Common Good Books

Common Good Books is famous for being owned by Garrison Keillor. It is a pleasant store, specializing in new books, with a winding layout and cloistered reading areas. I haven't bought many books from the store, only because there are so many other well-deserving indie bookstores in the Twin Cities and I figured Keillor would do well with his liberal base in what feels like a gentrified, upper middle class neighborhood. That might be a little unfair characterizing it such, after all I always ended up in this neighborhood. There is a very nice coffee shop, Nina's, just above the store and I regularly met my colleagues just across the street at W.A. Frost, a very nice restaurant and bar. And, the headquarters of my old union, Saint Paul Federation of Teachers is in the same building as the bookstore, the Blair Arcade. Visiting the area, and the store, on this 2010 summer trip did bring back the memories.

Common Good Books
165 Western Avenue North
St. Paul, Minnesota, 55102
www.commongoodbooks.com

The Book Cellar

Located in Lincoln Square in Chicago, the Book Cellar is the sort of indie specializing in new books that I imagine would succeed here in Bloomington-Normal. I was having this discussion with a friend of mine, as we toured this store and the used bookstore Ravenswood just down the street, wondering how indie store can compete these days with the big boxes, the Barnes and Borders, and online e-readers. This store focuses on books, but also attracts customers with their paper and cards, as well as coffee.

Overall I was very impressed by Lincoln Square's bookstore selections overall. The Bookcellar contrasted perfectly with Ravenswood, offering customers two wildly different experiences in just a few blocks- the spacious new and modern that is Bookcellar vs. the ancient rambling maze of unexpected discoveries that is Ravenswood. And just across the street from the BookCellar is a fun store specializing in brain games and puzzles. Definitely worth a visit.

Bookcellar
4736-38 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625
773-293-2265
http://www.bookcellarinc.com/

Ravenswood Used Books

On the Saturday of our July 4th weekend excursion to Chicago, we walked around Lincoln Square a bit after viewing there the Spain-Paraguay game of the World Cup. We came across this quirky bookstore, its name not at all prominent in the store front, that reminded me of Paul's bookstore in Madison but much more intense. I've never seen a bookstore so crowded with books, a "Kafkaesque maze," as my friend who also visited the store put it. Narrow passageways wound around the store, oftentimes leading to small nooks and crannies and dead ends, with books sometimes hanging precariously above you on wooden planks. The store had quite a selection of obscure used books, making for a great way to distract oneself for hours. I bought a book of Mark Twain's lesser known non-fiction works, a somewhat dated history of Mexico in the 20th century, and a book entitled The Mind of the Dolphin. What a visit! With yesterday's find, and now this store, Chicago is proving to be quite the place for independent bookstores!

Ravenswood Used Books
4626 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625-2071
(773) 593-9166
http://chibooks.blogspot.com/

Tres Americas Books, Inc.

I happened to see Tres Americas as we drove into Chicago this past weekend and feel fortunate that I did! I have to say, this store is one of the most impressive I've visited in awhile. When I noticed the storefront, we were heading down Pulaski Street to meet friends at BadDog's Bar, for a beer and burger lunch. We found some time later that afternoon, before the Dale Watson concert, to head back and check the store out.

Tres Americas has an impressive collection of books in Spanish, including fiction, nonfiction, dictionaries and other useful reference books, and even books for children. It is the largest such bookstore I've seen so far in the states, with the old Resource Center of the Americas in Minneapolis (now out of business, I think) coming in as a close second. This is a store we'll continue to patronize, given its extensive collection of hard-to-find Spanish books. From what the owner told us, he'll even do orders through the mail.

I ended up buying a gigantic narrative biography of Pancho Villa by Paco Ignacio Taibo II and an anthology of literature. Tres Americas will be on our list of destinations every time we're in Chicago, I'm sure.

Tres Americas Books, Inc.
Libros en Español
4336 N. Pulaski Rd.
Chicago, IL 60641
Tel: 773-481-9090
www.tresamericasbooks.net