Tag: bookstores

Five bookish places I’ve visited and five I want to

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading, top-ten-tuesday26 Comments

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.

See those open porches on the side? They are actually enclosed in glass and you can sit there to read.

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.

https://louisamayalcott.org/

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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Sunday Bookends: Finally reading A Classic, Bookstore Bliss, and Warmer Temperatures Come Upon Us

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Sunday Bookends10 Comments

Welcome to my weekly post where I recap my week by writing about what I’ve been reading, watching, writing, doing and sometimes what I’ve been listening to.

What’s been occurring

The weather has finally started to warm up and has helped to take the foot and a half of snow we had left on the ground to about 8 inches. I can see the corners of my garden boxes now and there is grass peeking out of the snow on a hill on the other side of town. We’re hopeful to see the grass in our yard for the first time in two months.

Our cats seem to have some sort of cabin fever. They’re so bored with looking at the snow they now come into the bathroom when I’m taking a bath and just stare at me, which is creepy. Pixel is getting used to Scout, the kitten we brought home in August. She still doesn’t love her, but she tolerates her and Pixel is either enjoying chasing Scout or is hoping to kill her. I’m not sure which.

My animals have teamed up now too. Pixel and Zooma did it before, but now Scout gets in on the action when she can. Pixel is very adept at opening doors and if Zooma wants to get in a room, Pixel finds a way to open the door for her. My daughter has a door that slides open and closed and in the morning, when I get up for my third trip to the bathroom, either I or my husband close it to keep the animals from waking Little Miss up too early. Pixel knows how to open the door so she slides her paw under it, moves the door and Zooma runs in and jumps on the bed for cuddles. Scout seems to be learning how to do the same thing from Pixel because my husband found her in my daughter’s room one morning after he’d already closed the door.

On Friday we took a family trip to a book store. Yes, we are that boring. We live in a rural area and there aren’t a lot of malls or bookstores around us so we took a 45-minute trip to eat at a Cracker Barrel and walk around a Books-A-Million at a small mall down the road from the restaurant. I had been wanting to go to this store since my husband visited it and sent me photos. So many books in one place! I haven’t been to a bookstore in years but my husband and I used to go to Barnes and Noble near our old home (near in this area means a 30 minute drive), walk around, look at books and sip coffee (coffee for him, milk and sugar with a splash of coffee for me) so this brought back memories.

When we walked in to this store I seriously almost cried to see so many books. I kept going, “Oh. Oh. Oh it’s amazing.” I don’t know if I am sheltered or what but the idea of so many worlds under so many roofs was exhiliarating to me, especially since I have gotten back into reading again in the last couple of years. The Boy was embarrassed by my exuberance and wandered into the fantasy section so no one would know we were together.

I couldn’t find a section for Christian fiction and thought they might have slid them into the regular fiction section, or removed them all together, but a half an hour into our exploration of the store (it was fairly large), I found an entire corner dedicated to “religion”, which was mainly Christian-based books.

There were four or five sets of shelves of journals, Bibles, devotionals, Christian living books and an entire wall of Christian fiction. Sadly, since I found the section so late, I didn’t have as long to peruse the books as I would have liked. Print books are so expensive anymore ( trust me, I know why — when I price mine on sites, you have to set them high or you will make next to nothing as the author from their sale), but I did find a used copy by a new-to-me author, Nancy Mehl.

I also grabbed a couple of bargain classic books. I originally had a larger pile, but we have bills so I put two back. I grabbed Emma by Jane Austen and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and I was going to buy Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but for financial reasons (like I was trying to spend too much on the week before we pay our mortgage) I put that one back, hoping I’ll still be able to buy them after all the ranting and raving some in our country are doing about what is racist and what isn’t. I want to make sure I have these books in print in case some try to ban them and in case Amazon decides to remove them from my Kindle, which I learned this week they are doing with books they have deemed “unacceptable.”

What I’m Reading

It seemed like a good transition to move from the bookstore visit to what I’ve been reading. This week I finished Sweeter, a book by an indie author, Jere Steele. It was a nice, easy-going and light read. I’ll have a review for it on the blog later this week.

I enjoyed Sweeter but decided to switch to Death Without Company: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson for a little more grit and suspense. I shouldn’t read Longmire books before bed, though, because then I have very intense dreams about being chased or trying to solve a murder in Wyoming.

I will probably start Emma this week as well to keep me to my plan to read more classics this year.

Little Miss and I are still reading Stormy: Misty’s Foal by Marguerite Henry. This book is a little tougher than some since it deals with the aftermath of a winter storm that wiped out more than half the pony population of Assateague Island. I’ve been skipping the many references to “airlifting dead ponies off the island” and instead reading “lifting debris off the island.” I don’t think the 6-year old needs to go to sleep picturing dead ponies being dragged onto the backs of trucks.

The Boy and I took a break from reading The Lord of the Flies this week, but will pick it back up on Monday.

What I’m Watching

We’ve been watching The Muppets and Friday we watched episodes with John Cleese, Peter Sellers, and Steve Martin. I loved all three but enjoyed Sellers the most. He was such a versatile talent.

We also went back to Doc Martin this week. We started season 4 and I don’t know if I will enjoy these later seasons as much as the first. I’m finding Louisa annoying and sort of want to throttle her and hug her all at the same time. Continuing on the British show theme, I started Agatha Raisin this week on Acorn TV and enjoyed the first episode. I will not, however, watch this series with my kids. It is not graphic so far but there are some adult themes featured that I’d rather not discuss with them.

What I’m Writing
Last week I shared some random thoughts, but not much else. I shared some photos from February as well. I have a few posts lined up for this upcoming week, however. I am also working on a couple of fiction stories, The Farmers’ Sons (notice the name change there. I had meant to change that before. It’s a book about at least three farmers’ sons, maybe a couple of more), and Lily. I may share the prologue of Lily sometime in March, but I’m not sure I’m ready to share this one yet. It’s going to be a tough one for me, dealing with some tough topics, but I still hope to have some joy in it.

As I mentioned Friay, The Farmer’s Daughter, is available now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple iBooks, Scribd, and Smashwords.

For blog readers, I am offering the first two chapters free HERE.

I shared photos of our week yesterday in the February recap post, but here are few from the past week.

The hills are bare but still pretty impressive from this overlook. Our area isn’t called the “Endless Mountains” for no reason.
My dad decided to take us up to the overlook on this road, covered completely in snow. The higher we got the more snow was on the road and I was starting to get nervous, but Dad has a 4-wheel drive truck so he seems to think he can go wherever he wants. Luckily we made it down the road safely.

So that is my week in review, how was yours? Let me know in the comments!