Thanks to my work trip last week, I was finally able to visit the fabled Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon. For those who haven't heard of it, or who have vaguely heard they need to go there but haven't been given any specifics (like me!), let me just say: it's a bookstore that takes up an entire city block.
Entire. City. Block.
From the front it looks pretty unassuming, no? But then you get inside and eye up the color-coded directional sign, and realize that every genre has its own room. Like a giant warehouse full of books. !!!!!
This is one tiny corner of the YA section alone:
I WANT TO LIVE IN THIS STORE. I'm sure there's space for me in the cafe area right beside the graphic novel shelves. Ahem.
So as you can imagine, much of my free time last week was spent here revelling -- er, I mean... Browsing bookshelves in a non-obsessed and completely normal manner... With no drool involved... Cough.
I did enjoy that Powell's expressed an unusual opinion on self-publishing (for a brick-and-mortar bookstore, anyway):
Definitely adding this to my daydream list of bookstores where I'd like to someday have a book signing, and/or permanently reside. You know. Whichever comes first.
This looks incredible, I want to go there too!
ReplyDeletePowell's is great! I visited there a couple of times when I lived in Portland.
ReplyDeleteDenver has a great indie-chain, too. The Tattered cover is a great place to go check out books, read in the cafe, and see authors when they're in town to sign books. AND they have their own PoD setup inside the store!
I live in Portland, so...enough said, right? I can't imagine not having a Powell's nearby. And the downtown Powell's is only one of them, albeit the largest. There are more in town, and since they stock new and used it's not unusual for me to go on a mission browsing Powell's after Powell's.
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