After a long hiatus, the Ballroom Book Bash is back! A Cappella Books and the Highland Inn Ballroom Lounge are again joining forces to bring you one of the coolest events in town.

This is where we “discovered” Bernadette Seacrest when she started an evening that featured Atlanta’s own Karen Abbott (also an alum of our little northeastern college) reading from her New York Times bestseller, Sin in the Second City.

Now the series is back with lad lit icon, Nick Hornby. Hornby may still be best known for the meandering musical musings of Rob Fleming (and those lists) in 1995′s High Fidelity, but he has done some great work since then. It’s easy to recommend Songbook to any music fan of a particular age and let’s be honest, About A Boy, speaks to a lot of men (even those who can’t stand Hugh Grant). At one point, I subscribed to Believer magazine just so I could catch Hornby’s monthly column about what he was reading (which sorta inspired our own reading lists – Rube & Rose).

Nick will be signing books and discussing his latest – Juliet, Naked – a remarkable return to form. He will be followed by music of course, courtesy of Can Can.

It all happens on Monday, October 18, beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 and include a copy of Juliet, Naked. They’re on sale now at A Cappella Books and here.

We’re pleased to announce that we are launching our very own book club. We see it as an opportunity to share some of our favorite reads (some old, some new) and maybe a beverage (or two) with you. It’s easy – just read a good book and come visit with us.

The first meeting will take place on Monday, February 22nd at 7:30 at Eddie’s Attic. Look for us in the space between the music room and the back patio.

The club will be discussing Mudbound by Hillary Jordan.

This is what our Yankee Rose had to say about this novel: One of my favorite reads this past year, Mudbound explores the South in the wake of the Second World War through many eyes. A book about divides, Mudbound examines racial, socioeconomic, and gender dichotomies while telling the story of a woman who is conflicted in love. This book is a deeply sophisticated rendering of the pre-civil rights era South, but remains accessible to the reader through Ms. Jordan’s easy prose and the addictive storyline.

Look for copies at Bound to Be Read Books, Blue Elephant Bookshop, A Cappella Books, or your favorite local bookseller first. If you can’t find it there, then click one of title links above and the UPS truck will deliver a copy to your door.

See you in February.

We’re feelin’ a bit sheepish that we didn’t get this post up earlier, nor can we provide much in the way of detail, but A Cappella Books is celebrating their 20th birthday.  That’s a huge accomplishment for any independent bookstore, but when you consider that span of time includes the dawn of the big box bookstore and ubiquitous online booksellers -well, they’ve done one heck of a job.  Please take some time this weekend to get out and celebrate with them.  Clink HERE for details on the schedule of authors who will be appearing at the store this weekend.

Grab a new book, an old book, a used book, a blue book.

Following in the footsteps of Record Store Day, Publisher’s Weekly is one of the players behind today’s first National Bookstore Day.  If it’s not obvious enough, the intent is to create an annual celebration of bookstores and booksellers (and us readers too) that extends beyond a single day.

Walk into one of our local independent booksellers like A Cappella Books, Bound to Be Read Books (which will raffle a $50 gift certificate & have a continuous reading of Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451), or Blue Elephant Bookshop that carry new and used books.   You can also check out one of our used book purveyors like Atlanta Book Exchange or Book Nook.  There are music books at Decatur CD and graphic novels at Criminal Records.  There are lots of other great independent bookstore choices out there too.  Go find one and read a book today.

[P.S. If you're looking for reading ideas, don't forget to check out Yankee Rose's Reading List.  She really reads all those books! - Rube]