In Richard Russo’s Introduction to My Bookstore, Russo writes about his early bookstore experiences buying Ken Holt and Rick Brant books. Of the 84 favorite bookstores presented in this book, I’ve only visited three of them. Mick Cochrane praises Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo (I’ve been in there a hundred times). Pete Hamill and Francine Prose laud The Stand bookstore in New York City. And Edith Pearlman writes about Brookline Bookstore where I go every time we visit Katie. Sadly, I suspect half of these bookstores will be gone in the next 10 years given the relentless growth of ebooks. GRADE: B+
Table of Contents
Introduction………………..xi
Martha Ackmann The Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA………………..1
Isabel Allende Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA………………..7
Rick Atkinson Politics & Prose Bookstore, Washington, D.C………………..11
Wendell Berry Carmichael’s Bookstore, Louisville, KY………………..16
Jeanne Birdsall Broadside Bookshop, Northampton, MA………………..19
Rick Bragg The Alabama Booksmith, Birmingham, AL………………..22
Charles Brandt Chapter One Bookstore, Ketchum, ID………………..28
Douglas Brinkley BookPeople, Austin, TX………………..32
Liam Callanan Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI………………..36
Ron Carlson Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, AZ………………..42
Kate Christensen WORD, Brooklyn, NY………………..45
Carmela Ciuraru The Community Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY………………..48
Meg Waite Clayton Books Inc., Palo Alto, CA………………..52
Jon Clinch Northshire Bookstore, Manchester, VT………………..58
Mick Cochrane Talking Leaves Books, Buffalo, NY………………..62
Ron Currie, Jr. Longfellow Books, Portland, ME………………..67
Angela Davis-Gardner Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, NC………………..72
Ivan Doig University Book Store, Seattle, WA………………..78
Laurent Dubois The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, NC………………..82
Timothy Egan The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA………………..88
Dave Eggers Green Apple Books, San Francisco, CA………………..91
Louise Erdrich Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis, MN………………..95
Jonathan Evison Eagle Harbor Book Co., Bainbridge Island, WA………………..98
Kathleen Finneran Left Bank Books, St Louis, MO………………..101
Fannie Flagg Page & Palette, Fairhope, AL………………..112
Ian Frazier Watchung Booksellers, Montclair, NJ………………..116
Mindy Friddle Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC………………..120
David Fulmer Eagle Eye Book Shop, Decatur, GA………………..123
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA………………..127
Peter Geye Micawber’s, St. Paul, MN………………..131
Albert Goldbarth Watermark Books and Café, Wichita, KS………………..137
John Grisham That Bookstore in Blytheville, Blytheville, AR………………..141
Pete Hamill Strand Book Store, New York, NY………………..144
Daniel Handler and Lisa Brown The Booksmith, San Francisco, CA………………..148
Elin Hilderbrand Nantucket Bookworks, Nantucket, MA………………..152
Ann Hood Island Books, Middletown, RI………………..156
Pico Iyer Chaucer’s Books, Santa Barbara, CA………………..161
Ward Just Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Vineyard Haven, MA………………..171
Lesley Kagen Next Chapter Bookshop, Mequon, WI………………..174
Stephanie Kallos Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA………………..178
Larry Kane Chester County Book & Music Company, West Chester, PA………………..183
Laurie R. King Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA………………..189
Katrina Kittle Saturn Booksellers, Gaylord, MI………………..194
Scott Lasser Explore Booksellers, Aspen, CO………………..198
Ann Haywood Leal Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT………………..201
Caroline Leavitt McNally Jackson Books, New York, NY………………..206
Mike Leonard The Book Stall at Chestnut Court, Winnetka, IL………………..209
Robert N. Macomber The Muse Book Shop, DeLand, FL………………..214
Jill McCorkle Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC………………..217
Mameve Medwed Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA………………..221
Wendell and Florence Minor The Hickory Stick Bookshop, Washington Depot, CT………………..226
Barry Moser Lemuria, Jackson, MS………………..231
Howard Frank Mosher Galaxy Bookshop, Hardwick, VT………………..237
Arthur Nersesian St. Mark’s Bookshop, New York, NY………………..243
Kate Niles Maria’s Bookshop, Durango, CO………………..247
Ann Packer The Capitola Book Café, Capitola, CA………………..252
Chuck Palahniuk Powell’s City of Books, Portland, OR………………..255
Ann Patchett McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, MI………………..261
Edith Pearlman Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA………………..266
Jack Pendarvis Square Books, Oxford, MS………………..269
Francine Prose Strand Book Store, New York, NY………………..274
Ron Rash City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC………………..277
Tom Robbins Village Books, Bellingham, WA………………..279
Adam Ross Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN………………..282
Carrie Ryan Park Road Books, Charlotte, NC………………..286
Lisa See Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena CA………………..290
Brian Selznick Warwick’s, La Jolla, CA………………..295
Mahbod Seraji Kepler’s Books, Menlo Park, CA………………..299
Nancy Shaw Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor, MI………………..302
Jeff Smith The Book Loft, Columbus, OH………………..305
Lee Smith Purple Crow Books, Hillsborough, NC………………..308
Les Standiford Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL………………..313
Nancy Thayer Mitchell’s Book Corner, Nantucket, MA………………..319
Michael Tisserand Octavia Books, New Orleans, LA………………..322
Luis Alberto Urrea Anderson’s Bookshops, Naperville, IL………………..327
Abraham Verghese Prairie Lights, Iowa City, IA………………..332
Audrey Vernick BookTowne, Manasquan, NJ………………..336
Matt Weiland Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY………………..340
Stephen White Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO………………..344
Joan Wickersham The Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough, NH………………..353
Terry Tempest Williams The King’s English Bookshop, Salt Lake City, UT………………..357
Simon Winchester The Bookloft, Great Barrington, MA………………..36
Gotta read this one.
To call the owner of the Community Book Store in Brooklyn eccentric is to be generous. The guy opens and closes when he feels like it and takes off MONTHS at a time (this is no exaggeration). There is a much better and organized bookstore a few blocks away.
The one you need to go to is Powell’s World of Books in Portland. Wow.
I’ve been in three of them too. I am surprised Powell’s isn’t listed, but there are no authors listed who are in this area much if at all.
I suspect the list would have been very different 30 years ago, but bookstores are going out of business as people read less and e-books gain in popularity. Personally, I hate the things, but that’s neither here nor there. Amazon has had something to do with independent bookstores going down too, but mostly people choose to spend money on music and other entertainments instead of books.
The bookstores I visit most these days? Powell’s, then the pages of independent publishers like Black Dog Books, Altus Press, Subterranean Press, etc. and Amazon.
Oh, I forgot. Is there anything these bookstores seem to have in common, according to the contributors? Selection, atmosphere, friendly staff, etc.?
Twelve for me. But I have been to many more not mentioned here. A second book is in order.
The various authors had different reasons for their bookstore choices. For some, it was the knowledgeable staff. For others, it was the fresh brewed coffee to sample while browsing. For others, it was the unique collection of books. For me, it’s always about the books.
No mention of the Seattle Mystery Bookstore, either. Seeing this reminds me I haven’t been in a bookstore for a long time. Well, I went to B&N a few weeks ago, but I was looking for an EQMM. I never go there to browse or impulse buy.
I seldom go to our local Barnes & Noble, either, Bob. There are fewer and fewer books and more knick-knacks, parlor games, mugs, glassware, etc.
It’s not just B&N, I don’t go to any book store. We have a Half-Price and several used book places but I stay away because I have so much to read and not enough time. And I’m guilty of using hated Amazon a lot. I can”t resist a freebie.
BTW, I prefer the Comment button after the entry, not before.
Patrick will be moving the Comment button and everything else around eventually, Bob. This format is just temporary.
I’m reading this one now. Some of the entries – like Russo’s introduction – are both nostalgic and evocative.
By the way, that Community Bookstore in Brooklyn was not the one I thought it was. There is another one in Park Slope (a couple of miles away).
Glad you’re enjoying MY BOOKSTORE, Jeff. Sadly, most of these bookstores won’t be around in five years.