A Bookstore Odyssey: Days 4 and 5

By Len Vlahos

On Monday, February 9, ABA Communications Manager Kristen Gilligan and BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos set out on a weeklong tour of East Coast bookstores. Here's a report on their final two days on the road. To read about the first three days of their journey, click here.

Day 4 -- February 12
Triad to Research Triangle

Mile 1079. The good news is that the predicted four to six inches of snow turned out to be a light, misting rain. The bad news is that, in the end, Kristen had nowhere to run from my germs. We're both sick. But enough of that. We have some driving to do and some stores to visit, so why dwell on what we can't control?

Owner Nicole Spivey of The Living Room in Greensboro, North Carolina.

After a hearty breakfast at one of the 850,000 Waffle Houses, that seem, like locusts, to have infested the Southeast, it's time for our first stop of the day. The Living Room is as much a community center as it is a bookstore, and the space is one of the warmest and most inviting we've seen. Owner Nicole Spivey has made this eight-month-old African-American specialty store a destination for the residents of the up-and-coming neighborhoods of downtown Greensboro. With five colleges surrounding the location, the store is well situated to grow and prosper.

Still new to bookselling and business ownership, Nicole is thankful for the advice of both fellow booksellers and association staffers, and is clearly pouring her heart and soul into helping this store thrive. We spend a few minutes on the comfy couches in the actual living room before taking our leave and heading out of town.

Staffer David Felton dusting bookshelves in The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina (top); Book Sense 76 display (center); and (below) John Valentine and Tom Campbell in front of the store.

Our next stop, originally scheduled to be at a non-member store a bit off the beaten path, was never confirmed. So we decide instead to make an unplanned visit to The Regulator Bookshop in Durham. We call owner Tom Campbell from the road to see if he has a few minutes to spend with us. He jokes that we should have given him more warning, to allow his staff time to dust. Only when we get there, we find staffer David Felton actually dusting. Maybe Tom wasn't kidding after all!

The store itself is spectacular, and truthfully, no dusting is needed. An events calendar greets us as we enter, and we see that Brian Greene -- made famous by his book The Elegant Universe (hardcover, Norton; paperback, Vintage), along with the PBS special of the same name -- is doing an event for his new book The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality (Knopf). As we move further in, we see recommendations from the staff throughout the store, particularly concentrated in the displays at the front. There's also a great Book Sense display, which, according to Tom, needs constant restocking.

Originally occupying a few hundred square feet, The Regulator has grown to occupy two large floors, including a cafe downstairs. (An interesting side note: Tom tells us that the foot-thick walls of the back room -- used by the previous owners as a fur vault -- will protect us should a tornado or hurricane come crashing through.)

Kristen gets some hot tea while I buy a couple of books -- Grift Sense by Jim Swain (hardcover, Atria; mass market, Ballantine), recommended by Hut Landon of NCIBA, and Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America by Michael Dobb (Knopf), originally brought to my attention by Rona and Buford Brinlee at The Book Mark in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Particularly exciting for me is that I find Saboteurs by using The Regulator's Web kiosk, which prominently displays the store's BookSense.com site (www.regbook.com). [For more on the subject of in-store kiosks, click here.] A couple of clicks and I can see that there are two copies in stock in the history section. And lo and behold, there they are!

Still dealing with a dreary rain, and wanting to do the rest of our driving in daylight, Kristen and I thank Tom and his business partner, John Valentine, and head for our next stop, Richmond, Virginia. We get a bit of R&R -- or more accurately, find some time to answer e-mail -- before our old friends from iXL take us out to dinner. Actually, iXL doesn't exist any more, but most of the staff of the Richmond office -- the same folks who built the core technology that is now BookSense.com -- formed their own local tech consulting firm called IronWorks.

The very pleasant dinner is highlighted by the unusual presentation of the food: my rack of lamb is served flambe, and Kristen's shrimp is served on a hanging skewer that, when not used to display food, reminds one of an 18th century torture device. Our excellent dinner companions assure us that this is over the top for a Richmond dining experience. We assure them it's over the top in New York, too. But the food and service are without rival, and once again, we prove that independent restaurants are like independent bookstores, each one made special by its own unique qualities.

We do want to thank the dozens of you who have sent e-mails wishing us well and suggesting car names. We also want to respond to one question Kristen received in particular. Maryelizabeth Hart from the Mysterious Galaxy Bookshop in San Diego wants to know what music we've been listening to on the drive. So far it's been Joe Jackson, Miles Davis, 10,000 Maniacs, Blues Traveler, Tom Petty, and U2. (Thanks for asking Maryelizabeth!!)

Tomorrow, three more stores, the drive home, and the car finally gets its name.

Day 5 -- February 13
Homeward Bound and the Car Gets a Name

Mile 1284. I'm feeling guilty as the car bounces down the old cobblestone streets of historic Richmond. I set up this meeting, begging The Fountain Bookstore's Kelly Justice (manager) and Jim Smythe (owner) to meet us at 9:00 a.m., an hour before opening. Normally, 9:00 a.m. isn't that early, but both Kelly and Jim are coming off a big author event last night.

I feel even more guilty as Kristen and I roll up 15 minutes late. For the first time in our odyssey, we get lost, meandering through the corporate parks and suburban sprawl of Richmond's growing "West Side," trying to find the Interstate. (This whole town has the feeling of "boom" to me.)

The Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia.

The Fountain Bookstore is a feast for the eyes. The natural wood fixtures, the exposed brick, the warm lighting, and most importantly, the ingeniously merchandised books, invite any passerby to come on in. (Seeing the store, we're not surprised to learn that Kelly is presenting a merchandising workshop at an upcoming SEBA gathering.) Immediately in our line of sight as we enter is a colorful Valentine's Day display, built around the Book Sense 76 Valentine's Day list.

We retreat to the upstairs event space and sit down for a talk. (This wasn't the space they used last night. Large though it is, it would never hold the 400 people who turned out to hear cowboy poet Baxter Black!) We spend much of our time discussing Web site marketing (www.fountainbookstore.com) and gift cards before the conversation turns to books.

Kelly is reading MacAdam Cage's IBID, the forthcoming title from Mark Dunn (Ella Minnow Pea, Welcome to Higby), as well as Scottish travel books. (Yep, she's going.) Jim has high praise for Jumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies (Houghton Mifflin).

We make our way back downstairs, and as we're just about to leave, Jim remembers one more title he wants to recommend: The Boy Who Looked Like Abraham Lincoln by Mike Reiss, illustrated by David Catrow (Price Stern Sloan). A beautifully illustrated children's picture book, Kelly pulls a copy off a display and does a mini-story time for us as we're standing at the front door. For me personally, this is one of the highlights of the trip. It just summed up everything that's wonderful about independent booksellers and independent bookstores.

Book Rack i n Lee's Hill, Virginia.

Our next stop, a mere hour north in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is Book Rack at Lee's Hill. We spend a few minutes chatting with owner Ken Chapman about the benefits of ABA membership. While his product mix is more used than new, his selection of new books is very much in the Book Sense vein, and we're hopeful he'll find ABA as welcoming as we find his store.

After a quick bite to eat, we make the long haul to our final stop, in southeastern Pennsylvania. But as soon as we cross the Mason-Dixon, we're greeted by a uniquely Northern invention: The Massive Traffic Jam. We're stopped dead on I-95 for more than an hour. We place an apologetic phone call to the bookseller we're on our way to see -- who is most gracious -- and promise to reschedule.

There's nothing left to do but drive home. That, and name the car.

Kristen has a variety of names from which to choose. Some of those suggested by e-mail: Wild Stallion, Inspiration, Nantahala, The Beagle, and Rover.

Kristen's new car:

But in the end, Kristen just can't escape her own destiny. Karen Schechner, our colleague at ABA, wrote: "[T]here's really no way your new car can not be called The Minnow…. I think you and Len should break a bottle of champagne over her bumper [and] officially dub her The Minnow."

We don't break the bottle of champagne, but we do stop and salute The Minnow when we finally cross the Tappan Zee Bridge, arriving back in Tarrytown at about 6:00 p.m. We grab a slice at the local pizza place and warmly recap the trip.

"There's no better way to see the country than drive," I suggest.

Kristen's answer sums it all up: "And there's no better way to get a sense of place than by speaking with the locals. And there are no better locals to talk with than booksellers."

Thanks to all who read our daily installments for being there with us; and thanks to every bookseller who made this journey so worthwhile.

I'll leave you right where we started …
The weather started getting rough
The windshield wiper broke
The tires lost all air
The passengers lost hope
If not for the courage of Wanda Jewell
The Minnow would be lost

The car is back in Tarrytown
Made it home in style
With Gilligan
And lots of books
Back to smoggy air
And real life
A brand new car
That guy named Len
This Odyssey Ends
At the 1700th mile