Celebrity Reader in the Window: Glen Ellyn Holiday Walk Photos with Charlene Baumbich

Here are some fun photos from the night of the Glen Ellyn Holiday Walk. Local author Charlene Baumbich had a wonderful time reading in the window and surprising passerby! All of our customers are invited to sign up for an hour of Holiday Reader in the Window too! It includes hot chocolate and a $5 gift certificate to The Bookstore! Call (630) 469-2891 to sign up now!

Photo credits: Charlene Baumbich

Local Author's Latest Book, Stray Affections, Is Featured in Bookstore Window

Loyal Bookstore customers know about our annual "Holiday Reader in the Window" program. Customers and friends of The Bookstore sign up for an hour to read in the rocking chair in our window during the holiday season. They get to sit and relax, while they watch all of Glen Ellyn hustling by. Plus, you earn a $5 gift certificate! Children are welcome and encouraged. To sign up, just call (630) 469-2891 or e-mail us at justbook475@yahoo.com.

This year, The Bookstore's Holiday Window features local author Charlene Baumbich and her new Snowglobe Series. The first book in the series, Stray Affections, is available now. It is a Midwest Bookseller's Association Pick, and would make a wonderful holiday gift (for you or someone on your list!) Charlene will be making a special appearance as our Celebrity Holiday Reader in the Window on Friday, November 27th during the Holiday Walk.



The Chamber of Commerce hosts a Village Holiday Window Decorating Contest every year, and this year's theme is "Glen Ellyn Glitters." Jane suggested we feature Charlene's book in the window display, and I voluteered to try to paint the snowglobe scene featured on its cover, complete with three different colors of glitter. (Gold at the base, silver around the edges of the globe, and snow-colored glitter at their feet.)

Working with all that glitter reminded me of all the messy art projects I used to make with my daughter when she was little. Now I also remember how hard it is to clean up glitter from hardwood floors and carpeting. (Sorry, Jane, for the trail of glitter from the back room into the Young Adult section of The Bookstore, but secretly? I kind of enjoy it. What the heck, it's the holidays.)

Jenny did a great job gathering all the snowglobes, glittery fabrics and sparkly ornaments to complete the window display. (More than one customer has inquired whether the snowglobes are for sale! -- sorry but no.) We're really proud of our little window, but we don't have high hopes for the contest. We were pretty proud of our little Polar Express train last year, with it's real headlight and glow-in-the-dark windows, but the judges didn't give us a single ribbon. So Jenny kept saying: "We're not trying to win the contest, right? We're just doing this because we're nutty bookstore people!" You've got that right, Jenny!

So please stop by The Bookstore and do your best to shop local for the holidays. Love your local bookstore, support Glen Ellyn merchants and celebrate our local authors.

Local Author Book Fair at The Bookstore on Saturday October 17, 2009

The Bookstore was proud to hold a Local Author Book Fair on Saturday, October 17, 2009. Local authors gathered to sign books, meet customers and network with other authors.


Local authors included Shawna Coronado, a nationally recognized green lifestyle expert, consultant, blogger, public speaker and author of Gardening in the Nude. For more information, go to http://www.gardeningnude.com/, or follow her on Twitter as @shawnacoronado.



Also on hand to inspire the newer authors was Charlene Baumbich (in photo on the right), author of the Dearest Dorothy series, and most recently, Stray Affections, a Midwest Bookseller's Association 2009 Pick. In fact, keep your eyes open for your MBA Catalog coming in the mail soon, Charlene's book is on the cover! (congrats, Charlene!) Charlene is on Twitter as @TwinkleChar and has a delightful blog that can be found at http://www.travelinglaughs.com/

We were also pleased to welcome Naazish YarKhan (photo above, left), President of The Writers Studio and a professional writer with over 15 years of writing experience. Her commentaries have appeared on NPR and Chicago Public Radio. Naazish has recently completed her first novel, and we wish her well as she seeks representation. For more information on Naazish, go to http://www/.writerstudioworkshops.com/ or follow her on Twitter as @naazishyarkhan.

Other local authors included John O'Donnell, an English teacher at Benet Academy and author of a book about Chicago baseball, Like Night and Day: A Look at Chicago Baseball 1964-1969;

Cheryl Price, author of The Golden Aspen, a paperback children's book;

Peter Charles, author of Secret Chambers,

and Philip Kledzik, author of An Issue of the Heart and Painted Rooms.


Other local authors interested in our next Local Author Book Fair may contact us at justbook475@yahoo.com, and we will add you to the list for the next event on June 19, 2010.

Treat Yourself to a Good Chuckle This Saturday, Come Meet Local Author Charlene Ann Baumbich

On Saturday, June 6th, local award-winning author and humorist Charlene Ann Baumbich will be at The Bookstore to sign copies of her latest book, Don't Miss Your Life!: An Uncommon Guide to Living with Freedom, Laughter, and Grace (paperback, $14.99). You don't want to miss this event! Charlene's irresitable charm will brighten your day.

Publisher's Weekly gave the book warm praise: "[Baumbich] has set out to accomplish what few Christian humorists have succeeded in achieving: making her readers laugh deep from the belly while simultaneously trouncing on their faulty “religious” beliefs. Baumbich's writing style is such that readers will feel as though she's conversing with herself and they are her most fortunate eavesdropping audience. . . . Readers are also treated to poignant essays on the power of imagination, the importance of questioning assumptions, awakening every sense, living in a balanced way or falling with a splat. Baumbich's text is just what the doctor ordered for a time such as this; laughter is good medicine indeed and there are plenty of guffaws to be found on every page. "

I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of Charlene's latest book, and I found myself really touched by her insights. Thanks to Charlene, I now have a special bowl with little objects I just hadn't known what to do with, like my dad's dog tags and my grandmother's rosary. Now I feel a little grace every time I pass by my bowl. And that's just one little idea I picked up from her book. There are so many more.

I've had the chance to chat with Charlene about how much I enjoyed her book. Her e-mail responses had me chuckling with appreciation for her gifts of humor and insight. In Charlene's own words, she's "wonky and wonderful." I asked her if she would mind it if I shared some of our conversation. Here's a taste:

Margie: I realized as I picked up your book that I am one of those stubborn people who doesn't really like advice. I'm not often drawn to the self-help section of a bookstore, but yet I really enjoyed your book! What advice do you have for people who don't think they need advice (or your book)?

Charlene: Please tell me I did NOT write a self-help book because that would mean people would expect that I’d first helped myself. Which I did, of course, but mostly to chips and dip.

On the topic of self-help books, I’m with you. I do not naturally gravitate toward the self-help section in book stores. I like humor and good storytelling, not even always together or in that order. Typically, the self-help section feels too … um … needy and self-helpy. I don’t mean this in a bad way, but in a “way too serious about me” way. Thus, in Don’t Miss Your Life! An Uncommon Guide to Living with Freedom, Laughter and Grace (DMYL), I give us ALL permission to bypass “self help” and instead approach the book and our lives as a pluck-and-play. In other words, pluck what you like from these pages and play it into your life. (Hear the music and laughter already?)

Nor have I set forth a ten-step program. Why? Because I would forget step two, then we’d all be lost. That is the beauty of humor and story: jump in here or there, skip around, laugh until you cry, cry until you laugh and forget about the “order” of things. After all, we are each a little wonky and wonderful, and in ways unique to us. Thus, my hope is that readers don’t look for my advice and answers within the book, but that they ultimately find themselves in their own stories. That is why I write: to help bring to life one’s own stories. I do this by telling mine, and by giving readers permission to be real. Personally, I don’t know how to be anything but that. And what would be the point? To live the rest of our lives acting like other than who we are? What a DRAG!

So, go to the DMYL section of your book store, buy DMYL, and plan on at long last finding your True Self.

To answer your question (at last!), I hope I don’t give advice. I hope the power in my stories helps readers latch onto the power in their own.

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See what I mean? Isn't Charlene wonderful? Trust me, you'll enjoy this refreshing book. Come to The Bookstore, buy one for yourself and several for the birthdays and gift-giving occasions coming up on your calendar.