What Your Indie Will Do For You

This is just a little story about a little indie that has been a valued part of our small village life for over 50 years. And maybe you'll see why we're still here, in spite of all the odds against small-time booksellers.


A customer strolled in yesterday looking for a book to read while her car was going to be repaired. And I sympathized. The only thing worse than waiting for car repairs is waiting for car repairs without a book. It's unimaginable. It's torture.

She had a couple of books in mind, and one of the was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. "Ooh, I said, that is a good one." But of course we were out. I checked the computer, and I learned that it would be in the next UPS shipment due to arrive any minute. (We love our adorable UPS man Gary, who cheerfully stacks our boxes in groups according to Purchase Order number, making it so easy to unpack and sort.) I asked the customer: "What time is your car appointment? If you can stay and browse for a little while, the UPS man will probably be here soon."

That's when my colleague Jenny, who is a contagiously cheerful gal, looked out the window and said: "Oh my goodness, there goes Gary now!" She jumped up and chased Gary down the sidewalk, where his dolly was parked in front of another shop. Jenny checked the packing slip on each box that was addressed to The Bookstore, and found the one we wanted. She opened the door of the other shop, and hollered to Gary: "I just stole one of our boxes!" and ran back to the store like she had just captured the flag.

Our customer was thrilled. We opened the box with the excitement of a couple of four year-olds at Christmas. We all had a good laugh. And our customer said: "I'm going to tell everyone about this. This is the best customer service I have ever seen! They don't do this at [fill-in-the-blank-big-box-bookstore]!"

Damn right.

Because that's why we're here. We love getting books in the hands of readers, and we'll even chase down the UPS man to do it. And maybe that's why we've been here for over 50 years.

Just a little something to think about as you start your Independence Day celebrations. Declare your independence and resolve to shop more Indie.

All Books Are Created Equal

Maybe you've heard about the recent brouhaha over Amazon's delisting of certain titles based on their categorization of books as adult or gay themed. Amazon claimed they did it in response to the complaints of certain customers, and that there was a mistake in their algorithm, whatever that means. It's caused an explosion of protests among the book bloggers, publishers, authors and booksellers we follow on Twitter. Some have complained that the categorization is a form of close-minded censorship; others point out that Amazon's categorizations are overly broad, causing some really good literature to be blacklisted.

It's really struck a chord with us here at The Bookstore. Amazon is our primary competitor, and there's admittedly a little schadenfreude in seeing them caught in a public relations snafu. But it's way more than that. Here at The Bookstore we believe that all books and all customers are created equal. It's not just some first amendment lip service, it's really part of our mission as a good neighbor in Glen Ellyn.

No matter how homogeneous our little village may seem to be on the surface, anybody who's lived here long enough knows that we are a diverse, wonderful mix of people, ideas, religions, politics and philosophies. We are Cubs fans or Sox fans, and although the die-hards believe it's heretical, some of us are actually both. We had Obama signs and McCain signs all through our village last fall, and somehow we got along. (My favorite: the yards with both opposing signs!) We voted with the Civic Betterment party's candidate or for the alternative, Gary Fasules. Some watch Fox News; others listen to NPR. We might love Oprah or hate her, but we can't stop talking about her book selections. You might have gone to a Tea Party yesterday, or you mocked them with Jon Stewart. We carry your Bible Study books, but we also carry God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer has gay characters, and it's a beautiful love story I strongly recommend.

Here at The Bookstore we just love to handsell you books. We find out what you're interested in and show you some good books you might enjoy. You have opinions and we love you for it. You come as you are. If a certain subject isn't your cup of tea, that's fine, just tell us and we can go in another direction. We'll even smile, as we did last fall, when a customer slyly turned over an Obama children's book to hide the cover. It's okay, we get you. But we turned it back over when you left. And we'd do the same for any book.

Because at the smaller, smarter independent bookstore in the heart of your village, all books are created equal. Just like you.

(Okay, now cue the National Anthem!)

A Bookseller's Tour of London

What does a bookseller do in London?

Well, after the obvious, such as trying a steak and mushroom pie at the Guinea Grill (what was I thinking? I prefer vegetarian!), a bookseller goes on the hunt for a great bookstore.

The first day I ventured up Charing Cross Road and found several
bookstores, from Borders to Waterstone's to the independent Foyle's, and although I was fascinated by the different titles on the shelves in England (and different covers!), I was a little underwhelmed. Where was that classic British bookstore that lives and breathes history and culture and literary passion? Where was that UK title I've been unable to get in the States? Luckily, I had dinner that night with an American who lived in London, so I asked her. She grabbed my notepad and wrote down Daunt Books, Marylebone High Street.

Daunt Books is undoubtedly the prettiest bookstore I've ever seen. Not to put down our own little bookstore in Glen Ellyn, but really. I felt like I had conjured this bookstore right out of my imagination and onto the street in front of me. It was welcoming, with its doors wide open in the middle of a London winter -- which admittedly is no match for a Chicago winter, but still! Inside there were shelves and shelves of highly varnished dark oak, and natural light filtered down through ancient skylights. My favorite section: not cooking but "cookery." Say that with a Monty Python accent and try not to giggle.

At first I didn't even notice, but then it sank in. There weren't any flashy marketing posters or Oprah Book Club displays. There weren't even any shelf-talkers or handwritten staff pick notecards. Okay, I did find a title with a sticker from the UK Richard and Judy Book Club (Netherland by Joseph O'Neill -- great choice in case you're wondering), but when I asked at the desk, they didn't even have a list of the Richard and Judy selections. Nobody interrupted my bookstore pleasure with pushy suggestions or one of those looks that says "buy something already!" And sure enough, I was able to find a copy of Chris Cleave's Incendiary, which I couldn't seem to find anywhere else. But it was the searching and the browsing that made it feel like I'd nabbed a trophy.

That's when I realized that given the right environment, books will sell themselves. Make your store inviting, welcoming and warm, and people will come. People love to browse, because there is something about the search for a good book that is part of the pleasure of reading. We might be searching for enlightenment or education or maybe even escape, but we are really just searching for enjoyment. The pleasure is in the quest. Throw in a little conversation about books with the staff, and it's better than an hour at a pub. Definitely better than steak and kidney pie.

I'm more convinced than ever that independent bookstores shouldn't fear the Kindle. A Kindle can't open its door on a cold winter day and warm your heart better than a pint of lager. Cheers!