Musing Mondays - July 21

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme from MizB at Should Be Reading. It asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

My Musing:

Let's talk bookstores for a second. I tend to stay away from the big chain stores in favor of smaller independent ones. Either way I'm sure to plunk cash down when I go, but I would rather support one of the little guys who seem to come and go faster than I can blink.

The above picture is from Duck's Cottage Downtown Books in Downton Manteo. When Hurricane Irene swept up the coast in 2011, Manteo's only bookstore was devastated. Duck's Cottage Downtown Books opened in the spring of 2012 in the old bookstore's location. Actually, several days before we visited Downtown Books, Hurricane Arthur paid Manteo a visit and the downtown area of Manteo was flooded. In the photo, you can see a sign that reads "Happy INDEPENDENTS Day." I'm betting that was up for July 4th. The storm delayed the fireworks by two days. By the time we stopped in, it was almost like it had never happened. The people's ability to clean up after such weather events is amazing.

photo credit: www.breakingnews.com 

The Lil' Diva (our oldest girl) picked up a copy of Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and the Lil' Princess picked up the latest Dork Diaries novel. We sat outside in front of the store for a bit while Dad got a coffee from the shop across the street. It was a neat place to visit with a nice selection of books, unique greeting cards, boxed notes, journals, calendars, pens and souvenirs. They also have a Toy Room that sells Melissa and Doug toys, in addition to offering coffee, tea, and biscotti.

What is your favorite independent bookstore? What is unique about them?