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I have been home from a month in New Zealand for exactly 47 hours of this writing. Christopher Robin and I traveled there to see his brother and family, and while we were there we saw a world of wonders, including a whale and dolphins and seals, glow worms (best to know less than more) and seas so pale turquoise blue I cannot find the right word to describe it. We also sadly saw the ruined center of Christchurch, and ate way too much, as one does.
But the rarest, most lovely treasure I discovered in that blue and green land was that vanishing thing called a “bookstore.” Remember those, my American friends? That friendly little shop that sat on the corner, selling used books and paperbacks and seven new titles? Remember that place in the bohemian section of town where they sold New Age books, and the neighborhood that supported an African-American store, a Women’s Books store, AND the biggest used romance store in the city?
I had no idea this breed still existed, but I offer you the proof. Of course I browsed them all, and even when I told myself to stop buying books because they are heavy and we have a weight restriction, I couldn’t stop. I mean, really–what writer could resist? At the store above, a tiny hot shop on the main drag of Kaikoura, South Island, I found an out of print copy of the entirety of Captain Cook’s journals. With index. It only weighs seven pounds. In my own defense, I was going to leave it, but CR said, “Oh, go on. When will you ever find that again? Every time you read it, you’ll remember this store.” He was right.
This one was in Oamaru, where it was beginning to spit rain and in five minutes more, poured so hard that we ducked into a Victorian tea room next door, where we ate scones and drank pots of tea served to us by a girl in a Victorian uniform. The rain fell sideways, filling the streets, obscuring the old church across the street. My sister in law, a Glasgow native, kept saying in wonder, “I don’t know where I am! It’s England!”
Unfortunately, the shop was closed for lunch. It was packed with New Zealand things I wanted to explore, but alas, I didn’t get to go inside.
This New Age shop in Nelson had TONS of things I wanted to browse, but CR was not as enthusiastic since we had been kayaking and hiking and walking and touring for three days and he was starving, so I settled for a photo. I liked that there was a man nearby, playing a hand carved drum, his beard flowing down his belly.
This is the last one, a shop in Devonport, a neighborhood in Auckland reached by ferry. There really isn’t much to the village shops–it is the kind of place you would go with your friends to have lunch, then wander around the galleries, maybe have your feet done. There were tons of bookstores there–I counted three before we left the ferry building! I found a stationary shop and bought a fountain pen, and at this store, I found some obscure history texts, plus a used copy of a novel called Wife 22 that I promptly read that night .
This is not even the tip of the iceberg in the photos I shot of bookstores, and I find that I miss their presence very, very much. I love to pick the books up and open them, and smell the time in their pages. I love to see the note someone wrote, long ago in a spidery hand, in the pages of the history book. I love that I would never have found that novel except that day, that place. I love bookstores like this, all the little ones and all the big ones, so many of them gone now.
Do you think they will ever come back? Are there still bookstores like this in your town or city? What’s your favorite–alive or moved to the Great Bookstore Land in the Sky?
59 Comments on “The Treasure I Found in New Zealand”
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There are still bookstores in my town, but sadly not as many as there used to be.
I remember a second hand book shop that I could have lived in & never come out for daylight. Long gone now I’m afraid to say.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 4:13 am.
There is still a big one like that in Denver, the Tattered Cover. I love going up there and getting lost inside.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:51 am.
There is one bookstore in my town, but I don’t think it’ll last long. The new generations will be more exposed to technology so I think they’ll grow up to prefer ebooks to regular books.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 5:28 am.
I am a fan of new technology, but the shrinking numbers of actual bookstores makes me sad. I love them both.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:52 am.
I was totally bummed when Borders closed. It was the only store that had a large selection of US authors.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 2:10 pm.
Agreed. First, Waldenbooks was incorporated into Borders, and then the bookstore closed. I miss my Borders Rewards program.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 3:20 pm.
The ebook stores are slowly beginning to have rewards programs. Although its so annoying when I get a B&N email saying book discount on everything except books :-/
Posted on January 27, 2013 at 9:20 am.
My only gripe about the B&N program is that I have to pay for it. That’s why I missed my Borders program.
Though I gotta check the online rewards programs when I get the chance to peruse for it.
Posted on January 29, 2013 at 5:19 pm.
Since I am in the same town as Mary, I am pretty sure that we both know the same second hand bookstores. My favorite second hand one was Mack Campbell’s and they were brilliant. They would order books in for me no problem and in fact I picked up one of Lori’s books completely free since they were charging only a dollar for it and I was one of their regulars. Now I shop at QBD and almost all the staff there know me by sight (probably because I shop there so much), however late last year Gamer Dude and I went down to Brisbane for a day trip (and to kill some time before a birthday party) and he introduced me to a second hand bookshop whose claim to fame was that they had 1, 000, 000 books. Needless to say that I couldn’t resist the shop and we walked out with two books that I wanted (they have a pretty good paranormal romance section) and one day I will return – just with more money so I can buy more books and work on a few back lists if I can’t get the books through QBD.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 7:21 am.
Oh, Kelly, I am positively *swooning* to imagine that store in Brisbane with a million books!
That’s the thing about second hand shops–the discoveries we make. Surprise! A great new author (to me)! When I was first thinking I wanted to write romances, I was young and poor and couldn’t afford the full price of books, so I haunted the secondhand shop around the corner, dragging a couple of boys behind me. I gulped them down, week after week. Heaven! And it gave me my career.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:54 am.
If I could make a living out of reading romance novels I would be set but reading is a form of therapy for me in that it (usually) helps my mind switch off of thinking. Thankfully, Gamer Dude indulges my book worm habits and doesn’t expect me to be more romantic towards him because of my reading romance novels.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 1:02 pm.
There’s one used book store in my city that I don’t think will last long either. She doesn’t sell the type of books that people are looking for so they wander in, take a look around and walk out empty handed. There would be so much I would do differently if I owned a used bookstore.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 7:51 am.
What would you do differently, Aida? I would have chairs, cozy ones, and coffee and tea for sale, and books of all kinds. A cat, wandering around.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:55 am.
There’s a comic book and used book store right up the road from my house. They have a monster romance section and I find myself going there all the time just to see if they have that one book that I don’t have from whatever author. I love the place though, it’s cramped and crammed full of text and the guy behind the counter is always the same guy and he loves to chat.
There aren’t really that many small bookstores where I am. There are plenty of Barnes & Nobles and I adore going there but there really is something about the small, friendly comic book / used book store that I love. Most of the small stores around here are used books not specialty.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 7:56 am.
Right, Liz. B&N is great, but there is something magical about the little corner shop. I am so glad you still have that in your world. Sounds like you have a lot of local shops.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:56 am.
I miss our bookstore. It was just suddenly shuttered and closed one day. There isn’t another for 30 miles. Very sad. I do hope they come back. wish I could open one.
There used to be a new used bookstore near where I worked that I went into several times a week and bought all the month’s new books from. Just a small place where the owner knew books. Loved it.
Sounds like you had a great trip. A month. I can’t imagine.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 8:41 am.
Crushing, Lori!! My favorite store closed a couple of years ago. I grew up in that store, playing in the playhouse in the back while my parents browsed, going in with my friends later, and as an adult, giving myself artists dates of bookstore and lunch on my own.
It was a GREAT trip. I am also glad to be home with the cats and dogs, and they have been very loving.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:58 am.
Last fall, we were driving through a bohemian community near us, after having finished our grocery shopping. I mentioned to DH that I wasn’t ready to go home, and neither was he. We really wanted to go hang out at the bookstore, but even for this out-there community, the bookstores were either closed for good or closed for the night. It was kind of sad to us both. While I’m an avid reader, and DH isn’t, we’ve spent many a pleasant hour at the bookstore. It was sad that they’re mostly gone. I did find one that downsized in a different location, but with all the publishing changes, their selection was kind of bad. It wasn’t a used store, but I had a heck of a time finding a book for Son’s Christmas stocking. Sigh. I do miss the bookstores, though I love me ereader.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:15 am.
I keep wondering if the force of our longing won’t somehow bring them around again. That little stores might show up here and there again.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:59 am.
I really miss Borders; there was one a few mins away from me. I have a B&N less than 15 mins away and another about 20. I also go to a used bk store occasionally that is fantastic, The Book Worm in Wappingers Falls, NY. But it is a little over 2 hrs; so we only go a few times a year.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:16 am.
Yes, two hours is a bit of a drive, but that sounds like my kind of store. I do miss Borders, too. There was a Borders down the street and I loved browsing there, too.
There is still a B&N across from there, and I do love going there, too.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:00 pm.
Yes, there are still a few of those bookstores in my life. I adore them. I need to touch a book to really love it, to smell the pages, to feel the weight and texture of the paper.
The best of my local used bookstores is Reader’s Corner, down near the university. I’ve gotten some of my most cherished non-fiction books there.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:28 am.
You are so lucky, Claudia, to have “a few” of those bookstores in your life!
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:00 pm.
Welcome home Barbara!
Working in a university town there are two bookstores but neither is inviting. They are both utilitarian – they sell text books and not much else.
I have been sitting here trying to think of the closest bookstore where you can sit down and snuggle into a big, comfy chair. I can’t think of one. I think they are now on the endangered list.
Although there is a certain ease to Amazon, I really miss the smell and comfort of a bookstore. I guess I will go hug a library before they disappear too!
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:30 am.
I’m on the librar board in our community. Trust me. We work very hard to stay relevant and provide services that people want and need. I hope this is the case for your community as well. We don’t want our library to become a thing of the past, either.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:38 pm.
Hi Amanda,
DD1 is a part-time librarian for our little town library. It is good to have the inside track. We are very vocal/active in support of our library – we see the system as a national treasure. Losing them would be devastating to our country.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 3:00 pm.
Oh, you have hit a nerve with me. Our university bookstore is “utilitarian” too. Only a smattering of books besides the text books. Heaven forbid they should have a rich inventory and lure the students into reading something besides assigned readings. And it is run by B & N! Have they not heard about building the future customer base? Good thing these posts are limited in length or I would rant on and on about this.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 2:43 pm.
Libraries seem to be working very hard to stay relevant to the emerging communities by providing ebook checkouts, banks of computers for people who don’t have them, and lots of books and music and the usuals, too. In my community, the library is quite healthy.
So, yeah. Support your local library, too!
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:23 pm.
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I desparately miss our book store. I used to spend hours in there.
We do still have a Books A Million, and it appears to be hopping….but those big stores just aren’t quite the same as the “Shop Around the Corner”.
So….did you meet your weight requirement?
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:26 am.
LOL, Haley. We only met the weight restrictions because we bought a third bag.
We don’t have Books a Million around here. I hope they show up eventually. I heard they are expanding.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:24 pm.
What fun to find all those bookstores in NZ, and what a lovely trip. I live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and we are awash in Half Price Books stores. This is an outstanding bookstore with so many treasures both old and new. It’s a great escape.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:18 am.
It was really great, Rochelle. Good to know there are all those stores in the Dallas area.
There used to be a lot of Little Professor (Is that right?) stores on the east coast, too. Wonder if they are still around.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:25 pm.
I wish bookstores would make a comeback. We have two in the town where I live, but neither are very appealing from the exterior. Maybe I shouldn’t judge a book, or bookstore, by the cover?
A small bookstore plays a part in my work in progress that I hope to finish today or tomorrow. It was fun to build this bookstore in my mind, and wish I could find one similar somewhere within a fifty mile radius. I’d be there all the time. I hope they make a comeback.
It sounds like you had fun in NZ. The pics I have seen are wonderful! Welcome back!
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:08 pm.
You could always pop your head inside and see if they are nicer on the inside than on the outside. One of my old favorites was in a strip mall on a noisy grimy street.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:26 pm.
Heaven! Barbara, those photos look like heaven to me. Bookstores are my drug of choice. And second-hand bookstores stacked to the ceiling with undiscovered treasure are my favorites! We had a great little bookstore in our little town, but the economy got it. Lots of cozy chairs, a kids’ section with beanbag chairs and huge stuffed animals to cuddle with and a really knowledgeable staff. I really miss it!
One of the items on my bucket list is to shop at Hatchard’s in London one day. SIGH!
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:32 pm.
Now THAT is a goal! London and a famous bookstore….count me in!
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:27 pm.
Wow, that sounds wonderful!
There is one bookstore left in our little township, but it runs strange hours and doesn’t really carry a wide variety. The romance section consists of one shelf, if that. So, I don’t really frequent it. I will head into the city to a bigger store, such as Chapters.
Whenever I am home visiting my parents I head to the UBS by their house. I could spend hours in this store. Sadly, the man told me that they couldn’t survive on their book sales alone, they have a very big comic book/figurine section, which provides them with most of their sales. I dread the day when I drive up to find this store has closed.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:50 pm.
I did check out a Chapters in Auckland. It was a bookstore/cafe, absolutely LINED with books. It was busy and crowded and we were sweaty from hiking, so I didn’t say hi to the person behind the counter, but I saw ALL the goddesses on the shelves, and even a copy of the edition of Green Darkness to which I wrote the forward. Big thrill.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:28 pm.
The megastore bookstore is in my town. Where I used to live, there was a historical/non fiction store, about 10 minutes away was Nora Roberts store – all romance, I could go into a couple different small cities and find amazing bookstores and there little cozy areas. There was something to rival The Strand called WonderBook with warehouses filled with new and old treasures.
You could leave me in a bookstore browsing the treasures within for hours – walking out with rare and first editions at an amazing find that it almost felt like stealing (almost). Sometimes I will by a book simply for the amazing handwritten encryption from one person to another and in my search I will find photos, grocery lists, old ads, and letters.
I love books, the feel of the pages, the ability to touch the adventure I will be undertaken – looking at my bookshelves finding “my friends” cared for, in some order that makes sense in my head. I love being able to hand over a book that I loved to people – from my children to my neighbor.
I hope that physical books make a comeback, the second hand stores comeback – it is something I look forward to.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:50 pm.
Love the description of a Nora Roberts store!
And oooh, you made me want to go find another bookstore, pronto. I love those old enscriptions, too! They’re so evocative. Who wrote it? Who was the recipient? What was the feeling between them?
I don’t think physical books are going anywhere. They’ll be with us for a long time to come.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:30 pm.
I would do everything you listed plus bring in all of the books everyone wants to read now. As much as I read it’s gives me a really good idea of what people are reading and looking for.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 1:10 pm.
You would be good at it, I’m sure. We’d all visit whenever we came to your town.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:30 pm.
Even the big used romance store a town over is gone. We have a B&N and that’s it.
I don’t think they’ll come back, unfortunately, but I still have all my memories of browsing with my kids, finding stories for them and for me with such pleasure.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 1:21 pm.
Oh, I remember that–browsing with my boys, all of us lost in our pages.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:31 pm.
I’m so jealous, Barbara! New Zealand AND Captain Cook’s journals. Wow.
There are still a couple of new/used bookstores in my area, but they’re disappearing. My fave? Sunshine Books in Cypress, CA. And not just because Nancy, the lovely owner, handsells a ton of my books when they come out. The personal touch, the knowledge of booksellers who can take the information of what you like and find you something new — that’ just priceless.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 1:43 pm.
The journals are pretty great. I have barely dipped in a toe and already had to break out a highlighter.
There is a store like that in my town, Black Cat Books, who hand sells local authors and remembers all of her customers and their tastes. Natalie is passionate about books and writers and reading. Love her!
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:32 pm.
That’s one of the things I really miss about the book store, getting to know my customers and their reading habits.There were some books that customers always got so I would just put them on the will-call shelf and then let them know their books were in. I had a card with regulars names on it and what series they bought so if I wasn’t there the books got put up anyway.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 7:41 pm.
Your trip sounded fabulous! Love the pictures.
We have a used paperback store here, the Book Shelf, very clean and organized. Kind of picky, don’t carry anything over 5 years old. They carry some new and will order for you.
When we were active duty military, every move I looked for the local bookstore. Some of my favorites were the Paperback Jungle in Great Falls, Montana, lots of good finds and the walls of this old time downtown building were decorated with a huge collection of shopping bags from all over the world. Also loved The Book Barn in Leavenworth, Kansas. Fun staff that to this day have wonderful planned events.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 2:01 pm.
I remember a used bookstore I used to haunt when I was younger. My mother took me and it was about the only way we could afford my book addiction. I always went straight for the romance section, then mysteries. I collected books my some of my favorite authors and traded in others – which was sometimes tough, but it taught me to make decisions on what went on my keeper shelf.
The only bookstores left in the town I am currently in are Wal-Mart, Target, the grocery store and Hastings. There was a local store that was here for years, but her selection was usually fairly sparse in the romance department, so I didn’t go in too often. She carried mostly books about Colorado.. which are fine, but not something I want to read all the time.
Welcome back from your trip! It sounds like it was a beautiful adventure.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 2:28 pm.
No bookstores here in my town, however, the little town that we like to visit in North Carolina in the summer, has several of them. Unfortunately, they seem to do very little business. I think that they are mostly in areas with lots of tourists.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 2:29 pm.
It is the same in Europe. Bookstores abound. In Paris there must be one every two blocks. Here in my city there is like one indie left, and another that is a very good used bookstore with a great inventory of history and other books. In the burbs, but a good 45 minutes away we have the Mystery Lovers Bookshop, which just changed hands. It has been a very successful store (and a NYTimes reporting indie too.) Other than that, not much. I so miss bookstores. My husband and I will spend hours in them when we find them. It was a major activity when we first met.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 2:38 pm.
B&N all around the county. Not anywhere near me, but just a drive away and it’s there.
I also go to this used bookstore some cities away. Again, a drive away, but it has a nice selection.
Now, my fave thus far is the used bookstore inside my city’s library. I go there every Th and “helped” the end-shift staff by either helping them with putting out books into the shelves and/or buying from them. I’ve become chummy with them enough that they know my name and I know their name. Still working on deepening the relationship a bit. Though I will say this: the “higher-ups” wanted me to ‘officially’ sign up for them due to just having me become “official”. Though I really am not a true ‘official’ volunteer, given that I DO browse the shelves as much as I help around. But yeah, that’s my fave bookstore.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 3:37 pm.
Sadly I think they are a vanishing breed, more and more people are turning to digital,I am guilty as well. Publishers are discovering it is cheaper to reduce paper sales. I hope we will always have a place for the real article because even with having over 7000 books in my virtual library (that number surprised me too- thanks Ian)it isn’t the same as looking at the books on my shelves and touching them and smelling them. Did you know digital books smell like circuitry?
I have two favorite book store, both gone now. The first is The Discount Library where I worked for nine years, eight as a supervisor. We had the largest back-list of romances in the area (LA) and we supplied most of the books to the studios. My second favorite was here in Eugene it was just called The Book Store, simple and straightforward. Lynn carried some new books but it was mostly used and mostly romance. I mourned when she closed but last year one of her daughters,Donna, opened Blue Moon Books in an old cafe. When I get home I need to go see Donna.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 3:41 pm.
There’s one local bookstore that I try to support when I can. The owner is the former manager of Borders. Unfortunately, it’s small and doesn’t have everything that I need. Then, I have to go to B&N, which is ok, but not my favorite place to shop for books. It’s too warehousey.
As for used bookstores, there used to be SO many, but now, I know of one. It’s not great because most of the stuff is Japanese. When you do find stuff in English, it’s almost as expensive as B&N.
These days I find my old books at estate sales for $1. I picked up a book published in 1811 with tracts in it that I had read in college. My favorite old book is one from a series that was supposed to teach sex education to young girls around the turn of the last century. I read it was SO confused by what I read – obviously in the know – that I felt sorry for any girl who read that 100+ years ago.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 5:01 pm.
How lovely! We still have a few locally.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 7:17 pm.
we still have a bookstore and yesterday I saw a new to me author Paula Quinn – scottish romance the reason I noticed this it was next to Julia.
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 8:01 pm.
There is 1 small, converted home, bookstore that is about 7 miles. About ten minutes away via interstate, there are several “box” bookstores.
For many years, ~30+ years there was a small paperback trade/purchase store that my sister and I would go to. The lady who worked there, Barbara, knew us girls when we were single, married, our kids, my divorce & many other events. Barbara was a super, nice lady. A couple of years ago she was in an accident, in the hospital and we have not heard anything else. The bookstore up and closed with no notice. Absolutely hated that. We grew up with that bookstore.
Even though I am in love with my Kindle, I still love paperback books.
Posted on January 26, 2013 at 12:54 am.
I hope the small bookstore comes back. One day, when I’m tired and older, between amazing journeys to restock, I plan on opening one and spending my days sitting on the porch in a rocking chair, telling people, “Oh honey, I’m sure you’ll find something you like. Help yourself. Just leave the money on the counter.”
One day . . .
Posted on January 26, 2013 at 10:46 pm.
I love book stores. We still have a few locally. I go to the Book Spot in Round Rock and to Half Price Books. Just found an author that I had been meaning to try and am loving the story…it’s The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. LOVE it!
I love finding new authors. I actually picked this one up because the cover is gorgeous–the soft photo and the pretty font, the synopsis in the back intrigued me about a woman trying to decide where she truly belongs in the past or the present.
Posted on January 28, 2013 at 9:18 am.