I don’t remember my first time stepping into a bookstore, but I’m sure I was bewitched. Every bookstore smells almost the same. Except for used bookstores — those smell even more profound than new. Sweet, musty, sometimes with a hint of glue.
Bookstores are powerful. Full of words, pictures, experiences. There are lifetimes entwined on shelves, within four walls. Places and people and things all waiting to be opened. Stories itching to be told.
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend took me to Green Apple Books in Inner Richmond. He knows of my affinity for books, despite my inconsistent reading. This bookstore was unlike any other I’ve explored.
Founded in 1967, the stores interior hasn’t changed much — fractured wooden floors, gas light fixtures, creaky stairs. The most magical bookstore I’ve been in.
You can get lost for hours in the maze of shelves, secret passageways, hidden rooms, walls lined — overflowing — with books.
The spillover from the shelves accumulates on the ground. Neatly-stacked piles line the corners.
The beauty lies within used books. You never know whose licked thumbs have flipped the pages. The dog-ears, highlighter, chicken scratch scrawled on delicate paper. You never know who has read these words aloud, to a child, a partner, themselves.
I lose myself in the other-worldliness of a bookstore. My guilty pleasure, escape. Dive into someone else’s story for a while.
Books are lame.
Although, I appreciate people who enjoy books, personally, I just can’t deal with them. I sold all of my books, CDs, DVDs and other media after digitizing all of it in 2007 and never looked back. That stuff is heavy, stinky and takes up way too much space.
Then again, I probably read no more than 4 books as akid that were all required reading. I preferred writing to reading and wrote a million words before turning 18 and kept going so I guess some of us are readers and others are writers?
When I go into a book store, I just wanna cough. So musty.
*watches Lauren unfriend me* 🙂
I still love you even if I whole-heartedly disagree. It’s the digitizing of books that scares me. Ever since 5th grade, I wanted to be a published author. See my name on the cover of a book, Read my writing in print, on paper. This is also why I became a journalist, and was so devastated when my print papers turned all digital. Call me old-fashioned, but there are some times I want to take a break from staring at a screen of some sort.
I believe that you can become a better writer by reading. This doesn’t necessarily mean reading hard copies of books, but reading in general. And being a reader and a writer are most certainly not mutually exclusive.
You are entitled to your opinion — I’m not going to unfriend you 🙂
I thought being published meant finally getting paid for your work… LOL
You thought wrong 🙂
i love green apple! pair that with a hot chocolate from blue danube a few doors down, and i’m set.
Totally agree. That store is incredible. Could spend hours there!
These pictures are awesome; thanks for sharing them!
I ADORE used bookstores, especially the crowded, overflowing ones. I can always find something amazing, and I love spending that time just exploring.
That’s the beauty of it! You don’t even have to buy books — you can sit there all day and flip through the pages and be completely content. I like the organized, Barnes & Noble type bookstores, too. But they lack a certain charm you always find in a used bookstore. The mystery…..
Oh definitely. The organization is nice if you know what you’re looking for and just want something specific, but crowded, jumbled bookstores are PERFECT for browsing and exploring and find new treasures.
Bookstores are magical places. While the standard Borders or Barnes and Noble are always nice, nothing can compete with a used or “small businessy” bookstore. I traveled to Denton, TX this fall and my friends brought me to Recycled Books. Three floors of used books, movies, music, etc. It was glorious. There were secret rooms and too many books to take in all at once. I wanted to sit in a dimly lit corner on the floor and read them all.
They really are magical. I’ll have to check out Recycled Books if I’m ever in Denton. Used bookstores are a new interest of mine — I want more!
Love the pictures Lauren. While my wife and I have both turned to Kindles to stop the ever growing library we were collecting in our two bedroom house, there is nothing that replaces the feel of print in my hands.
Magazines or books, the feeling when you can highlight, write, dog-ear, it’s all a part of the reading experience for me.
I think I need to go there next time I’m in San Fran!
Definitely! I’ll add that to the list of places I want to show you when you’re here next 🙂
The saddest part? Book stores like these are becoming few and far between, being shut out by the Borders and the Kindle’s, iPad’s, etc of the world. Call me old-fashioned, but there’s still something about physically holding a book – just like buying a CD and putting it into the car for the first time – there’s that feeling, that emotion, that no amount of technology will ever be able to replace…
I know… That’s the worst! I am fully and completely immersed in the digital world, but I still like material things that I can touch and feel and that aren’t all virtual!