Penn Book Center

Friends, we are still here, selling some wonderful new releases. We’re taking all possible precautions. We have a bathroom with soap and hot water. We’re washing our hands frequently and anyone who visits is welcome to do so as well.⁣

It’s a precarious time for everyone, us included. We aim to stick around but can’t do it without your support. If you can’t make it into the store, we are taking orders online at www.pennbookcenter.com⁣
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As always, thank you, thank you, thank you for your support🧡

New fiction releases from Zora Neale Hurston, Lidia Yuknavitch, Aravind Adiga & Gish Jen.

Blind date with a book! Scroll through to see write-ups of our blind date books.
Each one is 20% off.

New release Tuesday with titles from Katy Butler, A.J. Grainger, Sophia Shalmiyev,‬ Joshua Hammer, Daniel Mallory Ortberg, Jonathan Horn & Craig Fehrman!

New in the shop! Greeting cards, postcards & jawn notepads from local illustrator Alisa Wismer 😍

Just in time for Valentine's day...

📕Events at PBC this week!📕

"She Came to Slay" w/ Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Monday, February 10
6:30pm to 8:00pm

"Stop Telling Women to Smile" w/ Tatyana Fazlalizadeh & Feminista Jones ("Reclaiming Our Space")
Wednesday, February 12
6:30pm to 8:00pm

"Innocents Abroad" w/ Joseph & Lisa McGrath
Thursday, February 13
6:30pm to 8:00pm
**Following the reading will be a wine & cheese tasting ft. assortment of complimentary cheese and charcuterie from DiBruno Brothers**

Poetry Reading ft. Maya Phillips & Daisy Fried
Saturday, February 15
2:30pm to 4:00pm

🖍Please help us spread the word about our Saturday morning story times to those with kiddos in their lives.

We read great picture books & provide crayons for coloring bookmarks! It's a great way to start the weekend. 🖍

👀 New bookmarks! They’re free, come visit us & scoop one.

Open until 8 PM today!
Come on by :)

This week's events at PBC! Come join us.

Monday, 1/27 - "Talk Till The Minutes Run Out" w/ Benedicte Grima - 6:30 PM
Weds., 1/29 - "Paradigm Lost" w/ Ian Lustick - 5:30 PM
Thurs., 1/30 - "Information Hunters" w/ Kathy Peiss - 6 PM
Fri., 1/31 - "The Observer Effect" w/ Barry Schwabsky - 6:30 PM

Our first ever story time is tomorrow at 10 AM! Details below :)

Announcing story time at PBC! Starting this Saturday, we'll offer morning story time geared towards kids 2-6 (all ages are welcome, though). If you know folks who might be interested, please spread the word.

More than 95% of Philadelphia public schools lack a functioning library.

West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) has opened 18 previously closed elementary school libraries and is currently running 14 libraries in West and Southwest Philadelphia, providing library services in schools with more than 5,000 students.

WePAC also gathers volunteers to read with kids and to show them how they can check out library books. They also have donated thousands of books to Philadelphia school libraries.

We are offering 20% off a children’s book intended for donation to WePAC. If you’re shopping with us, consider buying a book for a kid at discount.

Please share this (if you feel inclined) to help us spread the word. Thank you!

https://wepac.org/

West Philadelphia Alliance for Children | A book can change a story.

Announcing story time at PBC! Starting this Saturday, we'll offer morning story time geared towards kids 2-6 (all ages are welcome, though). If you know folks who might be interested, please spread the word.

✏️Hi friends, we're working on a possible rewards program for the store. If you've ever visited us, it would be a big help if you could offer your feedback in this short survey (only five questions!)✏️

https://tinyurl.com/v62frw5

Penn Book Center Customer Survey Thank you for taking the time to take our survey! We are looking to launch a new membership program for our customers and would love to hear your feedback. Please note that all your information will be kept confidential.

TODAY (10/5) at 3PM, don't miss James Meyer (of the National Gallery) discussing his new book with Carlos Basualdo (of the PMA) at Penn Book Center!

TONIGHT at 6PM, come hear Andrew Lewis discuss his book, THE DROWNING OF MONEY ISLAND, and climate change's effects on our local coasts!

TONIGHT (9/23) at 7PM: Russian short story master Maxim Osipov will be in convo w/ Jon Stone at Penn Book Center!

TOMORROW (9/20) at 6:30 pm, don't miss Anne Walsh & Pamela Lee discussing their AMAZING new books with Catherine Lord! At Penn Book Center!

Yo, I spot a local:

HIKER TRASH is the new graphic narrative by Philly's own author and illustrator, SARAH KAIZAR, showing you a community as diverse as the mixed media she, and her photographer Nicholas Reichard, use to bring you along on their meditative adventure through the Appalachian Trail. Highlighting the AT hikers of the past through excerpts of the shelter log books along the trail, Kaizar shows how six-months and good company can change a person, for better or for worse.

Next time you’re in, grab a copy and a backpack and maybe one day you’ll find yourself in an AT shelter writing your own story.

TONIGHT at 6:30 pm at Penn Book Center: Sarah Perry in convo w/ Emma Eisenberg!

Prof. Chi-ming Yang, author Carmen Maria Machado and PBC owner Matt Duquès host discussion of Joseph Le Fanu's Carmilla with students in Yang's Monsters in Film and Literature class.
Machado, a National Book Award finalist for Her Body and Other Parties, has edited a new edition of Carmilla published by Philly's own Lanternfish Press earlier this year.

New photo added to shared album

Don't miss our celebration of Etel Adnan's TIME, feat. translator Sarah Riggs & a trilingual (French-Arabic-English) reading of the text! This Saturday (9/14) at 2:30 pm!

Nell Zink will be at PBC TONIGHT at 6:30 pm in convo w/ Jaime Fountaine!

Carlos Andrés Gómez, Warren Longmire, & the Excelano Project will be reading here TONIGHT (9/10) at 6PM!

Check out our event calendar! This week alone we're hosting Carlos Andrés Gómez, Nell Zink, CAConrad, Raquel Salas Rivera, & a trilingual reading of Etel Adnan's TIME!

pennbookcenter.com/event

Poetry at PBC: Carlos Andrés Gómez, Warren Longmire, & the Excelano Project TOMORROW (9/10) at 6PM!

TENDER BUTTONS Press 30th Birthday Poetry Extravaganza TOMORROW at 2:30 pm at Penn Book Center! Featuring Lee Ann Brown, Katy Bohinc, Laynie Browne, Lynne Sachs, Julia Bloch, Thomas Devaney, Samuel Delany, Josef Kaplan, Bridget Talone, & Jason Zuzga!

Don't miss Sharon Marcus & André Dombrowski TOMORROW (9/5) at 6PM at Penn Book Center!

Storied bookstore on Penn's campus gets a new chapter in its life via new owners PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Penn Book Center co-owner Michael Row said he and his wife, Ashley Montague, were about to become two more victims of Amazon.

https://billypenn.com/2019/08/26/west-phillys-penn-book-store-finds-new-owners-will-not-shut-down/

West Philly's Penn Book Store finds new owners, will not shut down The couple taking over the beloved indie bookshop hope to keep it open "at least 100 years."

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce that the Penn Book Center will stay open, thanks to new owners Matt Duquès and Diana Bellonby!

As a result of all the publicity generated by your efforts to keep us in business, Matt and Diana, who were in the process of moving from Alabama to Philly, contacted us and opened negotiations for purchase in the spring.

We think Matt and Diana are the perfect people to build on the legacy of the Penn Book Center. As academics, they understand what makes the Penn Book Center unique, and they have the vision and energy to make it a viable trade store.

Both Duquès and Bellonby have PhDs in English. Bellonby, who grew up in Northern Virginia, is a scholar of Victorian literature. Duquès, a New Jersey native, has a background in retail and hospitality and has been an English professor at the University of North Alabama for the last five years.

We felt terrible about closing, and we are so grateful to the many people who organized to save this wonderful institution -- to Penn faculty and students led by the amazing Chi-ming Yang, to our customers, to the Penn real estate folks, and especially to Matt and Diana.

Ashley Montague and Michael Row

TONIGHT at 6:30 pm, P. E. Moskowitz & George Ciccariello-Maher will discuss THE CASE AGAINST FREE SPEECH at Penn Book Center!

Don't miss P. E. Moskowitz in convo w/ George Ciccariello-Maher at Penn Book Center this Thursday (8/22) at 6:30 pm!

We're hosting a poetry book launch extravaganza for Emily Wallis Hughes' SUGAR FACTORY this Saturday (7/27) at 2:30 pm! Emily will be joined by Cort Day, Gina Myers, Oki Sogumi, KC Trommer, & our host, Jason Zuzga!

TONIGHT!! Original Plumbing, 6:30 pm, Penn Book Center!

Amos Mac & Rocco Kayiatos, editors of ORIGINAL PLUMBING will be here TOMORROW (7/25) at 6:30 pm! (And while you're here, check out the amazing NATIVE TONGUE trilogy, back in print thanks to !)

Don't miss ORIGINAL PLUMBING: THE BEST OF TEN YEARS OF TRANS MALE CULTURE at PBC this Thursday (7/25) at 6:30 pm w/ editors Amos Mac & Rocco Kayiatos and special guests Scout Rose, Basil Soper, & Auston Bjorkman!

TONIGHT (7/18) at 6:30 pm, don't miss Matthew Kepnes presenting his new book TEN YEARS A NOMAD at Penn Book Center!