Bookstore Profiles

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Murphy’s Loft Bookshop

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Murphy’s Loft, Mullica Hill NJ. This was my third experience in this laid back book and ephemera store. I visited years ago, and then a few months back, right after the original owner retired, and her son (grandson?) took the reins. Unfortunately, his mother decided to rid herself of half the inventory, so he let it … Read more

Beautiful Mural at Circle City Books

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Warm weather and sun in North Carolina brought the completion of the Circle City Books wall mural last week. Onlookers and photographers were a constant presence as the final strokes were applied by artists Bailey Friedman (Number One Daughter) and her friend Emily Kerscher. Then, off into the sunset rode Bailey, jet-bound to New Zealand, for an indefinite adventure of indeterminate duration. But what she and Emily left behind was a sensation that scarcely goes an hour without being remarked upon by another newcomer who is just astonished to see such a sight in Pittsboro.

book mural in Pittsboro
The Great Book Mural in Pittsboro

Though the mural is finished, I’ve conceived of a plan to extend the process (some might say drag it out) for several more months. With an eye toward the good opinion of the community, and because I think I can still squeeze a couple more books onto the wall, I have determined to hold a contest to elect an additional two or three titles to be added this summer. They will be placed horizontally across the top of some of the existing books. My proposal is to allow visitors to the store to nominate up to three titles each, and after a several months of voting, paint the new books on the wall in June. It will be especially interesting to me to see if the choices favor local authors or nationally known authors.

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Remembrances of Bookstores Past

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Myles Friedman’s excellent post about the lack of bookshops reminded me of all those wonderful bookstores I had the luck to visit during my years living in New York City. I took them for granted. It never occurred to me back then that bookstores were about to become extinct. If I happened by one, I’d go in. Simple as that. I seemed to find them easily, or they found me. I don’t remember the exact location of the original Murder Ink bookstore, but I do remember it was tiny, on a side street, and terribly intimidating. The only impression I remember was the owner wasn’t all that friendly. Apparently, that characteristic spread to many others who followed in the first Murder Ink’s footsteps. (The person I encountered was apparently the second owner, the original had already sold by the time I entered–20 or so years later, after many various booksellers, including myself, it closed. No, I wasn’t responsible for it going, ha. (maybe the last owner’s contempt of the genre he was selling had something to do with it–“After 10 years of owning Murder Ink, I was sick of mysteries, having felt as if I’d read every possible permutation of perfect crimes and brilliant, but flawed, detectives.”)

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A New Bookshop in Nuneaton? Soon, Hopefully

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[Editor’s Note: As you know – the More Bookshops the Better has been a pretty steady sentiment on this blog – so in hopes of seeing a new one pop up in Nuneaton, UK we’ll help Michael get the word out and keep his enthusiasm pumping.]
In March 2011, after visiting a local town, I came to the realisation that where I live, Nuneaton, UK, lacked a significant element of Culture. Nuneaton is actually the home town of George Eliot so you’d think that there would be masses of bookshops but alas, there is the large chain-store Waterstones and approximately 19 charity shops. Every month a large chain store was closing and the building being replaced by charity shops. I posted a blog on my own website www.barricadesrise.co.uk stating my frustration and how someone should start a bookshop or gallery or something. The idea festered in me until I decided one day that, yes, that person is me. After finding out my wife and I were expecting though, I scrapped the idea, until Easter this year. I researched it, researched it then researched some more. I had savings, mounds of books and desire but my stopping point was my job. After a change in job roles I decided (and was ordered by my wife!) to quit it and focus 100% on the bookshop, so I did!

One Month In and New Bookshop Doing Well

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Tomorrow begins the second month of Circle City Books’ existence. That’s the day on which I change the coding that I assign to every book when I price it. Until now, I’ve coded all my books “CC1” indicating that the book went on the shelf during the store’s first month. Starting tomorrow, and lasting for another month, the coding will be “CC2.” At some point I suppose, books that have been on the shelf too long will be sentenced to some kind of punishment: the bargain bin, execution, maybe a pep talk. In any case, the end of my first month finds the store still in business, and doing better than I expected.  (I admit to low expectations.)

we're open signThe time change has revealed to me a heretofore unknown problem. When the sun sets at 5:00 p.m., it means that the last hour and a half of business passes with my store cloaked in darkness. When I first opened it was light until closing time. But I have no neon light; no flashing sign; no spotlight illuminating my storefront. I do have lights in the window, but even with those on, it is surprising how dark the store looks from the street. People driving by wouldn’t know I am open. So this is one of the things that I overlooked. Sometime soon I’ll have to correct that.

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Walls & Wallaces: Author Reading and a New Mural

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Daniel Wallace arrived at Circle City Books Saturday afternoon and kept an audience spellbound with an artful reading of the first chapter of his new book, The Kings and Queens of Roam. Wallace’s appearance as the chief feature of our Grand Opening was a complete sensation for several reasons. First of all, if an author has a distinctive voice, and Wallace does, he can suffuse a reading with the inflection and tone the story requires. Second, he has a gift for inviting an audience into his world and making it feel welcome. And third, his writing, wry and ironic, smoothly unfolding in bold, picturesque sentences, sparkles when read aloud. The result was an audience eager for more but facing a six-month wait until the book is finally released. When it comes out this spring, it will likely catch the slipstream of the new musical adaptation of “Big Fish” that hits Broadway in May. I was loaned Wallace’s galley and though I haven’t finished it, I’ve read enough to know I won’t be the only reader enthralled by it.

Otherwise, the success of our opening was mostly due to my wife, Virginia, who organized the whole day. She solicited local businesses that generously contributed 25 door prizes, and is still notifying the winners. She ordered 20 new copies of “Big Fish” for the signing, but on Thursday it seemed impossible that they would arrive on time. Because of the hurricane, the shipping center in New Jersey was shut down Tuesday and Wednesday, though UPS wasn’t picking up in New Jersey anyway. But, somehow, the books made good time on Thursday and arrived here Friday. In the end, everyone who wanted one got a signed book.

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