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)