The Book Hive: Bringing grownup book fairs to a brewery near you

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It’s a summer-like Tuesday night in the Capital Region, and truly the end of what Karley likes to call “the leafless season.” We’re so pumped for the warm months ahead...

🍏 Starting off strong, our first-ever The 518 Happy Hour goes down Wednesday evening (6-8p) at Nine Pin’s Tasting Room. Come out to meet our awesome community and enjoy 10% off all cider pours (just mention “The 518 Crew”).

To give you a little more incentive, we’re also raffling off 2 tickets to The 518 Dinner Club, our newly launched dinner series, at the Happy Hour. Don’t miss it!

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

📚️ The Book Hive: Bringing grownup book fairs to breweries

Between the beer taps and the bar chatter, Laura Jewell and Melissa Smith have found an unlikely sweet spot for selling books: the adult night out. Their pop-up venture, The Book Hive turns breweries and bars across the Capital Region into one-night-only book fairs, where customers come for a drink and leave with an armful of discounted novels.

The surprise element is part of the appeal.

“We’ve had people walk into our events and gasp, like, ‘Did I just walk into a book fair?’” Melissa says. “They get so excited. We’re really trying to recapture that high that you would get as a kid, when the Scholastic Book Fair came to school.”

Melissa and Laura took over the business from founder Amy Duskiewicz after she moved to North Carolina, and they have kept growing the concept across the region. 

Along with regular pop-ups, they now host larger events like their “Bookish Market,” which brings together authors for in-person signings and vendors like candlemakers and other artisans.

The core of the business is simple: great books at good prices. The Book Hive is able to sell books at half price, usually $9 for paperbacks and $14 for hardcovers. The books come from wholesale vendors and are returns from brick-and-mortar stores—not used, but no longer considered new either.

Laura says the selection is curated and varied, with fantasy, romance, historical fiction, thrillers and nonfiction all in the mix. “Our books are not the newest releases, but they’re all well reviewed,” she says.

The other key is convenience. “I think that people love that we come to them,” Melissa says. “We’re coming to a space where people are already at, and enjoying a night out.”

The deets: The best way to follow The Book Hive is on social media: Instagram and/or Facebook. Their next Bookish Market lands at Common Roots Albany Outpost on Saturday, April 25. Also, this Saturday, the ladies set up shop at Bard & Baker in Troy for the first time.

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🍔 Apparently we need to head posthaste to Illusive Restaurant & Bar in Rensselaer and Savoy Taproom in Albany. Both are Top 10 finalists in the Best NY Burger Competition, organized by the New York Beef Council. [Times Union]

🍩 A bunch of local hotspots have opened 2nd locations: Mr Bumbles Cafe at 677 Broadway, Albany; Bitchin’ Donuts at 2008 Central Ave, Colonie; and The Skinny Pancake in Latham—all open for business now.

💪 You can never go wrong with a show at EMPAC. Next weekend, RPI’s experimental performing arts center will put on Corpus Festival, three days of performances, installations, talks, and video works that explore how bodies shape experience, meaning, and power. [EMPAC]

This whimsical dome home in East Berne looks like what would happen if a well-heeled hobbit met an architect. Sitting on 17.4 acres, the contemporary home offers a rare combination of seclusion, flexibility, and connection to nature. With the right decor, you could elegantly highlight the unique geometric spaces—something the current owners haven’t been able to pull off with any creativity. Other highlights include: a spacious kitchen, newer roof, and a full basement ready to be made into Frodo Baggins’ man cave.

The deets: 3 bd, 2 ba, 2151 sf. 17.4 acres. Asking: $349,000. Days on market: 3. See the full listing here.

Note: The 518 Weekender now publishes on Thursdays. Watch your inboxes!

WEDNESDAY

🇵🇱 Polish Fest at the Empire State Plaza features a traditional Polish lunch + craft vendors.

🎙️ Gospel legends The Blind Boys of Alabama play The Egg.

THURSDAY

🌘 The Mooncatcher Project’s annual fundraiser raises money to fight period poverty in the Capital Region.

FRIDAY

🪐 The Dudley Observatory’s Mindy Townsend leads several star parties this weekend for Dark Sky Week.

📽️ The Warwick Drive-In Theatre opens for the season.

SATURDAY

🌍️ The South End Earth Day is one of Albany’s biggest Earth Day celebrations.

🎪 World Circus Day at The Egg celebrates contemporary circus, movement, and theatrical storytelling in an awesome space.

🥕 Dig into a scrumptious 5-course meal at Spring Fling, cooked up by the folks at First + Adams.

SUNDAY

🦇 Dark Sky Week continues at Hucyk Preserve in Rensselaerville when professor Craig Frank talks about the effect of not-so-dark skies on insectivorous bats.

🍏 You know we love a good cleanup at The 518. Nine Pin hosts its 11th annual Warehouse District Cleanup.

🎬️ Catch the documentary, “The Plastic Detox,” followed by a panel discussion exploring the environmental and public health impacts of plastic pollution. At the NYS Museum.

👰 The NY Bridal & Wedding Expo is at the Albany Capital Center.

MONDAY

💨 The Elevated Social: Paint & Puff is a 4/20 hangout at Nine Pin with live DJ, food, games, swag, and local pop-ups including State of Mind Dispensary.

ART ON VIEW

• Plastique | Opalka Gallery | Ends April 18

• Countenance: The Contemporary Portrait | Pine Hills Branch of the Albany Public Library | Ends May 9

• Richard Deon Woodcuts | Hyde Collection

• Designing Power: The Black Panther Party | Inked: Stigma, Otherness, and Art | All These Growing Things | Tang Teaching Museum

• Blanche Lazzell: Becoming an American Modernist and A Life in Bloom: The Floral Paintings of Julia McEntee Dillon | Albany Institute of History & Art

Our music listings are now published separately on The 518 website. Click here.

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