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Showing posts from July, 2011

Found In Our Free Bin

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In our free bins in the front of Atomic Books, we frequently distribute all kinds of items people send us - from zines and mini comics to newspapers, books, CDs, cassette tapes, t-shirts and more. Sometimes, things find their way into the bin, and we don't know where they came from. That's just part of the magic and fun of the free bin. Such is the case of an unopened padded envelope with cancelled postage and a crossed out shipping address that we could tell was full of publications. So opened the envelope and inside we found an array of awesome publications from Mud Luscious Press. I started thumbing through a magical novella called I Am A Very Productive Entrepreneur by Mathias Svalina. It's a series of stories that all start with the line "I started this business once...". My favorite section is: I started this business once that retrofit memories to include pilot lights. Thereafter the memories stay lit, even when you are away on vacation. Even w

Best Writers Of Baltimore

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Baltimore Magazine 's Top 5 Best Writers of Baltimore - John Waters , Laura Lippman , Madison Smartt Bell , Michael Kimball and Stephen Dixon . We've been lucky enough to have 4 out of these 5 at Atomic in the past year for their awesome books. Laura, you're invited to join us any time!

Otakon 2011

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IMG_2183 , originally uploaded by Baltimore Lauren . It's that time again.

Banning Books In 2011

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Yes, they still ban books. As the result of a campaign launched by Wesley Scroggins, a business professor at Missouri State University, the Republic, Missouri school board recently voted unanimously to ban both Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer . This means these books are not allowed in school curriculum and copies must be removed from school libraries. Unsurprisingly, only one school board member had actually read one of the books in question. "Professor" Scroggin's rationale for banning the books? Slaughterhouse-Five has too much cussin'. And in Ockler's book "drunken teens also end up on the beach, where they use their condoms to have sex." It is all too easy for us to believe that book banning is a thing of the past or something that only takes place in countries under totalitarian regimes. But it still very much happens here in the United States. In 2000, Slaughterhouse-Five was removed fr

Why Do We Kill? Book Event

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Tomorrow night, Thursday, July 28th, former Baltimore Homicide Detective, Kelvin Sewell, and investigative journalist, Stephen Janis, discuss Baltimore crime and their new book, Why Do We Kill?

Jacket & Sleeves Art Show

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Isn't it interesting that art tied to records are forever, no matter how many printings there are, it's always the same cover. Yes, sometimes there are anniversary printings with maybe some added graphics, etc, but essentially, mostly, these images are iconic and intertwined with the music and the band's image for a good long time. Book jackets, on the other hand, change with the seasons. Hardcover to paperback, special editions, new editions, new printings may all have their own completely new art. Now some do stay the same and are tied with the book for decades, but most, do not. Can you think of any iconic book jackets? There are a few. Maybe childhood favorites. Images that have stayed with you all this time because it was the first one you saw for that book. Now that most of us download our music or have started to download books, images and covers aren't as associated with a concrete object. What does this mean? What does this mean for artists? It's just

SVK

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SVK , originally uploaded by sugarfreak . We don't normally blog about things we don't sell, but this collaboration between Warren Ellis and Matt "D'Israeli" Brooker is pretty cool. Forward by William Gibson (who's Zero History is out in paperback next month)! Only available directly from Berg and already sold out. We like tangible products in the real world.

Our New Stincker Machine

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 We are now serving stickers, old school style. With no human interaction needed. Well, technically they are Stinckers - high-quality, screen-printed, handmade decals sold via a vending machine at select stores across the country - select stores like Atomic Books. These stickers are sold in limited editions. Once they are sold out, they are gone and will be replaced by a different set of Stinckers by a different artist. Contributors to the Stinckers series include Dan Clowes, Johnny Ryan, Benjamin Marra, Mats!?, Steve Weissman, and more. Our new machine is currently serving stickers by Mats!?, Pacolli, Ben Marra and Craoman. Bring quarters! But if you don't that's cool. We can make change.

Summer Baltozine Roundup

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Keeping track of new magazines (etc.) that we get in which talk about Baltimore stuff. For more on, by, or about Baltimore-area artists, check out the following issues below. from Ghettoblaster #28   Wye Oak - Civilian Rating: Turned Up (basically 3 out of 5 stars) "Wye Oak's latest release of ethereal, folk inspired indie-pop improves on the group's signature sound of quiet, measured instrumentals overlaid with Jess [sic - that's Jenn, dude] Wasner's smoky alto vocals and it's a winning combination, to be sure. ..." - Andrew Coulon There's also a pretty entertaining review of Ponytail's Do What You Want All The Time which unfortunately says more about the reviewer's insecurities than it does about the music. "The shift of the hipster uniform is an ugly thing to see. ... You're being annoying on purpose. I can tell you know how to play. ..." -Jason Schueppert from Decibel #82 There is a nice series of reviews of

Cassie J. Sneider & Blag Dahlia This Wednesday

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This Wednesday, July 13, funnylady cartoonist Cassie J. Sneider stops by Atomic Books to read from and discuss her autobiographical rock & roll graphic novel, Fine Fine Music . Accompanying her will be Blag Dahlia of the Dwarves and author of the book Nina . Need more persuading? Here's a list from Cassie. REASONS TO COME TO THIS READING EVEN THOUGH YOU DON'T KNOW ME: 1. You can tell all of your friends you ‘attended a reading’, which makes you sound really smart and superior and better than them, which you undoubtedly already are.   2. It’s like Hulu-ing Hoarders, but WITH YOUR IMAGINATION.   3. Free comics for everyone!   4. I’ll let you pet my hair and pretend I’m not creeped out by it.   5. I’m, like, a really good reader.   6. Did I mention free comics?   7. I will pet YOUR hair and you can tell your friends you went on a date with me.  We'll also be serving adult beverages. And be sure to see The Dwarves play at the Ottobar later that night.

Talking Summer Reading 011 Edition

I'll be on WYPR's (88.1FM) The Signal this evening at 7PM (and again Saturday at 1PM) to talk Summer reading suggestions. You can only talk about so many books on the radio, so be sure to stop by the store - there have been a lot of really great books to come out this summer. Listen live online. Check out the mp3/podcast.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson - July Book Pick

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This month's Reading Club  pick is The Lottery  by Shirley Jackson. See you July 27th for the discussion - 7:30 at Atomic Books! New members are welcome at any time, and you get 15% off all the books for this year's Club titles. Join the Facebook Group for more discussion and updates.

With Banksy

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We had no idea this is what  Julia Kim Smith  was planning when she got this Labbit from us! Her latest project, With Banksy , is how I imagine Banksy would spend this holiday weekend. If he were American.

July 4th Weekend Hours

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Tonight is First Friday in Hampden , so a lot of shops are open late with special events. Bmore Local is hosting mayoral candidate Otis Rolley  at Atomic Books, from 7-9pm. He'll talk a bit about his vision for Baltimore and you can ask him questions! We can even register you to vote. Weekend Hours: Sat July 2nd - 11am - 5pm Sun July 3rd - 11am - 5pm Mon July 4th - 11am - 3pm