19 Comments

Oh I love the tip about asking fellow patrons what they’re reading! It’s like dog owners talking to each other about their dogs when they greet 🐾

Expand full comment

Glorious. Thank you. I love everything about this.

Expand full comment

If you’re ever on the west coast: Powell’s (of course) in Portland, along with great neighborhood bookstores like Broadway Books, and also the amazing Robert’s Books in Lincoln City, a veritable warren of bookshelves.

Expand full comment

Love Powell’s but have yet to hit the other two. Thanks for alerting me to these

Expand full comment

I've been to that very bookstore and had the same feeling. There were piles of snow outside, the temperature hovering in the 20s, and I felt so cozy. Don't ask me how much money I spent. lol

Expand full comment

Yessss! That’s it. And yes, I feel like I need a wealthy benefactor for I have an inability to control my spending urges there as well.

Expand full comment

I am not a super splashy spender but love walking into a bookstore and walking out with several impulse buys. It’s hours of entertainment, things to talk about with other people, and maybe I’ll stumble upon a new favorite.

Great post. I’ve started spending any free time I have in a new city in bookstores and thrift stores.

Expand full comment

Love your bookstore lifestyle pursuit. That’s awesome.

Expand full comment

"Each shelf, a rainforest of stories and knowledge, invites me into a world of endless possibilities. " This is the first time I've read about a bookstore compared to a rainforest, and I loved it.

Expand full comment

One my friends worked at that bookstore for years. I remember visiting it. I too love the smell of a new books.

Stuart Brent Bookstore on Michigan Avenue in Chicago was my favorite, and I was devastated and depressed when it closed. His son has a smaller Brent Books in the Loop. My friend who was also my college roommate and I would always visit it and buy a few books from Stuart Brent Bookstore on our winter break. Then we'd grab pizza a Gino's East. I saw Stuart Brent a few times in the back when we would go. My parents spoke with him, and he told them to buy two books for me when they told him I was studying to be a creative writer.

Expand full comment

Gino’s Pizza after a book purchase at Stuart Brent. Well, that sounds like my jam. So what is your go-to bookstore at present?

Expand full comment

The one closest to me is Women and Children First. I've seen a.lot of amazing authors read there too. My heart goes to used bookstores. I often find treasures there.

Expand full comment

You’ve captured quite well exactly how I feel about bookstores. If you come to Southern California on your bookstore exploration, I have some recommendations for you.

Expand full comment

Love it. Where in Southern California? I lived in San Diego for 18 months and was in complete bliss.

Expand full comment

I would live in a bookstore if it were socially acceptable. There’s no better place in the world.

Expand full comment

I hear ya brotha.

Expand full comment

Thanks for this. Oh, how I love a bookstore and I have a wonderful local where I shop. But I work at a library which keeps my spending down. So much of this applies to libraries too, though. Books create community, wherever you find them. Happy reading!

Expand full comment

Agree. I drive to an adjacent neighborhood’s library because they have better hours and parking. I don’t know who sets up their theme displays, but when I finally meet that person - I expect fireworks of adoration to go off. I love how a great display around a theme can expose me to lots of books I’ve missed when they were minty fresh.

Expand full comment

There is nothing better than the smell of books. Last week I noticed my four year old sniffing her new book. I have taught her well.

Expand full comment