A Bookstore Life List

life list: a record kept of all birds sighted and identified by a birder

The world may have turned upside down, but spring is here and the birds are returning to Chicago. I love watching them, even though I can name precious few. (I’m too embarrassed to admit when I stopped calling sparrows “parking lot birds”—they always seemed to be hopping around on the asphalt.) A few weeks ago, I was out on a (safe, socially distanced) walk and worrying about my friends’ bookstores when the twittering of birds gave me the idea of starting a bookstore life list.

Nerd alert! But bear with me: you feel embarrassed if you haven’t seen the obvious ones. You feel a sense of accomplishment at watching your collection grow. There’s a distinct thrill in discovering one you never knew existed . . . and genuine anguish when any of them go extinct.

So I’ve started mine. This first draft has shameful gaps and I know I’ve forgotten too many. But it gives me something to look forward to, after all this is over—getting back on the road, exploring, meeting people, buying books I may never have time to read. And what could be more life affirming than that?

(u) = used, * = out of business

California

City Lights (San Francisco)
A Great Good Place for Books (Oakland)

Colorado

Second Star to the Right (Denver)
Tattered Cover (Denver)

Florida

Gene’s Bookstore (Sanibel Island)

Illinois (Chicago Area)

57th Street Books
After-Words
Anderson’s Naperville
Armadillo’s Pillow (u)
Barbara’s (Wells) *
Book Cellar
Book Stall
Book Table
Centuries and Sleuths
City Lit
The Dial
Gallery Bookstore (u)
Lake Forest Bookstore
Madison Street Books
Myopic Books (u)
Open Books (u)
Powell’s
Quimby’s
Ravenswood Used Books (u)
RoscoeBooks
Sandmeyer’s
Seminary Coop
Transitions *
Unabridged
Uncharted (u)
Volumes Bookcafe
Women & Children First

Louisiana

Beckham’s Bookshop (New Orleans) (u)
Faulkner House (New Orleans)

Massachusetts

Broadside Books (Northampton)
Montague Bookmill (Montague) (u)
Odyssey Bookshop (South Hadley)

Minnesota

Addendum (St. Paul) *
Common Good (St. Paul) *
Magers & Quinn (Minneapolis)
Once Upon a Crime (Minneapolis)
Red Balloon (St. Paul)
Wild Rumpus (Minneapolis)

Mississippi

Lemuria Books (Jackson)
Square Books (Oxford)

Missouri

Left Bank Books (St. Louis)
The Novel Neighbor (Webster Groves)

Montana

The Bird’s Nest (Missoula) (u)
The Book Exchange (Missoula) (u)
Bookworks (Whitefish)
Cassiopeia Books (Great Falls)
Chapter One (Hamilton)
Country Bookshelf (Bozeman)
Fact and Fiction (Missoula) (u)
Freddy’s Feed and Read (Missoula) *
Montana Book Company (Helena)
River Break (Fort Benton)
Ron’s Roost (Missoula) (u) *
Shakespeare & Co. (Missoula)

New York City

Books of Wonder
McNally Jackson
Mysterious Bookshop
The Strand

Oregon

Annie Bloom’s Books (Portland)
Cannon Beach Book Company (Cannon Beach)
A Children’s Place (Portland)
Green Bean Books (Portland)
Jupiter’s Books (Cannon Beach)
Powell’s City of Books (Portland)

Tennessee

Parnassus (Nashville)

Texas

Brazos Bookstore (Houston)

Utah

Ken Sanders Rare Books (Salt Lake City) (u)
The King’s English (Salt Lake City)
Weller Book Works (Salt Lake City)

Washington, DC

Politics & Prose

Wisconsin

Booked for Murder (Madison) *
Boswell’s Books (Milwaukee)
Downtown Books (Milwaukee) (u)