Brown Bookstore celebrates 30th year doing business on Thayer Street

The Brown Bookstore is marking its 30th anniversary on Thayer Street with readings, book signings, a children's story hour, raffles, door prizes and more Oct. 1-5.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- It has been 30 years since the Brown University Bookstore moved to its present location at 244 Thayer St. To mark the occasion, the bookstore is celebrating with readings, book signings, a children's story hour, raffles and more. The festivities run Friday, Oct. 1, through Tuesday, Oct. 5, during normal busines hours and are free and open to the public.

Highlights include a reading of The Edge of Marriage by Hester Kaplan. The book, winner of the 1999 Flannery O'Conner Award for Short Fiction, showcases nine short stories. The reading takes place Friday, Oct. 1, at 4 p.m.

Also reading is National Book Award winner Ron Chernow from his latest biography, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller. Drawing from Rockefeller's private papers, Chernow reconstructs his subject's troubled origins and his single-minded pursuit of wealth. Chernow will read Saturday, Oct. 2, at noon.

In addition, 1989 Brown alum Samantha Gillison will read from her debut novel The Undiscovered Country at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5. The novel finds Peter Campbell, together with his wife and young daughter in the lush jungles of Papua New Guinea. While Peter hopes this time will bring his family closer together, the distance between them grows wider by the day.

Bookstore 30th Anniversary Events

Friday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.