Are indie bookstores starting to come back?
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Surprisingly, our new bookstore is part of an upward trend.
I am two and a half months into my new role as bookseller.
Yes, I have done that thing that many people think is crazy: along with my husband, Evan, I have opened an independent bookstore in Elkins Park. It's tiny. Really tiny. But what we lack in space I like to think we make up for in good taste. As a friend of mine said recently, "You only sell good books. There's no crap."
Surprisingly, our independent bookstore is part of an upward trend. According to the American Booksellers Association, there are now more than 2,000 independent bookstores in the U.S. — for the first time since 2005.
From customer comments, I'm getting a good sense of what people are really thinking about various books. For example, one book that gets uniform praise is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Nobody doesn't like it. The book, which was nominated for a National Book Award, tells the intertwining stories of a French girl and a German boy during WWII and weighs in at 530 pages in a $27 hardcover.
Another always-liked book is Elizabeth Gilbert's recent novel, The Signature of All Things. Even people who despised Eat, Pray, Love for its self-indulgent tone think Gilbert a mistress of fiction.
There are a number of wonderful indie bookstores throughout Philly and the region, and I'm proud to join their number. Many of us are offering books by local authors. There's a lot of emphasis these days on shopping and eating local. Remember to read local, too!
