SOON, issue 17: Visiting Every Bookstore, Part 2

City & suburbia: two more bookshops in and around Richmond, VA. Plus, announcements!

Welcome to Something Out of Nothing, a newsletter about meaning—making it, finding it, offering it. I talk about the writing life, teaching, thrifting, books, travel, obsessions and idle interests, and much more.

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Greetings, friend! The one-year anniversary of SOON is coming up, and I’ve put some thought into what I want the next year to look like for subscribers (you can check out those ideas on my About page).

Writing this newsletter has been an experiment. I wanted to write more essays, talk to more writers and artists, and share the way(s) I move through the world—and I’ve done that, and I want to keep doing it. The next phase, I’m hoping, will have an additional focus on community-building, through quick chats, one-off classes and occasional meet-ups, resource-sharing, and extended conversation about how we get the work done among everything else in our lives, our world. SOON is for creative folks of all stripes, though I will lean at times heavier into the writer side of things, but I’m devoted to exploring how different mediums can support each other.

If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve been reading, and would like to be a part of this growing community, I ask you to consider a voluntary paid subscription of $5/month, $50/year, or $200/year as a Founding Reader. Whatever you’re able, if you’re able, but everyone has the same access regardless. Voluntary paid subscriptions are an experiment. Your readership, with or without the ability to pay, is an investment in my work.

A few dollars here or there helps to fund the time it takes to write new issues of SOON, and allows me to put some extra savings aside for times when teaching opportunities are lean (hello, summertime).

Thank you for reading, and considering. Now, back to regularly scheduled programming—

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Indie Bookstores Forever <3

Back in November, I started this ‘visit every bookstore’ journey after discovering that the Richmond region has well over twenty indie bookstores. You can read Part 1 to catch up with where I’ve already been, but today we’re going from the cobblestone streets of downtown to expansive suburbia south of the James River.

Bookstore #1: Fountain Bookstore

In the nearly fourteen years I’ve lived in Richmond, I had never stepped inside downtown’s Fountain Bookstore—not even when I worked 9-5 across the street—but a couple of weeks ago, it finally happened. What a well-stocked, creaky-floored, lived-in space! The shelves are towering and full across genres and categories, your eyes encouraged to search onward, stopping only to scan the little handwritten staff recommendations popping off the shelves everywhere. Lots of little additional items like cards, bookmarks, magnets, easy extras for gift-giving. I was there around noon on a Saturday, and folks flowed through, buzzing but not annoyingly busy. There’s a few errant chairs around for grabbing a temporary seat while you page through an option, and there seems an open-ish area toward the back of the store where it’s possible for author events (and according to their website, they have a busy social calendar). This store is one of the long-term, much beloved establishments in the RVA literary community—it felt good to finally experience it.

What did I buy? Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative by Isabella Hammad and Doppelganger by Naomi Klein.

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Bookstore #2: The Little Bookshop

About twenty minutes south of the city and tucked back from a busy stretch of road, you’ll find the Little Bookshop in a quaint row of small businesses. The store is a tidy, well-lighted spot, with all new books on display in a sort of showroom, cover-facing-outward style. The children’s book selection is considerable and diverse. The rest of the store feels sparse, though all the standard categories are on offer, bestsellers, indies, book club picks, and classics alike (and I can’t say I didn’t find anything—I bought three books, after all). The owner was kind and chatty. As I perused the shelves, I listened to her guide a customer through a special order, which seems a regular thing for a small store stocking a very limited number of each book on offer. There’s a sign right as you enter about no photography or video, so I only have shots of the exterior. Full disclosure: I live in this particular suburbia, and we’re lucky to have a sweet little shop like this amid all the big box stores.

What did I buy? The Friend by Sigrid Nunez, The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser, and Stay True by Hua Hsu.

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Whatever you’re able, if you’re able...

…but everyone has the same access regardless. SOON is entirely free—but if you’ve enjoyed it thus far, please consider a voluntary paid subscription of $5/month, $50/year, or $200/year as a Founding Reader. If a paid subscription just isn’t in the cards, it’s also a wonderful boost if you consider forwarding SOON along to the people in your life who might connect with it. Share button below xo.

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