Rakestraw Books

"The Bookstore in Danville"™

"Rakestraw Books is a gem: small, perfect, and the more you peer into it,
endlessly deep. The love of good books animates and inspires the place;
the staff is passionate and smart -- every visit offers equal measures of
entertainment and instruction. And Michael Barnard may just be the best
bookseller in the Bay Area -- which, given the competition, is high
praise indeed."

Michael Chabon
The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay
November, 2001

If you think the small quirky bookshop has all but disappeared from the face of the earth, look no further than RAKESTRAW BOOKS.

Founded in 1973, Rakestraw Books is a small, independent bookshop that remains dedicated to the principles espoused by its founders: to sell a variety of books of merit; to help readers discover those books; to sponsor events that bring a diverse range of writers and artists to our community; and to accomplish these tasks in a manner that is both professional and friendly.

Our particular strengths are contemporary fiction – although we maintain a strong showing in British writers from fifty years ago; literary essays; biographies; and literature of travel.  Each month a number of authors visit Rakestraw Books – as part of our successful Writers and Readers at Rakestraw program – to share their latest works with our audience of readers.  These events allow us, and our community, to take part in the larger literary conversation of our day.  Past guests have included Terry McMillan, Susan Vreeland, Peter Carey, Michael Chabon, Ursula Hegi, and Jane Hamilton.  This list, and a glance at this month’s calendar of events, should prove the dynamism of this popular program.

We also have an unusually strong selection of children’s books – both contemporary titles and classic works.  Moreover, we support our young readers with specialty book groups and a lively program of author and illustrator visits.  Some of the best children’s writers and illustrators have visited Rakestraw Books over the years.  From Peter Sis to Philip Pullman, from Jean Craighead George to Jamie Lee Curtis, our children’s events program is a lively and successful one.

We are generally thought of as a “literary bookstore,” and with writers such as Sebastian Faulks, Jeffrey Lent, and Nancy Huston dominating our bestseller list, it is easy to see why.  We make no apologies for purchasing decisions motivated by our sense of quality and by our enthusiasms rather than by a cynical perception of what “will sell.”

It has always been our aim to be a general bookstore, a refuge for the wide-ranging mind, a place where everyone will find something to her taste – original, first-rate, and somewhat out of the ordinary.  This is not the direction in which the big chain bookstores or the big websites are heading.  Nonetheless, it is the one towards which we strive.  This is the reason we exist and why we continue to thrive.

If you long for a place of refuge in a world which frequently seems faster and more intimidating everyday, look no further than Rakestraw Books.  If you desire a shop where books are chosen for their merits, look no further than Rakestraw Books.  If you wish for an atmosphere of warmth, kindness, and professional expertise, look no further than Rakestraw Books, “the Bookstore in Danville.”