Tag: bookstores

Bookstores Doing Good

I’m sharing a recent Jill Dennison post about good people doing good things. In the midst of the gub’mint shutdown, as the GOP cruelly did the Trump Regime’s bidding and starved U.S. citizens, communities came together to help one another.

One of these stories was about a bookstore. I’m a bookstore fanboi. They’re inspiring places. Bookstores usually brim with optimism and creative energy. You can smell it and feel it coming off the books. And people who read books are just about the most brilliant people in the world. So, to hear of a bookstore collecting food and helping the hungry made my heart swell three times too big. But the second piece of this story, why I really was inspired to share it, is that bookstore’s success inspired other bookstores. I figured, sharing is caring, and perhaps by sharing, other bookstores will rise up as well.

Good People Doing Good Things — Bringing FOOD!
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Thursday’s Wandering News

Ashlandia is getting talked up as a place to be in 2024.

First, we had the surprise announcement in August of this year that Ashland is a top-10 town for bicyclist.

“No. 5 ranking in Outdoor magazine could bring in more tourists, outdoor recreators.”

“With a People for Bikes rating of 70 out of 100, League of American Bicyclists gold status and 86 trails dedicated to bikes, Ashland was ranked no. 5 of the top 10 bike cities across the country. A ranking such as this has the potential to bring in more tourists.” h/t Ashland.news

It mildly astonished most of us who live here, but the next news was miiinnnd blowing. Architectural Digest announced its list of “The 13 Most Beautiful Underrated Cities in the World” in the middle of this month. Yes, following the limp foreshadowing, Ashland, Oregon, is included on the list.

Ashland, Oregon

Part of the 2018 edition of The New York Times’ “52 Places to Travel,” Ashland is located in the Rogue River area of Southern Oregon. Like much of the Pacific Northwest, the region is celebrated for its natural beauty, which includes Lithia Park and North Mountain Park defined by leafy vegetation and beautiful waterways. Home to Southern Oregon University, the college town is also know for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a local repertory theater that offers a myriad of performances not limited to just The Bard.

Those two pieces are enough to send other places into extreme city envy. But wait, there’s more!

America’s Coziest College Town Is In Oregon

Yes, TheTravel.com also announced this month, September, 2024, that Ashlandia is the United States’s coziest college town.

“This Oregon town features everything a college town should; cozy bookstores, coffee shops, and bars, quaint art galleries, museums, and scenic trails.”

It’s funny to see that written about our town. Hate badmouthing it…buuuutttt…

Our numbers of bookstores and coffee shops have fallen and fallen. We used to have over a dozen coffee shops, along with several excellent bakeries. Those have closed, replaced by vintage stores and retail businesses. Sure, we still have four bookstores but it’s a fall from the half dozen at our disposal in the last decade.

I suspect a PR firm was given some cash to go out and get us on these lists.

I guess we should be proud of our town but I can’t forget when it seemed like a better place.

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Eclipse Day Theme Music

Mood: moonsible

A hearty welcome to all the moonies joining us today. Welcome, welcome, to April 8, 2024, also known a Eclipse Day 2024 in the U.S. Here in Oregonia, this is currently projected as the last eclipse we’ll glimpse until 2044, so you know, we’ve dug out our eclipse glasses and gaze up at the sun as the moon made its way.

Weather wise, we have a decently clear sky, sunshine, and wind. Presently 58, it feels like 63 F and the high will be 68 in Ashlandia, where I reside alongside the deer, breweries, wineries, and bookstores. Lovely out there, really.

Just a sidenote, but our bookstore numbers have declined since I’ve moved here. Hey, but not my fault, so don’t read that into my statement. Outside the college’s bookstore, we’re down to *sigh* three.

Also declining is the school district’s enrollment. Enrollment has dropped by 300 students since 2017. A cutback of 23 staff and teachers is in place for the next school year. Reasons cited for the decline include the COVID-19 pandemic, and fewer families moving here because of the high cost of housing. Fewer students means the state is reducing the funds allotted the Ashland School District by over three million dollars next school year.

As you can imagine, today’s eclipse has me hearing music about the eclipse. The Neurons figured out something else. Viewing videos of people staring at the sun, The Neurons initiated “Planet Claire” by the B52’s in the morning mental music stream. The 1979 song has an out-of-this-world bongo-infused sound overlayed onto the “Peter Gunn” theme music. To me, it fully encapsulates the fascination people are expressing with this eclipse.

Whatever else is happening, the house floofs weren’t interested in the eclipses. They found good cozy spots and napped through it.

Stay positive, remain strong, continue leaning forward, and Vote Blue this November. Coffee has been enjoyed; more is on the way.

Here’s the sky-staring music. It’s a fun song. I know, it’s too late for the eclypso, but we were out on a Food and Friends run. Cheers

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The Bookstores

We’d read about another book store to check out in Eugene. “Better than Smith Family Bookstore,” they claimed.

Photo: Smith Family Bookstore, Eugene, Oregon

What? Better than Smith?

We love Smith. A re-purposed fire station, it reeks with books. Attempts to organize the books are ongoing. Well, they are organized, but they spill out everywhere.

We checked out J. Michaels Books, on Broadway. It’s a good book store, and well worth an hour of browsing, but it would not supplant Smith for us.

We drove on to Barnes and Nobles on our book quest – the last resort in our efforts to find several books. I know I’m a writer. I’m supposed to make money from selling books. But my wife likes finding used books, reading them, and then selling them to another book store for credit.

I’m ambivalent about that. She and I enjoy reading. We’re spreading the wealth by keeping used books in circulation. And, we’re sparing the environment (some) by keeping the need to publish more books down. But, we know we could do more to reduce books’ impacts on the environment by going digital, but…sigh…we’re in love with the feel, smell and practice of reading physical books. It goes beyond logic.

All that book store visiting prompted thinking about which book store is my favorite. First, what makes a good book store? Books, of course – selection, prices, condition. But there’s often more. A spirit of reading and writing is embedded in the best book stores.

Powell’s Books in Portland remain marginally in first place on my list. One, talking with the folks working there, you can tell that they enjoy books. Two, it’s so damn big and impressively organized. Used and new books co-exist for sale. Both are reasonably priced.

Second place is more difficult. I like, on equal levels, Bloomsbury Books and Bookwagon New and Used Books in Ashland, but I also like Smith Family Bookstore in Eugene. I guess I mark the three establishments as tied for second. All have knowledgeable, book-friendly personnel working there. Bookwagon is the smallest, but we enjoy the owner, Karl.

In third place, then, is another Ashland book store, the Book Exchange. Dark and crowded with tall shelves of books, the Book Exchange feels like an old book store, and offers excellent prices and selections.

In ranking my book stores, I dismissed things like coffee shops, pastries, parking and locations. They’re just nice accouterments to a proper book store, but it’s really about the books.

What about you, readers and writers? Are there any book stores that draw your love and loyalty?

 

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