Bookstore Tidbits
Posted Fri, 08/22/14
In a recent issue of Shelf Awareness (Volume 2, Issue 2324), mention was made of a bookstore for sale in a remote area of Scotland:
Achins Bookshop and Coffee Shop, Lochinver, located in the Scottish Highlands and thought to be the most remote bookshop in the U.K. mainland, is for sale, the Bookseller reported. Owners Alex and Agnes Dickson, who have owned the shop for more than thirty years, are looking to retire. Achins Book Shop and Coffee Shop is situated down a three-and-half-mile single track, away from the village of Lochinver in the Scottish Highlands, more than a hundred miles from Inverness.
Wouldn't it be fun to run such a place? Aside from the New England area, the British Isles remain one of my long-held dream residential spots. I can easily imagine it: surrounded by books in a beautiful country which rarely sees miserable heat in summertime. Perfect for me!
In another recent edition of Shelf Awareness (Volume 2, Issue 2325), Part 6 of the Massachusetts Bookstore Field Trip describes the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven and Edgartown Books in Edgartown.
Set in a downtown area that looks much as it probably did 150 years ago, Edgartown Books building has been beautifully renovated. Last year, the store opened a café, called BTB (Behind the Bookstore) in an extension of the building in the back; this year the café moved into another building in the back that the Sudikoffs purchased. BTB now has more space and between it and the store is an outdoor courtyard shaded by two sailcloth awnings - a delightful place to hang out, rain or shine, and sample BTB's excellent coffee, pastries and sandwiches.
At this particular stage of my life, I think I'd swap my soul in order to live in any of the above mentioned beautiful places.
Thankfully, dreams are free . . .
