Did I mention I’m out of town? I’ll be taking the rest of July off here on Substack but before I do, can I just give a plug for visiting indie bookstores when you’re on vacation? Maybe you’ll find a fun story time or other activity where you can mix it up with the locals, in addition to finding a great new book treasure. I got to visit Bart’s Books in Ojai this week, an incredible outdoor bookstore. That’s right, it’s almost entirely outdoors.
How do they keep the books dry if it rains? Some are protected by large overhangs, but others . . . I still don’t know. Before stepping through the street-facing shelves to the inner sanctum where sunlights streamed unimpeded among the stacks, I read this sign and I knew I was in such a good place.
The website says it has, “a collection of over 130,000 used and new books, ranging from rare out-of-print gems to well loved paperbacks.” I spent an hour squatting in the sunshine, paying homage to the children’s book section and leaving with a small pile of books.
I found new-to-me titles written by old friends like Jean Fritz (I love her history books for kids), Madeleine L’Engle (love her Wrinkle in Time series and The Crosswicks Journals) or Katherine Paterson (love Bridge to Terabithia.
I’m keeping a running list of independent bookstores I want to visit someday:
Nooks in Lancaster, PA, (love listening to the owners, Shawn Smucker and Maile Silva on their podcast So We Bought a Bookshop where they talk about parenting a large family, running a bookstore, and their writing lives)
Children’s Book World in Philadelphia, PA
The Bookshelf in Thomasville, GA (the owner, Annie B. Jones wrote a book called Ordinary Time that is so good, and I love the podcast From the Front Porch. It starts with the sound of a squeaky porch swing, so great)
Do you have suggestions of local indies you love? Share in the comments, please, so we can all add to our lists. And enjoy the rest of your July. I hope it includes some great books!
smoke-filled bubbles floating out of Shoreline Park like magic, drifting across the road, bringing traffic to a stop
walking alongside dolphins who kept our slower pace, their fins cresting, then diving back down
A crowd gathered beneath a sprawling tree to marvel at owl parents and their babies
making drizzle castles from just the right mix of sand and ocean, my favorite thing to do on the beach
My name is Meredith Davis, and I’m an award winning writer of middle grade books, a former indie bookseller, founder of the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Find teaching resources and author visit information on my website at www.meredithldavis.com. Mother to three, Nana to two, I live with my husband and a crazy doodle in Austin, Texas.
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