Bibliographies
Independent Bookstores
Fri, 9 May 2003
Walter Miale <wmiale@acbm.qc.ca>
In 1997 there was a thread on the commons email list on independent bookstores. Here is some of it, with recommendations. Does anyone have experience with mail order special orders from any of them?
There's a full-page list [of independent booksellers] in each issue of The
Hungry Mind Review. There's also a annotated listing in Literary Bookstores: A Cross-Country Guide from Poets & Writers, Inc. (1993) ISBN: 0-913734-27-6. I don't know if there's a newer edition, but P&W has an information center at (212) 226-3586, 72 Spring St. NY,NY 10012.
Re. Poets & Writers, they also have a web site at http://www.pw.org/
The remarkable store in Seattle is Elliott Bay Bookstore, and yes, it's in the Historic District.
Others of fame: Chinook Bookstore, Colorado Springs
Tattered Cover, Denver [& Powell's in Portland, OR]
We don't want to miss mentioning Elliot Bay Books in Seattle - a true treasure trove. There are many other independent stores of note in Seattle, but I think 3 or 4 fine ones have been lost due to the arrival of the megas discussed.
A good independent in Washington, D.C. : Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Very helpful staff. Readings and a coffeehouse.
The Earthling in Santa Barbara will always be my favorite. Now, if I could just find a way to live there.
I'm a bit late in putting in a suggestion, but I'd like to mention Wordsworth Books in Little Rock, Arkansas. They have a great, community orientated staff.
Steve and others:
A plug for an outstanding local bookstore, Shaman Drum of Ann Arbor, specializing primarily in the humanities. It maintains better selections than Borders in some areas (e.g., poetry) and regularly sponsors readings and book parties for local authors (some from the University of Michigan, many from the community or the area). It is a model of a humane, community-oriented bookstore. One important reason for its success is that many faculty at the University order texts for their classes through the store as well as buying books for their personal use through them. I would have to say that Borders, which originated in Ann Arbor and maintains its national headquarters here, also has its virtues, whatever its faults (more obvious since they were taken over by KMart). It sponsors readings of its own and underwrites a visiting writers series sponsored by the English Dept. at the University. And it maintains a vast stock, at least in the Ann Arbor store. While I regularly order through Shaman Drum, there is an argument for being able to browse and to get some books quickly.
The Orion Commons - Favorite Nature/Environment Bookstores Around The Nation:
Book Passage -- Corte Madera, CA
Olivers -- San Anselmo, CA.
The Bookcellar, Collected Works, and Everyone's Books -- Brattleboro, Vermont.
Village Green Bookstore, 766 Monroe Ave, Rochester, NY 14607
Talking Leaves Books, 3144 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14214
Malaprops and the Bookstore on Wall Street -- Asheville, North Carolina
The Earthling -- Santa Barbara
Hungry Head Bookstore, Smith Family (2 locations, Bookmark on Olive St. and
Marketplace
Books in the 5th Street Market, Peralandra's (a psychic/women's store) and Mother Kali's (they're feminist), The University of Oregon (independent of
University) -- Eugene, Oregon
Powell's Books & Looking Glass Bookstore -- Portland, Oregon.
Elliott Bay Bookstore & Flora and Fauna -- Seattle, Washington
Chinook Bookstore -- Colorado Springs, Colorado
Tattered Cover -- Denver, Colorado
Hays and Saunders -- Fayetteville, Arkansas
The Bashful Bear -- Keene Valley, New York
The Book Worm -- Katonah, New York
Wordsworth Books -- Little Rock, Arkansas.
A Room Of One's Own, Canterbury's Bookstore and Cafe -- Madison, Wisconsin
Bear Pond Books -- Montpelier, VT
Hungry Mind Bookstore -- St. Paul, MN
Brown University Bookstore, Books on the Square,College Hill Bookstore --
Providence, RI
Northern Lights Bookshop -- St. Johnsbury, VT
Northshire Bookstore -- Manchester Center, VT
Chapters Bookshop and Kramerbooks -- Washington, D.C.
Looking Glass Books, Twenty-Third Avenue Books, Broadway Books --
Portland, Oregon
The Country Bookshelf -- Bozeman, MT
Waucoma Books -- Hood River, OR
Village Books -- Bellingham, WA
Annie Bloom's Books --Portland, OR
Paulina Springs Books -- Sisters, OR
Three Lives -- NYC
Prairie Lights -- Iowa City, Iowa
Freddy's Feed and Read -- Missoula, MT
Green Apple Books -- SF, CA
Cody's -- Berkeley, CA
Sun Dog (or "Something Dog") Books--Green Valley (Las Vegas), NV
Back of Beyond Books -- Moab, Utah
Two Ocean Books -- Dubois, Wyo
Mooserack Books -- Big Sky MT
Old Harbor Books -- Sitka, AK
The Bookvendor -- Long Beach, WA
Parnassus Books -- Astoria OR.
Shaman's Drum -- Ann Arbor MI.
Schuler Books -- Okemos Mich
Gulf of Maine -- Nobleboro, Me
The Phoenix -- Big Sur, Ca
Whistler's -- Kansas City, Mo
Skeate Books -- Decorah, Iowa
Walden Pond Books -- Oakland, Cal.
The Naturalist -- Davis, CA
Audubon Nature Shop -- Tucson, AZ
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Gift Shop -- Tucson, AZ
Red Oak Books -- LaCrosse, Wisconsin
Hawley-Smith -- Louisville, Kentucky
Carleton College Bookstore -- Northfield, Minnesota
Watermark Books -- Wichita, Kansas
The King's English -- Salt Lake City, Utah
Dartmouth Bookstore -- Hanover, NH
Norwich Bookstore -- Norwich, Vermont
Darrills Books -- Orcas Island, Washington
Sleepy Dragon Book Bistro -- Santa Cruz, Ca.
... send along others and they'll get added.