NOW CLOSED
A few months ago I finally got around to visiting About Books in downtown Bloomington. For almost a year I thought the store was devoted entirely to antique books, which as I've said before, I don't know much about. Now that I know better, I believe that it's the antique furniture store located right next to About Books that gives the impression that the bookstore is focused on antiques. While the store does have an antique book collection, About Books is a classic used bookstore, the one and only in Bloomington, Illinois, and only one of two independent bookstores in the Bloomington-Normal area.
Back in the summer when I visited About Books, I must've looked around for about an hour at the first floor and basement collections. I remember it having quite a large fiction selection on the first floor and a smattering of non-fiction categories in the basement. In visiting the store for the first time, I was actually on a mission, finding Kant's Foundation of a Metaphysic of Morals. And although the philosophy selection was only a shelf wide (philosophy must not be the most popular topic here in Bloomington), I was actually able to find the book for a buck or two! Take that, Barnes and Borders! And in the process, I actually had a meaningful bookstore experience in beautiful downtown Bloomington, away from the numbing strip mall malaise of Veterans Parkway.
One more part of visiting the store, I remember, is that I got to meet the owner. I can't remember her name, but I learned afterward when visiting the bookstore site that the store is up for sale! If only I had the capital! And I suppose I'd need some experience running a bookstore, that would help!
About Books
221 E. Front St.
Bloomington, IL 61701
309-829-3999
www.aboutbooksbloomington.com
About Books
221 E. Front St.
Bloomington, IL 61701
309-829-3999
www.aboutbooksbloomington.com
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