Kate Mitas, Bookseller

Kate Mitas, Bookseller Social history via ephemera, archives and books.
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03/10/2026

Not one, but TWO customers sent me shelfies of their newly-arrived purchases today, so yeah, I win Monday.

Lily, the KMB Operations Manager, is shocked — shocked! — that KMB won’t be exhibiting at the California International A...
02/20/2026

Lily, the KMB Operations Manager, is shocked — shocked! — that KMB won’t be exhibiting at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in San Francisco next week. Nevertheless, I WILL be at the fair, helming my good friend and colleague Marc Selvaggio’s booth. He’ll have, among loads of other primarily European ephemera, a collection of international toilet paper wrappers, which I am hellbent on selling. So stop by booth 142, say hello, and buy something you never knew anybody had the foresight, no, the sheer GENIUS, to collect!

I do love a good political coloring book. 🖍️
02/17/2026

I do love a good political coloring book. 🖍️

It’s been a minute, but KMB is still kicking! And, if I may be so blunt, there is some SERIOUSLY amazing material in the...
02/01/2026

It’s been a minute, but KMB is still kicking! And, if I may be so blunt, there is some SERIOUSLY amazing material in the works. Stay tuned, friends…

Your periodic reminder that I LOVE helping curators and collectors build their collections! This week I’ll be madly scra...
10/26/2025

Your periodic reminder that I LOVE helping curators and collectors build their collections! This week I’ll be madly scrambling to finish cataloging material for a customer who has been incredibly helpful and generous over the years in teaching me what kinds of material he’s looking for. I’ve been buying odds and ends with him in mind for several months, and while I know it won’t all stick, it’s SO MUCH FUN trying to figure out what will. Did I get a little creative here and there? Of course! That’s part of the fun. Maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t— with luck, I’ve done this right and will still be able to sell elsewhere whatever he passes on. Regardless, there’s something magical about this process. It reminds me of my Cellar Stories Bookstore days, when I’d help someone find a book they didn’t know they’d come into the shop looking for, but needed, for whatever reason, at that particular moment. The price isn’t the important thing. The important thing is putting the right book/archive/ephemera/etc in the right person’s hands. It’s my own small way of creating a moment of rightness in the world, however ephemeral, however wrong the world might be right now. It’s a moment of joy that quietly and calmly says “f*ck you” to the monsters in power. And it’s the thing that, again and again, makes me glad I’m a bookseller. So, if you’re a collector or a curator who’s been too busy or too shy to reach out with your wants list: hit me up! I can’t promise I’ll find what you’re looking for, but I’ll do my damnedest.

In other news, I managed to score a copy of one of my absolute favorite games! It’s a second wave feminist RPG take on s...
10/26/2025

In other news, I managed to score a copy of one of my absolute favorite games! It’s a second wave feminist RPG take on sexism, with players encouraged to play a different gender than their own while they navigate sexist mores. The goal is to make it from the doll house to the White House: if a woman wins, she’s proclaimed a person “and must be treated as such for 24 hours”. Throughout, players draw both role and chance cards that place them in potentially sexist situations, while progressing around the board on squares addressing everything from beauty pageants and typing pools to abortion and divorce. The game was originally sold by NOW, apparently mostly in the Seattle region, and is rare.
NFS while I try to hawk it to an institutional customer, but golly it’s delightful.

Not to brag, but no one unpacks a new arrival quite like KMB’s Operations Manager, Lily. Inevitably somewhat doubtful th...
10/25/2025

Not to brag, but no one unpacks a new arrival quite like KMB’s Operations Manager, Lily. Inevitably somewhat doubtful that it’s only a book, and not, say, a snake, she approaches the package cautiously, but of course she can’t NOT investigate. And what joy! A book AND packing peanuts! Lily’s appreciation for the packing peanut —big enough to cushion a book, small enough to fit in a panther’s, or even a house cat’s, mouth — is unsurpassed. In fact, she may be the only living thing in the world that appreciates packing peanuts. Even if her coworker always chases her and steals them before she can eat them. Sigh. Her coworker has no instinct for culinary adventure…

Happy Gotcha Day/ one year anniversary to KMB Operations Manager, Lily the Calico Petite Panther, Magnificent of Her Lin...
10/17/2025

Happy Gotcha Day/ one year anniversary to KMB Operations Manager, Lily the Calico Petite Panther, Magnificent of Her Line, Splendiferous before All, the First (aka Lily for short)! Lily started out here with no experience managing a rare book business, but she didn’t let that stop her from quickly learning the ropes and taking charge. She keeps me on task by consistently reminding me that if I catalogued faster, I would have less stuff on my desk so it would be more comfortable for her to lay down. To demonstrate, she often knocks my pencil holder to the ground, thus clearing space for herself while also creating an impromptu artwork of fallen pencils. Taking time to appreciate the finer things in life is key to a healthy work-life balance, after all! When she notices I need a break, she lays on my keyboard and holds my hand in her paws. She’s also very good at making sure I take my lunch break, and even climbs into the refrigerator in search of ny lunch for me! Sometimes she needs some perspective while supervising, and while I admit it feels a little creepy to look up and see her staring at me from the top of a bookshelf, I know she’s just doing her job. Not surprisingly, given her dedication, she’s won Employee of the Month every month since she’s been here! (I’ve worked at KMB for over eight years and haven’t won it once.) I’m consistently amazed by my furry little colleague, and am so very glad she’s settled in here after a less-than-great start to life. Here’s to many more anniversaries, Lily!

We’ve all been there. One day you’re just walking along, minding your own business, and then: blammo! An obscure Ohio im...
10/13/2025

We’ve all been there. One day you’re just walking along, minding your own business, and then: blammo! An obscure Ohio imprint catches your eye and you’re head over heels in love. Never mind that it’s missing both the spine and rear board — no one’s perfect! — that it’s in German (which you can only occasionally make out), that it’s not the first US printing, that it’s about veterinary medicine (not a specialty of yours). Heck, never mind that it’s a book, of all things, and you’re a dedicated ephemerist! It’s GORGEOUS! That sexy mid-19th century type used for the location and date, the way they just put “Sandusky, O” instead of spelling out “Ohio.” Not to mention the fascinating publishing history: first published in the US in Pennsylvania in 1823, then published for Ohio’s German immigrants at the beginning of the Civil War, possibly because of the greater threat to horses and other livestock during the hostilities. I mean, how can you NOT fall in love with this battered little book? Excuse me while I swoon…

I don’t know why decorative gourds get all the attention this time of year. They’re not even edible! Whereas pears — yum...
10/10/2025

I don’t know why decorative gourds get all the attention this time of year. They’re not even edible! Whereas pears — yummy, delicious PEARS — somehow go unrecognized as that most autumnal of autumn fruits. The decorative gourd hegemony must be broken, the narrative rewritten! That’s right: it’s rainbow pears season, b*tches.

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351 Oak Street #247
Oakland, CA
94607

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