Chatterbox

Hello!

Welcome back to all of our summer residents! It was great to see so many familiar faces over the very busy Memorial Day weekend. Here at the bookstore we took Memorial Day off from selling books to remember all those who we have lost and also to give our book sellers a little break after the crazy week we had selling books! Let me tell you our booksellers are very hard to convince they need to take a break from work, as everyone of them loves their job and wants to be at the store every chance they get. It speaks volume to me that these ladies never want to go home, because they love servicing all of you and talking all things books. Even when their shift is up they stay to make sure every little detail of the day has been done and nothing was missed. I like to say they fight over working shifts because they absolutely love what they do and take pride in our little store. Thank you to everyone of them for giving their all at what they do.

As some of you have noticed when you come in the store, we are changing some things up. Kenya our bookseller had been working this past winter on bringing in local artists. We put this plan in place early May, and have started to carry art work from three different artists. Our goal is to keep the artwork to MN artists or artists from the Midwest. Many of our customers have enjoyed seeing all the new things, and finding new art for their homes or as gifts. We have also added a bargain book section. All of our books in the bargain section are 40% off. We are adding new books daily!

Finally I would like to let you all know we are getting back to having author signings in the store post-covid. We have at least six Authors lined up as of right now for summer and fall. Stay tuned there are a few you WON’T WANT TO MISS!! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date!

Greetings fellow book lovers!

I want to take this chance to introduce myself as the new owner of Cherry Street Books. My name is Emily Regnier. Along with my husband Paul we have decided to take on this new adventure. We have 3 children, Ella 15, Jack 13 and William 8—none of which like to read! (I’m still working on them!)

We call Alexandria home even though we did not grow up here. I figure after living in this area for over 18 years we can finally call it home! Paul and I grew up in southern MN and were determined to not be stuck in corn fields our whole life. That is what brought us to the lakes area. After living here just a short time we fell in love with our community. We purchased out first home in Glenwood and started raising our family. After opening our first business—Ella’s Salon—here in Alexandria, we decided it was time to live closer to my job. That is when we moved to Alexandria. Although we have been involved in our community for many years, we are both excited to get to meet new people through the bookstore.

I fell in love with Cherry Street Books soon after they opened. After I had my daughter, my mom would take her to story hour on Saturdays while I worked. They would always come home and talk about Lee and the great books she would read. Soon after, I made frequent stops to find things for my kids, because during that time there was very little time for my own reading! As the years have passed by, I found myself wandering into the store as a place I could go to feel at peace and also to feel relaxed. Is that crazy? I don’t think so, because I am starting to hear through many of you that you have the same feeling when you walk through the doors.

I am excited to share more about this adventure with each of you, as the months come, through our newsletter. I will use this as a way for you to get to know me better. I am excited to see you and to have the chance to get to talk all things books with you.

Last but not least, I am beyond grateful that Kathleen has chosen me to take over this amazing bookstore. Kathleen along with all the talented women who work at Cherry Street have welcomed me in and have been helping me learn the ropes. I have big shoes to fill, and I hope I will make Kathleen proud! All of our current book sellers will be staying on at the store. So you will continue to see the same smiling faces.

Emily

P.S. My favorite type of books to read are Historical Fiction and Murder Mystery!

Well, the time has come to say good-bye. As of the first of next month, I will no longer be the owner of Cherry Street Books. It has been a wonderful journey; along the way I have met so many terrific people and made so many great memories both in the store and at events around the country. What an exciting 15 years it has been since I first began dreaming about and planning for the store in early 2007! I have met fellow booksellers and store owners from all over the country at various conferences and they have always been supportive and willing to share good ideas and advice. Booksellers cheer for the success of each new store and I am glad to tell you that despite all the on-line competition, the indie bookstore business is thriving! That, of course, is thanks to loyal customers like you who continue to support us and believe in the importance of small, independent businesses that keep their communities alive.

One of the benefits of being in this business is the opportunity to meet and talk with so many writers, both those who are established, well-known and famous and those who are new, aspiring writers. I have found most of them to be very humble, interesting people who have universally expressed support and gratitude for independent booksellers/stores. Many of them would not have achieved the fame and popularity they now enjoy without support of their early work by indie booksellers. Over the years, we have hosted hundreds of author events at Cherry Street Books which many of you have attended. Probably our most popular event has been the almost annual appearance by beloved Minnesota author, William Kent Krueger. We always know there will be a great turnout for him! You will be glad to know he’ll be back this year with his newest book in late summer.

Before closing, I want to express my appreciation for the wonderful staff I have at the store now and also for several who have preceded them for various lengths of time in earlier days. They have all brought unique values and perspectives to the store and made useful contributions to how we grew over the years. Emily inherits a great group who all have real passion for reading and for bookselling. I also want to thank our new owner, Emily, for stepping up right when I needed her. She will have new ideas and I know the store will grow and evolve in good ways! As long as we have your support, Cherry Street Books will continue to be a strong and vital presence in downtown Alexandria. What exciting times are ahead!

Farewell and thanks to all. Keep well and keep reading!

Well, those of you in Minnesota have had quite the winter to get through! I was there for the start of it and survived some really cold days in January, but have been enjoying sunshine and warmer temps in Mexico for several weeks. Even though we’ve had several batches of company here, I have managed to find time to do some good reading. Some of the titles I enjoyed were mentioned in the last newsletter. They include The Promise by Damon Galgut, Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy, Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, and The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris. All excellent! Harris’ novel will be coming out in paperback fairly soon and I hope you will pick up a copy. It takes place at the tail end of the Civil War in Georgia and focuses on the fate of two newly freed slaves. Excellent story!

Valerie Perrin’s novel, Fresh Water for Flowers, was a #1 best- seller in both France and Italy, where it was called “Italy’s favorite lockdown novel”. Katie MacKendrick, a librarian at the Denver Public Library, said “The only way I can describe this book is that it’s epic … It is contemporary fiction, a murder mystery, a thriller, a tragedy, and a romance all rolled into one.” Violette, the main character, is the caretaker of the cemetery in a small town in France. Her life has not been an easy one, but she always seems to find happiness in the small things of life. Filled with great characters, intriguing plots, and little gems of wisdom that will make you think. It’s a winner!

A friend who was visiting had a book from the Minneapolis Public Library with her. She finished it, so I decided to read it quickly before she had to leave. Author Yaa Gyasi’s novel, Transcendent Kingdom, is fine writing. I did not read her first one Homegoing. Did you?

Next on my list is Diana Gabaldon’s famous book, Outlander. We’ve had it on the shelves at Cherry Street since we opened and have sold many copies. I’ve always meant to read it and now it’s finally time! Isn’t it fun when you have a book (or a pile of books) you can hardly wait to begin? According to Gabaldon’s many fans, when I finish this one I will wish I had the next books in the series here with me to plunge into. We’ll see……  I’m not usually a series reader, but maybe this time I will be. 

Keep warm. Keep well. Keep safe. Keep reading. Keep your hopes up ..… spring will come. 

I am currently in Mexico enjoying some respite from the cold Minnesota winter. January is a cooler month here too and the locals find it chilly at around 70 degrees with a slight breeze. Sometimes it drops way into the 50’s overnight. Brrrr……. I hope the worst of the cold is over at home now that we’re moving into February!

Being here does afford me plenty of time to read and I have been doing quite a bit of that in recent days. I’ve read The Promise by Damon Galgut (set in South Africa), Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy (set in Scotland), Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (set in Australia), The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (set in England), and have just started Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood (set in various locations including Paris, Cuba and the US). Even if you are not able to travel far from home, you can go anywhere in the world in a good book! 

It’s been very popular, so many of you may have already read The Thursday Murder Club; I found it delightfully amusing with rather complex murder mystery-solving with many potential suspects to consider. I’ve heard it is wonderful as an audio book too as it is read by a great reader with a fine English accent. Check out our store’s connection with Libro.fm if you are interested in an occasional audio book.

All of the books I’ve finished lately were really excellent; very different from each other with complex characters, interesting information new to me (social norms during apartheid in SA, environmental issues and  efforts to reintroduce wolves into the highland areas of Scotland, family dynamics between parents and four adult children when the mother goes missing in Sydney, and quirky friendships and humor among those living at a retirement village in the Kent Countryside) and more knowledge and interesting tidbits about each of the various countries. I’m sure I have more books with me than I can possibly get through on this visit, but it would be really awful if I should run out! 

I’m sure many of you were surprised with the news that Cherry Street Books will have a new owner as of May 1st. It’s all good! I am very pleased to have Emily take over and am sure you will continue to enjoy the store much as it has been over the almost 15 years since we opened in June 2007. 

Same name, same great staff, plus some fun, new ideas to come, I’m sure. There will always be plenty of great books on the shelves and friendly, helpful staff to assist you. Emily is already spending some time in the store learning everything she can, so I hope you’ll greet her when you get a chance.

All of our immediate family gathered at my son’s home in Florida to share Thanksgiving together this year and also to celebrate Bruce’s and my 50th wedding anniversary on the 27th. I can still hardly get my mind around that number! People having 50th anniversaries are supposed to be OLD, aren’t they? Anyway, we had a great time together and it was a good excuse to plan the gathering. With one family living in Florida, we have to work at getting us all in the same place at the same time. The Florida crew has gotten spoiled with the warm weather and it is hard to convince them to journey north in the colder months. 

I hope you enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving this year too and are looking forward to the Holidays ahead. It’s amazing to be so close to the end of the year already! We have had a busy year at Cherry Street Books and are so grateful to all of our wonderful and loyal customers! If you are needing gift ideas for Christmas, we’re happy to help! There are loads of new books coming all the time and we have other nice gift items in the store as well. 

Check out our new instant gift boxes created for you this year……they each include two nice books and other fun items already wrapped and ready to go. There are some prepared for young children, middle grade and adult (women) but we are happy to create more if there is interest. 

One thing I look forward to every year in December is the Alexandria Area High School Christmas Concert. I happen to have a granddaughter in the concert choir this year, but even without that benefit, I wouldn’t miss it! The students here are so fortunate to have wonderful teachers who maintain a long standing tradition of excellence in musical performance. They are blessed to have such great music education and you will be blessed to hear them perform. For me, this concert is truly one of the best things about the Christmas season and I hope you will consider attending to see what I mean. There will be two performances on Sunday December 19; one at 3pm and another at 5:30. I hope to see you there! 

Happy Holidays to all! Stay safe and stay healthy!

Book Donations for Jingle Bells
Christmas is coming! We will once again be putting out a basket for book donations being collected by the local chapter of AAUW (American Association of University Women) to be distributed to families along with food baskets through the Jingle Bells program. Books are needed for all ages—babies through teens. Any books purchased at Cherry Street Books for donation to the basket (at the time of purchase) will be at a 20% discount. 

Please help AAUW in their quest to get new books into the hands of children in our area this Holiday Season. We’ll put the book donation basket out on Monday, November 12th.

Audio Books
Do you enjoy listening to Audio Books? Never tried it but might like to? Cherry Street Books is now partnering with Libro.fm, a huge source of audio books, to provide you with the opportunity. The app is easy to install on your computer or your phone. You will be asked to designate an independent bookstore and we suggest you choose Cherry Street Books😊. There are over 215,000 titles available to download! You may choose a monthly membership for $14.99 that entitles you to one title per month with 30% off additional  audiobooks or gifted audiobooks. (Monthly credits do not expire if you don’t use them every month.) If you’re not sure you want to have a monthly membership, you can just order audio books randomly when you want one and pay each time. Libro.fm membership would be a nice gift to any of your reader friends or family members too. 

This is all new to us too, but please let us know if you need help getting started and we’ll do our best to help.

Books and New Stuff
We continue to get new and enticing books every day at the store and it’s so hard deciding what to read next! I’ve been anxious to get started on Amor Towles’ new novel, The Lincoln Highway, and I should be able to do that in the next couple of days. I’m just finishing an interesting historic fiction by Marie Benedict; it’s about the well-known early 20th century English mystery writer, Agatha Christie and is titled The Mystery of Mrs. Christie.

Like every other industry, the book business has been affected by shortages and shipping delays. We have finally received most of the Wrendale line of products that I ordered in August, but we’re still waiting for a few items to arrive. The Wrendale products that we received earlier have been very popular; check them out next time you’re in the store ……. we think you’ll like them! Made in England, the designs are really sweet/cute/lovely……it’s hard to choose the right word, but you’ll know what I mean when you see them.

As usual, once we pass Halloween, the time seems to fly and before we know it we’ll be gathering for Thanksgiving feasts and then Christmas. This year should be an improvement over last, with everyone feeling a bit better about gathering with friends and family to celebrate. Please stay safe and healthy and enjoy your time celebrating with your loved ones. Sending early Holiday greetings from all of us at Cherry Street Books!

Kenyah put out a box with bits of paper and asked people to jot down the title of their favorite book so far in 2021. I just pulled them out today to see what titles were mentioned and found quite a variety! 

Some were classics, some romance, and among others there were Lessons Learned by local writer Richard Hardine,  Normal People by Sally Rooney, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V. E. Schwab, The Sun Down Motel, a thriller by Simone St. James and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Kids got into it too and mentioned Geronimo Stilton: The Treasure of the Emerald Eye, The Land of Stories: The Enchantress, Junie B. Jones and Mercy Watson, a wonderful series by Minnesota author Kate DeCamillo which my grandchildren have all loved. 

It’s really fun to hear from others what books they have been enjoying. Thanks to those who have tossed in their favorites! I only wish I could squeeze in more time for reading those books too, but I’m sure I’ll never get to the end of my list of “want to reads.” Our store book groups and other groups in town continue to select interesting titles too, so check out the book club selections next time you’re in. We have a shelf especially dedicated to those books. We’d be glad to feature your book club choices too if you will inform us of the titles. It is always of interest to other groups when they are looking for a good book idea.

We are in the waning days of the summer season and it surely has been a busy time at Cherry Street! We thank you all for your patronage! We are continuing to add new items to the store and are adding more greeting card designs too, so we hope you’ll take time to browse a little next time you get a chance. We recently re-stocked our finger puppets and added some new ones; puppets have been selling like crazy this summer! Kids love them and they are a nice creative, imagination-building (and quiet) toy.