Staff's favorite bookstores
by Anabella Wewer, with everyone's help
A majority of the skew staff moved into the Lehigh Valley (PA) not
long ago, and all of us "from away" (as I heard someone in Camdem, Maine say
once) seem to agree that Encore Books, in the Village West Shopping
Center, is the place to go for comfy chairs in the Valley. Good selection,
average prices, and way too many books about the Internet, but I guess that's
happening everywhere.
Scott's other favorite local bookstore is Another Story, on about 8th and
Linden. Another Story is a used-book store, and the stock doesn't change
frequently enough to stop in daily or anything. But he believes, and so do I, that trading
books with used-book stores is a civic duty right up there with flossing,
and Another Story fills what would otherwise be a hole in the local
civic-duty market. The talking bird is a nice touch as well, at least most
of the time.
For sheer size, Boston University's bookstore is pretty good. They claim to be
the largest in New England, 6 floors in all, although only four have books on them. Go figure.
Avenue Victor Hugo on Newbury Street in Boston, is the reason why I was late
for work after lunch, many, many times. It's a used books bookstore with a lot of character,
and the selection is huge and changes rapidly. I never did find a hardcover copy of The Plains of Passage after
I had seen it there many times, and figured it'd be there for a while, so I'd get it when I
had more spending money. So, my Clan of the Cave Bear series is incomplete...
Eric describes it as "a used book store with that nice musty book smell and a very friendly cat that wanders store
looking for people to pet him. Meow" A must visit in Boston, but make sure you have plenty of time...
A little down the street and on the other sidewalk there is Trident, a cool
bookstore that also has a cafe in it. There are a lot of books about Buddhism and philosophies of
all walks of life, but they have a pretty good all-around selection. Some interesting art books, and one
of the city's best magazine collection are to be found there. The cafe is excellent, with a menu that
caters well to vegetarians, and their desserts are awesome! But... the place could stand being a
little bigger; both the cafe and the bookstore sections are excellent in their own right, but together,
well, it gets loud.
Speaking of magazines, Tower Records in Boston (and I pressume everywhere else), has a great
selection of magazines. There you can obviously find lots of mags about music related issues,
but they also have everything from Car & Truck to Communication Arts and everything in between
(and beyond).
According to John, there is a large bookstore in Lexington, KY, that gave out rather artsy
vibes, but not to the point of nausea, called Joseph Beth's. Not many
chairs to sit and read in, but the book selection can't be beat. They have
authors in for signings and readings all the time, and the cafe is
excellent.
And, of course, in Scott's own words, "there is, somewhere between Syracuse and
Alfred, N.Y., a used-book store by the name of Phoenix Books. I believe it
to be on Route 17, though I have traveled right by where I thought it
should be and not seen it. This sense of mystery appeals to me; Phoenix
is, in a sense, the Toyland of bookstores, to which, once one leaves, one
can never return."
"I can't, at least. Never could find the place again. It emerged
from a fog bank one Sunday afternoon, and I stopped in. Garrison Keillor,
who had just departed permanently and surlishly from my car radio, was
playing on the stereo, clear as a bull in China (or something). Friendly,
attractive shop owners, dressed in native garb, greeted me as I walked
through the door, and offered me nectar and ambrosia. I may be remembering
some of this wrong. Books abounded in the place-good books with reasonable
prices and covers intact, nary a McRomance novel in sight. I frittered
away three ethereal hours there, while upstate-N.Y.-in-November gloom
wafted about outside, and when I emerged, I felt as though I had
experienced a sort of used-book epiphany. It's difficult to explain."
"If ever a lonely traveler succeeds in finding (attaining?) Phoenix
Books, perhaps he would be so kind as to notify
me. I left my scarf there, among other things...."