Sunday afternoon I got a hankering to do some book shopping. Not necessarily buying the books but just the act of browsing the shelves of local indie stores. I’m not someone who hates Barnes and Noble or Amazon, but from time to time I do enjoy patronizing neighborhood establishments. And I got to drag Jimmy along with me and watch his eyes glaze over. Good times.
We started our adventure at Atlanta Vintage Books right near PDK airport. It’s shameful that I live about 5 miles away and had never visited. The store is run by an older couple who had a dream of owning a book shop. The store is filled with shelves and shelves of books everywhere – in every nook and cranny. Also, cats. Lots of cats. (See above – lovingly borrowed from AVB’s website.) Nothing is new – not the books, furniture, or shelving. It smells wonderful, intoxicating. You could spend hours in this store perusing the thousands of deliciously aged pages. Some fantastic first editions – signed Ian Flemings, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Gone With the Wind – are also available.
Downstairs they have cheap paperbacks. And loads more books. I will continue to frequent the store looking for hardback copies of some of my favorite novels of years gone by. The only downside I really found was that the prices were a bit high. The same collection of John Steinbeck shorts that I recently bought at Goodwill for $2.50 was $18. I think a book that is 60 years old should be less than $18. But maybe that’s just me.
Our second stop I consider a favorite – Eagle Eye Books in Decatur. They host amazing authors all year long (Neil Gaiman!). Eagle Eye is mostly used books with a front corner dedicated to new releases. Their used collection is huge, but sometimes I find the selection limited. Like yesterday. Nothing really jumped out at me which was a shame because they were having their red dot sale. Every book with a red dot was an additional 50% off. Normal used paperbacks are about $5-6. They are also in very good condition. The store has a great rewards program, plus you can sell your books to them for store credit.
Amazingly, this little adventure only led to new-ish book purchases. I bought two first edition hardcover Harry Potters (books 3 & 4) since I’ve been meaning to collect them for some time. My paperbacks are falling apart. At $7 a book, I couldn’t resist. It made me wonder who doesn’t keep such beautiful HPs? Weird.
How about you? What are your favorite bookstores where you live?
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