Winston Pei (he/they/il/iel)
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blackriders.com
Winston Pei (he/they/il/iel)
@blackriders.com
290 followers 840 following 91 posts
Book nerd, design fanatic, free range librarian, rookie book artist, musician, tech geek, bookseller, AFOL, professional generalist, and ridiculously proud parent.
More at https://butterfliesandaliens.com and https://blackriders.com
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C’est la Collation des grades d’automne à l’Université de l’Alberta ! It’s Fall Convocation at the University of Alberta!

Félicitations à notre classe finissante du Campus Saint-Jean ! And congratulations to the grads and now fellow alums of the School of Library and Information Studies!
La photo montre une personne souriante vêtue d'un haut blanc et portant un cordon vert, debout devant une bannière vert foncé arborant le logo de l'Université de l'Alberta en blanc, entre deux colonnes de ballons verts, dorés et blancs. Picture shows a smiling person in a white top and a green lanyard standing in front of a dark green banner featuring the French logo of the University of Alberta in white, displayed between two columns of green, gold, and white balloons.
November 19, 2025 at 7:12 PM
blackriders.com
In honour of hanging out at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social this Halloween week, and also tonight and tomorrow night’s #StarWars concerts with the @edmontonsymphony.bsky.social, a little something from our window display…

#YEG #Books #Halloween #ShopIndie #ShopLocal
Picture of a bookseller in glasses and a burgundy top holding up a copy of “I Find Your Lack of Candy Disturbing: Halloween Greetings from a Galaxy Far, Far Away…” by Jeffrey Brown in front of his face while standing in front of the staff choices shelves and the rest of the main floor of Audreys Books in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
October 28, 2025 at 8:40 PM
blackriders.com
Spending the day at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social — we’re open noon to 5 Sundays! — and figured I’d share another #BottomShelfie of our sometimes overlooked selections. Today it’s from one of our “Unusual” shelves!

Come by or drop us a line if anything is of interest!

#YEG #Bookstores #ShopIndie
Image is of the bottom two shelves of a shelving unit made out of dark wood, one labelled “Words, Grammar & The Writing Life,” with a bookseller in glasses peering in sideways from the left side of the photo because they were lying on the carpetted floor while taking the picture. Visible book covers include “The Language-Lovers Lexipedia,” “The Mother Tongue,” “Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian,” “enough is enuf: our failed attempts to make English eezier to spell,” “What Language Is (and What it Isn’t and What it Could Be),” “Book Indexing: A Step-by-Step Guide,” “Semicolon,” “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder” by Salman Rushdie, and “Promote Your Book Workbook.”
October 12, 2025 at 7:55 PM
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Spending today and tomorrow at Alberta’s Stronger Together Library Conference and what a critical time for this work. Just listened to our first keynote from @caulfieldtim.bsky.social and I am heartened. #CheckYourCitations #ScienceUpFirst #ScienceMatters
Picture of my ID badge for the Stronger Together Library Conference! Proud to be representing Campus Saint-Jean here!
October 8, 2025 at 4:10 PM
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Never a bad day to be at the bookstore but today, right now, seems especially important. I’m at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social today until around 9 pm to celebrate the launch of Tom Wharton’s new book “Wolf, Moon, Dog” and do my part to keep sharing and spreading ideas and stories…

#YEG #books
Picture of a bookseller with glasses and a dark orange top crouching beside a chalk sandwich board in front of Audreys Books in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The sandwich board reads “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead” above the burgundy Audreys logo. Picture of the front cover of “Wolf, Moon, Dog” by Thomas Wharton, displayed on top of a pile of copies of the book. The cover features the title in blue all-caps lettering along the top of the cover, above a painting of a white dog with round black markings around their eyes looking in from the left side of the cover in front of a countryside landscape, and the author’s name in white all caps lettering along the bottom. Another pile of Thomas Wharton’s “Wolf, Moon, Dog” on the front desk of Audreys Books. A whole shelf of “Wolf, Moon, Dog” by Thomas Wharton on the new fiction shelf at Audreys Books.
October 7, 2025 at 9:31 PM
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Latest pre-order is in! I’ve got my copy of « Physics for Cats » by @tomgauld.bsky.social ! And we’ve got three more in store at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social !

I’m hanging around until close at 5 today (it’s Sunday September 28!) so come on by and say hi!

#YEG #Books #Science #ShopLocal #ShopIndie
Picture shows an excited bookseller in glasses and a burgundy top peering over the top edge of a copy of « Physics for Cats » by Tom Gauld, featuring a purple cover with a black spine and cartoon of an abstract 3D shape with several black cats walking along its edges. Book and bookseller are in front of a dark wood shelf full of books under a sign that reads « Unusual ».
September 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
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Been a while since I shared a #BottomShelfie from @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social but I’m at the store today until close at 5 if you’d like to come take a closer look at these lovelies! #YEG #Bookstores #Books #SciFi #ShopLocal #ShopIndie
Photo of a bookseller with glasses peeking in from the top of the frame while crouched in front of the bottom shelf at the end of the science fiction section at Audreys Books. Visible covers include Andy Weir’s Hail Mary, Martha Wells’ Murderbot books in paperback, hardcover, and omnibus editions, and John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids.
September 7, 2025 at 6:48 PM
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Back at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social today (Tues Aug 19!) and here until 9 for the launch of “The End of the World As We Know It” featuring a story by @premeemohamed.com !

Also! My latest special order is in! “AB@C” by Rob Meyerson and illustrated by Dan Misdea!

Book launch at 7!

#YEG #Bookstore
Picture of the cover of “The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand” edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene, introduction by Stephen King, and a story by Edmonton’s own Premee Mohamed. The cover is black with red all-caps lettering for the main title, tan for the subtitle, and also features the head of a crow looking up from the bottom right corner. A stack of additional copies is visible below. Pictured is a bookseller standing in front of a dark wood shelf full of books, holding up in front of his face a copy of “AB@C and other gramograms” written by Rob Meyerson and illustrated by Dan Misdea. The book is a hardcover about 7” square with the title in black lettering against an illustration of a blue sky above water on which there’s a bee rowing a boat. The picture is the key to the gramogram… AB@C is “a bee at sea”…
August 19, 2025 at 7:24 PM
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More photos to come plus a longer write up, but my latest #alteredbook project is now on display at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social ! Titled “The Möbius Book, Stripped” the project is based on “The Möbius Book” by @catherinelacey.bsky.social

#books #art #YEG #local #indie
Pictured is the open central stairwell at Audreys Books in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, framed in dark mahogany wood, with bookshelves full of books visible in the background upstairs, on the landing, and on the lower level visible past the landing. Flowing from the corner of the opening on the main level is a scroll of paper that goes up to the ceiling then loops down several times before flowing back up over the ledge of the opening. Pictured is the opposite side of the stairwell opening in the first photo, showing a reddish orange vintage typewriter on a stand out of which is flowing a scroll of paper. A later section of the scroll can be seen flowing back over the edge of the opening beside the typewriter. There is also a smaller Möbius strip, made up of the front and back matter of the book, sitting on a shelf below the typewriter.
July 29, 2025 at 6:32 PM
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As we approach the one year anniversary of our being "blessed" with our resident #DemonPotatoes by @laurcunn.bsky.social at the 2024 #WhenWordsCollide Festival, it seemed the right time for this...

( you can find the full story at www.butterfliesandaliens.com/stacks/somet... ... )
Photo is a #DemonPotatoes version of the "How it started... How it's going" meme, with an inset photo on the left half of the image under the heading "How it started" showing two fresh new baby potatoes, one round and one pear-shaped, with faces drawn on them with marker consisting of two dots for eyes and a squiggly line for a mouth, and an inset photo on the right hand side under the heading "How it's going" showing the same two potatoes looking much more wrinkled and shriveled, with the skin on the pear-shaped baby potatoe also having turned much darker. Along the bottom, text reads: #DemonPotatoes https://www.butterfliesandaliens.com/stacks/something-awoke-in-the-garden
July 24, 2025 at 5:47 PM
blackriders.com
Okay, also can’t not share a selfie with my furry buddy whenever we’re both hanging out at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social lol

#MoreThanJustBooks #YEG #ShopLocal #ShopIndie #Toys but also #Books

audreys.ca
Picture of a human bookseller (bottom) peeking up from below the frame of the photos while a Yeti with white fur (actually a Yeti puppet but don’t tell them!) hugs the bookseller’s bespectacled head from behind.
July 13, 2025 at 9:15 PM
blackriders.com
Extra excited to be at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social for my shift today, for an extra special reason that I can’t fully share yet but there’s a hint in the picture!

If you happen to be in #YEG today, I’m in store until close at 5 and I can maybe share a bit more of the tea…

#ShopIndie #Bookstores
Picture of a bookseller in glasses and a burgundy top peeking up from behind two copies of “The Möbius Book” by Catherine Lacey he is holding in front of his face, while standing in front of a dark wood bookshelf with additional copies of the book behind him. The book features a blue cover with white printing of the title, author name, and a line drawing of a möbius strip, as well as a barcode at the bottom left corner of the cover.
July 13, 2025 at 6:29 PM
blackriders.com
Got issues? Yeah, so do we…

I’m hanging around @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social until close at 6 today, so come by & say hi, maybe check out our section formerly-known-as-current-events for some perspective on… stuff…

That and/or go grab some awesome picture books!

#YEG #Books #ShopLocal #ShopIndie
Picture shows a wide shot of the main floor of Audreys Books in Edmonton, with several rows of dark wood shelves filled with books, with a dark-haired bookseller wearing glasses peeking up from below the frame of the picture. The closest shelf behind the bookseller has two signs mounted above it, both of which that read “ISSUES” while the shelves below contain a variety of current event titles such as “The Internet Con” by Cory Doctorow, “Youth Care Chronicles: Reflections on Growing Up in the Child Welfare System”, and “War” by Bob Woodward.
July 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
blackriders.com
Also, we have a display of books about DRAGONS!

#dragons #books #bookstore #YEG #Shopindie #ShopLocal
Picture of a bookseller in glasses peeking in from the left edge of the photo while standing in front of a wall of tan-coloured wood shelving, four shelves high and two unit wide, featuring about forty dragon-themed books along with a pair of dragon stuffies
July 6, 2025 at 9:14 PM
blackriders.com
Hanging out at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social until close at 5 today so if you’re in downtown #YEG come by and say hi!

And in person or online, check out our AI* Summer Reads lists!

*Actually Interesting

#Books #Bookstore #ShopIndie #ShopLocal #ShopCanadian
Picture of a bookseller wearing glasses peeking from below the frame of the photo, standing in front of a mahogany bookshelf and pointing at a poster that reads “Our Staff Picked Actually Interesting Read for Summer” and featuring a side view profile picture of a human-form robot or cyborg. The shelf also shows three of the Audreys Summer Picks books (on the top shelf of a six shelves, the rest hidden below the frame of the photo): “The Wild Robot On The Island” by Peter Brown, “Victor & Me in Paris” by Janice MacDonald, and “Soft As Bones” by Chyana Marie Sage.
July 6, 2025 at 7:04 PM
blackriders.com
Oh no. New at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social & one is coming home with me lol - deets in the alt text!

Also today, the launch of “The Feast” by poet Alycia Two Bears at 2 pm!

It’s a beautiful day for a browse so come say hi! I’m hanging around the store until close at 5!

#YEG #Books #ShopIndie
Picture of a bookseller wearing glasses and a burgundy top peering over the top of a copy of “The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries” by Massimo Listri and published by Taschen, one of four bargain copies in store! Display of six copies of “The Feast” by Alycia Two Bears, a trade paperback with a purple toned cover featuring a silhouette of a woman. The subtitle for the book is “Two Spirit: Stories, Sex, and the Ceremony Behind it All, and other Poems”
June 29, 2025 at 7:29 PM
blackriders.com
Haven’t done one of these in a while (maybe never on this platform?) but today I’m sharing a #BottomShelfie from the #Science section at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social

I’m here until close around 9 pm tonight so come by and say hi!

#YEG #Bookstore #Books
Picture of a bookseller with glasses leaning sideways half in a picture of the bottom level of a wood shelf featuring about twenty books. Face out are « How The World Really Works » by Vaclav Smil and « The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science » by Kate Zernike. Other titles include « The Book of Eels » by Patrik Svenson, « Frostbite » by Nicola Twilley, « Life As No One Knows It » by Sara Imari Walker, « Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature’s Toxins, from Spices to Vices » by Noah Whitenan, and « The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog, and other serious discoveries of silly science » by Carly Anne York.
June 24, 2025 at 6:55 PM
blackriders.com
Yes, @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social has books, but we also have Jelly Cats! Found two of the summer collection hanging out in our front window! I feel like if you’re in #YEG you should come by and say hi to us!

#ShopIndie #ShopLocal #Books #Bookstores #JellyCats
Picture of a smiling bookseller in glasses and a burgundy top peering out from behind two smiling Jelly Cat stuffies, one of a pina colada-style drink in a coconut with a blue striped straw and a flower coming out the top, the other of a desert island with a large palm tree growing out of it. (Sorry, always so hard to describe Jelly Cat stuffies!)
June 10, 2025 at 6:15 PM
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New release Tuesday! And my pre-order is in! It’s Ben Clanton’s latest Narwhal and Jelly book, “THIS BOOK IS DANGEROUS!” The newest addition to my “books aware of their own bookishness collection! I’m at the store until 6 today if you want to come by and say hi! #YEG #Books #ShopIndie #ShopLocal
Picture is of a bookseller in glasses wearing a burgundy top peering over the top edge of “This Book is Dangerous! A Narwhal and Jelly Picture Book”, the latest from author/illustrator Ben Clanton. The cover shows the title above a picture of a frightened jellyfish against a black background with a row of eight large whitish teeth along both the top and bottom of the page… is Jelly inside a creature’s mouth? Are we looking out from inside the mouth ourselves? (Incidentally, the teeth glow in the dark so one can also simply picture two rows of eight white floating in the dark…)
June 3, 2025 at 6:15 PM
blackriders.com
Beautiful new cover for the new omnibus paperback edition of the “Monk and Robot” series by Becky Chambers! I’ve got both this and the two original hardcover novellas on my staff picks shelf, so if you happen to around downtown #YEG do come by and take a look!

#ShopIndie #ShopLocal #Bookstores
Picture of a bookseller in glasses in a beige top holding up a copy of “Monk and Robot” by Becky Chambers (ISBN 9781250386335), a trade paperback omnibus edition that includes “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” and “A Prayer for the Crown-Shy” featuring a light green cover with the title in white handwriting-style lettering and a human hand reaching up from below and a grey robot hand reaching down from above.
June 1, 2025 at 7:29 PM
blackriders.com
Bonus post because I came across this absolute beaut of book as object while shelving at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social today… red cover, actual velvet sweater, hologrammy printing for the title, rainbow book block edges, AND Oreos on in the inside covers!

Book deets in the alt text!

#MyJobIsShelf
Picture of the trade paperback edition of “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli, being held at a slight angle so that the top and fore edge rainbow printing is visible. Picture of the trade paperback edition of “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli, being held open and the front cover flap folded out to reveal inside cover artwork depicting stacks of Oreo cookies against a blue background.
May 27, 2025 at 8:30 PM
blackriders.com
Hey! Look who’s back at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social! We’re hanging out at the store until close at 6 pm so if you’re in the neighbourhood do come by and say hi!

Special invite to those of you who came to our grown-up book fair this weekend — come check out the bricks & mortar store!

#YEG #Books
Picture of a smiling bookseller in glasses wearing a burgundy shirt cheek-to-cheek with a white-furred yeti (shhh they’re actually a puppet but don’t tell them… the yeti, that is, not the bookseller) and both standing in front of a brick pillar and some wooden shelves.
May 27, 2025 at 6:14 PM
blackriders.com
Counting down to the Edmonton launch of the new Crave Bakery cookbook, starting at 7 pm (on Tuesday May 13!) at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social !

#Cookies #Crave #YEG #ShopLocal #ShopIndie
Picture of a bookseller in glasses (yours truly) peeking out from behind stacks of Crave cookbooks, dark blue hardcovers with the title “Crave” in gold and a picture of a stack of their cookies.
May 14, 2025 at 12:16 AM
blackriders.com
Look what’s back in stock at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social !

It’s a beautiful day in #YEG for browsing books, I’m just saying

I’m hanging around the store until close today (Sunday May 11, that is!) at 5 pm. Come by and say hi!

#ShopLocal #ShopIndie #Books #Bookstores
Picture of a smiling bookseller holding up a newly restocked Star Trek Kirk and Spock Magnetic Wardrobe magnetic dress-up set, while standing in front of the @UnemployedPhilosophersGuild display at Audreys Books.
May 11, 2025 at 5:59 PM
blackriders.com
Back at @audreysbooksyeg.bsky.social after a week away on choir tour (a whole other thing I’ll maybe post about once I fully process it lol) & checking out what’s new in the books about books section!

I’m here until close at 6 so do come by & say hi!

#ShopLocal #ShopIndie #Books #Bookstores #YEG
Picture of me, a bookseller with glasses and a beard, wearing a burgundy top, crouching in front of the “Unusual” shelf in dark wood at Audreys Books in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, featuring the section on Books About Books, Bookstore, and Writer’s Lives.
May 6, 2025 at 7:11 PM