Exciting news for ABAA member Greg Gibson: his noir crime novel The Old Turk’s Load was just named a Top Crime Fiction Debut by Booklist Online. From Booklist:
Pay attention to our debut winners. You’re going to be hearing their names, reading their books, and seeing them on best lists for years to come.
Congratulations, Greg!
ABAA member Greg Gibson (Ten Pound Island Book Company) recently released his latest book, a noir crime novel called The Old Turk’s Load (you can read more about it here). Greg offered copies for sale at the recent NY Antiquarian Book Fair and kindly donated the proceeds to the ABAA’s Benevolent Fund, a charitable fund that offers assistance to booksellers in need. He sold 117 copies of the novel and raised over $1,000 for the Fund. Many thanks to Greg for his generosity!
The Benevolent Fund provides financial aid to booksellers in need, whether or not they are members of the ABAA. It is administered by three Trustees and chaired by the immediate Past President of the ABAA, and the Benevolent Fund is separate from all other Association funds. All applications and disbursements from this fund are held in strictest confidence. The ABAA actively solicits tax-deductible contributions to help the effort. If you would like to learn more about the Benevolent Fund or make a contribution, please visit the following link.
The ABAA is delighted to welcome the following members to, or to a new status within, the Association: Alexandre Hime of Biblioctopus, Jeremy Markowitz of Donald A. Heald Rare Books, Ryan J. Parks of Krown & Spellman, Booksellers, Elizabeth Young of RoYoung Bookseller, Inc., and Patricia Ahearn of Quill & Brush. Read a little more about each member below.
Full Member
Alex Hime, Biblioctopus
Alexandre Hime, Biblioctopus (Century City, CA)
I was born into the antiquarian book trade. My father had been a member of the ABAA for three years by the time I was born. Some of my earliest memories are linked to book fairs around the country, and many of the people I’ve known the longest are other booksellers. I became one of the youngest associate members of the ABAA several years ago, and with the experience that came my interests and knowledge of the trade grew considerably. Biblioctopus has always had a somewhat specialized stock–classics of fiction and pop culture (though it always typically spans hundreds of years), so my basis of knowledge had a good foundation. Ultimately, though, I wanted and needed to know more. With a few good professors providing inspiration a whole new world was opened, and the non-fiction side of Biblioctopus has, recently, started to evolve as a result. The ABAA is continually changing, and I hope that my abilities, insights and interests will will help sustain both Biblioctopus and the ABAA well into the future.
Associate Members
If you’re in town for the NY Book Fair, ABAA member Jeremy Norman currently has an exhibition on display at the Grolier Club.
“A Count With Taste, and Sticky Fingers” surveys the life and infamous career of Count Guglielmo Libri, “one of the most audacious book thieves in history.” (You can read a NY Times review of the exhibition at the link.) It will be on display until May 25 in the second floor gallery.
ABAA member Greg Gibson, proprietor of Ten Pound Island Book Company, has just released his latest book, a noir crime novel entitled The Old Turk’s Load . The story takes place in 1967 Manhattan and the lives of the colorful cast of characters is entwined by a $5 million herion shipment that goes awry. I have yet to read the book myself, but it has already garnered critical praise. From the New York Journal of Books:
“…character descriptions that shine like pistols in sentences that burst like bullets…The Old Turk’s Load is probably the fastest neo-noir read on the crime novel shelves. Exquistely hard boiled, this crime novel is the perfect beach read for those matured on Tantantino and Spillane.”
Greg has authored several other books– Gone Boy, Demon of the Waters, and Hubert’s Freaks– and has a great blog about his involvement in the antiquarian book trade, The Bookman’s Log. (Check out recent entries in his blog that relate to The Old Turk’s Load.)
Greg will be exhibiting at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair this weekend and will be signing copies of his new novel, with all profits going to the ABAA’s Benevolent Fund. Stop by Booth D23 and get your copy! I know I will.
The ABAA is delighted to welcome the following members to the Association: Rockford Toews of Back Creek Books LLC, Wendy Gale of The Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company, and Zoe Mindell of The Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company. Below, learn more about each member.
Full Member
Rockford Toews, Back Creek Books LLC
Rockford Toews, Back Creek Books LLC
I’m a native Californian, raised on an orange ranch in the San Joaquin Valley. I’ve also lived along the Monterey Bay, in the Napa Valley, and in Los Angeles before moving to Annapolis some 22 years ago now. I started my book business in 1994 as a search service for out-of-print books. That was just before the Internet, and my book searches were done through want lists published in AB Bookman’s Weekly. I’ve always been glad to have gotten the experience of the pre-Internet days in the trade, brief and minor as it was. I soon became
a seller with sites like Interloc/Alibris, ABE Books, and all the various “Biblio” prefixed and suffixed sites which are now gone. I sold exclusively online and by appointment until I finally opened a storefront in historic Annapolis two years ago. I may be the only one who thinks so, but I believe small bookshops will make a bit of a comeback. An increasing number of good books are impractical (more…)
ABAA member Ken Karmiole (Kenneth Karmiole, Bookseller, Inc.) has generously given UCLA‘s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies (GSE&IS) a $100,000 endowment to support Archival Studies and Lectures.
Ken Karmiole (photo via Ampersand)
“This wonderful gift will greatly enrich our work by supporting a variety of high-profile programs such as symposia and visiting lecturers that will bring leading expertise from around the globe to UCLA,” said Anne Gilliland, Professor of Information Studies and Moving Image Archives and Director of the Center for Information as Evidence. “It will also highlight the ground-breaking contributions of our own faculty and students to the field of Archival Studies.”
Ken said he wants to “see UCLA become a place for people interested in rare books and manuscripts and historical materials.”
“Archival material is going to become more and more significant,” he continued. “University libraries want (more…)
Adam Davis of Division Leap (Photo by Melissa Smith via Capital New York)
The Seventh Annual NY Art Book Fair was held two weeks ago at MoMA PS 1, and I’m sorry that I missed it. Organized by Printed Matter, the fair had more than 200 local and international exhibitors and also included screenings, lectures, musical performances, and book signings.
ABAA member Adam Davis of Division Leap (Portland, OR) was exhibiting at the fair for his fourth consecutive year. Division Leap, which just moved to a great new location last month, specializes in zines, artists’ books, the Mimeograph Revolution, radical Americana, and a host of other printed miscellany.
Adam spoke with Capital New York about technological advances and the future of the book, a topic that is on everyone’s mind. He made the following thoughtful and astute observation: (more…)
Tom Congalton, newly elected ILAB President (image via ILAB)
Thomas Congalton, proprietor of Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc. and long-time ABAA member, was elected ILAB President yesterday at the annual President’s Meeting. His election by his international colleagues, all Presidents of their respective national associations, was unanimous. The meeting took place during the 40th ILAB Congress, held this year in Lucerne, Switzerland. The Congress will be followed by the 24th ILAB International Book Fair in Zurich, which will run from September 27-30.
Tom Congalton is one of America’s foremost authorities on Modern First Editions and 20th Century Literature (if you’re interested in this genre and aren’t familiar with Tom, take note!). He established his firm (more…)
ABAA members James Bryant of Carpe Diem Fine Books in Monterey, CA and Edward Nudelman of Nudelman Rare Books in Seattle, WA recently received some attention in the press. Carpe Diem was written about by Cynthia Haven of Stanford University who dubbed the shop “the best bookstore I’ve never seen”, and Rebecca Rego Barry of Fine Books & Collections magazine interviewed Ed Nudelman in a very interesting profile.
Congrats to James and Ed!
From our Missing Books Blog