Book Shopping

Due to a strange series of circumstances, it’s been almost three years since I’ve been in a physical bookstore. It seemed criminal for a bibliophile like myself, so I set out to fix that immediately. I have plenty of books to read already and the rest of my library has been found, but I really wanted that browsing experience instead of online shopping. I decided to check out a local indie bookstore to help get to know my new city. It had a name that had been calling to me since I’ve been in an odd Percy Jackson re-read mood lately. I was really glad the store was less than a minute from the subway, which was super convenient. It had a cafe attached, but I didn’t explore that too much. The bookstore was very busy, which was really encouraging to see even if I dislike crowds. The shelving was also rather compacted, but it did have a pretty good variety. Obviously, it didn’t have the same crazy stock as a certain chain, which could be frustrating when trying to find specific books. I kept going back and forth on what I wanted to focus my search on, and I had set out to get 1-2 books.

I picked up a book almost as soon as I walked in since right at the entrance are staff picks and bestsellers which included a recent release from an author I had enjoyed. From there, I tried to move quickly past the crowded cafe section and headed up to where they had my traditional sections. I was a little disappointed that the upper level had a large section of cafe seating (who were rather noisy). I headed over to Middle Grade since I want to get more familiar with these as I’m a middle school teacher. I picked up one which is kinda borderline, but I’ve heard so many good things. I continued on to YA which is what I typically read. I finally caved and picked up a copy of one of those books going around social media. I slowly pulled myself away and headed over to the History section. This was awkward as I tried to ignore the person trying to have a full on phone conversation and couldn’t really even see all the selections. I stuck to one shelf of Ancient World and picked up two titles of content I’ll have to teach which I haven’t studied in a long time. Finally, I went back downstairs to the adult fiction sections. I picked up a book I’ve heard good things about and a book a friend recently brought to my attention. Arms full, I decided I should head out with the following picks:

Library of the Dead, T.L. Huchu

The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemisin

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, Mary Beard

How to Plan a Crusade: Religious War in the High Middle Ages, Christopher Tyerman

Amari and the Night Brothers, B. B. Alston

Under the Whispering Door, T. J. Klune

Serpent and Dove, Shelby Mahurin

I’m really intrigued by how this little haul turned out. Definitely not what I was expecting when I set out this morning. I’m so excited about all of these, even if the atmosphere and stock of the store wasn’t my favorite. It’ll be a good alternative for when I want to go out. There is another indie bookstore I’m dying to get to but it’s quite a trek so it’d need to be more of day trip event.

I’ll probably do a new library tour once I get everything later this month.