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Treasures Abound in Local StacksBy Derek Mong - December 18, 2007
 | | Berkshires-themed books at Papyri in North Adams. |
WILLIAMSTOWN - Never mind Amazon and forget about Borders. Erase your quick link to eBay and put away that member's card for Barnes & Noble. If books fill out your holiday shopping list this year, and you're a Northern Berkshire reader of this Web site, then motor toward one of these local bookstores, each within a 15-minute drive of Williamstown.
Not only will you save yourself the cost of a jaunt to Pittsfield, but you'll discover the titles, services and personality not factored into the bigger chain's big-market mind-set.
Water Street Books
26 Water St.; 413-458-8071
HOURS: Mon-Sat: 9:30-6, Thurs.: till 9, Sun.: noon-5.
Any college town worth its ivied charm contains two buildings within walking distance of each other: a sufficiently old-fashioned post office and an independent bookstore.
In Williamstown, Spring Street provides the former, where the high windows and potted plants of the post office exude a gravitas befitting bald eagles and circulated mail. The latter's just a block east, where Water Street Books sits between a fire station and a boutique.
'The Unfolding Berkshires' actually unfolds. |
Though not technically independent (it's owned by Follett Co. and serves as the Williams College bookstore), Water Street Books maintains an air of the local. High, wood-stained bookshelves lift toward a three-walled mural by Lynn Peterfreund. Carpet, a plush couch, and the inviting Children's Room (stocked and arranged by Carole Ott) complete the decor. This is not a place for revolving textbooks, or Spark Note racks peering guiltily from a corner.
On the contrary, Water Street Books offers a full range of fiction, cookbooks, current affairs, poetry, biography and more. Upon entering, one can't help but peruse the best sellers (covers facing forward, discounted 20 to 30 percent) or bargain bin (50 percent off) visible from the front door. But a healthy stock and gentle atmosphere are just the beginning.
"We're really good at keeping secrets this time of year," said Shanti Mayer in regard to newly arrived special orders. "We don't mention titles over the phone."
Samantha Lafave, a Water Street staffer and student at Drury high school, boasted of the free gift wrapping, available until Christmas. Additional perks include a frequent reader card, educator's discounts, and a wide range of local authors: Andrea Barrett's new novel "The Air We Breath" (Norton, $24.95) and Jim Shepard's National Book Award Finalist "Like You'd Understand, Anyway: Stories" (Knopf, $23).
Are there other recommendations from Water Street Books? How about Steve Martin's new memoir "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life" (Scribner, $25), and Oliver Sacks' "Musicophilia" (Knopf, $26), the tale of man who develops strange musical abilities after being struck by lightning.
Papyri Books
45 Eagle St., North Adams; 413-662-2099
HOURS: Mon-Fri: noon to 6, Sat: 10 to 6, Sun: noon to 4.
For the true mom-and-pop bookstore experience, there's no beating North Adams' own Papyri Books. Originally run by Karen Kane and Eileen Gloster, Papyri changed hands and locations within the last two years. The current proprietors, Lois and Michael Daunis, became their own landlords in March 2007 when they purchased the building at 45 Eagle St., moved the bookstore to the first floor, and set up residence in the apartment upstairs. According to Lois they shed roughly "175 boxes of books" in the process, the bulk of them going to the aborted installation project at MassMOCA this summer.
Thankfully though, many fine volumes remain. Billed as a "used, new, and rare selections" bookstore, Papyri shelves brim with the stuff of a bibliophile's dream: out-of-print titles; unusual finds; discounted fiction, biography, and art books. The danger here isn't that you'll miss the title you arrived for, but that you'll replace it with a stack of attractive and unexpected finds. Of course one shouldn't ignore the "new" part of Papyri's offerings either — arranged on tables to the left of the entrance, the Daunises stock a number of recent releases.
"Many of the new books are local authors, local subjects, and I have to make a judgment call on best sellers, on what's appealing to the community," Lois Daunis said.
Among those deemed interesting? Work by the current poet laureate and New Hampshire resident Charles Simic and two books of photographs relevant to the Berkshires: Paul Clermont's "Time Pieces: Life in the Berkshires and Beyond" (Notch Publishing, $18.95) and "The Unfolding History of the Berkshires" (Pentacle Press, $18.95) by David J. McLaughlin. The latter's pages literally unfold to reveal scenic shots of, what else, the Berkshires.
"It's a beautifully written book ... and he's actually going to be our featured reader at Wordplay in May 2008," said Daunis. And this is just one more way in which Papyri contributes to the community: by hosting the majority of readings organized by Inkberry, an non-profit promoting the literary arts in the Berkshires. On Saturday, Dec. 8, MCLA student writers read from their work to a packed house.
The Bennington Bookshop
467 Main St., Bennington, Vt.; 802-442-5059
HOURS: Mon-Sat: 9 to 5:30; Fri.: till 9 p.m.; Sun.: noon to 4.
Not to be overlooked on account of a state line, the Bennington Bookshop makes for a fine addition to any trip north. Situated in the heart of downtown Bennington just east of Route 7, the bookshop's more modestly arranged than Water Street or Papyri, sporting wider aisles, shoulder-high shelves, and a vast selection of general readership titles. A pair of welcoming easy chairs can be seen from the front window.
But this isn't to say Bennington's forgotten its literary pedigree. The folks at the bookshop stock local favorites like "The Poetry of Robert Frost" (Henry Holt, $30), "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (Penguin, $16) by Michael Pollan (a recent Williams College visitor and Bennington College alum) and personal essay collections by Edward Hoagland, a champion of the form with ties to the town.
The bookshop offers other, less tangible, goods with a little asking, as in directions to Frost's grave site in the cemetery of the Old First Church on Route 9, or the Stone House Museum in South Shaftsbury, Vt. There, until the end of the month, you can see the room where Frost wrote his most famous poem, "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening." Both attractions sit within 10 miles of the bookshop and provide a fine complement to the bookshop itself.
Editor's Note: These are just a few of the bookshops that can be found in and around Berkshire and Bennington counties. I'm sure our readers have other favorites. Why not tell us about them? |
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