We're Open for Holiday Shopping, Sunday, noon-4 and Friday till 9 p.m.

      Like every other merchant in the world, we hope for a bump in our sales during the holidays. So to attract y'all, we've got several enticements between now and Christmas:

We are, as usual offering gift certificates, customized and flashy, in our own funky kind of style, for any amount.

We are also offering to use our booksmarts and knowledge of our stock to put together a Bookstack that is individualized for your recipient. Tell us how much you want to spend and what kinds of books would be of interest and we'll do the shopping for you. We'll stack the books up and put a nice ribbon and card on them. If any of the books don't hit the mark or are duplicates, your recipient can bring them back and exchange them for a like valued book. We erase our prices but keep track on a slip which we file away.

We will be open tomorrow Sunday December 12, as well as Sunday the 19th from noon-4. We'll also stay open late on Friday, December the 17th till 9. We'll have a fire going outside, have the makings for S'mores, great hot cocoa and lots of other goodies. Come on down.

Finally, we'll continue to feature some of our more unusual or interesting books. Some new ones are below, but also check out the Featured Books where we wrote a blog about the pleasures of browsing for surprises. We hope to pretty regularly add new titles.

 This charming little piece of local Chestnut Hill History, The Quarries and Stone Masons of Chestnut Hill by Michael Yanni, a quarryman himself, who worked the Wissahickon Schist quarries that were prevalent in this area. You can still see the remains of the quarries in several places and the great work of these stone masons is evident everywhere in houses, public buildings etc. A great piece of local history. $25

Wodehouse was a master of comedy. We struggle to keep his books in stock but at the moment we have this title, The Coming of Bill, and another hardback collection and a few paperbacks. This is a 1976 reprint, in dust jacket, of the original 1920's book which is quite pricey. This copy, $30

Speaking of expensive we have, KING ARTHUR,  a poem by Lord Edward Bulwer Lytton, published  by Henry Colburn, London, 1848. Leather/Marbled Paper Boards. Book Condition: Very Good 5x7.75. Very scarce first edition. This is a sturdy handsome volume which has aged well. It is one quarter leather, spine has 6 nicley tooled and gilded panels, gilt on leather title label is still bright, spine with mild wear. Marbled paper on the rear board with some wear. Slight loosening to front gutter. Marbled foredges soiled a bit. Marbled endpapers. First few pages and last few with some foxing. Interior pages mostly clean although a bit yellowed. Green ribbon marker still attached, has lightly stained pages 294 and 295. Name of previous owner on second free endpaper. 303+ pp. At $600, one of those scarce, collectible pieces treasured by collectors of King Arthur material or Lytton fans, or fans of 19th century leather books.

On the other end of the scale, a book just came in that I'd personally love to read just because I love the author and the subject of the book. I've added it as a reminder that we have an extensive biography section, both in paperback and hardback and we feature not only famous but also interesting subjects. Also a reminder that most of our books are under $10. Married to Laughter, a Love Story featuring Anne Meara by her husband, Jerry Stiller. $3