Independent #AtoZChallenge

 Independent book stores are not common in the New York State county I live in.  When I moved here over 30 years ago, we had several.  They are all history now, although I think one may still be operating online, run by a retired librarian and her husband.  We have a couple of more recent ones, but, when I looked on Yelp for bookstores in my county, most of them listed weren't in my county. Some weren't even close to my county. 

Meanwhile, Greenville, South Carolina, population a bit over 70,000, has six independent bookstores.

Spouse and I visited two of them back in February.

M. Judson Booksellers and Camilla Kitchen in downtown Greenville calls themselves "A Modern Literary Hub in Downtown Greenville, South Carolina" and they are, with frequent author booksignings and lots of other community events.

 

This is a sight you will never see in New York, despite our state being a leading wine producer (because bookstores and most other retail outlets can not sell wine - even New York wine. (climbing off soapbox).

Fiction Addiction is in a shopping center, and is smaller than M. Judson.  

While we browsed, we overheard a conversation with a frequent customer.  This store prides itself on picking the perfect book for its customers.  That's part of the beauty of frequenting local businesses.

Here are some other bookstores I've run across in South Carolina.  Sadly, the last one has closed.

 

Higher Grounds in Columbia, South Carolina is a church outreach project, and their Facebook page seems to indicate this is more of a cafe than a bookstore.

Finally, let's pay tribute to A Very Little Bookstore, now closed, in Summerville, South Carolina.  It was a children's book store.  I read that it had flooded at one point, but I'm not sure that was the reason for it going out of business.  Their Facebook page has been taken down.

 

I loved its store window. 

I love reading.  I'm sorry the store didn't make it, because I filled my house with children's books once upon a time.

What is your favorite bookstore?

"I" day of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme:  Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.

Indie Book Trees

 Let's take another quick visit to Owego, New York, once named "The coolest small town in America".

Since 1976, Owego has had an indie bookstore, Riverow Books.  This is one of their traditions:

Christmas trees made out of books!

I hadn't been there since COVID, so I don't know how new this third tree is.  The items in the middle of the tree are books that have been cut to make works of art.  It's hard to see, but I didn't have a good place to set up the photo as there were people around and I didn't want to get them in the photo.

Next spring, Owego will be even cooler because a second bookstore is opening in the village.  It will be called Spellbound Books.

Imagine...a village of just around 3900 people having two indie bookstores.

The town Owego is in (a town in New York is a subdivision of a county), also called Owego, has around 19,000 people, incidentally.

Riverow, (and Owego) incidentally, are well worth the visit. 

Happy Independent Bookstore Day

Today is Independent Bookstore Day.

Where I live in upstate New York, there are no independent bookstores in my immediate community.  That's a sobering thought.  We used to have one but it closed, partially because of the poor health of one of the owners, but I had also heard a rumor that they had tried to open a coffee bar and, for whatever reason, they couldn't.

When I moved here in the mid 1980's there were several independents in our area.  One, I know, went totally online (Gil's Book Loft) and, from what I can tell, may still be operating.

I used to buy from them when they were brick and mortar.  Online, I haven't. Go figure.

Now, if I want to shop in an independent bookstore, I have to travel over 20 miles, to a small town called Owego, once named "The coolest small town in America". River Row books is well worth the visit.

When I travel, I look for independent bookstores.

I do like them.  A lot.

But I will also admit, I am not a huge buyer at independent bookstores.  I don't frequent Amazon for books, either.  Before the pandemic, I almost lived (according to my spouse, anyway) in one of several local libraries.  I  haven't been to one since, although I've taken enough advantage of curbside pickup at a local library that the librarian who usually answers the phone knows who I am.  

And, a fun fact.  Several years ago, a cousin found me on Ancestry.com and she works in an independent bookstore.  When I finally visited her for the first time, one of the first questions her father asked me was "what are you reading right now?" 

Bookstores deserve our love, even though I don't always do what I should do.

Do you have an independent bookstore in your city or town?