We have three traditions when we drive through Bishop on the way home from Mammoth — we stock up on jerky at Mahogany Smoked Meats and Beef Jerky; we eat lunch at La Casita Mexican Restaurant; and, we end with a trip to Spellbinder Books & Coffee. Spellbinder is a storefront in the center of Main Street, in the very heart of the community. This is my favorite part of the trip to Mammoth.

The store has a significant collection of western and titles. I picked up a book of letters from women crossing the continent in covered wagons and read it to my daughter when she was learning about the West at school. Once I visited after a significant roof leak and everything was covered in plastic, it was a bit like book browsing on a construction site.

The staff is incredibly friendly; they do a terrific job chatting up my husband, allowing me to browse to my heart’s content. He’s the one who actually got the “construction tour” after the roof leak; I just eavesdropped while meandering among the shelves.

It has a large bookshelf for books loved by the staff, though sometimes turnover on these shelves is slow. I bought William Boyd’s Any Human Heart several years ago; now it is falling apart from use, but the next winter when I returned to Spellbinders, it was still sitting on the recommendation bookshelf. Now I know some years are better than others in publishing, but I’ve never experienced a year when I couldn’t recommend a different book after twelve months. Someone at the store truly loves Any Human Heart. Now every time we go, I tell the kids to look for Any Human Heart on the recommendation shelf.

Spellbinder Books and Coffee
124 S. Main Street
Bishop, CA >93514
Tel: 760.873.4511
Fax: 760.873.8468