active with us. And Stephanie, welcome aboard!

Roberta Rubin Day!

Roberta Rubin Day  

in Winnetka

Tuesday, June 25

Please join us at The Book Stall from 5:30-8:30 pm for an open house honoring Roberta and celebrating the passing of the baton to our new owner Stephanie Hochschild.

Come raise a toast, share some stories and memories, and catch up on the latest book news. 

  

All are welcome!  No RSVP necessary.

 

Roberta was honored at last night's Winnetka Village Council meeting with a proclamation naming next Tuesday, June 25,Roberta Rubin Day. She's pictured here with Winnetka Village President E. Gene Greable. To read the proclamation, click here.

Voice of the Heartland Award !!

We are delighted to share this wonderful news

 

Earlier this month, Book Stall owner Roberta Rubin received her second major accolade of 2012 -- The Voice of the Heartland Award at the annual Heartland Fall Forum of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association in Minneapolis.  The award is conferred periodically to a person or organization that has shown a lifelong commitment to regional books and book selling.

Roberta is in distinguished company. The last recipient of the award from the Chicago area was none other than the great Studs Terkel.

Roberta Rubin at Book Expo America 2012

Roberta accepting the Publishers Weekly "Bookstore of the Year 2012" award

in New York, June 7 2012.

Some excerpts from Roberta's remarks

"Being honored as Publishers Weekly  Bookstore of the Year has truly been an unforgettable experience -- and now, here we are, to say thank you to so many of you in our great wide world of publishing!

"After all these years, I realize that what we do in our individual stores is only a part of a team effort within the publishing industry. I am standing before you today as a team member of this amazing industry of books, readers, writers, and booksellers!

"There was a cartoon in this past week's New Yorker with the caption 'Castaway Island' and a hermit sitting on a spit of land with a few books on the ground and objects surrounding him -- an old telephone booth, a mailbox with letters strewn around it, a typewriter, a phonograph, a parking meter...and a bricks-and-mortar bookstore! No, no, that is not going to happen to us!  We are not castaways! We are a vital segment of the bookselling community and getting stronger with each passing year.  For this, I am proud to be an independent bookseller in Winnetka, Illinois, and I hope to be for  many years to come. Thank you for giving us a vote of confidence with this award."

 The Book Stall at Chestnut Court today was named the Publishers Weekly Bookstore of the Year.  Click on this link to read the whole story:  The Book Stall Named 'PW' Bookstore of the Year.  Roberta Rubin will accept the award at the American Booksellers Association's annual BookExpo America in New York City on June 5, 2012.

Delightful praise for The Book Stall

It is our good fortune to see this lovely note from Richard C. Morais, on his blog here:

In Praise of Independent Bookstores

"Now that Borders has collapsed, sadly taking out a third of book store distribution in America, it is greatly hoped that independent bookstores will be in a stronger position going forward. Need I say such stores add so much character and life to any neighborhood in the country blessed to have one. So please go visit an indie and buy a book, preferably, if you live in the Chicago area, at the literary haven called The Book Stall at Chestnut Court, in Winnetka, Illinois.

Why am I so partial to this particular store and its respected impresario, Roberta Rubin? Very simple. Roberta’s advocacy on behalf of The Hundred-Foot Journey got my book (paperback due out Aug. 9) on the prestigious Indie Next List for the month of August. I look forward to the day I can thank her in person."

You can purchase Richard's new book, The Hundred-Foot Journey right here..... 

The best books to read now: Roberta's Spring List

Roberta Rubin launched her latest book recommendation list, for fiction, non-fiction, poetry and more.
Enjoy a lucious look at the list, and click to order online. You can pick up purchase in the store, have them delivered, or purchage Google ebooks, all through ur site.

Here's the list...

Enjoy!

TV Tune Out event today @ 4:30

A Winnetka TV Tune-Out event - And Then What Happened?

Wednesday, March 9th - 4:30 pm at The Book Stall 

In Honor of TV Tune Out Week, The Book Stall’s Roberta Rubin, author Sharon Fiffer, Winnetka Library Director David Seleb, Winnetka Village President Jessica Tucker, and Hubbard Woods Principal Maureen Cheever read the first chapter of their favorite classic middle fiction book. Discover a classic, revisit an old favorite, find a book to read to yourself or read aloud as a family project.

No registration required. Appropriate for children age 6 and up.

"Sophisticated" That's what Chicago Tribune calls The Book Stall

A Chicago Tribune article today by Ted Gregory, helps Tribune readers remember the value in local, independent bookstores in the Chicago area. Our staff is so proud of Roberta Rubin for being among the leaders.  

Read on...

"Tapping into that personal connection takes a variety of forms among independents. Typically, it means knowing customers so well that staff can suggest books as soon as a customer walks in the door.    ..."

"The connection also can be more sophisticated. The Book Stall at Chestnut Court, in business for nearly 30 years in Winnetka, offers a children's book club. An adult provides a list of the child's interests to staff, who select the books, gift wrap them and send them to the home every month.

Resourceful diversification is part of the formula. The Book Stall's owner, Roberta Rubin, partners with downtown civic and social organizations to bring prominent authors to town. Those efforts have landed some heavyweights: from Jimmy Carter and Donald Rumsfeld to J.K. Rowling and Martha Stewart." 

source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-met-bookstores-survival-20110226,0,6491760,full.story

Our Best to you for 2011

Holiday Sale: December 5, 2010

The holidays are right around the corner...

SUNDAY, DEC. 5

10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Book Stall’s Annual Holiday Sale

20% all items in the store

(posted by Helen)

Book Stall honored in the Huffington Post

Praveen Madan has written a wonderful article on the importance of independent booksellers. It is a cogent and heartfelt defense of an irreplaceable community institution. And to top it off, she acknowledges the Book Stall and other stores like it for our "warmth, generosity, and sharing spirit." Read the whole article here.

Roberta tells all ...

Roberta Rubin's Secrets to Success
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
by Liz Logan, www.makeitbetter.net

Owning an independent bookstore is a lot like being a mom. It never gets easy. If it's not one problem, it's another. These days, it's Amazon and its Kindle, and Costco.

The challenging nature of her job as owner of Winnetka's The Book Stall at Chestnut Court—a gig she's had for 27 years—is part of what makes Roberta Rubin such a superhero. She hasn't just weathered storms; she problem-solved with such gusto that she gained a national reputation as the best in her field.

How does she do it? We tease out the qualities that got Roberta to the top.

She loves her work.

"I love a good book. I just get so excited," the 71-year-old Glencoe resident says.

Nowadays it's "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese (Knopf, 2009), a novel about a medical family caught up in the turmoil of Ethiopia. "It's about living, it's about values, it's about beautiful writing," she says. "I didn't want to see it end."

Recommendations like this one keep her customers coming back. One of her favorite things is when someone grabs her arm and says, "I loved that book."

She brings her community together.

Roberta is "queen of the book group" as a brilliant selling tool, says Carl Lennerts, vice president of marketing at HarperCollins. She started hosting book groups in the early '90s, bringing together stay-at-home moms who loved to read well before Oprah's book club launched in 1996.

The Book Stall now holds a book group every week. And this fall the store will host its second annual symposium for local book clubs—and event that drew a crowd of 115 last year.

And as for author events, she's not the queen, but "one of the princesses," Lennerts says. Along with other independent bookstores, she started hosting authors in the '80s, and lobbied New York publishers to include Chicago on book tours.

Now, Chicago is an essential destination for authors, thanks in large part to Roberta. This year The Book Stall has hosted Alexander McCall Smith, Jane Hamilton and Julianne Moore (reading her children's book), to name a few.

She never lets people forget her face.

Roberta travels faithfully to New York three times a year—twice to visit with publishers, many of whom have become her dear friends, and again for the national convention Book Expo America. In turn, publishers visit her, too.

"She's a wonderful ambassador of independent bookselling to the whole of New York City publishing," Lennerts says. "She's a cultural force."

She looks at the big picture.

Roberta recognizes that the village of Winnetka keeps her business alive. She's served on the Winnetka Chamber of Commerce for many years, and is about to become president for the second time. Her long résumé also includes board member for the Great Lakes Booksellers Association and the American Booksellers Association.

"She's very important in the community with the other retailers, and bringing business to Winnetka and keeping things local," says Joan DeMayo, senior vice president of children's sales at Random House. "She's very active in making sure that Winnetka is a place that people want to continue to shop."

She's not afraid of new things.

The store is taking its inventory digital these days, with the help of Roberta's son John Rubin. His company, Above the Treeline, has created software that tracks books sales, data that can then be sold to publishers.

She speaks her mind.

The printed page is here to stay, according to Roberta. "I'm not so sure that reading a book on the Kindle, or even listening to it on tape, can give you the same satisfaction as fondling the book, hugging the book, and giving it to someone else," she says.

She lives her work.

"Roberta will go to a dinner party and come back saying, 'I sold these books, we better order them,'" says Mary Joyce DiCola, a Book Stall buyer who has worked with Roberta for almost 15 years.

Her glass is half full.

"I'm an optimist, for better or for worse," she says.

Vote for your event choices

We hold a large number of events each month, but we know our favorite customers aren't always showing up to see these interesting authors. Please take a moment to vote for the type of events you'd come to, and indicate the best times of day. Look over to the right and you'll see our two quick polls. No sign in required, just vote for your preference, and help us help you!

Roberta Rubin

Roberta Blogs Ogden Nash

April is National Poetry Month and I have always loved to celebrate it by reading more poetry as well as quoting a poem or two in our newsletter. As I sit here in mid-April, I am reminded of “April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots…” from T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.

Now I look to some cheerful and uplifting poetry! Ogden Nash comes to mind—and in a recently published book, Essential Pleasures, edited by Robert Pinsky (our U.S. Poet Laureate from 1997 -2000), I found a fanciful poem about Christopher Columbus in the section of “Long Lines, Strophes, and Parallelisms.”

Just before Ogden Nash, there are the first three chapters of Ecclesiastes, and always a favorite, Chapter 3 begins with: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die: a time to plant, and time to pluck up that which is planted…”

Back to Ogden Nash, and his poem, "Columbus":

Once upon a time there was an Italian,
And some people thought he was a rapscallion,
But he wasn’t offended,
Because other people thought he was splendid,
And he said the world was round,
And everybody made an uncomplimentary sound,
But his only reply was Pooh,
He replied, Isn’t this fourteen ninety-two?….
So Columbus said, somebody show me the sunset and somebody did and he set sail for it,
And he discovered America and they put him in jail for it,
And the fetters gave him welts,
And they named America for somebody else,
So the sad fate of Columbus ought to be pointed out to every child and every voter,
Because it has a very important moral, which is, “Don’t be a discoverer, be a promoter.

I suppose I like this poem not only because of its humor and wit, but because I often feel that in this business, I am the “promoter!” I ask you to come into the store to buy books, or to attend one of our wonderful special events, or to call or email us with your requests. We will stay in business with your support. And so I say “thank you” for all you do for us—I know so many of you are concerned and appreciative of having an independent book store in your area. By the way, this month we are offering a $10 coupon (with a $50 purchase) in our May newsletter. Stop by and pick up a copy if you are not on our mailing list. I hope you will take advantage of it!

April blew in with gusto

Dear Friends - We are in the first days of April and warming up with all the new books that have just come into the store! Just this week, the new Paula Deen, The Deen Family Cookbook arrived - and some great fiction - The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton, and Just Take My Heart by the indomitable Mary Higgins Clark! And with Spring on its way, John Parker, Jr. has just written a wonderful novel about running - Once A Runner. Just a few to whet your appetite!

Jane Hamilton is coming to our Women's Writers Luncheon series this Thursday - and she is one of the favorite novelists in America. Call us for reservations at 847-446-8880. The restaurant is Mirani's on Elm Street in Winnetka.

Hope you are looking forward to Spring and its joys of reading.

Roberta

A Note from Roberta: April 2009 update

For us, at The Book Stall, it’s a very strange time. It is Spring Break week – the last week of March – and Winnetka, and our store, feels like its place is that of a ghost town. We have tidied the store getting ready for the Spring rush of books – and I hope that you will find time, and the interest, to come into the store to shop.

We have some “big” names coming in April:

Matthew Pearl, The Last Dickens on April 2,

Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone on Friday, April 24,

Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain on Sat. April 25,

Alexander McCall Smith, Tea Time For the Traditionally Built (a Detective Ramotze title) on Wed. April 29,

and Reza Aslan, How To Win a Cosmic War on Thursday, April 30^th.

Not to mention the rest of our calendar of good writers. We hope that you are here at 811 Elm Street for any number of the authors we are hosting. Our online event calendar is continuously updated. Click the "Monthly Events" link and view our home page to purchase books and get up-to-the-minute event news: www.thebookstall.com.

I will keep in touch as the month proceeds. I hope our weather – and our financial climate – continue to improve. Thank you for supporting us in all the wonderful ways you do – the TV Tune Out week, the friends and authors that you bring in, and the calls of reassurance as we survive the retail atmosphere of today. Thank you.