No Autographs but Plenty of Book Chats – Selling Books to Celebrities

There’s a thrill when you bump into a celebrity when you least expect it. I’ve had many experiences working in bookstores and owning my own bookstore where I got the pleasure of speaking to and in some cases forming a friendly acquaintance with celebrity customers. First Celebrity Customer – Sharon Stone I remember working my … Read more

The Most Famous Bookstore in the World

Few book lovers are unfamiliar with one of the most famous independent bookshops in the world, Shakespeare and Company in Paris, France. Fewer may know that it was an American, Sylvia Beach who opened the iconic bookshop on Nov. 19, 1919. Beach first wanted to be a writer but found she couldn’t live with the … Read more

Independent Bookstores Are Indispensable

“It’s so much cheaper.” “Books just arrive faster when I order online.” “I don’t feel like leaving the house.” All these are commonly expressed phrases by those who routinely purchase from online booksellers, such as Amazon, Target, and many other large, corporate stores that are able to drop the prices of books and ship them … Read more

Unexpected Self Reflection Found in The Twig Book Shop

With the combination of Texas heat and a very bored three-nager, it was clear that we needed to visit a splash pad. Iced coffees in hand and towels in tow, the family navigated to the center of the Pearl District. We sat on ornate metal chairs shaded under an umbrella-table combo. We talked about our relatively good … Read more

The Greyhound Fills a Bookstore-Sized Hole in a Thriving Downtown

When The Greyhound opened, it fit neatly into a bookstore-shaped hole in Berlin, MD. Berlin is one of those traditional-looking small towns that has undergone a 21st-century revival. Once home mostly to various degrees of “antique” shops, the last decade has seen the second-hand places give way to restaurants, tonier boutiques, and shops. It was … Read more

Booksellers: A History & Homage

The story of published books from paper form to printed page dates back to ancient times. Worldwide, written words found their way onto scrolled manuscripts made of papyrus or parchment, their edges sometimes mounted onto rollers for ease of opening and closing. Innovations in upgraded paper and binding techniques followed. History Abridged: How Books and … Read more