With Black Friday it is sometimes hard to remember to shop small and shop local. We have described some of our favorite bookstores. Big and small. Please, this year especially, shop locally!
Duckie:
I love being surrounded by books. The endless possibility of stories is so thrilling, and comforting. My first love affair with a bookstore was Borders. I used to go there almost every day to study. I’d order a chai latte and flirt with the cafe barista. Yes, I had a pretty obvious crush on him, but I also had a big crush on the store itself. I loved being there. It was huge. I could spend hours at a time in just one section (usually travel or classic literature but I didn’t discriminate). My favorite bookstore now is the opposite of Borders. It’s called Treehorn Books in Santa Rosa, California. It’s small and cramped and sells only used books. Borders was huge and organized and sold only new books. I have incredibly fond memories of that store, but now I prefer to support smaller, independent bookstores. Treehorn is definitely that. It’s funny because Kellie and my mom are here, waxing poetic about how friendly their local booksellers are. I’ve experienced the opposite at Treehorn, but in the best way. Like the grouchy librarian way. And I love it. The first time I went in I asked about a book. The woman behind the counter told me I would probably find it in “popular literature.” And she said it in such a way that you could tell that was her least favorite section; the words absolutely dripped with disdain when she said it. I still bought the book. But they definitely judge each and every book that you bring up to the counter. And I definitely feel a certain pride when they make positive comments. I’ve always been a Hermione, needing the positive feedback of a teacher. Now that I’m out of school, I get that at Treehorn.
Kellie:
I have three bookstores I’m thankful for! They all hold a very special place in my heart.
- Victor Lundeen Company
- Borders
- The Bookworm
Victor Lundeen Company is in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. It is where we went to get books at the lake. We went there whenever it was raining or not nice weather. They had a kids section in the window. The glass was always foggy (because of the rain) and I always felt that there was some sort of magic in the shop. Now that I’m older I tend to go to the second hand shop across main street. Victor Lundeen’s is the first bookstore I felt was really special.
Borders in Omaha, Nebraska on 120th and Maple. This bookstore was a big part of my adolescent life. I remember buying everything from “Biscuit” to “Harry Potter” to “Murder She Wrote” to travel books. We normally would come to find one book, find it immediately, then stay and wander for a while. There were many a weekend my friends would walk through the rows of shelves. Duckie and Jess took me with them to Borders to go to the coffee shop and study. I also have a vivid memory of Kate and I walking through the magazines talking about life, the things you remember. I cried when that location closed, it broke my heart.
The last bookstore on my list is the Bookworm also in Omaha, Nebraska. I get their occasional email list and I LOVE it. I have found many books to read from the list. I asked Mom and Dad for a Libro.fm (an audiobook app that supports your local bookstores) membership for Christmas to get audiobooks and support them. I love how the Bookworm has a book club section so if you have a book club and you let them know what books your club is reading they can put those books on a different shelf. The staff is so helpful and love talking about books. I also loved reading about the bookstore in Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl. It made me feel cool that my local bookstore is in a book I love!
To add one more from Omaha, The Next Chapter is a new bookstore and I have only been once. I loved the story and heart behind it . The store was well organized and the owner was friendly. She gave me another book recommendation based on my purchases and I loved it!
Kathy:
Oh how fun!! I love a good bookstore and have many fond memories of so many! My husband Jim and I collect books. First edition, mostly thrillers and we try very hard to get them signed and if we can, meet the authors. We had a very funny story when we lived in Cedar Rapids, IA. We were trying to find the book “Mind Prey” by John Sanford and had looked at the big bookstore at the mall, but they were sold out. We tried a local bookstore by our neighborhood, Camp Brother’s Books. When we asked the owner if he happened to have the book, he replied, “Of course I carry my brother’s book!” Talk about surprised!! We hadn’t realized that John Sanford was actually John Camp!! We were so pleased to actually meet him at a book signing there. I don’t think this store is actually open any longer though, and we no longer live in Cedar Rapids either.
The best thing about small, locally owned bookstores are the people that work there. Almost always, they are knowledgeable, personable and love books and what’s even more, they are friendly and willing to talk to you about their favorite subjects…books!! We have learned so much from local bookstore owners or employees. They know about the authors, their pen names, where they are from, who they associate with, etc. Usually they are a font of info!
Probably my favorite bookstore is The Poisoned Pen in Phoenix, AZ. They do so many author signings and host in-store events where you can meet the many authors that they know. (Obviously, pre-Covid) They carry both new and used books, and have many signed copies, even of older titles. The staff is very knowledgeable and very helpful when you are looking for a specific book or author. They also have different genre “clubs” you can belong to and they will send you books through the mail.
The book world is so different now, then when we first started collecting books. It was always such an adventure to find bookstores in different cities we visited and try to find authors we liked that had signed books. Now, it’s all pretty much virtual and you search online for everything, which is clearly not as much fun as actually talking to a clerk about the books we love.