2021 Art contest winners (l to r) “Untitled” by Anna Stohner, “Key West Sunset” by Hadley Bardoni, “Inevitable Change” by Amanda Stover, and “Balance” by Meriam Mikhail
2021 was a fun and exciting year for our annual art contest with entries generating more than 1500 votes in-store and online.
Four pieces will grace our special limited-edition bookmarks. The top three canvases with the most votes, in no particular order, are:
2021 Art Contest Grand Prize Winner “Key West Sunset” by Hadley Bardoni
“Key West Sunset” by Hadley Bardoni
“Untitled” by Anna Stohner
“Inevitable Change” by Amanda Stover
The canvas with the most in-store votes was:
“Balance” by Meriam Mikhail
With the most votes, “Key West Sunset” by Hadley Bardoni is our grand prize winner. “Key West Sunset” will display in the bookstore through the end of 2021.
Congratulations to all our winners, thank you to all the artists who entered and to everyone who voted.
Bookmarks featuring the all four pieces of work will start being distributed in the next couple of weeks.
Winner Neslo Atilla. (Photo courtesy of Mark Hedden.)
On Saturday, October 16th, Books & Books along with The Studios of Key West hosted the Great Works Speaking Contest sponsored by Fred and Joanne Klein. Six high school students from Key West to Tavernier competed by giving dramatic readings from some of their favorite Key West authors. Elizabeth Bishop, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams and Alison Lurie were all represented.
The competitors: Angel Lopez, Bronson Campo, Neslo Atilla, Lela Griffin, Parker Curry & Natalie Woodruff. (Photo courtesy of Mark Hedden.)
Judges Leda Andrews, Rebecca Bennett, Ben Harrison, Erin McKenna and Lori Reid scored the contestants on everything from pronunciation and tone to organization and preparedness.
In the end, the top prize of $750 went to 9th grader Neslo Atilla from Key West High School for her reading of a passage from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Second place was awarded to Lela Griffin, 9th grader from Key West High, who selected a passage from Mango Opera by Tom Corcoran. Third place went to Parker Curry, 10th grader from Key West High, reading work by Elizabeth Bishop.
Parker Curry, Neslo Atilla & Lela Griffin at the 2021 Great Works Speaking Competition. (Photo courtesy of Mark Hedden.)
This was the first year for the contest with high hopes for making it an annual event. Thanks again to our sponsors, judges, competitors, volunteers, and audience.
Image courtesy of the American Library Association, www.ala.org
What do you think of when you hear the term “banned book”?
Maybe Fahrenheit 451 or Lolita? Books are still being challenged and banned, but these days it’s more likely to be a book targeted to your middle-schooler or teenager. In 2020, all of the top ten most challenged books were titles for kids and teens or often read in school settings, including Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You and The Bluest Eye.
One of the things that many readers love about books is learning, being exposed to new ideas and perspectives. As Jason Reynold, author and honorary chair of Banned Books week, said in a Twitter chat, keeping young people from reading widely limits their resilience and advocacy. He wrote, “I think books for young audiences are banned most often because many adults (in their infinite fear) believe it’s better to shield young people than to help young people grow to become shields for others.” (https://bit.ly/3EB8TbT)
This year’s theme: Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us centers on using books to create conversation and increase understanding. Join us during Banned Books Week and check out our display of books that have been challenged or banned over time. It will likely include some of your favorites, especially if you’re a Judy Blume fan.
Store Manager Emily shows off a few of her favorite banned books, during last year’s Banned Books Week.
We’ll have some great student art, fun merch to show your love of reading what you want, and the opportunity to get your mug shot taken reading a banned book.
Books and Books @ the Studios welcomes Hilma Wolitzer, award winning author of the new short story collection Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket. Wolitzer will appear via zoom with store founder Judy Blume.
In the title story, a bystander tries to soothe a woman who seems to have cracked under the pressures of her life. And in several linked stories throughout, the relationship between the narrator and her husband unfolds in telling and often hilarious vignettes. Of their time and yet timeless, Wolitzer’s stories zero in on the intimacies of the domestic sphere with wit, candor, grace, and an acutely observant eye. Brilliantly capturing the tensions and contradictions of daily life, TODAY A WOMAN WENT MAD IN THE SUPERMARKET is full of heart and insight, providing a lens into a world that was often unseen at the time, and often overlooked now—reintroducing a beloved writer to be embraced by a whole new generation of readers.
About the author:
Hilma Wolitzer is a recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, and a Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award. She has taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, New York University, Columbia University, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Her first published story appeared when she was thirty- six, and her first novel eight years later. Her many stories and novels have drawn critical praise for illuminating the dark interiors of the American home. She lives in New York City.
If you’ve been in the bookstore recently or at the library, you may already have met our newest bookseller, Jay. In addition to his role as a part-time bookseller for us, he’s a library assistant at the Key West Public Library.
He enjoys reading and recommending social satire such as the works of Barbara Pym, Sally Rooney, Dawn Powell, Rachel Cusk, and Joy Williams
He has lived in Key West on and off for 35 years, drawn by the bohemian lifestyle and the weather. Ask him about the time he hitchhiked across the country to Key West.
I’ve just read two new books that share a subject, American Jews in the 1950’s, and a comedic style.
The protagonist in The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen is Ruben Blum, a young professor at Corbin College, a second rate upstate New York college, the only Jew on the faculty. When a new faculty candidate, the Jewish scholar Ben-Zion Netanyahu needs a guide, the job of course falls to Ruben, “poor Ruben” I should say. From the moment Ben-Zion appears on the scene, driving a beater car with, unexpectedly, his outspokenly critical wife (this isn’t New England, you told me New England) and two wild teen boys, the rollicking antics are the stuff of comic gold. Such demands, you wouldn’t believe.
By the time the boys finish trashing the professor’s house,
and lead everyone on a wild chase through a snowy night, while their father is
delivering a pompous and insulting lecture, and their mother is complaining
about everything, you’ll be feeling Ruben’s pain.
And yet, there’s sly underlying truth. Benzion (alternate
spelling) was an actual person. His trip to Corbin may be fiction, but his
basic description and the fact that one of his sons was named Benjamin are
right there in Wikipedia. And the underpinnings of Bibi’s personality and
politics are crudely revealed.
The hero of The Vixen by Francine Prose is Simon, an unemployed underachiever living in Brooklyn with his parents (but he went to Harvard), when he lands a job at a prestigious New York publishing house. It’s just after Ethel Rosenberg’s execution, and his first assignment is to edit a trashy novel designed to counter growing sympathy for the executed woman by painting her as a voluptuous Mata Hari.
But Jewish Simon and his parents worship Ethel. What’s a
young editor to do, especially when the author, his editing client, is a
seductress herself, living in a mental hospital, but free to come out on day
trips?
Here again, there’s an underlying historical truth, about
the two sides of the Rosenberg story, and the efforts employed to demean her.
Learn a bit of history, and laugh all the way.
Judy
I’ve read so many good books recently. But the one that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go is The Paper Palaceby Miranda Cowley Heller. I read it over a weekend and on the last day I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, until I’d finished. No, it’s not a mystery. It’s a family story with a love triangle at the center, told in real time with the characters’ back stories woven in seamlessly. Set in the backwoods of Cape Cod where the family has summered for generations, in a series of now rundown cabins – the descriptive writing is gorgeous – but it’s the characters and their lives that matter to me – sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, always compelling. The perfect book to read this summer. Sexy and romantic, it left me breathless. I had to go back and read the ending again.
Coming out later this month is Hilma Wolitzer’s, Today a Woman Went Mad at the Supermarket, a book of short stories published over many years, with a chilling new story at the end. If you don’t know Hilma Wolitzer’s work, you are in for a treat. There is no one who writes as generously about men and women, often married, with as much heart and humor as Hilma. If you do know her work you’re probably panting at the thought of this new book, with a foreword by Elizabeth Strout. I’m grateful to call Hilma a friend, an inspiration. I hope to be chatting with her virtually when the book comes out.
Emily
Store manager Emily recently enjoyed another short story collection, Give My Love to the Savages by Chris Stuck.
The nine tales in Give My Love to the Savages illuminate the multifaceted Black experience, exploring the thorny intersections of race, identity, and Black life through an extraordinary cast of characters. From the absurd to the starkly realistic, these stories take aim at the ironies and contradictions of the American racial experience. Chris Stuck traverses the dividing lines, and attempts to create meaning from them in unique and unusual ways. Each story considers a marker of our current culture, from uprisings and sly and not-so-sly racism, to Black fetishization and conservatism, to the obstacles placed in front of Black masculinity and Black and interracial relationships by society and circumstance.
When the Reckoning Comes is a new horror novel that is also on Lori’s list to check out. A haunting novel about a black woman who returns to her hometown for a plantation wedding and the horror that ensues as she reconnects with the blood-soaked history of the land and the best friends she left behind.
Lori
Lori enjoyed Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, who also wrote staff favorite Blacktop Wasteland. Razorblade Tears “is about revenge and redemption, and I’m enjoying it a lot,” Lori writes.
Robin loved A Memory Called Empireby Arkady Martine, space opera with fantastic worldbuilding, great characters, a cool mystery and a side of epic poetry. Don’t miss the sequel, A Desolation Called Peace.
We see the CDC’s new guidelines for fully vaccinated people as a good sign. Things are getting better, but we’re not there yet. Because we can’t and don’t want to ask who is fully vaccinated, we are still requiring masks for in-store shopping and browsing. Thank you for helping to keep everyone safe.
The store is open for browsing every day from 10am and 6pm. No appointment is necessary during these hours. Masks are required for everyone entering the store. We’ve found books are particularly difficult to sanitize. Since picking up the books is so important in finding your next read, we provide gloves and hand sanitizer at the door. Please either use the hand sanitizer or don a pair of gloves before entering. Thank you for helping us keep the store safe for yourself, other shoppers and our staff.
Home delivery is still available for those living on the island of Key West and Stock Island. We deliver Monday through Friday.
Finally, the thing we’re missing most this season are author events and book signing. Luckily, through the power of the Internet, we’re still able to speak with amazing authors safely with virtual events. We’re teaming up with The Friends of the Key West Library and the Books & Books stores in Miami to bring you award winning authors to speak on their latest work. Visit our event page for upcoming events.
There’s an indie option for audiobooks. Libro.fm partners with your favorite indie bookstores, including Books & Books @ The Studios. Libro.fm provides access to a wide selection of digital audiobooks. Find out more here: Libro.fm account set up.
Powered by our audiobook partner Libro.fm, membership is $14.99 per month. You’ll get to select from 150,000+ audiobooks, including New York Times bestsellers and hidden gems curated by indie booksellers. Check out our staff favorites on audiobook: Click here.
I hope you made it through the summer and that reading good books helped you and your family. Between Covid news and the upcoming election it’s been hard to focus except when I’m in the middle of a good novel. I’ve been reading political books, too. Michael Cohen’s Disloyal is next on my list. George says it’s a must read. I reminded him that I’m the one who ordered it for us.
I’ve been trying to celebrate all the little things. A busy bird feeder seen on my morning walk, a Little Free Library made from a brightly painted filing cabinet, the pesky squirrels of Cambridge, MA. One of them ate a hole in my daughter’s trash can for easy access. I spend a lot of time watching them in the garden of the house we’re renting.
Judy recently tweeting about a Little Free Library she noticed on a morning walk.
And here’s something that caught me by surprise. This month is the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. Fifty years! I’m having trouble getting my head around that but I’ve done the math so I know it’s true. 1970 sometimes feels like yesterday (but not when I squat to get something off the floor and try to get back up). I was living in suburban NJ then – married with two little kids. My first two books had been accepted for publication when I sat down at my college typewriter to start Margaret. I knew next to nothing about writing. But I knew a lot about being in sixth grade. Or thought I did. My memory for the details of life at 12 was so fresh. And I knew what I didn’t want to write. I didn’t want to follow the rules and regulations for writing a children’s book. I remember thinking I’m going to be honest. I’m going to tell the truth. Well, my truth anyway. The story isn’t autobiographical but the character of Margaret, both physically and emotionally is pretty close to the girl I was. The first draft came out quickly and spontaneously, in about six weeks. These days I can’t write a six page essay in 6 weeks. But then it was all so new, so exciting, so close to the surface. Margaret is the book that changed my life. It gave me my career. It brought me my first loyal readers. I would never have dreamed then that kids would still be reading it 50 years later. I remember being asked in an early interview by a snarky reporter – Do you think your books will still be around in 20 years? I laughed. What a crazy idea and who cared anyway?
Don’t blame me for the shocking pink leather commemorative edition. Publishers like to celebrate big anniversaries. I’m actually okay with it. As I said, I’ll celebrate just about anything these days. Lately I’m asked by grown fans to write about Margaret in menopause. But Margaret is never going to grow up. She’ll always be 12. Except for one thing — when I’m asked What would Margaret say? That’s a question I can answer. She would tell us to vote early in what might be the most important election of her lifetime. (And certainly of mine.)
The movie based on the book was supposed to be filmed over the summer. The writer-director was thrilled with the young actor she’d found to play Margaret. Now, like most productions, we hope it will be next spring or summer. Will our Margaret sprout up and out by then? Who can say?
Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association, www.ala.org
With Banned Books Week coming up I’m reminded that when Margaret was first published I was so proud I gave three signed copies to my children’s elementary school. Later, I found out the books never made it to the shelf. The male principal decided that the book was inappropriate because of the discussion of menstruation, never mind how many 5th and 6th graders already had their periods. My first experience with having a book banned. But not my last. Visit our display of Banned Books. You’ll be surprised by what you see. Celebrate the Freedom to Read!
I’m homesick for Key West, and missing the store and staff more than I can say. We won’t stay away much longer. I just want to get back to work, to petting the books, arranging displays, and greeting all of you.
The Literary Pantheon we dedicated last February celebrated the memory of forty-four deceased members of our community whose accomplishments had brought honor to Key West and helped establish it as one of the country’s noteworthy cultural landmarks. The sadness of the months since then has been compounded by the loss of four more extraordinary individuals whose names will be added to the frieze above our bookshelves.
Terrence McNally (1938-2020) has been described as “the bard of American theater” and “one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced.” McNally was a long-time seasonal resident and homeowner in Key West, and was recognized as “part of the theatrical fabric of this community.” Most recently, a new production of his play “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune” was scheduled to open at the Red Barn Theatre on the day of his death, but was cancelled, like him a victim of the novel corona virus.
J. Seward Johnson, Jr. (1930-2020) was a man of huge talent and creativity, known principally for his ultra-realistic bronze sculptures. He wintered for many years in Key West, and was a well-known and popular member of the artistic and literary community. Johnson left his mark in Key West with a number of installations, including the assemblage of figures over the tarmac-side entry to the airport that welcomes passengers to town. Perhaps his most photographed local installation is the figure of Marilyn Monroe in front of the Tropic Cinema.
Robert D. Richardson (1934-2020) was a distinguished historian and biographer, focusing on leading American thinkers of the 19th Century, including William James, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. He was winner of the Bancroft and Francis Parkman Prizes (the most prestigious in the field of history). If you wanted one word to describe Bob, it would be “gentlemen,” in both senses of the word. He was certainly a man — a distinguished leader — but he was a gentle friend to the many in town who knew him.
Alison Lurie (1926-2020) described by the New York Times as a “tart-voiced novelist of manners,” who “wrote about academics and intellectuals, straying spouses, snobs and artists, in novels of close observation and sharp prose.” She was the author of 11 works of domestic and black comedy, including the 1984 Pulitzer Prize winning novel FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Noted for her sly wit and generosity of spirit, she was a vivid member of the Key West literary scene for decades. Perhaps her last public appearance was a store event in February 2020, just before the pandemic closure, where she very charmingly discussed her final book WORDS AND WORLDS, essays on topics from autobiography to zippers.
A 47-page Guide to the Key West Literary Pantheon is available for purchase at the store.
The store is open daily from 10am to 6pm. For the time being guests entering the store are encouraged to wear a mask but it is not required.
Mask are available at the store entrance for those who want them.
We are delighted to have shoppers back in the store, but we ask for your patience and cooperation. Please maintain social distance while in the store, keeping safely back from staff and other shoppers, except as necessary to complete your transaction.
Individuals with signs of illness such as coughing, fever or other flu-like symptoms are asked not to enter the store. Thank you for understanding.
Not ready to join us in store (or shopping from out of town?) We are still offering shopping online and by phone, with free media mail shipping for online purchases of $20 or more, home delivery to Key West and Stock Island and curbside pickup.
Place orders by phone
Staff will be answering phone calls daily from 10am to 6pm to take orders for shipping and home delivery. 305-320-0208
Home delivery
Orders placed by noon of in-stock items are eligible for delivery to your door that evening, Monday – Friday to Key West and Stock Island addresses. With the store reopened, deliveries will come a bit later, but we anticipate that we will make deliveries by 7pm. Be sure to include in the comments that you would like home delivery.
Signed Judy Blume books
Judy will continue to sign select editions of her books. Orders placed for signed Judy Blume books will be signed regularly and are eligible for shipping and home delivery based on signing times.
Purchase a gift card
Not sure you need anything right now, but want to support us? Purchase a gift card and give it as a supportive sheltering-at-home gift or use it yourself in the future. Click here to purchase a gift card online or call the store 10am to 6pm daily.
Dear Friends,
Terrence McNally (1938-2020) has been described as “the bard of American theater” and “one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced.” McNally was a long-time seasonal resident and homeowner in Key West, and was recognized as “part of the theatrical fabric of this community.” Most recently, a new production of his play “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune” was scheduled to open at the Red Barn Theatre on the day of his death, but was cancelled, like him a victim of the novel corona virus.
J. Seward Johnson, Jr. (1930-2020) was a man of huge talent and creativity, known principally for his ultra-realistic bronze sculptures. He wintered for many years in Key West, and was a well-known and popular member of the artistic and literary community. Johnson left his mark in Key West with a number of installations, including the assemblage of figures over the tarmac-side entry to the airport that welcomes passengers to town. Perhaps his most photographed local installation is the figure of Marilyn Monroe in front of the Tropic Cinema.
Robert D. Richardson (1934-2020) was a distinguished historian and biographer, focusing on leading American thinkers of the 19th Century, including William James, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. He was winner of the Bancroft and Francis Parkman Prizes (the most prestigious in the field of history). If you wanted one word to describe Bob, it would be “gentlemen,” in both senses of the word. He was certainly a man — a distinguished leader — but he was a gentle friend to the many in town who knew him.
Alison Lurie (1926-2020) described by the New York Times as a “tart-voiced novelist of manners,” who “wrote about academics and intellectuals, straying spouses, snobs and artists, in novels of close observation and sharp prose.” She was the author of 11 works of domestic and black comedy, including the 1984 Pulitzer Prize winning novel 
The store is open daily from 10am to 6pm. For the time being guests entering the store are encouraged to wear a mask but it is not required.