Cafe Books West has been serving up coffee and selling books for many years now in Rossland, but that’s not all they do.
They are also an integral part of the community, providing a games night, a place to socialize and plenty of culture by way of bringing in authors and artists.
Liz Anderson and Michelle Skuce manage the bookstore coffee shop and said that over the years it has seen various forms of the coffee/books ratio, with the present state being one of the more coffee-oriented. That’s not to say that they don’t have a lot of books.
Both Anderson and Skuce said that the support that Rossland residents have given the shop over the past few years has been wonderful, especially over the summer, when construction on Washington in front of their store, all but shut down the front entrance.
Skuce said that small bookshops are having a hard time in these days of massive online booksellers like Amazon, but where the big sellers may save a bit of money, the direct community link is lost.
This weekend Cafe Books is hosting a double reading.
On Saturday evening at 7 p.m., local author Rosa Jordan will be there to promote her new book, Cuba Unspun.
Skuce said that the book is described as “part travelogue, part history yarn, (with a dash of guidebook for good measure), Cuba Unspun is a valuable resource for anyone curious about the evolution of the island nation from the treacherous Special Period to the uncertain present.” by Conner Gorry, Havana-based journalist, blogger and guidebook writer.
“On Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. we are hosting Whistler author Stella Harvey, who will be reading from her new novel, Nicolai’s Daughters, which is a historical fiction,” she said.
The back reads “Told in the alternating voices of Alexia and Nicolai, who each return to Greece to mourn a loss and find solace, Nicolai’s Daughters uncovers the secret shame that festers in a family, refusing to heal until the truth is revealed.” Stella has family connections who live in Trail and her visit here coincides with her visit to the area.