Some of my fondest memories growing up as a young adult centered around reading. I remember summer being my favorite time because my best friend and I used to go to the local small bookshop, Cheshire Books, and trade in our plastic bags full of used books every few weeks. We always made a full afternoon out of it. The bookshop was in downtown Yakima, so getting there wasn't a challenge. One can walk the length of Yakima in a very short time, so we'd meet and begin an afternoons' journey into the great world of literature.
I was taken back in time within those asymmetrical walls of books. All genres enticing me to join in the great fun. The resident Cheshire cat would mosey around and lounge on whatever took its fancy at the time; swishing that bushy tail in that cat way. There was one room in particular that I loved the most. The smell is something I can still remember. Smells do that. I can link most of my memories to scents from hair shampoo, perfume, to laundry detergent. This particular room smelled of old books. Books of long ago where the binding nearly crumbles through your fingers. The pages membrane-thin as my fingers would turn each page and the soft swish of my skin against it would move to the next. I'd hold each book up to my nose, take a deep breath and despite the dust, take it in like I could ingest all the history it had weathered.
There are truly fewer and fewer bookshops like that anymore. I'm happy to say that my childhood shop still exists, although without a website and I'm kind of glad about that too. I've been on a subconscious search for another bookshop that would spark my desires again. I know that as a teenager, there is really nothing that can replace what I experienced at Cheshire Books, but there is one shop that has recently come close, and it deserves a few accolades.
The Seattle Mystery Bookshop in Pioneer Square. If you walk too fast, you'll miss it. It's nestled neatly among three other little shops off Cherry Street (117 Cherry Street). Through a dim entrance opens up a wall-to-wall plethora of books where mystery reigns. It opened its doors in the summer of 1990. Unfortunately, I didn't find it until recently, but better late than never. I've always loved a good Whodunit. I love getting my hands a little dirty to find out what I expected wasn't at all what I expected.
I have a routine when I enter bookstores. I let the books call to me. I walk around, touch a few spines, read a few reviews or back page summaries. I get a feel for the shop and my surroundings. I have to get a vibe from a bookshop. The Seattle Mystery Bookshop definitely has a vibe. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly and from one mystery lover to another, they got it in the bag.
My first excursion in, I wanted something a little twisted. I'm a nice girl. I'm generally happy. So what movies and books do I generally gravitate to? Twisted weirdness that can't be explained. It's my outlet; what can I say? I take my stroll through the isles, admire the poster of Dexter on the wall, with blood spatter on his face, and proceed to the latest and greatest. I pick up Drood, by Dan Simmons. I walk around the table again. I pick it up again. I hold it. What is it telling me? Why is it telling me? I'm stalking the book. It knows. The owner obviously knows what I'm up to and I ask the obvious question of whether the book is good or not. Of course, he says and proceeds to languish all sorts of good things on me about the book. I bought it. Read it in record time and have done nothing but recommend it to others. That is a good book experience. It took me away to the life of Charles Dickens. I didn't have to explain anything. The book does it for me. I love literature. I love bookstores like these where I can be transported and put back all nice and neat again...or so I think.
I like that it isn't your run-of-the-mill corporate shop. It's personable. It's not a Kindle. It's not whatever other technology is trying to take us away from the physical pleasure of page-turning. It's a real bookshop with real people and real pages that get ripped, torn, worn and touched. It's exactly what I'd like to maintain.
Pioneer Square
Monday - Saturday 10 - 5 pm
Sunday 12 -5 pm
staff@seattlemystery.com
Go. Visit. Read. Go again.
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