Of course, I had to check to see if Powell's was included. It was.
Some of the store names are terrific, such as:
- Moby Dickens in Taos, New Mexico
- Giggles in Chennai, India
- Books of Wonder in New York City
- Tell a Story in Portugal
But my favorite of all is Weapons of Mass Instruction in Argentina.
Some had interesting signage. I especially liked this one. Wise men fish here.
One of my favorites is a shop in San Francisco called Adobe. It's in the Mission district. It's story: In 2013, the store's rent was set to practically double in the fast gentrifying neighborhood. The artist community that had grown up around Adobe over the decades promptly rallied and once starving, now influential artists like Rebecca Solnit and Chris Johanson took over the store as a collective.
The most amazing show they ever had was in 2004 when overnight, Chris Cobb rearranged the entire store (20,000 books) in order of color--rainbow hues and then a big black and white section. As an artist, I love this and only wish I could have seen it. And the expressions on peoples faces when they walked in the door.
This little book made me realize what gems bookstores are in our communities. Libraries too for that matter. In the days of Kindle and Amazon delivering to your door in two days, these little guys will struggle to make it. So head to your local book store an make a purchase or two. They are so worth it!
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