Dan Owen at Chop Suey Books!

On Friday, May 8th from 6-9 pm, Chop Suey Books will host an opening reception for Drawings, an exhibition of new work by Dan Owen. These fantastic and trippy drawings are really something to behold. They are also something to own, and Dan has priced them all at such low prices, you will be able to. The show is on display through June 7th.

What's Parked Outside!

So today at Chop Suey Books there was a wicked downpour. When it stopped, we looked outside and this car was there! A purple 1970s Lincoln Continental Mark IV, with white vinyl roof, off-white leather seats, and a green shag dashboard. Obviously this baby rode in with the storm.

UPDATE (3pm): The Continental vanished as it came, with the wind, its departure not witnessed by a single soul in Chop Suey. We may never know if it was driven by a mortal man.

Weekend Success Rate= 100%!!!

We had a great weekend thanks to WRIR, Found Magazine, Gallery 5, the marriage of our friends Anna and Sam, and our loyal and friendly customers.


First, Chop Suey Books was on Buzzy Lawler's great show Shake Some Action on Saturday morning from 11-1 to help raise money during the WRIR (97.3 fm) fund drive. We originally challenged Chop Suey customers by doubling their donations up to $500. However, this goal was met in the first 50 minutes, so we went up to a $750 match. This goal was soon met as well, and with the help of our generous customers, we were able to add $1500 to WRIR's week long fundraiser. I'm not trying to brag on our customers too much, but WRIR says that they raised more money than ever before. Thanks friends!


Later that night, Chop Suey Books welcomed Davy and Peter Rothbart of Found Magazine to Gallery 5 for another night of discarded notes, love letters, photographs, and diary pages. As always, Davy and Peter delivered a great show. Between sets of music by Peter, Davy read from some great found notes, told a funny and touching story about their mother, and shared an essay from his new book, Requiem for a Paper Bag. He also informed us that Steve Buscemi has just finished writing a screenplay based on 3 of Davy's stories from The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, and they are meeting soon to discuss the details. Of course, all of Davy's work is available at Chop Suey Books, as we plan to ride with him all the way to the top!

After the show, we all drove to Chesterfield to take part in the revelries following the marriage of Anna Dreesen and Sam Vanneman. If you weren't able to attend the ceremony, make sure you congratulate this newly married couple. If you were there, please don't blame us for keeping you up late. We had a crazy long day, were excited to have Davy and Peter meet all of our friends, and couldn't help ourselves with all of the magic in the air!

May is for Maymont!

For the month of May, a handful of your favorite Richmond retailers are supporting Maymont Park by offering discounts and freebies to Maymont members. Chop Suey Books is joining World of Mirth, Can Can, Creatures & Crooks, and many other Carytown shops to make sure that Maymont members are recognized and appreciated for their support of this Richmond landmark. If you're already a member, bring in your membership card during the month of May and receive 10% off all purchases. If you're not a member, now is the time to join. In addition to all of the discounts you will receive, you can get a second membership for 1/2 price. To learn more about this unique promotion, visit Maymont's website, or call 358-7166.

Found Magazine Returns!

Make sure you don't miss Davy and Peter Rothbart of Found Magazine as they return to Richmond for a limited engagement, one show only, winner take all night at Gallery 5 this Saturday, May 2nd at 8 pm. Tickets are only $5, which is a real deal. That saves you some serious funds for purchasing Found books from Chop Suey and drinks from Gallery 5.

We Buy Books! However....

Since we're mostly a used books bookstore, we are constantly buying books from people. If you're familiar with our store, you won't have any questions about what kind of books we buy. But some people do. And we get calls about this about 5 times a day, on average. Over the past 7 years, we've honed our abilities to decide whether we want their books before we even hear what books they have. If you are going to call, try to avoid these pitfalls:

1. Do Not refer to your collection of books as a "lieberry." This is pretty good indication that the person speaking has not actually read any of the books they are selling. Or, worse, that they have. In either case, we most likely won't be interested. An easy tool to remember this rule is "Libraries contain a number of books. Lieberries grow of Fib Trees."

2. When asked to identify what kind of books you have, Do Not classify them as "reading books."

3. When we ask for a more specific description, Do Not categorize them as "Paperbacks and Hardcovers." We realize that they are most likely either when we answered the phone. As a side note, it does not help your case to act confused when we ask "Yes, but what kind of paperbacks and hardcovers?"

4. Do Not say that you have "All kinds" of books. If you do say this and don't include Patricia Cornwell, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, James Patterson, or Dean Koontz when you get more specific, we will be amazed.

5. When you list the previously mentioned authors and we tell you that we don't buy them, Do Not become confused/irate by asking "Well, what do you buy?!?" This implies to the listener that you have no comprehension that authors other than the ones you read exist. When you do ask a question like this, it is more likely that you are a "book snob" than us.

6. Do Not ask "Do you buy books?" and follow up with "How much would you give me for old National Geographics?"

7. Do Not refer to your books as "really old" if they are from the 1980s. It's just insulting.

WonTon Has Issues!

(of magazines)