Novel Ideas

The first thing that struck me about Novel Ideas is its location in downtown Decatur, Illinois. When looking for the bookstore in my car, heading east on E. Main Street, I noticed that I was leaving Decatur's downtown area, and after Decatur's modern-looking library there seemed to be not much left. But, lo and behold, there it was - Novel Ideas - a big island surrounded by an even bigger parking lot sea. After finding the store, I then realized that its location is actually pretty good. Right next to the public library, just a short walk from the downtown, Novel Ideas is the only bookstore in the downtown area. The downtown was impressive for this laid-back small town. Like so many small town main streets, it surely has gone through decline and is now on the rebound. The only missing link is the throngs of people who are currently congregating in the Wal-Marts and Best Buys of the corporate strip mall dystopia.

I took some pictures from the outside before entering the store and then entered from the side. Just like other stores in the area, Novel Ideas has a collection of antiques and memorabilia that fill the side entrance and a good part of that southern side of the store. I noticed some really cool-looking canes, which I could've used for my serious back issues a few months ago, and an entire Green Bay Packers section that would certainly please my many Wisconsin friends.

As soon as the owner working behind the desk saw me, she nicely asked me why I was taking pictures of her store, which I have to admit does seem strange. I told her of my indie bookstore travelogue and its reviews of independent bookstore, which I immediately realized seems even stranger. We talked a little bit about independent bookstores, and she mentioned Babbitt's and About Books in my homebase of Bloomington-Normal. I have to say that I was little embarrassed about having to admit that I hadn't visited Bloomington's About Books yet. I thought it sold antiques exclusively, and as I mentioned in previous posts, the antiques intimidate me. Well, one more indie bookstore in my town to support over the anti-union Double B Bookstore empire. (In my idiolect, the Double Bs = Borders and Barnes & Noble). The owner was very friendly and also knowledgeable on the indie bookstore world. It was worth the embarrassment of getting caught taking pictures of her building.

In size, Novel Ideas is relatively small, but the store holds a fairly big used book collection. I browsed for over a half-hour, attracted mostly to the sections that covered the local history of Macon County, of which Decatur is the county seat. I looked for more recent history of the Staley strike, and other working class histories, but without luck. Of course I should've asked the owner but I'm a little shy! There was a very cute section in the center of the store devoted to local books and writers, and I ended up buying a pictorial history of Macon County for about 20 bucks. There was another section of Illinois history that was pretty good. Overall, the bookstore seems to have a gigantic collection of war histories and testimonials, as well as devotional literature, which just happened to stand out in the assortment. Given my interests, I wasn't too interested in some of these areas and just noticed the titles in passing.

When checking out at the end of my visit, the friendly owner gave me a restaurant recommendation - Pastabilities - a local Italian joint just up the street, and we chatted a little about indie bookstores. I found it interesting that, despite the general decline in indie bookstores, which we both agreed has happened, this owner thought that the Internet wasn't as negative as a factor as I did. She pointed out that many independent stores are selling books online and are able to stay afloat because of the Internet. She mentioned Biblio and ABE Books as the two online vendors used by many. I can't remember if we talked about Double Bs, but my suspicion is that the Double Bs, in combination with the equally anti-union Amazon and its dominance, couldn't have been good for the indie world. Nonetheless, she made me realize that the Internet per se is not the problem; it is the continuing dominance of the Double Bs and Amazon.

Novel Ideas
480 E. Main Street
Decatur, Illinois 62523
(217) 429-1995