Cover to Cover Book Blog

The Pigs Return!

2008-10-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

The End times for our friend...

2008-09-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

What's this? Could this be the end? Or is there another chapter to the Bookman saga?

Well, you'll just have to drop by and find out.

Bookman's Adventures Continue

2008-08-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

2008-07-20T16:36:00.001-07:00

An exciting new adventure from Bookman! Will the wicked Bookworm succeed in his nefarious plan?

2008-07-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

The dizzyingly talented Maria Van Lieshout is at it again. Fresh from the wilds of the American Library Association convention, here is an hilarious video of an array of famous authors, illustrators, agents and other industry professionals in a "Project ALA" contest.

2008-07-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

This is the first installment of what will hopefully be the continuing saga of Bookman!

2008-06-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

We are very sad to hear that Cover To Cover's first store dog, Sadie, recently passed away. We love you Scoob.

2008-06-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend the staff of Cover To Cover was honored to attend the wedding of our beloved Olga. For over twenty years she has been a part of our bookstore family (she started in her school uniform, too shy to talk to customers) and has grown into a woman we are proud to call friend. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when Mark walked her down the isle.

Olga and Alberto

the wedding party

cutting the cake

Olga and Nicky

Nicky, her son Fred and his new bride Toni

Camilla was the little flowergirl who screamed like a banshee all the way down the isle (so cute!)

Olga's beautiful dress

Susans from across the country attended the nuptials

this one came all the way from Missouri

Susan, Janet Susan

2008-06-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

Three new piglets! I think my favorite is Lady Chitterling ( love her lingerie and painted hoofs) but I also love the soot marks on Hog Green Was My Valley!

2008-05-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

And here is that great Saxon hero, Ivanhog!

2008-05-25T17:27:00.001-07:00

Our own Emily (and Nick) are off to tropical Mexico! Have a great trip you guys! Here are Emily's Bachelors & Bachelorettes to entertain you while she's away.

2008-05-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Mark just received an envelope full of old pictures and mementos. This is a photo from the Noe Valley Voice back in 1992. The little guy in the middle is now checking out colleges!

2008-05-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

our favorite farceur has a new edition to the library...

Storytime

2008-05-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

Did you know that our beloved Storytime is back?

Please join us and Storyteller, Clare, every Friday morning at 10:30.

Reading, singing, playing!

COME!

2008-05-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

Mark's been at it again!

And now even Jon is joining in on the act

2008-04-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

mysterious piglet sightings...

2008-04-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

two more preposterous piglets

this is, of course, Piggy Longstockings

2008-04-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

what's that little pig up to now?

This week...

2008-04-29T13:55:00.001-07:00

2008-04-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here is Mark's latest entry in the Piglet Follies

Some pig!

2008-04-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

Mark has been playing a new game. One of our favorite Noe Valley author/illustrators, Maria Van Lieshout has published a delightful book titled Bloom, and as a promotional piece they sent us a cute little pad of post-its with the title character printed on it.

The new game is setting little Bloom into a variety of different situations...

Like Pig-malion
or Pig-liacci

or our favorite, Mansfield Pork
Thanks Maria! You can buy the real Bloom from our website

This week...

2008-04-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

2008-04-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

2008-02-19T19:39:00.000-08:00

We were deeply saddened to hear that the unofficial four-legged Mayor of Noe Valley recently passed away. Otis was a scrappy, independent and lovable old soul. Many merchants and other locals would often see him strolling down the street, making the rounds barely waiting for his family to catch up. Everyone who knew him will miss him dearly. Goodbye Otis!

we're bereft...

2007-10-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

The day we've been dreading has arrived, and our own Davi is gone. Moved to the wilds of NYC. In fact, we wish him all the best, but we'll never tell him that. We've just found out that a very lucky bookstore in the Big Apple has just been lucky enough to hire him. Congratulations to BookCourt Bookstore in Brooklyn (http://www.bookcourt.org) treat him right!

Local Celebrities

2007-08-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

Did you know that when you shop at Cover to Cover, you are actually walking into a mini Hollywood? That's right, Mark, Tracy, and Emily are all famous faces. We have all been featured on NBC 11's segment called "Quills", where they interview local, independent bookseller's and have them review a few books. Check out the videos!
And of course, feel free to ask us for our autographs next time you come in.

Oh, and someday you may even see our very own Davi on the big (t.v.) screen.

Harry Potter and the Last Hurrah!

2007-07-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

Once again, we'd like to thank everybody involved in making our Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release party such an overwhelming success. Shout-outs to Cotton Basics, Mary's Exchange, Cook's Boulevard and Video Wave for getting in on the action and opening their doors to a few hundred rabid readers.

Here are a few photos from the evening that barely do justice to the frenzy and fun-factor, but should be enough to make you jealous if you opted to stay home and knit a tea cozy.

More Potter News

2007-07-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some links you may enjoy.

More pictures

This is a New York Times article featuring our very own Mark (2nd page)

Potter Night Pics

2007-07-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for coming. We hope you had as great a time as we did on this truly magical night.

The Event of the Century

2007-07-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the night that everyone, young and old has been waiting for! The latest and last installment of the Harry Potter series will finally be available!

Starting at 10 pm tonight please join us in the celebrations leading up to midnight when you may have your very own copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Partake in our wizard games and enjoy the sounds of our live rock band. Visit other stores in an all out block party. Fun will had by all.

We will be in full wizard attire and hope you'll come dressed up too, for the best dressed wizard shall win a prize!

Hope dearly to see you all there. Here's to Harry!

Happy Fourth Everyone!

2007-07-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to wish you all a Happy Independence Day! We hope you are spending the day with loved ones and plenty of hot dogs and tofu dogs alike.
We will be open today (until 6p.m.) so as always, if you need a good book, you know where to come. So stop by, and say hello or continue your celebrations on this lovely day with us in mind.

Our Storyteller is great!

2007-06-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

If you have a young one in your life, you really need to come by on Wednesday afternoons at 3pm and hear Dot at storytime. She picks out the best stories and reads them with such verve!

Getting Ready for the Big Night!

2007-06-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

Emily and Tracy just did a big shopping trip to get decorations and special treats for the upcoming midnight release party for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We are really hoping to transform the store into a magical fantasy for that night! We already have the wonderful Hogwarts flags flying in front, now we're getting ready for the metamorphosis inside.

We're Here!

2007-06-09T19:01:00.001-07:00

Here are the pictures for the website! They will be featured under the "staff" section and we are currently working on some text to go with each one.

Summer Reading

2007-06-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Down at your neighborly bookstore,Cover to Cover , we try to stock everything that our customers want, of course with limited space this is a little difficult sometimes. However, don't forget that we do special order, there is no extra cost to special order and it generally only take 2-3 days. So next time you want something unique please call us, or stop by and we will see if we can get it for you. (There is also our online ordering system to make it that much easier).

Also, with school out there are plenty of summer reading lists circulating and we would love to help you pick up your books. Most reading list books we stock, so pop in and pick up all those fantastic summer reads!

Potter on the Mind

2007-06-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

It's really starting to feel like Harry Mania around here.

To show our spirit we are flying our flags high! Please stop by and check them out, we are so pleased, our very own Tracy's mama made them. Aren't they FABULOUS!?

Happy June 1st!

2007-06-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's summer here in beautiful San Francisco, and there's a chill in the air. But you know what? We here at Cover to Cover love this weather. We say "Get yourself a good book and curl up in front of the fire this summer."

Speaking of summer though, there are a few things we'd like to remind you of. How about the Noe Valley Garden Tour happening next Saturday, June 9th. Stop in and buy your tickets. This is the 2nd annual Noe Valley Garden Tour and it is featuring all new gardens! What a great way to enjoy the lovely weather and see parts of our neighborhood that you never knew existed.

Next up we have the Noe Valley Nursery Quilt on display. This year the quilt being raffled off is extraordinary! Please purchase as many raffle tickets as you can to help benefit the school as well as increasing your chances at winning this gorgeous quilt and lots of other fun prizes! The auction is June 15th, so hurry up!

And last but not least on Saturday June 9th we will be featuring Noe Valley photographer Josie Iselin for the release of her new book Seashells. Stop by on Saturday at 7 p.m. and enjoy this beautiful book and get it signed!

2007-05-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

Things are progressing with our plans for our Harry Potter Party. Our ideal is to have a giant block party on our block of Castro between 24th and Jersey, stay open until midnight and have as many merchants as we can stay open and participate with us. We're hoping to decorate the store fronts to make our block look like a piece of Diagon Alley! I'm waiting to hear from some folks in charge, but I think it looks positive right now. We'll let everyone know when we have the final word.

2007-05-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, a friend of my sister was having a really fun contest on her blog, so I've stolen the idea outright and now we're all playing at the store. The trick is to change only one letter in an existing title and change the whole meaning. My favorite that I read had been "Go Kill a Mockingbird" and my sister came up with the delicious "Jeezus and Ramona." Here are Davi's entries, you really ought to sit down to read these!

"Sold Comfort Farm" - our favorite Geisha goes rural...

"A Million Little Nieces"

"F Pioneers!" - who needs 'em anyway?

"Baked Lunch" - William S. Burroughs approaches his chicken through an LSD fog...

"Yonder Boys", Michael Chabon's guide to getting them the hell off your lawn if you're over 70

"Extremely Loud Ant Incredibly Close" - comic hijinks ensue as our favorite six-legged creature finds his way into a hearing aid

"Something Wicker This Way Comes" - a boy with ADD turns to basket-weaving to avoid the everyday horrors of elementary school boredom

"Lonesome Rove" - ain't no lovin' for a political mastermind

"A Thousand Aches" - Jane Smiley's critically-acclaimed "hard-knuckle" account of rheumatoid arthritis

"She Firm" - John Grisham harrowing account of an all-female group of lawyers trying to cut it in a male-dominated society

"Black Scallion" - the dark side of the onion

"China Goy", sequel to "Egg Jew Young"

"White Boise" - Don DeLillo's striking tale of Idaho's tragic gentrification

"My Friend Leotard" - sufficiently debunked as a charlatan, James Frey turns to the world of ballet

"Still Wife With Woodpecker" - scathing expose of Woody's marriage

"Hmong the Hidden" - the spirit hides and you look around

Welcome Back Potter

2007-05-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Cover to Cover crew!

Let's get straight to business. The seventh and final Harry Potter book will be released at midnight on July 21, and we are now taking pre-orders. The hardcover book will be sold at regular price: $34.95. I know I know, it's steep - but that's what the publishers have set it at, so we think it's our responsibility to offer you more than just the book when it comes time to lay down your cash. On the night of its release, we're throwing an enormous Harry Potter bash, right here at the store and possibly sprawling down the block. There will be refreshments and entertainment, and best of all, hundreds of other rabid Potter fans to debate the mysteries that await us all in this last installment. Everybody's coming out for the grand finale!

Apart from all that, we have a couple author events coming up at the store. Head on over to the website for details.

Also, it's been a great month for new fiction releases. Don DeLillo, Haruki Murakami, Michael Chabon, Donna Leon, Roberto Bolano and Nathan Englander all have new novels out. We've got 'em, of course, and a lot more... Exciting times!

We hope to see everybody soon.