Old Town Books Junior recently opened at 130 S. Royal Street, and its owner says that last week’s first story time under the new indoor reading tree was packed.
“It looked like a nightclub for toddlers in here,” store owner Ally Kirkpatrick told us. “We soft-launched last week and had more than 40 families come out for story time.”
Think about getting comfortable, because there’s a silent reading party happening in Old Town North later this month.
The realm of the imagination is the destination for participants in the latest venture between Old Town Books (130 S. Royal Street) and Hotel AKA Alexandria (625 First Street). From 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 24, you can finally get the peace and quiet needed to move the bookmark along and find out who did the deed in that Agatha Christie murder mystery.
Wizards and muggles are invited to a special tour in Old Town on Sunday (July 28).
In recognition of Harry Potter’s birthday, the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (105-107 S. Fairfax Street) is hosting a magical tour and potion-making clinic.
All you fancy-pants, book-reading edumacated readers out there mark your calendars: there’s an upcoming trivia contest for you.
The brewery at 3950 Wheeler Avenue is having its first ‘Port City Book Worm Trivia’ on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.
A group of mystery writers are meeting together at Elaine’s (208 Queen Street) this month for a discussion about writing the genre’s archetypal characters.
Elaine’s, once a restaurant called Bilbo Baggins, opened last year with a second floor designed to hold literary events like author interviews and book launches.
Salma Faqirzaava wants to be an attorney, but that future was impossible in Afghanistan. Now she’s back in school and learning English in Alexandria.
Eight months ago, Salma and her parents moved to Alexandria, where she enrolled in Alexandria City High School, finding herself navigating the busy hallways of the second largest high school in Virginia.
Editor’s note: Kirkpatrick said the store remained open when the article was published and the store was only closed for 36 hours. ALXnow apologizes for the error.
Ally Kirkpatrick, owner of the beloved local book shop Old Town Books (130 S. Royal Street), is contending with sudden vision loss.
Where’s Waldo? Kids and parents with eagle eyes can spot him this month in 25 Alexandria businesses.
After you find Waldo at 10 businesses, spotters can collect prizes at Hooray for Books (1555 King Street) in Old Town. Collectors with at least 20 stamps on a passport (found at any participating business) can claim a Waldo temporary tattoo and store coupon.
Anyone that’s a sucker for a good book sale might want to head to the Beatley Central Library (5005 Duke Street) at some point this week.
Getting rescued from Somali pirates by Navy SEALs is one thing, but at the end of the day Jessica Buchanan had to save herself.
An Ohio native, Buchanan was an aid worker in northern Somalia when she and fellow aid worker Poul Hagen Thisted were kidnapped in October 2011. With an untreated thyroid condition worsening, she was kept on a starvation diet and slept in the open desert for 93 days. She was rescued by a team of 24 U.S. Navy SEALs, and President Obama phoned Buchanan’s father to inform him on the news of her release.
A magical apothecary tour will materialize in Old Town next week, just in time for the holidays.
The Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (105-107 S. Fairfax Street) is hosting the annual event on Friday, Dec. 16, and fans of J.K. Rowling’s books can learn about her inspirations in the muggle field of botanical science. Visitors will learn about fumigating pastiles, sweet marjoram and cuttle fish bone, among others.
