My favorite bookstore? Ah, a loaded topic at best for a reader like myself. When I was asked to write about it though, how could I refuse? I love old books especially, and when I have a few extra dollars, I visit a wide variety of places to purchase what strikes my fancy. Here in Maine, especially in Millinocket, you usually have to travel a bit after you’ve out-read your library- unless you can settle for the meager selection at Wal-Mart. So… obviously, I don’t usually consider distance as a major factor in book buying.
But where do I get my books. This month, I made two bookstore stops at true bookstores. (I won’t count the various resale stores that often have books in them) and perhaps ten times that to the Bangor Public Library. (I have three little "Bangor Reads!" pins on my book bag now.) The bookstores though. I asked which of the two I should talk about, and was told to choose one, and ended up spending most of the day trying to decide Which one do I pick?? I at last gave up, and hope this will do justice instead. I shall first write on the used bookstore, and if our gracious editors agree, I will write about my new bookstore at a later time.
My favorite used bookstore is W.J. Lippincotts hands down. Lippincotts is a used and antique bookstore, but also sells maps and ephemera. It’s open all year around Monday through Saturday, and has over 30,000 books in stock. Despite the large number, you’d never really guess there were so many, since they are piled ceiling high on ancient bookshelves, and you need a stepladder to get high enough to take some down; or left in stacks on tables, or by where they ought to be shelved.
Though they carry, in specific books on the area, Canadian, Americana, Maine, lumbering, detective and science fiction novels, they also carry a huge number of multi-lingual books. And not just in French and Spanish and German! There is a corner filled and overflowing with them. Perhaps only the linguistic types reading this will understand the sheer lust that fills me when I glance over the dusty tomes, some of which are twice my age, and many of which I only half understand, if that.
Delightful, to say the least. Of course, like most bookstores in Bangor, there are many novels by local authors, particularly Stephen and Tabitha King, who are among the most famous ones living in the city. I have found several books, of the same editions, or even later ones of some of my older books in Lippincotts, and of course I am pleased when I see I really do have some things worth money, though I’d never part with them.
But, what I love more about Lippincotts goes beyond just the books. It’s the feeling. If you’ve ever read any of those books set in old bookstores, or seen movies of them (i.e. The bookstore in Harry Potter) you understand what I mean.
Though its located in downtown Bangor, which is arduous to navigate at times in an area where parking is nearly non existent, inside it seems as if in the past. The glass door bears a sign reading "Please do not let the cat out" and inside often the mentioned cat runs rampant. My brother has had the pleasure of playing with it, but for the life of me, I’ve never actually seen it, except as a passing image, and hence I suspect it’s black. (I don’t think it likes me, in all honesty.)
The sales woman is a stereotypical "book lady", with an almost librarians demeanor to her. So perfectly she fits that bill of sale that its possible to imagine the store as a painting, and she was painted in, with her studious, relaxed expression as she reads over a book waiting for a customer.
And that, my interested friends, is Lippincotts Books, located in downtown Bangor by another bookstore I have yet to try out, and just down the street from both the library, and two more bookstores. In a state where it’s cold half the year, its no wonder we keep so many bookstores around, is it?
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