Bookstores of Boston: The Children's Book Shop
...And the voice grew, not so much in loudness as in sweetness (though it grew louder, too), till it was so sweet that you wanted to cry with pleasure just at the sound of it. It was like nightingales, and the sea, and the fiddle, and the voice of your mother when you have been a long time away, and she meets you at the door when you get home.
And the voice said—
"Speak. What is it that you would hear?"
The Children's Book Shop in Brookline (a quick walk from the Brookline Village stop on the Riverside line) is an absolute delight. It's a small shop, but they've managed to tuck a sofa in between the bookshelves to give customers a place to kick back and peruse at leisure. I'd passed it several times over the past year and a half, and once I stepped inside I wondered what took me so long. I was Christmas shopping for my niece, and I found a bunch of my favorites to share with her: Tom's Midnight Garden, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and a wonderful hardcover illustrated edition of Anne of Green Gables. It's nice to have a choice of editions! I picked up a new copy of The Phantom Tollbooth for myself (I'm excited to reread it), as well as E. Nesbit's The Story of the Amulet—it came highly recommended by an enthusiastic bookseller, and you know I love her scary stories for grown ups.The customer service is excellent here, and the friendly atmosphere works all ways; I fell into chatting with a woman whose seven-year-old daughter read so voraciously that she was at a loss as to which books to get for her next. We traded recommendations and I came away feeling quite sunshine-y. Funny how positive interactions with strangers can have that effect on you, right? That day I special-ordered Half Magic (my fellow customer had snagged the last copy for her daughter) and The Box of Delights (which Seanan had recommended awhile ago), and they called me a couple days later to say that Half Magic had arrived, although they've had to reorder The Box of Delights a few times already (sounds like the warehouse is out of stock). It's not as if I don't have plenty else to read in the meantime. 
My only complaint about The Children's Book Shop is the same as Porter Square Books: I need about ten more floors of it.
Happy birthday, Jules Feiffer! The beloved Phantom Tollbooth cartoonist on creativity, anxiety, and failure http://t.co/xMULDy2b9W
— Maria Popova (@brainpicker) January 26, 2015
Where We Make: the Writers' Room of Boston
In the beginning, I wrote in a dorm room. A university library. A café. I graduated from college and wrote on my desktop at work at lunchtime and after hours. After grad school I spent most afternoons at the public library, although my fellow patrons were never as quiet as I wanted them to be, nor is the library ever open as late as I would like. In a perfect world libraries would be open 24/7. Am I right or am I right?
This is why I need the Writers' Room. It is quiet in here, and there are not too many books. (There is such a thing as "too many books" when you are in procrastination mode.) I still work best at night, and although I have a nice big desk at home, there are always too many distractions there: sewing and knitting projects, laundry, a drawerful of fresh veggies to cook up, and so many books I haven't read yet. So I come here, arrange my laptop, journal, assorted notes and research, and settle in with a cup of tea in this fifth-floor perch above State Street in downtown Boston. I have passed many happy evenings in this fashion—happy and productive evenings.
This time last year I was pounding out a draft of Immaculate Heart, my 2016 novel, and thanks to the peace and good juju of the Writers' Room I was able to finish that draft in less than three months. Then I was away from Boston for two months last spring, and I didn't join up again over the summer to save some cash, and I really really missed it. (I finally renewed my membership at the beginning of January.)
Just as awesome as the productivity boost is the community of writers here who have become good friends. At the Boston Book Festival in October 2013, I fell into chatting with Mary Bonina, who was staffing the Writers' Room booth in Copley Square. She was wonderfully friendly but didn't give me the "hard sell," which I really appreciated. (I'd been invited to join an artists' space the previous summer, but decided it wasn't the right place for me when the administrator tried to pressure me into starting my membership sooner than I was ready for.) Mary invited me to the next WROB open house a few weeks later—it was on November 14th, my birthday, which I took to be a good sign—and as soon as I walked out of the elevator I felt that warm little hum inside that said, this is going to be your other home.
I can't tell you how good it feels to be back.
* * *If you're interested in learning more about the Writers' Room of Boston, come to their open house on Monday, February 9th Wednesday, March 18th, anytime between 6 and 9pm (the outgoing fellows are doing a reading at 7pm, though, so best to get here on the early side). The address is 111 State Street, Boston (above the Dunkin Donuts). There will be wine and munchies!* * *[Where We Make origin story and submission guidelines; all entries here.]
Bookstores of Boston: Porter Square Books
I love getting really specific children’s book requests. My favorite was “Do you have any picture books about wiener dogs?” Best part was that yes, we did!
—Mackenzi Lee, PSB bookseller and future-famous authoress
(all quotes below are hers)
* * *
Porter Square Books is less than a fifteen-minute walk from my apartment. I know a bunch of the lovely booksellers there (like Mackenzi and Rebecca and Josh and Alexander), each of whom has their specialty. I love the paper goods, the 10% Grub Street member discount and the 10% charity donation on every box of holiday cards, and that there are actually really good books on the bargain table. The café has the most delicious Vietnamese soft rolls with peanut sauce, perfect for a light lunch. (For some odd reason I haven't gotten around to trying the coffee yet.)
This bookstore is conveniently located a minute's walk from the Porter Square T stop. I have an instinctive distaste for strip malls (being from South Jersey, you know—we can't get away from them down there), but it must be said that 1, the Porter Square Shopping Center has a bunch of essential stores (at least if you are a bookish crafty health nut-slash-beer drinker like I am); and 2, Porter Square Books has a surprisingly cozy atmosphere considering it's in a strip mall. I guess it's a happy convergence of friendly helpful staff, lovingly-curated-but-not-too-curated displays, and the laid-back café area.
My proudest bookseller moment was when a woman said “I don’t know the title, but the cover is yellow and it has the word EVERYTHING in the title. Do you know what I’m talking about?” AND I DID. It was THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING by Robyn Schneider.
Oh, and have I mentioned that PSB are hosting the Bones & All launch on March 14th? I love their packed event calendar and that they do proper publicity. Every reading I go to there is standing-room only, and let me tell you—from an author's perspective—what a blessed relief that is. Last Tuesday I attended Megan Mayhew Bergman's pub-day event for Almost Famous Women (I "know" Megan on Twitter, so it was really nice to meet her in person), and the signing line was almost to the door.
Huge thanks to @PorterSqBooks who packed the house for me on pub day & sold every last copy of AFW! Great store. pic.twitter.com/CPWppSf2Tk— Megan Mayhew Bergman (@mayhewbergman) January 7, 2015
A few months ago I met a really lovely couple, probably in their fifties, who were looking for the fourth book in Garth Nix’s Sabriel series. They told me they've been reading science fiction and fantasy novels aloud to each other every night since they got married in their twenties. I sent them off with a copy of Terry Pratchett’s WEE FREE MEN.
I have one complaint about Porter Square Books, and it is this: I wish there were about five more floors of it.
* * *
Upcoming events and other fun links:
MarcyKate Connolly's Monstrous, February 17th @ 7PM.
Josh Cook's An Exaggerated Murder, March 3rd @ 7PM.
Notes from a Fiction Workshop Panel
What to Do When You Love a Book
11 Things You Learn Your First Month As A Bookseller
12 Awkward Bookseller Moments (this is LOL-funny, yo)
Left out of the Awkward Bookseller Moments list: when you recommended a book that changed a person's life & don't remember said person. — Josh Cook (@InOrderOfImport) January 11, 2015
New Blog Series: Bookstores of Boston!
Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who really care for books read all of them. There is no other course.
—Andrew Lang, Adventures Among Books
* * *
There are many things I love about living in Boston, but the wealth of great bookstores is at the very top of the list. In South Jersey (where I'm from), Barnes & Noble is the only option for miles, and who knows if there'll even be any B&N in ten years' time. In 2012 and early 2013 (before and after Hawthornden) I worked at the customer service desk at my hometown B&N, and the signs were not encouraging. I wanted to reach across the counter and shake anyone who whined that the Amazon price was cheaper.
Does Amazon let you browse through a stack of magazines in the cafe for hours without purchasing any of them? Does Amazon give you free WiFi and a table to work at your laptop or meet up with friends? Did Amazon give you a place to charge your phones during Hurricane Sandy? Can you have a twenty-minute conversation with Amazon about Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series? Does Amazon host local authors for in-person events?
Look what I found while going through some old papers. #sadfacepic.twitter.com/xUAsqRg4ml— Camille DeAngelis (@cometparty) December 27, 2014
Okay, you get my point. B&N is the best we can do in South Jersey, but independent bookstores are (for the most part) SO much better. Employees at chain bookstores are often making just above minimum wage, and they aren't necessarily interested in literature. For many of them it's just another retail job. Walk into an independent bookstore, though, and you'll find booksellers who are wildly enthusiastic about what they're selling you. It isn't just a job for them, it's a natural extension of their lifestyle. Yes, you'll usually pay more than you would at Amazon, but you have to look at the big picture: bookstores are a vital cultural resource. Imagine a world with no more brick-and-mortar bookstores (which is easier to do in my little pocket of South Jersey, I am sorry to report) and you may find you don't mind paying the full sticker price after a lively conversation with a bookseller who full-out adores that particular author. You come away from that transaction on a high that has nothing to do with retail therapy.
My friend Rachel Simon, who runs our monthly MG/YA writers' meetup, inspired this idea for a celebratory blog series on the independent bookstores of Boston. I must confess that I haven't actually been to many of the bookshops on the list below, or have only visited them quite recently in preparation for this project. I tend to frequent Harvard Books and Porter Square Books (or Trident, since it's right below my yoga studio), so I'm doing this series partly for my own edification.Here's a preliminary list, including secondhand bookstores:
Trident Booksellers and Cafe, Back Bay
Brookline Booksmith, Brookline
The Children's Bookshop, Brookline
Harvard Books, Cambridge
Pandemonium Books, Cambridge
Porter Square Books, Cambridge
Rodney's Bookstore, Cambridge
Seven Stars, Cambridge
Brattle Book Shop, Downtown Boston
The MFA Bookstore, Fenway
Papercuts, Jamaica Plain
Newtonville Books, Newton
New England Mobile Book Fair, Newton Highlands
Back Pages Books, Waltham
This list is far from exhaustive, particularly when it comes to secondhand and antiquarian bookstores, so if there's a shop I've missed that you really love, please let me know!I'll be posting about my experiences at these indies each Monday for the next few months, but I could really use your help: do you have any anecdotes (great customer service, fascinating author event, etc.) that you'd like to share? Because I have much more to say about the three bookstores I frequent, I'd really like to even things out and do each store justice.First up next Monday (predictably enough): Porter Square Books!
@cometparty Sure! How about @bestsellerscaf in Medford, @BackPagesBooks in Waltham, or brand-new @papercutsjp in Jamaica Plain?
— Boston Book Festival (@bostonbookfest) January 5, 2015
Hello, Boston!
Speaking of massive life changes...
...last week I moved to Boston! (My dear Amiee drove me up.) How random and awesome is that??
The courtyard at the Boston Public Library.(Not random at all. But very, very awesome.)
Exploring my new neighborhood.
(You know how I love the graveyards.)
This one is especially for Paré. (More information about Little Free Libraries here.)
Pine Manor College. (I almost feel like I'm back at Yaddo.)
I've been going to Back Bay Yoga and using my new juicer. I feel so healthy!