Saturday was a moveable feast for a booklover like me.
I started at the Many Hands complex on First which once upon a time was a Spanish style motel surrounding a spacious courtyard. Here is that courtyard with a fountain shared by the small businesses which now call Many Hands home, among them Homeward Books.
Inside Homeward Books were shelves of books that were just right for me. Many were (my favorite) speculative fiction, others addressed topics like social justice and environmental issues. Over in one corner was a good selection of children’s books. There were comics, too. Then, out back, a lovely place to sit and read the books you have just purchased. Or for you to attend one of the events they sponsor.
A Book Collective in the Northwest
Homeward Books calls itself a book collective that is worker owned. All 4 owners were at one-time employees of Bookman’s. Two of the four, below, are Lillie and Manny. Manny has a second life as a hip-hop musician. Lillie’s second life is with a literacy non-profit. The other two owners, Megan and Zach, were not there at the time I just dropped in.
I wanted to stay longer, but I had two more bookstores to visit before it became too hot and windy. (Allergies, allergies!)
Rare Books are Everywhere in this MSA Annex Store
Desierto Books at MSA Annex was my next stop. I love this bookstore and it could easily turn into a financial disaster for me. The two books at the top of this post–particularly the one about ‘Mexican Sacred Masks and Rituals’–whispered: “Buy Me. Buy Me.” The other one, ‘Mildew’, sounds like it could be this generation’s answer to ‘Rags’, a street fashion magazine published in San Francisco in the ’60s. My answer to this buy-me impulse was to look around at all the other wonderful rare and unusual new and used books, including one about Joshua Tree. Plus vinyl records. And I reminded myself that I was a blogger on the hunt not a book lover ready to buy on this visit. The center photo, below, is the children’s section of Desierto Books.
So Charming for Children and Y.A. Readers
Speaking of children’s books, Tucson has a wonderful children’s bookstore, one of only 130 bookshops exclusively for children in the U.S. It is named Littlest Bookshop and seems to me to be in an odd location in a business strip out on 5th Ave. Odd location or not, it has loyal customers who have been coming back time and again for 5 years now. And it is easy to see why!
Inside of the utilitarian exterior is a book store sure to charm any child or anyone who knows a child! Founded by Hypatia, the head of a private school, she and her husband, Jesse, have stocked the store with gifts and toys that are book-oriented, along with a great selection of books for young and Y.A. readers.
In the past I have written about the larger Tucson book stores. In the upcoming weeks I will be visiting other small bookstores here in Tucson as well as some of the comic stores. Although I’m not sure calling them ‘comic books’ is the right description these days. Illustrated books is better now.
I very strongly urge you to support these books shops. Remember, they, along with libraries, were the original search engines!
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