Just a quick post before I head off to go apple-picking at a nearby orchard (sadly, I am too old for pony rides) - I found this link to (someone's idea of) the top ten bookstores in the US. Admittedly, I've never heard of most of them... but I have been to a few.
The Strand - Let's be honest, The Strand is kind of the coolest place ever. Been there, done that, got the tote bag. I convinced my friend Molly, who lives outside the city (for the time being), to meet me in New York and take me to Strand. It is rather amazing, and I would like to live there, "The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler"-style.
Prairie Lights - I am super-jealous of my friends who go to school at the U of Iowa (Audrey and Michael, looking at YOU) because not only can they get coffee at the always-awesome Java House, they can also do their recreational book shopping at Prairie Lights. What sets this one apart is that it attracts all the literati who are students and alumni of the Iowa Writer's Workshop - readings are frequent and generally packed. They also have free water and pretended not to notice when Molly, Laura and I camped out upstairs with a bunch of journals and books we hadn't actually bought, and had no intention of buying.
Of course, I'm also a fan of giant, musty, overwhelming, old-smelling used bookstores, preferably in an old barn somewhere. I also love me some library (when I told the librarian at the branch near me that I was taking a gap year, here response was "oh, so we'll see you around often." damn straight.). But I would think that a bookstore road trip would be an extremely worthwhile use of one's time, gasoline, money, and carbon footprint.
Any favorite bookstores? What sets one apart for you?
--Julia
I live right across the street from the Java house and one block away from prairie lights.I am rubbing it in.
ReplyDeleteWow Prairie Lights sounds amazing. Powell's in Portland (Oregon) is awesome... it's like, a whole city block, 4 stories, and you basically need a map to get around, and they have used books too!! Absolutely love it.
ReplyDeleteCity Lights Books in San Francisco. Found "Ode to Walt Whitman" by Federico Garcia Lorca there. Also, also, throwback to Simon's Rock, did you go on that field trip to that GORGEOUS little bookstore on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. I remember it was in New York, right over the border with Massachusetts, and it was so gorgeous and idyllic and I cannot remember what the fuck it's called. Any idea???
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