A Crafter's Life, Independent bookstores, Quality of Life

Independent Bookstores (wonderful & magical places)

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I won’t pretend I do not shop on Amazon.com for book deals or that I do not go to our local Barnes & Noble bookstore, but today I was reminded just how wonderful and magical Independent Bookstores are to have in one’s community. I plan to spend more time at indie bookshops!

Today we went for a wander around and hot beverage at downtown Bend’s Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe.

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As the sign upstairs at Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe reads:

Independent Bookstores are wonderful & magical places because each book will have been hand selected, you know all of them are jewels just waiting to be discovered…

After the friendly shopkeepers filled darling ceramic mugs with our hot cocoa (for me) and mocha (for Terry the Quilting Husband), we had a leisurely and delicious wander about the shop browsing and their well curated selections.

Come wander the shop with us for a moment…

Downstairs, where you enter Dudley’s bookshop and immediately think – “well this would be a fine place to nest for awhile”:

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People were nesting – they have WiFi and some were on their laptops and some were sipping their hot beverages and reading a book (or previewing a book!).

Among the shelves of books are fun things and objects to look at, including this wickedly funny sign:

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Now head upstairs (carefully carry your mug of hot beverage with you!) and check out the painted stairs celebrating books:

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(I love the step that reads: “Fifty Shades of Dudley’s)

At the top of the landing you will find a shelf of books (in case it was too long a journey to go without being able to browse any books from the bottom of the stairs to the top).

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Now, turn the corner…and…WOW: Here is the cozy reading nook you might have searched for while browsing any bookstore (and maybe dreamed about in your own home):

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The secret OCD person inside of me wanted to go and fix the left side of the curtain, but I was here to browse books, not adjust decor so I left it alone – ha!

After walking by the cozy reading nook, you come upon the upstairs room with more books to browse – how about a Art/Film/Music book to add to your collection?

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Even the bathroom was delightful and had this great poster called A Plotting of Fiction Genres:

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If you would like to know more about this poster, I did find it online at Pop Chart Lab. I did not want to spend too long in the bathroom reading it, but I was very impressed with it in my brief time with it!  Here is a better overall photo from the seller’s website.

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I could not leave Dudley’s Bookshop without a little something. If you have followed my blog for a while, you know I love our local public library and lately I get most of my reading through borrowing from the library (as I have been very naughty at bookshops in the past and have a huge book collection). I am trying not to add more books permanently to my home but I did want a little something from the indie bookstore, so I bought a cool set of greeting cards that you color yourself!

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Two of my many favorite authors, Neil Gaiman and Ann Patchett are huge advocated for preserving independent bookstores (Ann Patchett even owns her own indie bookstore, Parnassus Books) and have lauded the value of preserving these shops in their writing.

I will close this post with a Neil Gaiman quote, which is also on the Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe website, from his wonderful and magical book American Gods:

What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore it knows it’s not fooling a soul. – Neil Gaiman

Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

24 thoughts on “Independent Bookstores (wonderful & magical places)”

  1. It’s clear that the bookstore is a treasure. What a funny “Facebook” sign on top of the shelf – so much truth and humour in that! I’ve also dreamt of making a reading nook. That one’s really cozy. 🙂

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  2. ~gasp!~ I wanna go there! What a great store. There is nothing better then curling up all cozy with a good book, and that place oozes coziness. I really enjoyed your tour. Felt like I was there…and I totally feel the need to fix the curtain too. Ha!

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      1. Hi Tierney, this is Tom, the owner of Dudley’s. I’ll leave that curtain the way it is so you can fix it the next time you’re in 🙂 Thanks so much for the wonderful write-up.

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      3. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to come in here every day knowing that we’ve created such a great space and that it’s appreciated by so many people. There’s SO much to be said for loving what you do each and every day. The morning latte doesn’t hurt either…

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  3. I love our own gem of a book store, Paulina Springs, and go there first when I need a book. I believe it is so important for new authors to and new released to keep them in business. Will love to find Dudley’s when I am in Bend.

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  5. Merry Christmas, Gene! I have so enjoyed receiving your blog posts – really make my day!

    Wanted to tell you that I live in a small town with a big university – and WAAAY back, when I was a freshman here back in 1971, we had a wonderful little bookstore – much like you described in your post, called Books, Strings & Things – they had little corners with chairs, or stools to perch on, and one could sit and peruse the carefully chosen books, read to your heart’s delight – it was wonderful. Later, when I came back to this town to live, that store had gone. Sadly. Now it is a trip to the next town for a bookstore, and it is Barnes & Noble. Yep, I’ve bought there, and Amazon, because I have to – no independent bookstores around anymore.

    A sign of the times, I think.

    Dudley’s looks great! I would LOVE IT (and yeah, I sorta want to straighten that curtain out too!)

    Have a wonderful holiday! Annie

    🐾🐾 Annie🐶

    >

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    1. Thanks for your comments (by the way – who is “Gene”? My name is Tierney) and thanks for sharing the story about that bookstore you loved, sorry it went away! Have a great holiday😀

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  6. What a delightful place! Our independent bookseller has become enthralled with ceramics, so a section of the store is devoted to her new passion. But she makes bowls and lets people paint them and the proceeds of the purchases go to a local food bank. Your bookstore looks so inviting that I imagine sometimes it’s SRO there.
    Merry Christmas to you and Terry and the lucky schnauzers. BTW, I’m nearly finished reading Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott) and thoroughly enjoyed it–makes me want to be a writer. Well, I guess we bloggers are actually writers. Is it one you recommended; I sometimes try to copy/past/save your recommendations but can’t find where I saved them……..

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    1. Oh Martha – your local indie bookstore sound very cool too! Merry Christmas to you and hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday. Bird by Bird is on my to read list, thanks for reminding me about it! 🙂

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  10. This bookshop looks great and it’s one I would love to visit! I am hoping to set up my own book cafe in the not too distant future and your photos have given me a few ideas! Thank you!!

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