While traveling through Southern California and into Arizona I’ve been fortunate to find a couple of uniquely fabulous indie bookstores to haunt along the way. It all started when I stumbled across Upstart Crow in the Seaport Village of San Diego. We were walking around the shops searching for Tommy Bahama shirts when there appears like a vision before my very eyes, a most wonderful bookstore and coffee shop. I sent my sweetheart off in search of his shirts {say that three times} while I wandered the nooks and crannies of the store {and enjoyed a caramel macchiato that rivaled the best Starbucks coffee}. There were probably upwards of 25 people who came and went during my brief interlude in this bookish heaven. The coffee shop definitely stayed busy and it appeared that more walk-thru traffic was there for the yummy coffee and baked goods as opposed to the selection of books. The intimate mismatched tables for two spread throughout the downstairs and patio made for a quality spot for reading and/or hanging out with friends. The upstairs housed the children’s section where I could have spent a long morning with The Little Monkey reading away. It was nice to have the kids section a bit separated from the adults but it was not conducive to sending little ones upstairs while shopping the downstairs. Overall, I was in awe of the whimsical design, fabulous trinkets, cards and coffee and the books. . .oh, the books! The hidden crows in the rafters were pretty darned cool too!
Check out the seating/socializing area! Extra credit for finding the crow in the photo!
Stairs leading up to children’s section of Upstart Crow.
My next foray into a bookish heaven was in Tempe, Arizona at the Changing Hands Bookstore. Where Upstart Crow had a more touristy-feel, Changing Hands is definitely for the serious booklover. The genres are clearly marked and in every single section I found notecards written by the staff recommending their favorite books. This extra touch gave me the sense that those who worked there really, really liked books as well.
The delicious Wildflower Bread Company is adjacent to the bookstore making it so convenient to spend an entire morning having breakfast and browsing books! I was able to discuss with one of the lovely staff members our shared love of books, events that are held at that location and the necessity for a rockin’ kids section, which Changing Hands did have an exceptional children’s department! She was wearing a “Will Work for Books” tshirt that I loved but I couldn’t resist purchasing the tshirt below {pun intended}
Possibly my new favorit-est shirt!
New and Used books shared the shelves. Love the personal recommendations on the notecards as well!
What did I learn from spending long hours in these indies?
- I miss spending time in bookstores looking for that perfect next read. While I love being a book review blogger {or more like ‘thoughts on a book’ blogger} the stack of books I need to read and review as promised has gotten overwhelming. Don’t get me wrong, I love going to the mailbox and finding a new book. But. I have felt so guilty about going to a bookstore and buying a book because my TBR stacks are so huge that I’ve forgotten the wonders of doing just that.
- Which is so crazy because y’all know my number 1 dream is to open a bookstore.
- People are still buying books. Purchasing local and supporting your community is important, necessary and alive & well. Both Upstart Crow and Changing Hands appeared to have a healthy number of people in the store and purchasing.
My wish for you ~
that you have a few moments to spend in your local independent book store. browse. absorb. enjoy. And if it’s possible at all, buy a book.
Have you ever visited either of these stores? Is there a bookstore near you {back home in Georgia the closest indie to me is over an hour away}.
