“Nothing beats a good book”

“Nothing beats a good book”

That’s a direct quote from one of our steady customers, who had just picked up a new book from one of her favorite authors. Though even a hard core book lover like myself might want to qualify that statement a bit (a good meal with good friends? an intimate relationship?), I know exactly what she was talking about. Especially on the long, cold, dark nights of winter, what can be better than getting warm and cozy with a good book in your hands?  

Much has changed since that long-ago day 36 years ago when we first began peddling books here on Ninth Street. Yet some fundamental things remain the same. The satisfaction we get in putting the right book, at the right time, in the right person’s hands. The joy of listening to parents read aloud to their children while sharing our back sofas. (If we only had recordings!). The pleasure of hearing authors read and talk about their books with passion, grace, wit and intelligence. And a leisurely browse in a good bookstore is still, we feel, one of life’s great treats.

In these days of constant digital distraction, we humbly suggest standing E. M. Forster’s advice on its head. Only disconnect. For a while. Remember how to relax again without peering into a screen. You just might discover, to your great benefit, that there are indeed times when “nothing beats a good book.” ---Tom Campbell