A Central Valley Bookshop Tour: Visiting Bookish
From the Editor's Desk
We took a bookstore tour over winter break.
In a way, at least.
A bookstore tour might be an all day affair, plotting a course and visiting multiple shops in one day. Not having the leisure, our plan is to include bookshops in our day trips and outings, hitting the local spots before break comes to an end.
Our first stop was Bookish in Modesto, where our first and only past visit took place during its grand opening. That day, the aisles were packed with people. Shoppers stood on tiptoes, looking over people's shoulders to see the fascinating books in the carefully curated sections.
Post-Christmas, things are much calmer now. There is coffee for sale, lattes for $5.50 or brewed coffee for $2. In the center aisles, instead of reception snacks, tables display clearance items and Christmas-themed items that share that bookish theme we came for. The environment is calm and sedated in the post-Christmas quiet. But the shelves still feel curated and personal. It is the thing we book lovers have longed for in this area after Barnes & Noble and Borders took over, only to be replaced by the world of Amazon, a place where book recommendations are not algorithm-driven.
My children headed right back to the children's section, searching for their favorite authors. Its size is manageable enough for the children to search every shelf of novels in our thirty-minute visit.
Meanwhile, I look at the poetry, which enjoys more shelf space than most modern stores would give it. I recognize classics alongside new publications, a recipe for the serendipitous discovery of a new poet or author.
What are the ingredients of a good bookstore?
The ability to find your favorite books, like recognizing best friends among the shelves, and the possibility of discovering something new. It makes one feel comfortable, like knowing people at a party makes you more willing to make new introductions.
Some gifts, some splurge items, and local flair.
It feels like Bookish knows what makes the bookish type feel at home.
On the wall, next to a blackboard of staff’s current reads, are original paintings by Jonathan Troxler for sale, highlighting Modesto’s historic and iconic spots.
It feels like everything we learned that was good inside a bookstore when we watched “You’ve Got Mail,” something people with enough history of book shopping have learned and recognized.
In between the stacks, two women sit, playing chess.
One leaves; the other remains, reading.
At this little bookstore, bibliophiles find their type, and while not every book on the shelf is for me, it feels like the place is for me.
We all need to find our type. Maybe you are most at home during Friday Night Lights, at a church potluck, on the baseball field, or on the stage at the Denair Gaslight Theater. Maybe, after so many years, people have begun to realize what we have missed. Maybe they regret not supporting local bookshops sooner. Maybe.
For a bookish writer like me, it is the place I want to go to. Our second time around did not disappoint.
Reprinted with permission from the January 7 edition of the Hughson Chronicle & Denair Dispatch. An annual subscription to this print-only newspaper is $89. To subscribe, call 209-358-5311.