Kazoo Books: Kalamazoo's New and Used Bookstore

Owner Gloria, Romance Expert Jean, Ordering Manager John and Specialty Topics and local author Nick each have their own pages.

Learn about the history of the store, current books, special used finds, and the latest information on upcoming releases!

If you're a Science Fiction and Fantasy fan, this is a great time to visit our Clarendon store. One of our best customers is moving soon and has brought us hundreds of his duplicates and books he no longer wants. Most are paperbacks, but he's brought in a few hardcovers, too. We've got a great selection of hard SF authors like Ben Bova, Jack McDevitt and Vernor Vinge, fantasies by Glen Cook, Simon Green and some of both by Harry Turtledove. These are all in "like-new" condition.

We also took in a collection of Star Wars novels this week, both paperbacks and hardcovers. We now have a set of all nine X-Wing: Rogue Squadron books and complete series of the Bounty Hunter Wars, the Black Fleet Crisis and the Han Solo Trilogy. We also have many of the New Jedi Order books. Star Wars is one of our most popular series, so shop early for the best selection!

Hello from northern California! I flew in yesterday via Kalamazoo to Chicago, then Chicago to San Francisco, then San Francisco to Arcata. Because of how the flights were timed, the travel time was over 12 hours!!!! argggh. If there was a faster way to do it, I wouldda.

It was a beautiful buncha flights except that just before the Nevada/California border, we ran in to a wall of brown smoke that covers the state as far as the eye could see. You could see the brushfires as we flew over. From San Francisco to Arcata (Humboldt Bay area) we sometimes passed over two at once.

I, of course, brought books to read. It's research...sort of. But today we are going sightseeing. I need to see the ocean and redwoods. and ooooh, the clam chowder at the Lost Coast Brewery (in Eureka) was to die for! Gotta have more before I leave!

Bye for now!

A consistently popular author at Kazoo Books is Deepak Chopra who has just published The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore. We are carrying this new hardcover and selling it at a significant discount. According to Chopra, one Jesus is a sketchy historical figure. Another is an abstract theological creation. And the third Jesus "is as yet so unknown that even the most devout Christians don't suspect that he exists." This is a controversial book but one that needed to be written because it could inspire conversations about religion and spirituality which could bring more understanding and peace to our planet.

New Community Room - by Gloria

Great News today. Our new community room is finished.
We hosted our first Author reading in the new space last night. Troy St. Charles from Sacramento California came in to read his inspirational poetry. His wife is from the Portage area, so it was a trip home for them this spring.
The Hadassah book group was also scheduled last night, so they were able to enjoy the new space for their book club. The new kitchen is up and running and a handicap accessible bath is near the meeting space.
It has been a rush to finish this project for our 20th summer anniversary schedule. We started on Clarendon in 1988 with 1000 square feet of space and 5,000 books. We have grown that store to 3000 sq ft and 50,000 books. It is an interesting building with rooms of paperbacks as well as a fun lower levels with non-fiction sections. There is a huge section of Science Fiction, Fantasy that is very popular.
The Parkview store began 5 years ago when we bought the building that had an existing bookstore in it. There was potential for expansion, but we started with 1000 sq ft over there too. We bumped into the back portion of that building 3 years ago and created our first community room. We also purchased the building adjacent to it about the same time. We put a meeting room there a couple years ago, but this last project bumped into the rest of the main floor to add another 700 sq ft of space.
So, I figure now we have about 80,000 books and 7,000 sq ft of space between the 2 stores.
I don't want to think about it, but we have 1 more project to finish the lower level in the annex. But, not today. This summer we are going to enjoy the space we have and greet the many out of town visitors that find us.
Please stop by to check out a real treasure of a bookstore next time you are in town.
The coffee pot is on in the kitchen.

Nuola O'Faolain in her memoir ARE YOU SOMEBODY? tells the story about attending a workshop where she had to make a list of the ten most significant events in her life. Number one had to be "I was born" and then you were free to write whatever you wanted.

Without even thinking about it her hand wrote for number two "I learnt to read." She commented: "Being born was something done to me, but my own life began--I began for myself--when I first made out the meaning of a sentence."

When I tried this activity I had a similar automatic experience when I wrote for number two "I moved to Kalamazoo." That was in 1970 when I arrived here to attend Western Michigan University. After graduating and leaving I returned in the fall of 1976 and have never lived anywhere else since.

In the late 1970s I worked at Kazoo School, an indepdent elementary school, where I taught a class on the history of Kalamazoo. From a seed planted there I wrote a book about the founder of Kalamazoo entitled A FINE PLACE FOR A CITY: Titus Bronson and the Founding of Kalamazoo.

About five years ago I began working for Kazoo Books, the only independent full-service bookstore in Kalamazoo.

Two "Kalamazoo Classics" we recently acquired are books by Larry Massie and Peter Schmitt entitled
KALAMAZOO: NINETEENTH-CENTURY HOMES IN A MIDWESTERN VILLAGE & KALAMAZOO: THE PLACE BEHIND THE PRODUCTS. Both these illustrated histories, out of print and hard to find, are well-writtten and contain a treasure trove of information about the history of Kalamazoo.

Also available at Kazoo Books is the O'Faolin memoir and my book about Titus Bronson and the founding of Kalamazoo.

		1-800-516-2665 Open 10am - 6pm Monday - Saturday read@kazoobooks.com



After-Words Ginger Strand Rare Books Dune, First Edition Ralph Humes Returns! Barbeque and mystery foodie!	BLOGS Read the blogs of the Kazoo Books staff! Owner Gloria, Romance Expert Jean, Ordering Manager John and Specialty Topics and local author Nick each have their own pages. Learn about the history of the store, current books, special used finds, and the latest information on upcoming releases! Samples from the Blogs: New Science Fiction Stock - by John If you're a Science Fiction and Fantasy fan, this is a great time to visit our Clarendon store. One of our best customers is moving soon and has brought us hundreds of his duplicates and books he no longer wants. Most are paperbacks, but he's brought in a few hardcovers, too. We've got a great selection of hard SF authors like Ben Bova, Jack McDevitt and Vernor Vinge, fantasies by Glen Cook, Simon Green and some of both by Harry Turtledove. These are all in "like-new" condition. We also took in a collection of Star Wars novels this week, both paperbacks and hardcovers. We now have a set of all nine X-Wing: Rogue Squadron books and complete series of the Bounty Hunter Wars, the Black Fleet Crisis and the Han Solo Trilogy. We also have many of the New Jedi Order books. Star Wars is one of our most popular series, so shop early for the best selection! Blogging from California - by Jean Hello from northern California! I flew in yesterday via Kalamazoo to Chicago, then Chicago to San Francisco, then San Francisco to Arcata. Because of how the flights were timed, the travel time was over 12 hours!!!! argggh. If there was a faster way to do it, I wouldda. It was a beautiful buncha flights except that just before the Nevada/California border, we ran in to a wall of brown smoke that covers the state as far as the eye could see. You could see the brushfires as we flew over. From San Francisco to Arcata (Humboldt Bay area) we sometimes passed over two at once. I, of course, brought books to read. It's research...sort of. But today we are going sightseeing. I need to see the ocean and redwoods. and ooooh, the clam chowder at the Lost Coast Brewery (in Eureka) was to die for! Gotta have more before I leave! Bye for now! *Deepak Chopra's The Third Jesus* - by Nick A consistently popular author at Kazoo Books is Deepak Chopra who has just published The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore. We are carrying this new hardcover and selling it at a significant discount. According to Chopra, one Jesus is a sketchy historical figure. Another is an abstract theological creation. And the third Jesus "is as yet so unknown that even the most devout Christians don't suspect that he exists." This is a controversial book but one that needed to be written because it could inspire conversations about religion and spirituality which could bring more understanding and peace to our planet. New Community Room - by Gloria Great News today. Our new community room is finished. We hosted our first Author reading in the new space last night. Troy St. Charles from Sacramento California came in to read his inspirational poetry. His wife is from the Portage area, so it was a trip home for them this spring. The Hadassah book group was also scheduled last night, so they were able to enjoy the new space for their book club. The new kitchen is up and running and a handicap accessible bath is near the meeting space. It has been a rush to finish this project for our 20th summer anniversary schedule. We started on Clarendon in 1988 with 1000 square feet of space and 5,000 books. We have grown that store to 3000 sq ft and 50,000 books. It is an interesting building with rooms of paperbacks as well as a fun lower levels with non-fiction sections. There is a huge section of Science Fiction, Fantasy that is very popular. The Parkview store began 5 years ago when we bought the building that had an existing bookstore in it. There was potential for expansion, but we started with 1000 sq ft over there too. We bumped into the back portion of that building 3 years ago and created our first community room. We also purchased the building adjacent to it about the same time. We put a meeting room there a couple years ago, but this last project bumped into the rest of the main floor to add another 700 sq ft of space. So, I figure now we have about 80,000 books and 7,000 sq ft of space between the 2 stores. I don't want to think about it, but we have 1 more project to finish the lower level in the annex. But, not today. This summer we are going to enjoy the space we have and greet the many out of town visitors that find us. Please stop by to check out a real treasure of a bookstore next time you are in town. The coffee pot is on in the kitchen. Kalamazoo Classics - by Nick** Nuola O'Faolain in her memoir ARE YOU SOMEBODY? tells the story about attending a workshop where she had to make a list of the ten most significant events in her life. Number one had to be "I was born" and then you were free to write whatever you wanted. Without even thinking about it her hand wrote for number two "I learnt to read." She commented: "Being born was something done to me, but my own life began--I began for myself--when I first made out the meaning of a sentence." When I tried this activity I had a similar automatic experience when I wrote for number two "I moved to Kalamazoo." That was in 1970 when I arrived here to attend Western Michigan University. After graduating and leaving I returned in the fall of 1976 and have never lived anywhere else since. In the late 1970s I worked at Kazoo School, an indepdent elementary school, where I taught a class on the history of Kalamazoo. From a seed planted there I wrote a book about the founder of Kalamazoo entitled A FINE PLACE FOR A CITY: Titus Bronson and the Founding of Kalamazoo. About five years ago I began working for Kazoo Books, the only independent full-service bookstore in Kalamazoo. Two "Kalamazoo Classics" we recently acquired are books by Larry Massie and Peter Schmitt entitled KALAMAZOO: NINETEENTH-CENTURY HOMES IN A MIDWESTERN VILLAGE & KALAMAZOO: THE PLACE BEHIND THE PRODUCTS. Both these illustrated histories, out of print and hard to find, are well-writtten and contain a treasure trove of information about the history of Kalamazoo. Also available at Kazoo Books is the O'Faolin memoir and my book about Titus Bronson and the founding of Kalamazoo.