Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
If you are new to my blog, I just wanted to share with you that I co-host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea (no, you don’t have to drink tea to participate) with Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs) and Cat (Cat’s Wire). You can find a link to it at the top of the page. The link party is for all book-related posts from reviews and recommendations to …well, anything related to books at all. Including Top Ten Tuesday, if you want to link your top ten there too!
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is:
August 25: Bookish Places I’ve Visited (Share all the cool places you’ve been that are bookish or tied to books! This includes neat libraries, bookstores, places featured in books, places inspired by books, author homes/places they’ve stayed, etc. You can also share your bucket list of the bookish places you’d like to visit someday.) (submitted by Susan @Bloggin’ ’bout Books)
I’m not someone who travels very much so I had to split this list into places I have been and places I want to go to.
First, five bookish related places I have been to (and want to go back to):
One.
When I was in college, I visited my brother in Downingtown, Pa. and he drove me to West Chester to see Baldwin’s Book Barn, which is a five-story barn built in 1822 that was converted into a bookstore in 1946.
According to the store’s website: “Thomas Baldwin, the longtime proprietor of Baldwin’s Book Barn in West Chester, Pennsylvania, was a guardian of literary tradition. Founded by his parents in 1946, the 19th-century barn transformed into a haven for book lovers. After his father’s illness, Thomas took the reins, ensuring the store’s quirky charm and historical significance endured.
Tom’s passion for books and warm personality were integral to the store’s appeal. Known for his encyclopedic knowledge, he often engaged visitors in lengthy conversations by the iconic pot-bellied stove. The barn’s five floors of books, rare artifacts, and cozy nooks made it a beloved landmark for bibliophiles. Though he briefly contemplated selling the business in 2010, Tom remained steadfast in preserving it as a part of Chester County’s history. Under his stewardship, Baldwin’s Book Barn outlasted many chain bookstores, becoming a destination for those seeking literary discovery and a touch of nostalgia.”
Learn more about this awesome store here:
https://bookbarn.com/heritage/
I was young then and not as in to reading as much as I am now so I did not explore as much as I would now, if I had the chance to go back and I do hope I can go back someday.
Two.
There is a small, cute bookstore in a little village near us that we have visited a couple of times and I can’t wait to go back there, as well. It is much smaller than barn, of course, but is also just stuffed full of amazing finds. Mainly used books, with some new ones.
I was especially excited to find Nancy Drew and Murder, She Wrote books there.
It is in a little tourist/resort town surrounded by state game land and the building is so cute.
Three.
For 18-years we lived close to Elmira, N.Y. (though we were in PA) and that is where the gazebo where Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Life on the Mississippi (1883), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889). The gazebo was built in 1874 at Quarry Farm which was the summer home of Twain’s sister-in-law, Susan Crane. The family of Twain’s wife, Olivia Langdon Clemens, was from Elmira.
It was moved to Elmira College in 1952 and is now part of the colleges Center for Mark Twain Studies.
The photos I took at the gazebo are buried somewhere so I pulled some off the interwebs to share here.
I can be honest that there was just something about walking into that building. A peaceful, yet also creative feeling.
It’s very unassuming and there are probably many people in the town who have no idea what it is. I’m just so glad no one has ever damaged it because that city is known to have some crime issues.
Like I said, it felt peaceful inside there, but maybe it was because no one else was on campus that day. Whatever it was, I just loved sitting inside it and when I closed my eyes I imagined Twain sitting at that desk, plugging away at classic books I’ve read or want to read.
Thinking about it now, it was truly like walking through a portal into the past and being able to sit down and take it all in.
Four.
Mondragon Books in Lewisburg, Pa.
This little store is similar to the store near us – full of all kinds of used books. It has a couple places to sit, a music section, and a small, but full children’s section.
The only issue is that the last time I went, there were more political or activist books than classics and fiction. It wasn’t really what I like to find in a bookstore, which is an escape for me, so I decided I probably won’t visit there again when we go back to Lewisburg in the future. I think the tone of the place has changed since the first time I visited.
Five.
North Hall Library in Mansfield, Pa.
This library is in the middle of Mansfield College, or whatever they have renamed it. It’s where I went to college. The library is beautiful and used to be a girl’s dorm. It was built 150 years ago and built on a hill that overlooks the little town of Mansfield.
It fell into disrepair in the 1980s (you can find out more of the reasons for that here: https://library.commonwealthu.edu/mansfield-buildings/northhall
In 1996, the year I started attending (stop doing the math, please), they opened the newly renovated library, which is six stories and includes state-of-the art computers and other technology as well as a six-story atrium with amazing acoustics.
For the life of me I could not find any photos of the interior of the building. I know I have some in my old scrapbooks but didn’t want to dig them out. I’ll leave a video link at the bottom of this section that shows the interior.
It may or may not also still have a ghost, which may or may not have been a girl named Sarah who may or may not have flung herself from the top floor of the atrium after her heart was broken. The real story was probably much less dramatic, because other stories say a girl named Sarah did attend the college but passed away at home from an illness, not at the college. No one has ever been able to identify an actual Sarah.
I’m going to be honest and say I didn’t like to spend a lot of time in North Hall, even though it was beautiful. I tried studying there one time and I felt very uneasy because it was so quiet and …. Okay, I wasn’t worried about ghosts but about creepy frat guys being in the top floor where I was studying.
Also, the atrium really made me feel uncomfortable. It did not help my fear of heights at all. It had amazing acoustics though. Listening to the university choirs sing there was really nice.
Now five bookish places I want to visit:
One.
Louise May Alcott’s home, Orchard House in Concord, Mass.
I’d love to visit Orchard House because it would be cool to see where Louisa May grew up and lived and also the house and surrounding area looks beautiful.
Two.
Otto’s bookstore in Williamsport, Pa.
This is the oldest independently owned bookstore in Pennsylvania. Founded in 1841 it was originally known as A.D Lundy and Co. and sold a variety of goods. Eventually it became just a bookstore.
At the turn of the 20th Century, the store became The Loan Book Shop, under John Otto, hence the name.
This past year the store expanded for the first time.
Three.
The Book Sale in Ithaca, N.Y.
This is a biannual booksale where the Friends of the Library hold two book sales in a huge warehouse – one in the spring and one in the fall.
Four.
Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon.
I’d probably give out of energy walking around it but I would still love to visit it someday..
Five.
John K. King Books in Detroit, Michigan.
Erin went here before and now I want to go with her and we could finally meet in person.
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Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.
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