Holiday Hours

Bindlestiff will be closed Thanksgiving Day, but will reopen Friday with our normal hours.

We will open the two Mondays before Christmas (Dec. 12 and 19), and so will be open every day for those two weeks.

We will close Saturday, Dec. 24, at 4 pm. We will be closed Christmas Day.

We will close Saturday, Dec. 31, at 4 pm. We will be closed New Years Day.

As always we welcome special orders for books we do not have in stock. While the service standard suggests that books ordered as late as Dec. 21 should arrive in time for Christmas (assuming they are in stock in our distributor’s Pennsylvania warehouse), we have been notified by our distributor that they anticipate delays both in filling orders and in their delivery. They recommend that all orders be placed by December 14 in order to ensure delivery.

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Bindlestiff Bestsellers

These are our best-selling titles for the last month:

Beatrice Alemagna, Never, Not Ever!

Lois Ehlert, Rain Fish

David Adler, Things That Float and Things That Don’t

Linda Ashman, Rain! (board book)

Akwaeke Emezi You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

WEB DuBois, Black Lives 1900: W.E.B. Du Bois at the Paris Exposition

George Saunders, Liberation Day: Stories

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

Octavia Butler, Parable of the Talents

Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower

Ocean Vuong Time is a Mother

Laura Wolf-Powers, University City: History, Race, and Community in the Era of the Innovation District

Ling Ma, Severance

Jennette McCurdy I’m Glad My Mom Died

James Mayhew Once Upon a Tune: Stories from the Orchestra

Marilyn Chin, Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen: A Manifesto in 41 Tales

Junot Diaz, Lola: Edición en español de ISLANDBORN

Ling Ma, Bliss Montage: Stories

Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

Lemony Snickett Poison for Breakfast

Best Children’s Books of 2022

The New York Times has come out with its list of the best picture books of the year; we either have them or have them on (re)order. We also have many other books that we liked a lot. Every week we get new children’s books in, and if you’re looking for something we don’t have we can usually get it in within a week or so.

This link will not count against your quota on the NYT paywall: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/books/review/the-2022-new-york-times-new-york-public-library-best-illustrated-childrens-books.html?unlocked_article_code=akVH5TuTqFqFDVfIAKUA8BEjzR3wfp3RWOihRh4mbv2vVxLLyboc5H5ZA3xNTTZ_jXN5Zq_JHUJ03Pko4HQcldltq4Y2Sd3Zv8GP89M2aoUfcaYkAaaKDkarK3xp1njEk8A1OOjWCw9zHAijRBbkJyqTvNsjAJdFCTaKLjRBZQDx7MakkYb4KDIv0DZVFkYjpv1TrcoN5Mk4zVDhV3vwPA-BOXXSRtjowfROlMaHhqlfJ0B7H9bsCAibDrX_n4fV2vW-VkFMvhpJGSP5039n9UU7Je-WR6p5LXUILRBkdrf9YmkSMPMXavbTH78lrvPus2S3gN2ErrTMZGSv48Kv9NiU4lltQCQqFi8Cy8dtTx2deKpqJxPW5B06PreT-bfBy5FTJ9WN2mi8CTFn39icAD_MjyQ681If9KxctFCmvA&smid=share-url

University City: History, Race, & Community (book event)

Laura Wolf Powers will discuss her new book, University City: History, Race, & Community in the Era of the Innovation District, this Thursday, Nov. 10 at 6 pm. The book chronicles five decades of planning in and around the communities of West Philadelphia’s University City to illuminate how the dynamics of innovation district development in the present day both depart from and connect to the politics of mid-twentieth-century urban renewal. 

Powerss, who is Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Policy & Planning at Hunter College,  teaches economic development, community planning, and real estate finance, and is particularly interested in how to make the outcomes of land value capture strategies more just and reparative. She is currently a co-PI on a Ewing Marion Kauffman-funded project designed to redirect anchor institution supply chains to Black-owned businesses in East and Central Brooklyn.

Thursday 11/10, 6pm, Meyerson Hall B03, 210 South 34th Street

The event is free and open to the public. Bindlestiff Books will be there with copies of the book available for purchase.

Giant Book Sale

Bindlestiff will host a giant book sale on the sidewalk this Saturday, Nov. 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or so — featuring a wide variety of books (fiction, children’s, history, etc.) at prices from $1 to $5.

Rivers that Feed Us: Heritage in Poetry

The Wolf Humanities Center is sponsoring a program with four poets Wednesday, October 26, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street. (Please enter and exit the Museum using the East Entrance.) Herman Beavers, Airea D. Matthews, Raquel Salas Rivera, and Syd Zolf will be reading from and discussing their poetry. Admission is free and open to the public, Bindlestiff will make books available.

To register, and for more information, https://wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/heritage-poetry

Bringing Mythology to Life

Bindlestiff is devoting half of its front window to a rotating selection of books drawing on mythologies from around the world this month, in cooperation with Camp Half-Blood. (Many more books are on our shelves, in our Chapter Books/YA, Classics and Graphic Novels sections.) Camp Half-Blood is sponsoring an immersive mythology adventure day camp where kids become the hero of their very own Quest on Saturday, October 15. Activities include learning how to swordfight, building your own cardboard armor, and earning honor for your house in Olympic competitions. Classes teach campers about myths and monsters, potion brewing, and magic spells. The ticketed event, for children aged 7 to 13, will be held at Wissahickon Valley Park. Flyers are available in the bookstore with more information.

Register on Eventbrite

Asian/Pacific Islander books pop-up this weekend

The pop-up will offer a wide selection of English language books, including fiction, memoir, young adult, and children’s books across a range of price points. It will also offer translated works as well as bilingual Chinese-language children’s books. It will take place on the first floor of the Crane Chinatown community center (1001 Vine St) during the weekend of the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.

An opening reception Friday night, September 16, from 6pm to 9pm will host open mic readings. The pop up will be open throughout Saturday, Sept. 17, and Sunday, Sept. 18, from 11am to 7pm.

Bindlestiff at Sept. 15th Dollar Stroll

Bindlestiff Books will celebrate the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll Thursday, 9/15, with tables of $1 books (from picture books to novels, and lots of nonfiction too) from 5:30 to 8:30 in front of the store. We’ll keep the store open late as well.

The Dollar Stroll has a long tradition, and now stretches from Clark Park or so through 52nd, with food, live music, popsicles, theater tickets, plants, and of course books. (Most for $1, but some stands will have specials at somewhat higher prices)

A Book A Day fundraiser

A Book A Day will hold its 2nd annual Fall Fundraiser Sunday, October 2, 2022, 1:00–4:00 PM at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center, 3907 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

You can find details and register here:

Register on Eventbrite