During our last trip to Colorado, Leslie insisted that we travel to Leadville, CO in honor of one of our favorite books, Angel of Repose by Wallace Stegner. While I regularly site Angel of Repose as one of top ten books, I needed a refresher on the plot as we traveled up and up to the highest incorporated city in the US. My clearest recollection was the “grandmother” creating a literary culture in the West, but Leslie filled me in on all of the mud and the miserable trip in the Rockies before airplanes and four wheel drives.
We walked along the sidewalks lined with quaint Victorian houses and peeked into the antique store windows. When I looked up and saw The Leadville Book Mine, I declared window shopping over and we went inside. Book Mine is is the quintessential independent bookstore that reflects and enhances its community. A cute two room store with small but well curated fiction and non-fiction sections, a magazine rack, timely staff recommendations (the topic was vampires when I visited, appropriate for New Moon and Halloween) and an extensive selection of Leadville topics.
I’ve found the most interesting history books at local bookstores, so I spent most of my time perusing the Leadville shelves. Just from reading the backs of books, I had a better understanding of the importance of silver mining in the area. What most peaked my interest? Augusta Tabor. Apparently the first woman in the area, she raised her family and then played a hand in raising a state when she and her husband struck it rich silver mining. There were several quality, historical, non-fiction books about Ms. Tabor and I picked up several. Just before checking out, I remembered how rocky the ascent out of Denver is and that a storm is always arriving just when my plane is taking off (truly, always). I took back the serious books and picked up a historical novel, perfect for surviving another flight out of Denver. I clutched The Silver Queenby Jane Candia Coleman home to Los Angeles. Between the fun book and Leslie narrating what the plane was doing even in her sleep (“that’s the flaps,” “the plane is slowing down to reduce the turbulence,” ” the air conditioning is pumped up to help prevent barfing”), I made it home. Well, I guess the pilot had something to do with it.
During my visit, I heard that Leadville’s ___________ (you fill in) are the highest in the nation, which causes me to wonder, is The Leadville Book Mine the highest independent bookstore in the nation?
522 Harrison Ave.
Leadville, CO 80461
T: 719.486.2866
Tags: Colorado, Colorado bookstore, Leadville, Leadville bookstore
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I enjoyed this post – what a neat sounding bookstore! And I liked the way you described what it is a good bookstore does: “reflects and enhances its community.” Well said!
I love this blog, and I read it regularly. I’m very glad it’s here.
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Hi!
I just discovered your blog–I am the owner of Book Mine.
My store’s website is set as my homepage, but with the site down for the next few weeks (lots of tech issues and no time to deal with it during the summer), my IP defaulted to its search page and there was the link to your blog. What a delightful suprpise!
To answer your question–yes, I believe Book Mine, at 10,152 feet, is the highest bookstore in the country.
I’m thrilled you enjoyed your visit here and hope you’ll return someday (try September, the locals’ favorite month, for lots of sunny days, blue skies and–after about the 20th–bright gold aspen).
Thank you for visiting, and all your kind comments.
Carol Hill
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