At Gallowglass Books, we’re having our semi-annual 25% off sale, starting Friday, May 28th and running till closing Saturday, June 5th.  Every book in the store is discounted as we clear our overstock and look to make room for plenty more books to hit the shelves this summer.

So whether you’re looking for a paperback mystery to bring down to the beach (regularly $3.75 each, now only $2.81!) or any of our many rare books — or something in between –  expect to get a great deal!

Note: We will NOT be taking in books to buy anytime in June. Please check back in July if you have items to sell. Thanks!

As some of you may have read, in last week’s Victoria Times-Colonist there was a nice piece about Gallowglass Books as part of a promotional insert on businesses in Downtown Duncan. The article was about Jeff and I (Alanah), and how we originally met. (Here’s the link [PDF] if anyone wishes to read it. Our thanks to Erin Morgan for the thoughtful article and to Agnes Caravati for the lovely photo!)

Anyway, one of the wonderful benefits of that article was all the people it brought into the store to congratulate us on our impending parenthood. We were particularly touched by Zoë, Mike and their gorgeous daughter Abigail who, despite only knowing us through a brief visit to the store last summer, came all the way up from Victoria today — Christmas Eve — to drop off a thoughtful gift for our baby. What an amazingly kind thing to do!  We certainly hope they’ll stay in touch!  Our thanks to them and many others for making this Christmas even more special for us.

And on that note, to all our customers and friends in Duncan and beyond, thank you so much for your patronage. We’re ever grateful and humbled that you continue to support our shop, and wish nothing but the best for all of you this holiday season and throughout 2010.

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick reminder that the store is open late through the month of December.

Holiday Hours:

Monday - Friday: 9:30am - 8pm

Saturday: 10 - 6pm

Sunday: 12 - 4pm

Looking for a new book to enjoy by a local author? Stop by the store on December 16th where you can meet Trish Bishop and check out The Question Journey.

Here’s the invite from Trish’s Facebook page for the event:

Hey, drop in and say hello at Gallowglass Books. It will be totally informal, pull up a chair and let’s have a chat, maybe a cup of tea and some yummies! A great respite from the holiday shopping craze:)

Time: 5:00PM Wednesday, December 16th
Location: 40 Ingram Street, Duncan, BC

If you want to call us in advance, or need detailed driving directions, go to this page. We’ll look forward to seeing you there! Meanwhile, to find out more about The Question Journey, be sure to check out its dedicated website where you’ll find all sorts of detailed information.

The book is available at Gallowglass Books anytime for $29.

Well, it’s time again for one of the bookstore’s most popular events, its twice-yearly 25% off sale — That’s 25% off of every book in the store!

So if you’ve had your eye on something for a while, or are just looking for some inexpensive, one-of-a-kind gift ideas, be sure to stop by soon.

Sale will last through the coming week, then be gone till next spring.  Don’t miss out!

Just a quick note to let you know the store is open again.  Our apologies for the unexpected closure — building maintenance took much longer than we’d hoped.

We have a sale starting pronto, so we’ll update you about that next. Stay tuned!

Regular customers to the store will have noticed Gallowglass Books has been closed on and off this past week.  We’re so sorry for the inconvenience.  The reason is due to unexpected building maintenance issues  (some work being done upstairs and requiring some drywall fixes to our ceiling as a result) and it’s been a bit unpredictable.

We’ve been assured (knock on wood) that the work will be done in the next day or two and that we should be able to re-open the store on Wednesday at the latest.  Maybe sooner, but your guess is as good as ours, I’m afraid.

We’ll be sure to post here as soon as we re-open. Meanwhile, feel free to contact us by emailing books@gallowglassbooks.com or phone and leave a message at 250-746-4104.

While most readers probably seek out biographies to learn the intimate details of people’s lives and the history of different eras and cultures, there are some for whom autobiography is meant to be outright comedy. (Whether it was written comically or not!)  Which brings us to the off-Broadway production of Celebrity Autobiography.

Recently on CBC’s show Q, host Jian Ghomeshi interviewed the producer (?) and Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch, one of the players from the New York production,  which is where we first heard about it.  The video below is a taste of the style, an odd and frequently very funny mixture of melodrama and witty spins on the personal stories of your favorite celebs.

A unique and fun way to put your biography library (or our collection) to fresh use, perhaps? You decide!

Certainly books are the most important thing to a bookstore  (of course!), but have you noticed how so many bookstores carry things in addition to books?  Everything from blank journals and stationary, to beautifully crafted bookmarks and other lovely things, can be found in our favorite stores around Vancouver Island.  And even here at Gallowglass — where we don’t actually carry journals or stationary — there’s always a few odd things around the store.

Taking inventory recently, I snapped a few photos…

The cards on this rack are all lovingly crafted by our friend, and long-time customer, Gwen Rawlins, a talented artist here in the Cowichan Valley. On the walls of the store you can also see various examples of prints and paintings (not pictured here) available for sale.

Above, you can see we keep a few audio books on hand, tapes and CDs. (Handy if you’re in the car a lot or like to take long walks!)

Recognize the books above? Well, they’re not books; they’re book boxes, actually. Particularly handy for hiding valuables. (Just be sure to buy a box of a book you really like… you don’t want to accidentally forget you’ve stored some cash in there before unthinkingly giving the book away!)

Finally, a wall hanging by Mary Rolls, another customer of the store and talented local artist. And below that photo, some stray book ends for the shelves.

Books are always the star of the show, but it seems other things have a way of slipping onto the shelves. And who knows… maybe one day we’ll even add some of those blank journals like a normal bookstore.

Everything at Gallowglass Books, from the $1 paperback beach books to the rarest of expensive treasures, is covered by our semi-annual 25% off sale.*

Come by and check it out!

*Sale is for in-store customers only.