We stopped for lunch at Morro Bay last week and as we meandered up and down the boardwalk, it occurred to me that there may be a bookstore in the area. Usually I search for bookstores before I leave, but this was an unscheduled stop and I was bookstore clueless. Luckily, I remembered Leslie had the Indiebound App on her iPhone. It’s so easy to use, her 11 year old daughter looked up Morro Bay and found Coalesce Books, just a short drive away. (Side plea: Is there a petition I could sign or someone I could beg for the iPhone to offer Verizon as a carrier? How much did AT&T pay for that exclusive contract? When does it end? The Blackberry is no iPhone.) I was so impressed with the App, it showed all of the bookstores within 50 miles!
We all piled into Leslie’s mini-van and stormed Coalesce Books. This store is vintage coastal California. The entire aura was a warm golden brown, there were books everywhere, the strong aroma of incense, colorful signs wherever my eye wandered, and a community bulletin board that advertised all types of events including the evening on sustainable living that the store hosted the night before. Coalesce Books is a combination new and used bookstore. The new books are on shelves in the front, but the strength is in the wide selection of used books. It is one of the best organized used bookstores I’ve come across in a long time. Often I enjoy wandering around a bookstore looking to see what I may stumble upon, but this time we were a party of six, too large for long term browsing. At Coalesce, there was a sub-division for almost every genre making meandering easy, even a ”pirate” literature shelf, which I guess is 1990s for “vampire” literature. I asked one of the employees if the store kept any Twilight books in stock, she laughed, they can hardly get them in let alone keep them. I know my daughter isn’t willing to part with her well worn set any time soon.
The atmosphere is friendly, I joined a conversation about the appropriate age to read Ayn Rand. As I’ve mentioned before, for a work of serious literature over 500 pages to be worth my time, it’s star has to shine for quite awhile. Last summer, I read Bleak House. I won’t be reading 2666 any time soon. Ayn Rand’s works aren’t Dickens, but their consistent critical acclaim passes this test. That being said, I have heard over and over that if I didn’t read Any Rand in college, I’m too old. The time frame for her books is newly post-adolescent. I stood with two strangers discussing the merits of trying to tackle The Fountainhead. One woman finally picked it up, felt its heft and agreed, we’re too old to read it. Another example of what I love about bookstores, the ability to have fun conversations. When was the last time you asked the patrons in the local diner their thoughts on Ayn Rand?
When you drop by, leave time to meander up and down Main Street, it’s full of cafes, cute stores and art galleries. Behind Coalesce Books is a garden and chapel built years ago as a Cal Poly student project. We arrived during a farmer’s market full of crafts and food–free produce samples and a sweet bookstore, what could be better?
Coalesce Books
845 Main St.
Morro Bay, CA 93442
T: 805.772.2880
Tags: California, California bookstore, Morro Bay, Morro Bay bookstore, used books
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The gentleman working at Coalesce Books that day (I’m so sorry – I never got your name), was one of the most helpful bookstore folks I’ve ever met. I almost think he knew every single book that was in the store. Of course, he found something that I simply needed to buy.
Kim failed to mention that she bought this incredibly cute jacket at the Farmer’s Market, so do be sure to add time for that if it is a Saturday!
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