I don't know about you, but I miss bookstores. I miss browsing through musty used books and happening upon a treasure — a title I didn't know existed, or a book I'd been searching for for a long time. You know. You do this, too, I bet — or did, before the pandemic closed everything.
And I miss heading down to a bookstore on a Sunday afternoon to pick up a shiny new book that was just reviewed.
I miss a lot of things right now: going out to eat; hopping in the car and heading out somewhere (anywhere, the dentist, I don't care); visiting friends; having friends visit me. Mostly, though, I miss bookstores.
We are rich in bookstores here, and our booksellers are rich in creativity. Right now they are finding all kinds of ways to keep us engaged until they can open their doors again.
From online ordering to curbside pickup to serving as personal shoppers, they are making it as easy as possible for us to get our books from them instead of, you know, from the big guy who doesn't know from books and doesn't care about you. These guys care!
And nobody gives better recommendations than a bookseller.
SubText Bookstore in St. Paul has begun a "surprise me" option. Go online, give them a price point and a genre, say a few words about a book you loved (or didn't love), and they will pick something out and mail it to you.
I tested this the other day — I read books for a living, you know, and I was certain they'd send me something I'd already read. But they nailed it. I was impressed.
