Like many people, whenever we travel and explore a new town or region, the local independent bookstore is mandatory destination. There is nothing better during a leisurely stroll through an unfamiliar neighborhood than to happen across a quaint, cozy, comforting bookstore. I'm not sure what it is for bookies that makes walking into a bookstore feel like coming home, but I always relish those first few steps inside the door. What displays are front and center? Which books have the curators deftly placed to invite a glance, a perusal, a skimming of pages?
Living in Denver for many years, we were blessed with a truly legendary indie store, The Tattered Cover. It's an impressive institution that can hang with the best of the big indie stores known nationally, like Powells in Portland, The Strand in New York City, City Lights in San Francisco, and of course Shakespeare & Co in Paris.
Some smaller but well-known indie stores I've had the pleasure of visiting include Books are Magic in Brooklyn and the wonderful Left Bank Books in my beloved St. Louis. Some spots on my wish list included Parnassus Books in Nashville and Painted Porch in Austin.
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