Book Soup

Find Book Soup on Sunset Boulevard and enter a haven from the constant movement of people going to clubs and restaurants or simply hanging out. Readings there are cozy at the front of the store where listeners sit four deep like a fortified wall against the craziness outside. A new author, Claire Bidwell Smith, read from her memoir, The Inheritance of Loss, in a mellifluous voice that was juxtaposed with her themes of grief and of coming of age inside of it. Even while listening, look up and all around at books about people and groups long gone, and you know that loss is commonplace yet so personal. Your mind' wanders out and down to The Viper Room, outside of which River Phoenix died. Public loss and private loss are similar, and Book Soup brings them together in its mix of personalities, literary themes, and indie treks of mind. Book Soup provides a quiet and unique space to browse, ponder, become aware, and hold on to life--both real and literary.

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