The Bookstore August 1, 2016

It had never occurred to me to own a bookstore.  In fact, it had never occurred to me to own a business of any kind.  But when the owners of Point Reyes Books announced that they were going to move on to other pursuits after 14 years and were looking for buyers, I thought to myself, “What an extraordinary opportunity!”

Because a bookstore comes very close to being the person that I am – the world of ideas and of stories.  How I love to hunker down with a good book.  When I was a girl, I spent hours on the front porch, under the shade, rocking back and forth in a springy black metal chair, sniffing at the pink geraniums, inhaling the green of cut grass, huddled against the stone façade of our house during late afternoon thunderstorms – all with library book in hand.  Our family did not own very many books, but my mother was a voracious reader, and there were few greater pleasures for me than going to the library with her and coming away with a half-dozen books, all in their plastic sheathes, with their little manila papers listing their lifetime of due dates, and that classic library-book odor. 

I digress.  I suggested to my niece Molly that I purchase the bookstore and that she manage it – and I got a mini-flurry of enthusiastic email responses.  So she and her husband, my sister who lives near them in Minneapolis, and I all wrote to the owners, expressing our interest and letting them know a little bit about us. 

Some of my friends are quite enthusiastic about the idea – “This is the perfect path for you!” or perhaps even a little envious – “I’ve always wanted to own a bookstore!” they might say.  Others think I am out of my mind.  At this point I’m not quite sure what to think about the whole idea.  But I do know that “Books fall open, we fall in.”  That lives can be enriched and even changed by reading.  And that this particular independent bookstore fills a need in this community, which I love being a part of.

At the end of the day, it was an opportunity that I, in conjunction with my extended family, needed to explore.  Today I met with the owners, who told me that they actually have a different team in mind.  But we certainly hit it off and I was impressed with what they had to say.  So we’ll see how this plays out.  Keep tuned!