2011 Best Sellers
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Just Kids – Patti Smith
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Down and Delirious in Mexico City – Daniel Hernandez
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Ask the Dust – John Fante
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Catching the Big Fish – David Lynch
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Secret Stairs – Charles Flemming
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Violence Girl – Alice Bag
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Inertia Variations – John Tottenham
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Wind-up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
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Slake Vol. 2 – Var. Authors
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A Visit From the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
EVENTS
SAT FEB 4th; 8pm
it’s the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of TWO-HEADED BEAST: A Storytelling Show, curated by Dave Ross & Jake Weisman!
Please come enjoy original, personal stories from all sorts of weirdos, including authors, professional storytellers, comedians, television personalities and many others!
Here’s the INCREDIBLE line-up:
KUMAIL NANJIANI
MEGAN GANZ
HASAN MINHAJ
BRIAN BROWN
ELI OLSBERG
Hosted by:
DAVE ROSS
and
JAKE WEISMAN
There will be kittens!!!
ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
FRI SEP 10th; 7pm
Featherless is a reading series based on the idea of personal exposure. To write without feathers, without plumage, is to write honestly. We encourage writers of all genres to contribute their voices.
On the second Friday of the month, three writers read for fifteen minutes apiece.
February’s Featherless lineup:
Edward Gauvin
Kate Durbin
Camille Roy
The winner of the John Dryden Translation prize, Edward Gauvin has received fellowships and residencies from the NEA, the Fulbright Program, the Centre National du Livre, and the American Literary Translators’ Association. His volume of Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud’s selected stories, A Life on Paper (Small Beer, 2010) won the Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Award and was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award. Other translations have appeared in Tin House, Subtropics, The Harvard Review, The Southern Review, AGNI Online, and PEN America. The contributing editor for Francophone comics at Words Without Borders, he translates comics for Top Shelf, Archaia, and Lerner.
Writing under the name H.V. Chao, his fiction has previously been published in Epiphany, Nanoism, and Diet Soap. He is a first year fiction PhD student at USC.
Kate Durbin is a Los Angeles-based writer and performance artist. Her books include The Ravenous Audience (Akashic Books), E! Entertainment (Insert/Blanc Press Diamond Edition, forthcoming), Gaga Stigmata (Zg Press, forthcoming), The Fashion Issue (Zg Press, forthcoming), and, with Amaranth Borsuk, ABRA (Zg Press, forthcoming).
Camille Roy is a writer and performer of fiction, poetry, and plays. Her book, Sherwood Forest came out in 2011 from Futurepoem. She co-edited Biting The Error: Writers Explore Narrative, a book of essays by writers on their own experimental practices (CoachHouse). Her books include Cheap Speech, a play, from Leroy, and Craquer, a fictional autobiography from 2nd Story Books , as well as Swarm (two novellas, Black Star Series). Earlier books include The Rosy Medallions (poetry and prose, from Kelsey St Press) and Cold Heaven (plays, from Leslie Scalapino’s O Books). She was a founding editor of the online journal Narrativity (http://www.sfsu.edu/~poetry/narrativity). Roy has taught creative writing in multiple genres and forms at several institutions, including San Francisco State University, California State University SummerArts, and Naropa.
Exciting! Exciting!
About Us
Stories Books and Cafe
Stories Books and Cafe is Echo Park’s stalwart supplier of written works and organic/fair trade coffee and espresso. We carry both new and used books all chosen for their unique worth.
The cafe offers baked goods from the award winning “BitterSweet Treats” and “The Village Bakery”. We have the delectable Laura Ann’s Jams, and Grab & Go Sandwiches and Salads from local favorite “Delilah’s”. Our espresso is hand roasted in Silver Lake by the passion artists at Cafecito Organico.
We sell new, used and rare books. Fiction, History, LA Arcana, Art, Photography, Philosophy and more.
We also buy and trade.
Any questions can be answered by calling 213 413 3733
From LA Times article “Bookstore of the Week: Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park” by Carolyn Kellogg.
Stories Books and Café is located on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Echo Park. Right next door is the literary nonprofit 826LA, with its retail storefront Time Travel Mart. Nearby are shops selling vintage and designer clothes and records. And bars. And The Echo.
Café
The café hums and buzzes throughout the day with espresso drinks and coffee provided by Cafecito Oragnico – a local roaster who also have their own cafes located in Silver Lake. The coffee beans come from South and Central America and create a drink that is rich and warm and full body. It’s a great way to start the day or take a break in the afternoon.
We are proud to be a retailer for Laura’s Ann artisanal jams (who knew bay leaf and strawberries made sense?) and Farmer Dave’s hot nuts ( spicy almonds with a kick) We serve breakfast in the morning and have mac n’ cheese, vegetarian chili and baked goods served all day.
The grab’ n go sandwiches and salads come from Delilah’s Bakery, those wildly delicious whoopee pies are crafted from Bittersweet Treats and the melt-in-your-mouth-brownies are from the Village Café in Atwater.
Events
We like to get people together and see what happens. Stories hosts monthly storytelling and reading events, sometimes poetry and parties with Los Angeles literary journal SLAKE and or our neighbor, 826LA – the youth creative writing center started by Dave Eggers. A few authors that have read for us are: Jerry Stahl, Lydia Lunch, Ralph Herzog, Joseph Mattson, Richard Lange, Patrick Dewitt, Kristen Hersh and John Tottenham. Stories is a music-centric bookstore and local bands have played as well: Henry Clay People, Amanda Jo Williams, Frank Fairfield, Triple Chicken Foot, Tommy Santee Klaws. What we think works best is stuff that’s acoustic/country/folkie/old-timey. Some Friday nights there’s a group of knitters and on late Saturday afternoons there sometimes chess games. Our events take place on the patio surrounded by potted plants, stray cats and strings of Christmas lights. If you are interested in doing a reading or putting on an event here please contact liz@storiesla.com
The Store
Stories Books & Café opened in November 2008 by co-owners Claudia Colodro and Elizabeth Garo. As the world economy shifted and slid, we were told how “brave” we were to open a business. Really, we were just too stubborn to do otherwise.
Stories embraced Echo Park and felt a kindred spirit with the neighborhood: both a mix of old, new, creative, resourceful, tenacious and always evolving. The front counter and some shelves came from Dutton’s Books in Brentwood, the table tops on the patio are made from the original store sign, Claudia found the wall paper at a garage sale, Liz’s dad did most of the paintings and the enchanting mural outside was there when they moved in. Stories Books & Café opened with humble goals: to be part of the community, to provide an inspired collection of books, to serve a good cup of coffee and to create a place where a person wanted to be.
Gifts
We have gift items for those with creative taste and those who like their basics with a twist. Reading Is Sexy coffee mugs, over sized matchboxes, a hand & heart bottle opener, birds’ nests and pretty blue eggs, perfumed candles and Echo Park t-shirts.
We have cards for all occasions and journals for your scribbled thoughts, work-in-progress poetry or just if you need a place to keep all your “things to do.”
We carry Geronimo Postcards with real images of Los Angeles: coyotes, a car cruising at sunset, eastside landmarks and commercial folk-art.
And yes we are happy to gift wrap – butcher paper with a pretty fabric bow.
Used Books: Buy-Sell-Trade
We like words – the way they’re put together and the way they fall apart. We like to turn a page and feel the weight of a book in our hands. The old adage, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” rings true as we find our books in thrift stores, garage sales, from an Aunt cleaning out a closet or a friend about to move.
We take in used books and will give you cash or store credit; best to bring them by after 2pm.
Books
We like words – the way they’re put together and the way they fall apart. We like to turn a page and feel the weight of a book in our hands. The old adage, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” rings true as we find our books in thrift stores, garage sales, from an Aunt cleaning out a closet or a friend about to move. We take in used books and will give you cash or store credit; best to bring them by after 2pm. We carry new books too but instead of just grabbing national best sellers, our selection is handpicked and curated. You’re going to find new authors on small presses, classic literature, thought challenging philosophy, cookbooks, history, crime, LA noir, and lots of classic titles from John Fante, Bukowski, Carver, Murakami, Jane Austen and other greatest hits. There will be weird art books, rock star bios and lots of colorful playful kids books. We’ve recently launched our own eBay store http://myworld.ebay.com/storiesla with hard-to-find-treasures and collectibles.
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Café
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Events
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The Store
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Gifts
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Used Books: Buy-Sell-Trade
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Books
Stories Ebay Books
You can purchase books online through our convenient Stories Ebay Store. Browse through some of our favorite featured titles here. Click on the picture or title to view and purchase from our Ebay store.
Hours, Location & Contact
PHONE
(213) 413-3733
CAFÉ HOURS
Open at 8:30 am Monday – Friday
(please enter through the back alley)
STORE HOURS
Monday – Thursday 8:30 am – 9 pm
Friday 8:30 am – 10 pm
Saturday 10 am – 10 pm
Sunday 10 am – 8 pm
LOCATION & MAP
Stories Books and Cafe, Echo Park
1716 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026-3225
Get Directions
(213) 413-3733