A new book store has opened in downtown Ann Arbor. Literati Bookstore, on the corner of E. Washington and S. Fourth is a cozy two-story shop with a selection that brings to mind the sections of Borders that weren’t devoted to genre fiction — back when Borders actually was a local store.
I did a double-take when I first noticed the open sign.
I didn’t have a lot of time to peruse the shelves, but I did get a sense for the sections. Fiction, children’s books, poetry, and books about media are upstairs, along with a small selection of magazines. Downstairs are humor, various types of history, biographies and reference. Crafts and religion are in there somewhere, I forget exactly where, and I’m certain that I’ve forgotten at least two categories — most likely from the basement.
The staff seemed very friendly, and they let me wander on my own after attracting my attention with a greeting. As an anxious sort, I appreciate that. It’s nice to know who I can ask for assistance but be trusted to ask when I need it.
There was a nice amount of customers milling around late in the lunch hour. Not crammed in, but enough to raise hope that there’s enough interest to keep the place open. Both registers were going, and for my part I purchased a copy of Sean Howe’s “Marvel Comics: The Untold Story.”
(I have my fingers crossed that it will reveal Jack Kirby was a space god and Steve Ditko a pan-dimensional sorcerer. We all know Stan Lee sustained a papercut from a radioactive comic book.)
Anyway, I wish them well. With Literati and Aunt Agatha’s only a block apart, all we need now is a nearby source for new horror, science fiction, and fantasy!
Tales of the Atomic Zombie 
I find book store culture fascinating. It runs parallel to the world I inhabit professionally and yet I’ve never been a big patron of bookstores…always of libraries. I think that’s largely because I never read as quickly or as deeply as my friends who love bookstores, because I’m cheap (to an extent) and because since I was 18 I could theoretically get any book I wanted and I was never that invested in what particular book I was reading most of the time, if that makes any sense. Yet so many of my friends who aren’t librarians know and love their bookstores, and/or work/worked at them. Hell, when I met the Baroness, that’s where she worked. It’s a very different perspective than my academic library perch. I am happy that a new one is opening…how hopeful.
Good news!