A couple of weeks ago, my girlfriend Leslie visited Portland and headed directly to Powell’s, the mother-of-great-bookstores.  I was stuck in Los Angeles, mentally following her through the day.  I e-mailed her a message to have fun just as she was entering the store.  Hours later after I paid bills, picked up tired teenagers, and cleaned up the house for dinner guests, she e-mailed me that she was just leaving the store.  One guess as to who had the better day.  Here is Leslie’s wonderful afternoon:

Powell’s Books in Portland has long been one of my favorite bookstores. However, it’s been years since I’ve been there and I caught myself wondering if it was truly as special as I recalled or if my memory had turned it into something far better than it really is.

I recently returned from Portland to see a good friend who, when we were talking about what to do during my visit, immediately asked “You want to go to Powell’s, right”? We made sure that there was enough time to spend a couple of hours perusing the shelves. I’m very pleased that my memory was correct – it is a fabulous independent bookstore. And, a few hours really, for me, was not enough time to spend there.  (My mother-in-law, who lives outside of Brunswick, Georgia doesn’t have a lot of good department stores in her immediate area and is always on the hunt for clothes. She was in Portland a few years ago and passed up two free afternoons shopping in Nordstroms so that she could spend more time at Powell’s. It’s that kind of place).

My girlfriend in Portland, Laura, visits Powell’s fairly often. She brought me up to speed on several of the changes that they’ve made over the years. The best change is that the store just simply keeps getting bigger. It now takes up an entire city block. If you don’t want to look through every single section like I wanted to, the sections are all color coded with very easy to understand colored signs. Looking for fiction? Look for the blue and gold signs. Philosophy? You’ll find it under the purple sign. There’s a very clever Map and Guide that you can pick up as soon as you walk in the door that will easily guide you to all nine sections.

Another change is that they accept gently used books. (Maybe they always did this and I don’t remember). My girlfriend’s  daughter, Sarah, is a voracious twelve year old reader. To offset her book habit, Sarah visits Powell’s and turns in her books for store credit. Powell’s, in turn, displays the gently used books in the same section, on the same shelf as the new book. How easy is that? No digging through a separate section of the store to see if they have it used. It’s right in front of you. And, if you look at their website, you can offer Powell’s your gently used books. If Powell’s is interested, they’ll make you a cash offer, you box up your books and they send you the money. Looking for used books online? There’s a pull down menu where they announce all the new used books that have come in if you want to order them online. Their shipping rates are very reasonable.

Powell’s also has both online, and in the store, a rare book section. If you are looking for leather bound books or first editions, this is a great place to start.

Of course, the staff at Powell’s is terrific. As Kim has pointed out in many earlier posts, I always have trouble finding books for my preteens to read. They are also, like Laura’s daughter Sarah, huge readers and it’s hard to find an appropriate book for their age that they haven’t yet read. I immediately headed to the Young Adult section, where we found a terrific gal who spent at least 45 minutes with me sharing the many of the books herself which always makes a huge difference to me, rather than a recommendation from a book review.

I walked out, as I could have predicted, with 10 books in my Powell’s shopping bag. I was actually surprised that it cost less than I thought it would. I had bought several very gently used books and there’s no sales tax in Oregon, which is an added bonus. I stopped, looked at Laura for a moment and thought to myself “hmmm, should I go back for even more?”. But, alas, dinner at one of Portland’s fantastic restaurants was waiting, so off we went.

Powell’s Books

1005 West Burnside

Portland, Oregon 97209

T:  800 878 7323

Just when I was going to ask a bookseller for a recommendation, I heard one of the employees recommend Louis de Bernieres for a “sophisticated, educated woman” who was in the hospital.  Well, I’m not bedridden, but I flattered myself that the rest of the description may apply so I discretely followed along (stalked them).  I didn’t connect de Bernieres with Corelli’s Mandolin, probably because I’ve only seen the movie, but the bookseller raved about it.  I bought his A Partisan’s Daughter to give it a try.

What else did I find?  Looking at the WALL of employee recommendations I found the “I’m going to die” book for an airplane flight later this month.  Flying alone, without Keith to grab or Leslie to tell me what the plane is doing (they gave some lame excuse about jobs preventing them from joining me) I need a fun book for distraction.  On the employee recommendation wall, I found The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber.  The shelf talker described it as Shakespeare meets The Da Vinci Code, perfect for restraining me from gripping the poor soul seated next to me.  Wandering through the literature shelves, I became a fan of Sarah S, she loved The Elegance of a Hedgehog AND Atonement, we must have been best friends in another life.   So, I followed her recommendations around the store, many I had already read and loved (she has excellent taste), but I’m not a big mystery reader.  She raved about a mystery called Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell.  I never would have bought it, but odds are if she liked it, so will I.  Maybe it will make the airplane pile.  I’ve never read about a murder on a flight, always felt like would add fuel to the fire, but who knows?  (Click here for other plane, train and automobile books.)

Keith joined me at Vroman’s and as we were driving to dinner he went on and on about all the neat sideline (non-book) stuff they have at the store.  He wanted to buy boatloads of items.  I never notice the sideline options, I’m too busy looking at books.  If you’re interested in gifts for book lovers that aren’t books, according to Keith, this is the best store he’s ever been to (and I’ve dragged him to many bookstores).

Also, check out Vroman’s blog, I love it.

Vroman’s Bookstore

695 E. Colorado Blvd.

Pasadena, CA 91101

T:  626.449.5320

F:  626.792.7308

Heath described the event calendar at Politics and Prose as jammed packed and ”hardly a week goes by when a Washington Post journalist isn’t reading from his or her book.”  I thought it was an exaggerated comment until I pulled up the event calendar for the week I was in town and found a reading every night.  We attended a discussion by Bradley Graham, former military and foreign affairs reporter for the Washington Post, and author of By His Own Rules, a biography of Donald Rumsfeld.  Walking in 10 minutes before the talk, Keith and I took two of the last four available seats.  I estimated at least 80 people attended.  Graham started his talk by noting that people in favor of Rumsfeld tended to think the book was too harsh, while those who weren’t fans felt it was too gentle.  Presumably, Graham knew where the Politics and Prose audience would fall. 

Graham spent most of his talk describing Rumsfeld’s early years.  Interesting to a certain extent, I didn’t know his greatest disappointment was not being picked to fly fighter jets, or about his Congressional career, or his corporate successes (NutraSweet and HD TV).   But, it’s likely the reading public is interested mostly about the Iraq years and the audience at Politics and Prose wanted Rumsfeld held accountable, I could almost say condemned.  I haven’t read the book (I don’t read books over 500 pages unless their worth is proven and this one is 800 pages long), but the reviews indicate just what I saw in Graham’s response to the audience, a sense of equivocation, of “well, yes, but” leaving few people in the room satisfied.  In the end, I didn’t buy the book and I wondered how many people wanted the tome.

I left without By His Own Rules, but not without a deep appreciation for a bookstore that attracts a reading public eager to discuss current issues.  The week I visited the top seller was Henry Waxman’s The Waxman Report:  How Congress Really Works.  I live in Waxman’s district and asked my local bookstore if The Waxman Report was ever the top seller in the store.  It wasn’t, although many copies were sold the first week it appeared.

I spent an hour meandering around Politics and Prose and could have spent much more, the set up and the book choices invite poking around.  There are tables dedicated to themes and genres allowing me to connect books I read and enjoyed with new finds.  In a sports/baseball area, my husband found, bought, and read immedately The Entitled: A Tale of Modern Baseball by my favorite sports commentator, Frank Deford, and Heart of the Game:  Life, Death, and Mercy in Minor League America by S.L. Price. I left with The Book Shopper: A Life in Review by Murray Browne.  I’m looking forward to reading the thoughts of a professional book buyer and comparing them with my hobbyist approach.

Politics and Prose celebrates its 25th anniversary this month; stop by and congratulate them!

Politics and Prose

5015 Connecticut Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20008

T:  800.722.0790

F:  202.966.7532

Eighteen years ago I visited Seattle for the first time.  It was our first weekend trip away from a job I hated and a city I swore I would never live in (now I realize I’ll live in Los Angeles for the rest of my life, but I did get rid of that job).  The angst I felt over all the changes in my life lifted the moment I walked into The Elliott Bay Book Company.  I found a book during that first visit about living in suburbia; the recommendation card described the tedium of living in tract housing as the constant evenly paced whoosh of a Rainbird sprinkler.  The description struck me, so I bought the book.  It detailed the brain-numbing monotony of suburban life.  Whenever I drive through tract housing I feel that oppression.

Interestingly enough, during my recent trip to Elliot Bay, I bought two more books about home life (really, they have over 150,000 titles, the breadth and depth of the store is amazing, I just seem to have a theme whenever I go there).  When I walked into the store I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the choices.  In front of me as soon as I entered where four 9 foot or taller bookshelves full of staff recommendations.  I wanted all of them.  More recommendations were spread among the various subjects.  An entire bookshelf is dedicated to recommendations for books groups (plus book groups can meet with a staff member to discuss recommendations for their group and tips on how to keep the conversation on topic).  I gave up trying to make a decision and asked the woman at the information desk if there was a unique book she liked.  She had two that she talked about as we walked over to the books (I learned later that employees are trained to walk the customer over to the book they’re asking about chatting with them the entire way, I loved it).  The first was Cost by Roxana Robinson, a story of what all of us give up for family.  I haven’t read it yet, but I’m looking forward to it.  Hmm, is this the appropriate book to be reading around the Christmas tree surrounded by family?  Maybe not. 

Book Review

The second book was The Story of Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer, she said the book did a wonderful job showing that spouses never really know each other.  But the author is young, in his thirties, what, has he been married 15 minutes?  Well, I read this book and the young author has some interesting insights on assumptions in marriage and the problems resulting from a lack of communication.   The basic storyline is how Pearlie’s view of her husband from their childhood and their marriage changes when a person from his war years returns and alters their lives.  What drove me nuts is that Pearlie and Holland, the husband, never discuss the issue, they communicate about this vital topic only through this ghost from his past.  For me, the book becomes a bit of a stretch, but I discuss everything with my husband, he actually might like a little bit of Pearlie in his life.  Pearlie wonders about marriage and the role of a wife through the sentencing of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.  Why didn’t Ethel turn on her husband to be with her kids?  To whom does she have the greatest loyalty?  The question of loyalty comes up in the Rosenberg’s marriage, Pealier and Holland’s marriage and the actions of the boys who did not fight in WWII, either as a result of conscientious objection or fear. Interwoven in the story is a picture of life for a black family at the end of the Korean War and a peek into the culture of a nation awakening to its promise after WWII.

The List of Qualities

Elliott Bay has an amazing amount of features that support its nationwide fame, here’s a bullet point list of what is wonderful:

• A coffee shop serving organic food and coffee that inhabits the entire basement.  Rumor has it that the coffee shop in “Frazier” is based on this one.
• Book clubs every Tuesday night at 6:30:  The Elliot Bay Book Club discussing contemporary fiction on the first Tuesday; The Global Issues and Ethics Book Club discussing modern problems and maybe even solutions on the second Tuesday; Speculation, the SciFi and Fantasy group on the third Tuesday; and, Stages, for readers of new and classic dramas on the fourth Tuesday.  The books for each group on the website, a handy recommendation guide if you love the genre but don’t live close enough to attend.
• Maiden Voyage First Edition Program – the store sends out a hardback first edition of an author’s debut novel.  One past choice was The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize.  Membership is $150 a year.  Hmm, another holiday or birthday gift that would keep on giving all year long.
• Elliott Bay gives back to the Seattle community with Books for Change.  A percentage of sales from chosen books are donated to charity.  When I was there the choice of books related to the organization for that month, but also included several fiction and non-fiction bestsellers such as Master Pip by Lloyd Jones.
• The staff will assist with corporate sales, either arranging for the appropriate book for an entire office or client list or a variety of hand picked books for a particular business.
• Almost nightly author visits from the entire range of authors from the stature of Frank Rich and John Irving to the new unknown author who could be tomorrow’s Phillip Roth.  In fact, right now the opening page for the website is a recollection of the Obama’s visit when he toured the nation for The Audacity of Hope.
• Staged Play Readings occur from May to October (the less rainy months?), each month is a staged reading of a play.
• Last but certainly not least, each quarter Elliot Bay publishes Elliot Bay Booknotes a summary of recommended books of various genres.  Bookmark this page and remember to return to it on each Equinox and Solstice.

A Closing Gift

The entire time I was reading The Story of Marriage, I kept thinking of a poem I heard Mary Oliver read last winter.  I was in Royce Hall with hundreds of other people and you could have heard a pin drop, we all sat mesmerized by the poetry of this tiny woman.  After almost 20 years of marriage, I think this one is the most beautiful love poems:

The Whistler

All of a sudden she began to whistle. By all of a sudden

I mean that for more than thirty years she had not

whistled. It was thrilling. At first I wondered, who was

in the house, what stranger? I was upstairs reading, and

she was downstairs. As from the throat of a wild and

cheerful bird, not caught but visiting, the sounds war-

bled and slid and doubled back and larked and soared.

Finally I said, Is that you? Is that you whistling? Yes, she

said. I used to whistle, a long time ago. Now I see I can

still whistle. And cadence after cadence she strolled

through the house, whistling.

I know her so well, I think. I thought. Elbow and an-

kle. Mood and desire. Anguish and frolic. Anger too.

And the devotions. And for all that, do we even begin

to know each other? Who is this I’ve been living with

for thirty years?

This clear, dark, lovely whistler?

Thank you, Mary Oliver.

Elliott Bay Book Company
101 South Main Street
Seattle, WA 98104
T: 206.624.6600

Kramersbooks and Afterwords Cafe is packed with books stacked up several copies high squished together edge to edge. Eureka! It took me half an hour to get around the first table. There is a lot to chose from in fiction, mystery, history, psychology, religion, politics and various other standard bookstore categories. The store children’s section is sparse, thereby limiting my browsing time, but the Café served ice cream giving me a few extra minutes. Kramersbooks and Afterwords Café is the first bookstore/café in the nation with coffee drinks, a full bar, and food. The menu itself is the size of a book. A New York Times article claims you are not a true Washitonian until you receive an invitation that ends in “I’ll Meet you at Kramer’s.”

The Afterwords Café doesn’t have the intimate wood feel of a standard bookstore café; we walked through a bar to get to it and the dining area is glassed in reminding me of a Florida restaurant (I wonder how cold it is in the winter). But the waiter was great with the kids and we were welcome to camp there as long as we wanted, which is the key to a good bookstore café.

Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe
1517 Connecticut Avenue
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202.387.1400