I recently got to spend a few wonderfully misty days in New Orleans. Beckham’s BookShop is usually my first stop as they’ve always had a robust essays section, and as soon as I walked in, I could tell something was different… they’ve been sold! Fortunately, the new owners are the same kind souls who own Dauphine Street Books a few blocks away. So all will be good (phew!) and the prices are exactly what you want in a good used book store. While many shelves were in a state of transition and the upstairs closed, it was still a great visit. Hopefully, they’ll keep the essays section. The new owner was undecided when we spoke. Here are a few photos from my visit.
Beckham’s Bookshop Address: 228 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70130 Hours: 10am – 4pm; Seven days a week
While walking back to the hotel, I also stumbled upon a new-to-me bar with a literary bent called Backspace Bar & Kitchen. It was wonderfully dark and cozy on a rainy evening. I got to eat and drink in front of the working fireplace and read for a bit before heading back out. Backspace was a fun spot, and I’m looking forward to going there again.
The global party that is New Year’s is my favorite holiday each year. It’s the one time that everyone around the globe has to bow to the flipping over of the calendar and begin counting days again.
It’s a good time to look ahead and think about 2025 (so much work to do, folks) and post the obligatory glance back on our reading and books of 2024.
Looking ahead into 2025, I am halfway through Nicholas Carr’s Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart coming out in January. While reinforcing a lot of what folks in Gen X can probably sense, Superbloom is doing a good job of mapping out the ‘why/how’ all the silos on all the social media platforms occur. It’s not by accident. I’m curious to see how Carr wraps this one up. A very worthwhile read so far. I’ll also finish up the Booker-wining Orbital today or tomorrow. The writing is very good, but I am reminded how much I enjoy having quote marks in novels as this one does not use them.
Looking back on 2024, one of my favorite reads was Warren Tryon’s 1963 book about the birth of American publishing in Boston titled Parnassus Corner: A Life of James T. Fields. Ticknor & Fields was a publisher I was familiar with, but all of the backstory and European crossover were fascinating.
The original building of Ticknor’s Old Bookstore on the Corner is still standing, but as I discovered… it’s a Chipotle now.
Out of the 31 books I read last year, the other highlights were:
Autocracy, Inc., The Literary Decade, Lost in Thought, The Upstairs Delicatessen, This Is What It Sounds Like, and Jason Guriel’s On Browsing.
LibraryThing tells me that I read more than 8,000 pages in 2024, that my books had more covers with predominantly black-and-white elements, and that more of them had a BISAC listing in the Biography & Memoir bucket, with History close behind. LibraryThing has also been measuring my books in badgers, giraffes, and units of Tim Spalding for years. It’s fun.
Cover Colors from 2024
Chart of 2024 BISAC Categories
So, Happy New Year to you! I hope you have had some worthwhile reads over the past year and are already planning which spines to crack starting tomorrow. I have a feeling we’re all going to need our books to make it through what lies ahead. Maybe we can all get together and get more folks reading in 2025.
I recently had the chance to visit a great bookstore in Minnesota – Black Garnet Books. The selection was so well done and it is as welcoming a place as any shop I’ve been to. Lots of color and unique titles.
They sell new books, but they have a Little Free Library right in the store! How cool is that? It’s right by the door by the kids’ section. You know you have found a good bookstore when they understand the LFL mission and participate like this. They have lots of events, discussions, reading times, a book club, etc.
They recently changed owners and it looks like a really good fit. I’m excited to see what 2025 looks like for Black Garnet. They shared the news about the new ownership over on their Instagram profile.
Anyway, here are a few photos I snapped (during a VERY frigid morning) while I was there. This one is worth visiting if you are in the St. Paul, MN area.
Black Garnet Books 1319 University Ave. W. Saint Paul, MN 55104 11am-5pm Monday-Friday NOTE: they are closed from 1:30pm-2:10pm each day for lunch. 12pm-5pm Saturday and Sunday
Here is a quick 3-minute Today Show segment (I saw mentioned on the Travel Between the Pages blog) about bookstores this holiday season. Not much here other than I am always glad when media folks are talking about bookstores and books.
Two thoughts: one, the publicity team at B&N all need raises this year. I’ve never seen a blitz like they did in 2024. The mainstream media folks ate up every crumb. And two, what do we have to do to get a new bookstore movie to replace You’ve Got Mail? So many news stories use it as a point of reference. It seems like 99% (not based on real data) of newly released movies are all redos or sequels… why not this one?
Bookshops are not just great for your community, visiting bookshops while traveling is a great way to get to know a place you are visiting. Bookstore Tourism should be a thing! Seeing what books are offered up front and scanning through the Staff Picks shelves always offer lots of insights. And books make pretty dang good souvenirs.
