Title Wave Books first opened in 1991 across from the Sears Mall as an independent book store in the big-box era. While a number of small bookstores have folded since then, Title Wave Books kept growing, and this month celebrates five years at its current location near REI.

But yet another milestone will be celebrated this week as Anchorage's favorite independent bookstore opens a second location Downtown.

Sam Hamill's voice is as soft and lovely as a poem. Breezes flow through his syllables. Shadows flicker in his pauses.

Of course, Hamill doesn't walk around reciting poetry. Most of the time, he looks and acts like an ordinary 60-something guy. But the Zen practitioner and founding editor of the independent-minded Copper Canyon Press has published 13 volumes of poetry, won numerous Pushcart Prizes and translated from Chinese, Japanese and ancient Greek and Latin.

What quality allows one person to survive a desperate situation while another does not? The question is at the core of a new book by Dr. Kenneth Kamler, who will give a reading Saturday at Title Wave Books.

Another year. Another "Prey" book, starring Minnesota cop Lucas Davenport. Another instant best seller. Another book tour.

But this time author John Sandford's tour is bringing him to Anchorage, his first visit to Alaska if you don't count when he was in the Army and his plane refueled here on the way to Korea.

"We were both great readers, and back then there weren't good bookstores in town," Julie Drake said. "So any time we'd travel, we'd ship boxes of books back. And we figured if we were doing that, other people must be"

Here's the book on Title Wave. Steve Lloyd and Julie Drake, owners of the Anchorage used-book store, got their start in the business with a 900-square-foot space and one employee. Twelve years and two moves later, the store now occupies 33,000 square feet and employs 44 people...

Title Wave Books had an unofficial dress code of "casual and neat" for years, said manager Angela Libal, but when the business moved, expanded and boosted staff from 15 employees to 35 last year, owners put the rules down on paper. Co-owner Julie Drake said part of the reason was that she had been interviewing more and more people dressed a little too casually.

Before Andrew Vachss became a lawyer and best-selling author, his sundry career included work as a labor organizer, a social services caseworker, the director of a maximum-security youth prison...

Parents who read usually yearn for their children to develop and nourish the same love of books. But finding ways to get your kid's nose in a book can be a tough battle, considering the distractions of modern living...

One night at work, the staff at Title Wave Books started one-upping each other to see who had the best scar...

Julie Drake and Steve Lloyd couldn't afford to work in their fledgling bookstore when they opened 11 years ago. Inspired by an overall lack of selection in town, the couple pinched pennies, built shelves from scratch and then stocked them with books. They chalked up $1 in sales their first day open...

Title Wave Books opens its doors at 10 a.m. today in a new location. The space in the Northern Lights Shopping Center is three times as large, but the bookstore's move and addition of new titles to its used stock is more than a physical expansion...

Operators of Title Wave Books, an Alaska-owned bookstore, are preparing to move this spring, tripling their size and launching an Alaska version of the national-book retailer formula of mixing titles and espresso...

Title Wave Books of Anchorage, Alaska, is tripling in size from 10,500 square feet to 34,000, building an 1,800-sq.-ft. coffeeshop and adding a selection of new book stock to its inventory of 150,000 used titles, hurts and remainders...

Title Wave Books, the largest independent bookstore in Alaska and one of the biggest used bookstores on the West Coast, announced recently that it has signed a lease for a 34,000 square foot space in an Anchorage shopping center that is also home to REI, the Seattle-based outdoor equipment retailer, and a 38,000 square foot athletic facility called The Alaska Club...