Store Hours This Week

August 19, 2015: As we've been reminding our readers, our opening hours for the next three days vary slightly as we spruce up the store with new carpeting. 

• Tonight, Wednesday, August 19, our Children's Department closes at 5:30 pm.
• Tomorrow, Thursday, August 20, the entire store closes at 5:30 pm.
• Friday, August 21, the Cookbook/Travel room will be closed all day.  

An Invitation to Lunch, no fooling

Please join us for lunch at the store at 12 noon on Tuesday, April 1, and the opportunity to meet two authors with intriguing novels about the Roaring 1920s. Our guest will be New York writer Suzanne Rindell, whose book The Other Typist was named one of the outstanding books of 2013 by Kirkus Reviews and is being released in paperback on Tuesday.  Set in New York in 1924, it's been described by one reviewer as "ever-so noir and a touch Gatsbyesque...a novel so cinematic that it reads as if it's in preproduction." Read about the plot below, and check this review in the New York Daily News.

Ms. Rindell will be interviewed about her book by Renee Rosen, a Chicago writer well familiar with that point in time. Renee's book Dollface: A Novel of the Roaring Twenties came out last year. It's the story of a flapper in Chicago in the 1920s, a city alive with the wild fun of jazz, speakeasies, and a new kind of woman.

We'll serve a light lunch. No reservations necessary.

Feb. 24th: We're closed for inventory

The Book Stall will be closed for inventory all day  Monday, February 24. We're open, as usual, on Sunday, February 23,  from 11 am to 5 pm, and again on Tuesday, February 25 at 9:30 am.

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!

Independence Day Holiday Hours

Have a festive and safe 4th of July Holiday.

OUR HOLIDAY HOURS AT THE BOOK STALL ARE

We are closed all day on Monday, July 4th for the holiday. 

We will open again at 9:30am on Tuesday, July 5, 2011.

We are also closed all day on Wednesday, July 6th for an inventory day.   

We will open again at 9:30am on Thursday, July 7, 2011.

SHOP ONLINE, ANYTIME, RIGHT HERE  FOR EBOOKS, ONLINE ORDERS FOR HOME DELIVERY, OR FOR IN-STORE PICKUP.

How trendy are we? We've got QR codes for your smart phone

Use your Borders card to join our 10 Percent Club for free

Good news:  Because of our local Borders locations closing, The Book Stall will be happy to honor your Borders discount card by enrolling you in our 10% discount club for FREE for one year! A $15 value!

If you're already in our 10 percent club, share this news with a friend.

[posted by Helen]

Our Best to you for 2011

Starting 2010 with Fan Mail .....

We get lovely letters all year 'round. A look at our latest fan mail:



Dear Roberta,

My children have been in the (Book Stall's) Children's Book-of-the-Month Club for seven years. They love it. They look forward to it every month. The selections could not be better. As the children have become better readers, the books have continued to challenge them. When people come to our home, they always comment on the great selection of books the kids have. M.M.


The Book Stall's Children's Book Club

Children who belong to The Book Stall's Children's Book Club receive books in the mail every month or every other month, individually chosen by members of the Children's Department staff, based on a child's interests, reading habits, and enthusiasms. Those who give children the gift of membership discuss the child's tastes and reading history with us either in person, on the phone, or via e-mail to childrens@thebookstall.com. The books are wrapped and include a personal note reminding them from whom the book came. More info on The Children's Book Club

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.

According to the American Booksellers Assn, promoting independent booksellers:

Why shop Indie?


When you shop at an independently owned business, your entire community benefits:

The Economy

* Spend $100 at a local and $68 of that stays in your community. Spend the same $100 at a national chain, and your community only sees $43.
* Local businesses create higher-paying jobs for our neighbors.
* More of your taxes are reinvested in your community--where they belong.

The Environment

* Buying local means less packaging, less transportation, and a smaller carbon footprint.
* Shopping in a local business district means less infrastructure, less maintenance, and more money to beautify your community.

The Community

* Local retailers are your friends and neighbors—support them and they’ll support you.
* Local businesses donate to charities at more than twice the rate of national chains.
* More independents means more choice, more diversity, and a truly unique community.

So, we'll see you in the store!

Thank you.

Blogging from The Book Stall

Welcome to our new blog at The Book Stall at Chestnut Court! It's a new beginning - with all our expertise and knowledge about books here on the page for you to peruse. We as booksellers will be updating the blog every week - and we look forward to hearing from you as well! We experience this "give and take" every day over the desk - now we can talk online. Looking forward to our new adventure - Roberta

Link to our store website: thebookstall.com

Head straight for our Event calendar

Shop online Click to "Browse Subjects," Bestsellers, or type anything in the white search box to search by author or title.
(You can save on postage by picking your order up in the store too).