Laura Sanderson Healy told Claire and I how much she loves Burke’s Book Store in Memphis, TN, and whenever someone raves about a bookstore to us, we always respond with “would you like to write a review?” Laura is a familiar guest writer on the blog, she has shared her favorite bookstore in London and her passion for the venerable Bodhi Tree in Los Angeles. This time she is taking us to her hometown:
I visit Burke’s Book Store in Memphis on visits to my hometown, where it has been open in various sites since 1875. The couple who owns the thriving independent book shop, Corey and Cheryl Mesler, met there while browsing for books and later had their wedding reception at the store.
Among the charms of shopping at Burke’s are comfy sofas and chairs, literary gifts, local authors who do readings and signings, and a poem delivered to your email every Monday. The children’s section is always stocked with both new titles and fascinating used books from the distant past.
Burke’s occupies a large storefront on in Midtown Memphis at the buzzy crossroads of Cooper and Young Streets, a creative arts neighborhood full of boutiques and restaurants. Ben Smith’s Tsunami next door to Burke’s is one of Memphis’s finest Pan-Asian restaurants, and of course, the Mesler’s feature his book in the window. They still sell textbooks for schools and has hosted the following writers: John Grisham, Richard Ford, Ann Beattie, Anne Rice, Bobbie Ann Mason, Kaye Gibbons, Peter Guralnick, Peter Carey, Lee Smith, Ralph Abernathy, Rick Barthelme, Charles Baxter, Robert Olen Butler.
Laura also sent us a link to a recent article about the Meslers in The Commercial Appeal.
Burke’s Book Store
936 S. Cooper St.
Memphis, TN 38104
T: 901.278.7484
Tags: Memphis, Memphis bookstore, poem e-mail, Tennessee, Tennessee bookstore
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I love bookstores like this.
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