about us.

BLACKHAWK'S INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE

 learn more about us and our community -   
writing mamas salon       our book club   
savings for local book clubs        read's readers rewards
green bag discount       newspapers       read-a-thon  
online sales tax       our blackhawk plaza neighbors

 
read. booksellers opened it's doors in November 2009 with the overarching mission to provide a convergence of concepts put into action in a welcoming package. Inspired by the classic independent bookstore model, read. offers excellent book and gift choices because we have taken the time to handpick all of our goods to be able to recommend them to you.We strive to support our community in the advancement of literacy and education. We hope to differentiate our customer's experience by providing a level of service that exceeds their expectations and attempt to always do better. Tall order? Yes, but this is where we are going.

We are particularly proud of our children's section which is a comfortable, fun place to find great books and gifts for kids. We are, also, strong in fiction, art, architecture, interior design, cards, and magazines. Another focus we've developed is our journals and pens...our pen selection is growing but already inspiring. We aspire to be THE place in northern California to find the perfect pen, from a $2.25 Itoya Calligraphy pen to a $1,080.00 Montegrappa. In May, we held our first Blackhawk Pen Show to an appreciative crowd and are planning another for the fall. Whether you're looking for your next book or want the perfect gift for someone special, you have a truly eclectic choice at read. ...check us out.

a bookstore.         

               a meeting place.        

             an adventure.

Store Hours 
          Monday - Thursday   9am - 8pm
          Friday & Saturday   9am - 9pm
          Sunday   9am - 7pm

 
Directions
(our favorite way)
Take the Sycamore Valley Road EAST exit off I-680
- it becomes Camino Tassajara as you head up the hill
- after 4.8 miles you'll come to the intersection with Crow Canyon and Blackhawk Road.
- take a left onto Blackhawk Road
- take the first right turn into the Blackhawk Plaza parking lot
- park near Draeger's Market at the far end of the lot.

The bookstore is on the breezeway to the right of Draeger's Market, on the inside of the plaza , near a waterfall and above the stream.

 OR
Take Crow Canyon Road EAST exit off I-680 
-  go 4 miles to the intersection with Camino Tassajara
-  go straight through the intersection and up the hill
- Crow Canyon becomes Blackhawk Road
- take the first right turn into the Blackhawk Plaza parking lot
- park near Draeger's Market at the far end of the lot.

 
general questions & comments - 
phone 925.736.9090
     or
read@readbooksellers.com
             or
vicky@readbooksellers.com
                      or
john@readbooksellers.com

 webmaster - john@readbooksellers.com
         kid's events - sherry@readbooksellers.com

Now you can earn rewards just for buying stuff!
We will give you a $15 coupon
for every $150 you spend with us.

Just sign up for our email list, and as long as you're on our list, you're up for rewards. Then, whenever you purchase something, just tell us you’re a rewards member, we’ll track your purchases, and you’re headed towards your first coupon.

This is an in-store program, sooooooooo, Sign up to Save Today.

We have introduced a new way for local book clubs to save 10% OFF their selected club books at read.

If your book club is interested in signing up, we just need to have a contact person with your book club. This person will be responsible to let us know, in advance (so we can make sure to have the books) what titles your club is reading, and be a contact if we have questions.

All the members who would like a 10% discount on book club books:
   - need to be a member of book club registered with read.
   - need to sign up for our store emails and mark which book club they're in.

I will remind you that this discount is for in-store purchases only. We want to meet our neighbors.
Come see us and get your book club signed up today.

  
SAVE the BAGS
SAVE a DOLLAR
Because it's a good green thing to do, they're great bags, and we want them being shown off
- if you bring in one of our read. canvas book bags for your next purchase - we'll give you $1 OFF your next purchase. You can think of this as your pay for getting our bags out there - for doing some advertising for us - for spreading the word.

Another way We Give Back

One of the community projects that the bookstore got involved with, in a major way, was the SRVEF Read-A-Thon.

read. booksellers was the major sponsor of this first Read-A-Thon, organized by the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation and it got a lot of kids reading. As of the time we gave out the awards in early May, the students had read for 1,923,872 minutes, raised $31,043.70, and they were still counting the results. What a great effort!

The prizes were awarded as follows:

$1,000 read. booksellers gift certificates for the libraries at:
Quail Run, Iron Horse Middle School, Gale Ranch Middle School

$500 read. booksellers gift certificates for the library at:
Hidden Hills

$25 read. booksellers gift certificates for top readers:

Chandni Mistry, Indu Gaddenmadugu, Vincent Sparvoli

$10 read. booksellers gift certificates for next group of top readers:
Brenna Turnbow, Sylvester Jung, Saurabh Shriwas, Kobe Phan, Colin Nguyen

The following won pizza parties from read. bookstore - to be enjoyed here at Blackhawk Plaza.
Kraft Rancho Romero, Maloney Hidden Hills, Burgess Alamo

for more info on the Read-A-Thon

Writers and Moms!
Writing Mamas © Danville
There's a new writing community dedicated to nurturing the mother and the writer. The Mamas hold their meetings here at the bookstore each month, as they get the Blackhawk chapter up and going.  

Are you a mother?
 
Do you write, or want to write?

What would it take to make that possible?

Time away from responsibilities to focus

A quiet and inspiring place

Inspiration

Support and feedback

A glass of wine  

Meetings will normally be every 3rd Sunday of the month, but for when holidays conflict, and your first meeting is free. That way you can try it on for size. Yearly dues are only $100, that's a Bay Area writing resource bargain!

For more information, or to sign up to attend a meeting, please contact: Kirsten Branch, Managing Editor Kirsten.E.Branch@gmail.com

► Here are some wise words from the American Booksellers Association that we hope will make you think about the power of your actions

Buying Online to Avoid Tax Costs Everyone in the End  

While economists nationwide argue over whether we have begun to recover from the Great Recession, one financial reality is beyond dispute. Our state is facing the biggest budget challenge in decades. Even in a slowly rebounding economy, California is faced with a projected mid-year budget shortfall of $6.3 billion, which means that local governments -- even if they raise school and property taxes -- are going to be cutting support for such essential services as policing, fire fighting, and schools.  

The enormous irony in this troubling story is that California is allowing hundreds of millions of dollars in sales tax to go uncollected by allowing remote online retailers with a significant business presence in our state to ignore their obligation to collect sales tax.  

Given the sums involved, you would think there would be many in the state calling for this situation to be remedied. There are not. Perhaps it's because opponents of sales tax equity have, so far, managed to obfuscate the issue through a combination of misinformation and scapegoating.  

Under current sales tax law, any out-of-state retailer is required to collect and remit sales tax for purchases made by residents in California if the retailer has a physical presence in our state. Current sales tax laws dictate that an out-of-state retailer has a physical presence in a state if they have a store, warehouse, office, or sales agent in the state.  

Amazon.com and other online giants have thousands of affiliates in California, and they are actively promoting products sold by these out-of-state businesses. When this promotion results in a sale of said product, they earn a commission. That, by any definition, is a sales agent, and that means that these online mega-retailers have the legal presence in our state that requires them to collect sales tax.  

The Amazons of the world and online affiliates are naturally opposed to any steps that states might take to enforce sales tax laws. Strategically, their stance makes a lot of sense because it gives them a significant competitive advantage over our in-state businesses that must add additional cost of sales tax.  

Furthermore, there is no doubt that consumers enjoy this so-called advantage. I hear it often: They will shop at out-of-state e-tailers just to avoid paying sales tax.  

That sounds fine, but we need to ask ourselves, in the long run, who really is footing the bill for these duty-free purchases? 

Well, I can tell you who is not paying the bill: Neither online affiliates nor remote retailers.   

We are not talking about just a few dollars here and there flowing out-of-state. The reality is that hundreds of millions of dollars are lost each year, and the figure is growing. This is money that should be going to first responders, to local communities, and to lessen our tax burden. Instead, this money is flying out-of-state to remote retailers and the affiliates that pocket the cash while taxpayers subsidize their use of our in-state services, our roads, and their very business.  

Taking advantage of our state's unwillingness to enforce sales tax laws during the best of times is egregious enough. However, during a recession that has hit our state so hard, it's an affront to every business and citizen in the state.  

And what's worse, on an economic level, it makes no sense.   

Legislators who oppose sales tax equity tout their belief in fiscal responsibility. But, in truth, how fiscally responsible is it to maintain a public policy that subsidizes out-of-state retailers while punishing in-state, tax-paying businesses and residents? Does fiscal responsibility demand that out state government burden residents and businesses with higher taxes and fewer services to placate out-of-state retailers that only take from our state and provide nothing in return?  

Yet that's the stance our state legislators and Governor are currently taking. And so I ask one more question: How's that working out for us exactly? The current budget shortfall tells me the answer is not so good.   

Opponents also love to argue that folks like me are calling for a new tax. The idea that any struggling retailer in our state would demand a new tax on consumers just doesn't pass the giggle test. In truth, if an out-of-state retailer does not have nexus in the state, shoppers are already required by law to submit the sales tax to the state. The real question is over who should collect this tax – you as a consumer or the out-of-state retailer. Now, granted, our state has not really done much to enforce the collection of use tax from residents, but trust me, as the budget situation worsens, it will. So either you're going to pay it or someone is going to collect it from you.  

Finally, as for those who worry that sales tax equity would somehow harm online business in the state, let me stress that most online retailers, including Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and Sears, already collect and remit sales tax for online purchases. Technological advances have greatly simplified and automated this task. Huge corporate retailers like Amazon.com and Overstock.com are the few remaining holdouts. That said, the money they siphon from our local community and residents is significant and growing exponentially each year.  

So please, when you go to the Internet for some tax-free shopping, I would only urge you to remember that your purchase isn't really free at all. In fact, that tax-free purchase costs all of us and our communities a lot more than you might think.

We are now home to a well-rounded selection of newspapers for local, national, and financial news. Your news fix can start at read. booksellers with: 
The New York Times                           
             San Ramon Valley Times                                                       
                    Wall Street Journal                             
                         Contra Costa Valley Times                                        
                              Financial Times 
                                   USA Today
                                          and Barron's   

These are the people in our Neighborhood

- come visit our good neighbors ► go to their websites