Newsletter Archives

2015 -- Our new shop is located at 3 Railroad Avenue (next to Starbucks!) in Danville.

August 2015

July 2015 (in which we announce a raffle for a signed copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and our first-ever "Summer Camp for Grown-Ups").

Book Group Festival Invitation

May 2015

April 2015 (in which we announce a visit with Helen McDonald, author of H Is for Hawk and a red-tail hawk named Fire)

March 2015

February 2015

January 2015 (in which we announce our new shop at 3 Railroad Avenue and visits with Rabih Alameddine and Pete Crooks)

December 2014 (Part Five)

December 2014 (Part Four)

December 2014 (Part Three)

December 2014 (Part Two)

December 2014 (Part One)

November 2014

October 2014 (in which we present visits with Colm Toibin, Garth Stein, and B.J. Novak)

September 2014 (in which we announce the return of Annie Barrows and an extraordinary morning with Gail Sheehy and Ellen Tauscher)

Danville Mayor Robert Storer; County Supervisor Candace Anderson; Gail Sheehy; and The Honorable Ellen TauscherAugust 2014

July 2014

June 2014 (in which we discuss the benefits of shopping indie and announce the 4th Annual Book Group Festival)

May 2014 (in which we announce the first-ever California Bookstore Day!)

April 2014

March 2014

February 2014 (in which we announce the return of Henry Winkler and Helene Wecker)

January 2014 (in which we announce visits with Laurie Halse Anderson, Amy Tan, and Armistead Maupin)

December 2013 (Part Six)

December 2013 (Part Five)

Kids reading the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid - November 2013December 2013 (Part Four)

December 2013 (Part Three)

December 2013 (Part Two)

December 2013 (Part One)

November 2013 (in which we announce visits with Ann Patchett, Patricia Wells, and Jeff Kinney)

October 2013 (in which we announce a special conversation event with Allan Gurganus and Andre Dubus III)

September 2013

Labor Day Weekend 2013 (in which we break our usual routine to share "12 East Bay Adventures for Booklovers This Weekend ")

August 2013

July 2013 (in which we mention one our favorite picture books, The Day the Crayons Quit, for the first time and we are voted Best Indie Bookshop by the readers of Diablo.)

Joyce Carol Oates tweets about Rakestraw BooksJune 2013

May 2013 (in which Karen Finlay shares her memories of growing up as a "Rakestraw Reader")

April 2013 (in which Joyce Carol Oates says some nice things about Rakestraw Books and we celebrate 40 Years as "The Bookstore in Danville")

March 2013

February 2013

January 2013 (in which we announce a special event with JoJo Moyes, author of Me Before You)

December 2012 (Part Two)

December 2012 (Part One)

November 2012 (Part Two) (in which we announce Small Business Saturday)

November 2012 (Part One) (in which we announce our move to 550 Hartz Ave and welcome some new staff)

October 2012 (in which we announce events with Bishop Gene Robinson, Tony LaRussa, Michael Chabon, and more!)

A fan made sugar cookies in celebration of Deborah Harkness!September 2012

August 2012

Late July 2012 (in which we show Johnny Evison some love and announce events with Maggie Shipstead and Jim Lynch)

Early July 2012 (in which we launch the new website and invite folks to lunch with Deborah Harkness.

                          One of Deb's fans made sugar cookies!)

A CalShakes Afternoon

June 2012

May 2012 (in which we announce a luncheon with Bravo TV's Andy Cohen. Mazel!)

April 2012

Rakestraw's beer glass in celebration of West of Here by Jonathan Evison.March 2012 (in which Jonathan Evison visits and we commission our first beer glass!)

February 2012

January 2012 (in which we use the subject line "Dead Heads, Crowned Head, Best Friends, Un-Friends)

December 2011 (in which we make a some wonderfully random recommendations)

An Invitation to an Olive Oil Dinner

November 2011

October 2011

September 2011

August 2011

July 2011 (in which we raffle off a French dinner party)

June 2011

May 2011 (in which we announce the first-ever Book Group Festival, a cycling event, and an architectural tour of SF)

April 2011

March 2011 (in which we announce special events with Lois Lowry and Andre Dubus III)

February 2011 

January 2011 

December 2010 (Part Three)

December 2010 (Part Two) (in which we announce that Rakestraw Books has won the 2010 Town of Danville Design Award for Best Remodel)

December 2010 (Part One)

November 2010 (in which we announce a Danville panel discussion with Michael Krasny and Armistead Maupin's first visit to Rakestraw Books)

October 2010 (in which we announce event with Pulitzer Prize-winner Tim Egan and a lunch with chef David Tanis. Here's a recipe for Tanis's Carne Adovada.)

September 2010

August 2010 (in which announce visits with Mary Roach and Carl Hiaasen)

July 2010

June 2010

May 2010