SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: BOOKIN’ IT!
Bookin’ It
Address: 200 North Main Street, Belmont, NC 28012
Phone: 704.461.8258
Owner: David Bratcher
Website: www.bookin-it.com
Twitter: @mobilebookstore
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Belmont-NC/Bookin-it-Your-Mobile-Bookstore/322344250798?ref=ts
For a woman who loves to hit the road and talk books, I have found the perfect indie, Bookin’ It!, a mobile bookstore. That’s right, a bookstore on wheels. How perfect is that? Bookin’ It! is a 24-foot, air-conditioned, Nascar trailer turned bookstore, outfitted with wooden bookshelves, cozy rugs and fireplace. Yes, fireplace! OK, the fireplace is electric, but the ambiance is perfectly toasty!
But it gets even better than that. Bookin’ It! is celebrating its birthday today. Whoohoo! Blow out some candles and make a wish because three years ago today the Bookin’ It! trailer was pulled into a Main Street parking lot in Belmont, North Carolina, (its semi-permanent home) and opened its door. And the Bookin’ It! staff hasn’t stopped rolling since – traveling to birthday parties, school festivals, corporate events, and underserved communities in the state of North Carolina.
I visited Bookin’ It! this week and found president David Bratcher eager to show me his mobile store. David is mentally disabled, but at Bookin’ It, he has found his passion and his place, putting books in the hands of readers. He particularly loves to read to children, dress up in character costumes, and make balloon animals. And his devoted family is always there eager to lend a helping hand. Mom, Simone, runs the behind-the-scenes operation. Dad pulls the trailer; and big sis, Yvonne, helps with sales. David’s good friend, Renee Hill, is always there to lend a hand and always with a sparkling smile on her face.
David held several other jobs after graduating from high school, but he often felt isolated and marginalized. ”He didn’t want to be picking up trash in a parking lot. He wanted more for himself, and we wanted more for our son,” says Simone. ”David is a giver and what better thing for him to be doing than to be sharing the gift of books.”
In this tough economy, Simone believes Bookin’ It! has what it takes to make it. In fact, she believes the advantage of a mobile bookstore is, well, priceless. Bookin’ It! can go to the customer. ”In fact, we joke,” laughs Simone, “we not only go looking our customers, we run them down!.”
So if you want to visit a store unlike no other, then check out Bookin’ It, and tell David that Susan said “HI!”
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: DIANA’S BOOKSTORE
Diana’s Bookstore
Address: 127 West Main Street, Elkin, NC 28621
Phone: 336-835-3142
Owner: Cicely McCulloch
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elkin-NC/Dianas-Bookstore-and-Coffee-Shop/143075219044029
Nestled in the bustling downtown historic district of Elkin, Diana’s Bookstore offers more than books – with the aroma of gourmet coffee inspiring you to stay a while to browse, as you sip on a little comforting caffiene. Locals have said that this Main Street store is idyllic, reminding them of Meg Ryan’s sweet little bookstore in the hit movie “You’ve Got Mail.”
Owner Cicely McCulloch may not be Meg Ryan, but her love of Southern fiction combined with her Southern charm, keep locals coming back time and time again. Whether on the hunt for works by Southern authors like Mary Kay Andrews, John Hart, Patti Henry and Ann Ross, Life Is Good merchandise, the perfect greeting card or a delicious cappucino, Diana’s Bookstore has it all.
Add some of the staff’s genuine smiles, pride in small town customer service and passion for books, and you’ve got a Dixie gem on your hands.
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: LEMURIA BOOKS
Lemuria Books
Address: 202 Banner Hall, 4465 I-55 North, Jackson, Mississippi 39206
Phone: 601-366-7619 / 1-800-366-7619 (toll-free)
Owner: John Evans
Website: www.lemuriabooks.com
Blog: blog.lemuriabooks.com
Twitter: @LemuriaBooks
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LemuriaBookstore
When it comes to Lemuria’s beginnings, it all started with a situation too many of us have know all too well – unemployment. In 1975, John Evans couldn’t find a job anywhere in Jackson and ultimately decided he better figure out a way to employ himself. A passionate reader who had regularly been frustrated that books he wanted weren’t available in Jackson or elsewhere in the whole of Mississippi, he figured that opening a topnotch bookstore would be a good bet.
He opened Lemuria in a cramped converted apartment in an area known as the Quarter on Lakeland Drive. Two years later Lemuria moved to Highland Village a shopping area just north of downtown Jackson, allowing for expansion with new sections devoted to children’s books, fiction and Southern writers. Eventually, he even acquired a smaller building next door which has become the location for many of the bookstore’s fantastic author events.
With a real variety of customers coming through their doors, popular book selections are all over the map, from history and politics to cooking and travel to mysteries and poetry, not to mention Civil Rights and Southern history, as well as Southern classic and contemporary fiction. They even have a special Southern fiction section that offers writers known nationwide like John Grisham to the lesser known Mary Ward Brown of Alabama.
Lemuria’s attention to local books though, really sets them apart. This October they will be showcasing three big Mississippi books coming out: “Mississippians,” a beautiful book about famous Mississippians as well as some not so famous Mississippians who have made a difference; a stunning photography book on the “Blues in Mississippi” done by Ken Murphy; and a book by the journalist Curtis Wilkie about the recent Dicky Scruggs case, a judge bribery case that has been in the national spotlight.
This amazing bookstore will begin its 35th year this October and I have to applaud them on cultivating relationships over the years with Southern writers such as, Eudora Welty, Barry Hannah, Larry Brown, Barry Gifford. All of these writers, in their own way, try to capture something crucial to understanding the South.
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: CITY LIGHTS BOOKSTORE
City Lights Bookstore
Address: 3 East Jackson Street; Sylva, NC 28779
Phone: 828-586-9499 / 888-853-6298 (toll-free)
Owner: Chris Wilcox
Website: www.citylightsnc.com
Twitter: @citylightsnc
I am particularly fond of this store, nestled in the North Carolina mountain town of Sylva – it’s an unexpected treat in a small burg off the beaten path. City Lights has a great staff headed by a great owner, Chris Wilcox, who worked here for 12 years until his mentor Joyce Moore offered to sell it to him. “What a fantastic opportunity!” Chris says, reminding me that the store has been in the same location in historic downtown Sylva for 25 years.
Chris says he and his staff are grateful that customers don’t all like the same sort of books, although “we do sell more novels than any other type of book in general.”
Some of the novels City Lights sells again and again include “One Foot in Eden” by Ron Rash “Burning Bright” by Tracey Chevalier, “Serena” by Ron Rash, “Look Homeward, Angel” by Thomas Wolfe, “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett, “Mason Jars in the Flood” by Gary Carden, “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, “The Collected Short Stories of Flannery O’Connor,” “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd, “Garden Spells” by Sarah Addison Allen, “Devil Amongst the Lawyers” by Sharyn McCrumb, and “In a Dark Season” by Vicki Lane.
“Southerners love a good story, and that’s our business,” says Chris. “We sell stories, and our customers often share stories with us.” Of course, some of those stories revolve around mountainous Appalachia, so City Lights features an “Appalachian Book of the Week,” paying homage not just to Southern roots but to old regional folkways as well. Books with titles like “Moon Women” (by my dear friend Pam Duncan) and “Tales of the Porch” keep a familiar feel for local customers yet offer something a little different for people like me – and hopefully you! – who wander in for a spot of bookish community while exploring this beautiful area.
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: QUAIL RIDGE BOOKS & MUSIC
Quail Ridge Books & Music
Address: 3522 Wade Ave., Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone: 919-828-1588 (customers); 919-828-7912 (business)
Owner: Nancy Olson
Website: www.quailridgebooks.com
Twitter: @quailridgebooks
When Nancy Olson moved to Raleigh back in 1984, she was disappointed. She couldn’t find a truly wonderful bookstore in town. A passionate reader, Nancy found this to be completely unacceptable – and soon opened Quail Ridge Books & Music at a location near numerous colleges and universities, right off the main interstate and roads leading to Raleigh.
Walk in today and it is evident that is bookstore is Dixie through and through. Quail Ridge Books & Music has spotlighted Southern writers since they opened. That just happened to be same year that Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill opened, so they have an excellent relationship with their writers, alongside most other Southern authors. Customers clamor for fiction or nonfiction, written by a Southerner, or about the South. Favorites include Lee Smith, Reynolds Price, Angela Davis-Gardner, Kaye Gibbons, Charles Frazier and many more.
And, as the title of the store suggests, Quail Ridge isn’t just about books. It is about music too, with a department that specializes in classical, jazz, and traditional music and presents a diverse program of free concerts. Last year, the store’s 25th anniversary party featured a harp player and bluegrass trio in the midst of shelves of glorious literature and non-fiction.
An amazing book and music store in Raleigh? That’s music to my ears!
P.S. Cannot write about this store without mentioning their show stopping bathroom decor. The walls are lined with framed photos of successful writers. (Seems like this is the moment to talk about various reading habits and multi-tasking, but I’ll refrain.)
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: CAPITOL BOOK & NEWS
Address: 1140 E. Fairview Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36106
Phone: 334-265-1473
Owners: Cheryl & Thomas Upchurch
Website: www.capitolbook.com
Twitter: @capitolbook
Cheryl Upchurch happened to be looking for a job when this local institution – Capitol Book & News — needed help. When the founder was ready to retire a few years later, she and her husband Thomas were able to buy this wonderful store.
Set in a quaint, established neighborhood of Montgomery that combines homes, shops and restaurants, the location was perfect for this bookstore. The warm old house that serves as the home for Capitol Book & News just beckons you to step inside!
Southern history and Southern literature like “The Well and the Mine,” “Hell at the Breech,” “One Foot in Eden” and “Crazy in Alabama”fly off the shelves. The also offer a great selection of books for children.
And, interestingly enough, being located in Montgomery Alabama, they sell books about the Civil Rights movement and books about the Civil War equally well!
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: BOUND TO BE READ BOOKS
Bound To Be Read Books
Address: 481-B Flat Shoals Ave., Atlanta, GA 30316
Phone: 404-522-0877
Owner: Jeff McCord
Website: www.boundtobereadbooks.com
Twitter: @BoundToBeRead
Jeff MCord thinks the birth of Bound To Be Read Books came out of his mid-life crisis. After seeing a friend making a go of it with a book store in Canada, he decided to stop his life on a dime and open a store of his own. That very next week he started putting together the business plan and started figuring out how a book store works. He started buying lots of used books – lots and lots of used books, until his house was full of boxes. When he couldn’t open my front door any more, he knew it was time to open a store.
When he looked around Atlanta, he was amazed at the lack of book stores anywhere in the Southeast quadrant of the city. East Atlanta Village was an “up and coming” commercial district when Bound To Be Read Books opened 5 years ago…and still is today. An interesting fact: The store is located right on the battlefield of one of the biggest fights in the Battle of Atlanta, so Jeff honors that with a good section of Civil War books.
With an eclectic customer base that includes hipsters, young families, and urbanites of all races, ages and genders, they also carry a wide variety of good used and new books. They’re very inclusive and have over 50 categories, including children’s books. Jeff notes that “We have a section on sustainability that workswell for us.” Their most popular adult titles tend to be contemporary fiction and edgier titles. (Of course, zombies have been very popular lately!) And they recently added a new graphic novels section, which has been selling like crazy.
In terms of Southern literature, Bound To Be Read Books sells tons of the classics like “Confederacy of Dunces,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and anything by Faulkner, Welty and McCullers. “Janisse Ray’s Ecology of a Cracker Childhood” is popular with the sustainability crowd.
And I must add that besides being fun, this bookstore is tremendously good to authors – including yours truly.
P.S. After featuring Park Road Books’ canine staffer Yola, it only seemed fair to showcase a photo of Bound To Be Read Books’ Public Relations Director Kona the Cat. Check her out in all of her feline glory!
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: FICTION ADDICTION
Fiction Addiction
Address: 1020A Woodruff Rd, Greenville, SC 29607
Phone: 864-675-0540
Owner: Jill Hendrix
Website: www.fiction-addiction.com
Owner Jill Hendrix had been working for internet startups in New York when the Internet bubble burst in 2001 and was laid off. She has also sold her apartment at the same time, so she had an unfortunate pairing: no job and nowhere to live.
Some might have drowned in despair, but not Jill. Instead, she decided that she wanted to run her own startup and as an avid reader, a bookstore instantly came to mind – Fiction Addiction was born. The store moved to its current location just over a year ago. The previous shopping center location was losing stores right and left and this more visible, vibrant location fit the bill perfectly.
Regional fiction does very well at the store, and they have a lot of mystery and thriller readers too. The store has also gained fans through their new author events program, Book Your Lunch, which to my mind is a perfect representation of Southern culture.
They invite authors - like to Kristy Dempsey, Michael Cogdil, Melinda Long, Shirley Twiss, Karen White, Ron Rash and Mindy Friddle - to speak over lunch and get to show off their Southern hospitality while letting our customers learn all the behind-the-scenes details (i.e. gossip) that led to the creation of their favorite books.
What can I say? Food and books – what could be better?
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: BIENVILLE BOOKS
Bienville Books
Address: 109 Dauphin Street, Mobile, AL 36602
Phone: 251-438-2904
Owner: Russ Adams
Website: www.bienvillebooks.com
Twitter: @bienvillebooks
A lifelong love of reading and a desire to help revitalize the downtown Mobile area led Russ Adams to start Bienville Books.
The building that houses the store originally belonged to Russ’ father and another businessman. He have eventually purchased the building from the other owners and turned it into a book lover’s paradise, featuring history, classics and local/regional nonfiction. Popular books by Southern authors include “A Confederacy of Dunces,” “Alabama Moon,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “Southern Ladies and Gentlemen.” Furniture and furnishings are also for sale, as well as art by local artists.
Bienville Book’s variety of local and regional books, as well as artwork pertaining to the Mobile community, truly speak to the store’s Southern roots. They’ve also republished a rare copy of “Our Creole Carnival,” an 1890 publication on Mardi Gras in the United States. It was the first of ten annual 
publications by T. C. De Leon, editor of the Mobile Register and a prominent author of the day. The 40-page booklet, features six pages of illustrations of floats and tableaux from New Orleans, Mobile, Baltimore and Vicksburg, as well as gorgeous cover illustration.
In addition, making for one of the most entertaining elements of visiting Bienville Books. Russ also inherited the goodwill of a previous bookstore, The Haunted Book Shop, which was a downtown fixture for fifty years. The upstairs is named in its honor and carries on its spooky traditions.
SOUTHERN BYWAYS BOOKSTORE PROJECT: PARK ROAD BOOKS
Park Road Books
Address: 4139 Park Road, Park Road Shopping Center, Charlotte, NC 28209
Phone: 704-525-9239
Owner: Sally Brewster
Website: www.parkroadbooks.com
The staff over at Park Roads Books has been so supportive of me and my work – hand selling Dairy Queen for years – already spreading the word about Bezellia – and I can’t wait to get there. According to owner Sally Brewster, it’s a store you can’t help but love. In fact, she was a sales rep for a publisher and called on the previous owner of the store and it was love at first sight. She ended up working for them at Christmas for 10 years. She eventually bought it when the original owner decided to retire.
The location is a dream come true. Park Road Shopping Center is the oldest strip center in the Southeast and the gentleman that currently owns the property was the lawyer of the original owner! Sally is happy to say that Porter Byrum is the best landlord in the world. He loves Mom & Pop stores and does all he can to encourage local business.
Fiction is the main draw for Park Road Books with children’s books being a close second. Current top selling books by Southern authors include “The Queen of Palmyra,” “The Sweet By and By,” “The Well & The Mine,” “South of Broad” and “The Help.”
A key element that keeps customers coming back for more is Park Road Book’s commitment to Southern hospitality. Sally and her team will do anything we can to help anyone out, whether it be a ride somewhere, deliver a book or help with their increasingly forgetful father. To top it off, they are also dog friendly and now dog-staffed. Yola (isn’t her picture cute!?!) has been working there since last November and she has quite a fan club of both humans and canines. She also recommends a book every month. This month is “The Little Pink Pup” by Johanna Kerby.
