Category Archives: Birmingham

Birmingham, Bookshelf, Bookstore Tourism, Bookstore Travels, Bookstores

Church Street Coffee & Books

1 Comment

Church Street Coffee & Books
81 Church Street
Birmingham, AL 35213
Church Street Coffee & Books (site) @81ChurchStreet (twitter) Church Street (facebook)

Church Street opened its doors on July 2, 2011. I stopped by on opening day to see what they had to offer, in the way of books. The selection there was great! It’s not huge, but very well curated. You can tell that this is a shop isn’t just run by folks who like coffee… they are also readers. It doesn’t take a customer long to figure out that some real thought and research went into the books part of the business. The first thing you see when you walk in is a floor-to-ceiling double bookcase of fiction titles. It was great fun looking through what they had and it felt kind of like visiting a neighbor’s home and perusing their personal library. There is usually just one copy of a book on the shelf and no floor stacks of the latest big-name thriller. So stop by and see what Birmingham’s newest indie bookstore has to offer.

They also have about 8 tables and a couple of big comfy chairs to sit in. I didn’t check to see if they have wi-fi and it was too hot, of a day, for me to buy coffee. But I did pick up a copy of Deborah Blum’s “The Poisoner’s Handbook“. It’s been my experience that coffee shops see books as an “add on” type deal. That’s obviously not the case here and I’m excited to see what they have to offer on down the road.

Below are some photos of what the shelves looked like on opening day.

This is what greets you when you enter the shop.
They have a mostly-fiction section under the banner “Summer Reads”
The kids section is tucked in the corner. Complete with bean bag chair.
I like the shelf talkers that start each section. The look like bookmarks.
The first case of non-fiction is to your right as you walk in.
The other case of non-fiction is across from the coffee counter.
Lots of books on little tables & around the registers. They even have books on the walls.
Birmingham, Bookstores, News

New Coffee/Bookstore Opening in Crestline

2 Comments

I just wanted to mention the new Church Street Coffee & Books that’s opening in Crestline Village as first announced over on Magic City Post today. The shop is opening in an recently closed Starbucks and the folks opening in sound like they know what they’re doing:

A limited selection of books will be available, including best sellers, classics, beach reads, children’s literature and staff picks. (The pair plan to add e-books by December). Free wi-fi will also be on hand.

The article says they plan to open mid to late June. It sound a little more coffee shop than bookstore but I hope they get the support they need to take their “limited” selection of books and grow it. Though, they may need more space in there, huh?

And no doubt they’re looking to survive their first few months doing what they’ve been doing. So if they keep the coffee customers coming back then the book sales are sure to follow.

Birmingham, Book Column, Book Talk, Digital Publishing, E-Books, Free Books, Media, On the Web, Publishing Industry News, Technology

Read Library eBooks on your Apple iOS Device

4 Comments

You can now download and read free ebooks from the JCLC OverDrive system, on the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. I’ve been doing this for two weeks now, and other than a lack of sleep from all of the reading, I have had no issues. This week I finished up two paper books and three ebooks, all thanks to the BlueFire Reader app and the JCLC eBooks system.

It’s a pretty straight forward process. I get pretty detailed in my steps, so please don’t let the number of steps deter you from trying this. Here is how you check out and read the library eBooks on your iOS device:

  1. Download the free BlueFire Reader app (iTunes link) to your device and create an account.
  2. Download the free Adobe Digital Editions desktop reader and create an account. This puts the Adobe Digital Editions program on your computer, which will act as “home base” and authenticate your ebooks.
  3. Launch the BlueFire Reader app, on your device, tap on “info” and authorize your app with your Adobe Digital Editions password.

Now, that you are all legit you are ready to check out a book!

  1. Go to the JCLC site (or your library’s downloadable site) and sign in.
  2. Check out a book. An .acm “key” file will download to your computer. Use your Adobe Digital Editions program to open this file, this will download the .epub (the actual book) file to your computer. You can now read that book on your computer.
  3. From your computer, send yourself an email, with that .epub file as an attachment.
  4. Now check your email on your iOS device. The attachment will appear with the BlueFire Reader logo.
  5. Tap and hold on that icon until the fly-out menu appears saying “Open with BlueFire Reader”, which you will select.
  6. BlueFire Reader app will now launch and you can start reading! Once your “checkout period” has expired the file will deactivate from your iOS device and your computer desktop.

I’ve also heard of people using free services like DropBox to get the book file on their device, but I haven’t tried it. The BlueFire folks are on Twitter and have been really responsive to all of my support questions. The OverDrive team is on Twitter too. I know that OverDrive and Sony have both promised Adobe DE-friendly apps soon, so BlueFire won’t be the only option. But as of right now, it’s certainly the best.

Let me know what you think and if you read anything good!

Birmingham, Book Collecting, Bookstores, Events, News

Buying Books in Birmingham, This Weekend

Leave a comment

This is a GREAT weekend to buy used books in Birmingham, with THREE new places/events to buy.

First, Vestavia Hills library has shut down as they are moving to their new building (slated to open in early-November) so they are toting books outside to a tent and selling what they can. It’s being organized by volunteers, so they start selling sometime between 9a-10a and stop sometime around 6p. It all depends on their help. But be prepared to stay. There is no organization. So a child’s book will be stacked on a business book sitting next to a computer programming text book. But if you love to sort through new and dusty books. This is for you. They bring out new boxes every couple of hours, so the selection changes.

Ex-library books (hardback and paperback) are $.50. Donated hardbacks are $1 and donated paperbacks are $.50. Magazines are $.10. You can also pay $5 and fit as much as you can into a grocery sack.

The sale started yesterday and runs through all of next week.

vestavia

Second, is the Whistle Stop Festival, out in Irondale. The library, has been culling their collection and taking donations for weeks and is setting up tables alongside the usual festival fair, from 9a-4p. I have not heard of the prices yet, but if they follow their usual price schedule, hardbacks will be a dollar and paperbacks will be $.50. Traditionally, they have not made a distinction between donated and ex-library.


Third, this weekend 2nd & Charles (which BBJ mentioned earlier this week) is supposed to open Saturday morning. The Books-A-Million crew had an invite-only preview party last night. I didn’t get to go, but have seen some photos. It’s in a vacated Goody’s department store and is massive. Very cool looking, too. I haven’t seen prices yet, but they will be buying books, cd’s, dvd’s, videogames, etc. all day, every day too. Hopefully they will make their open date.

I have fun this weekend and do tell about any loot you score!