8:45am | With the news that we’ll all have one final chance to say goodbye to Acres of Books this Saturday, I started to make a mental list of all of my favorite remaining independent bookstores in Long Beach and I need your help. What is the coolest independent bookstore in Long Beach?
The thought came to me, actually, while shopping last night at Fingerprints. One of Long Beach’s music gems, the record store over the last few months has been nurturing a used books section that I just can’t resist. Yesterday I snagged four books for a total of $15.37, which is basically grand theft. Among them were Da Capo Best Music Writing of 2002, a collection of Joan Didion essays, a novel by Michael Chabon and a hardcover of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped. All for $15.37!
The Fingerprints used book section gets better every time I check in, I thought, but there’s no way that a music store is the best bookstore in town. I’m a big fan of {open} on 4th Street – owned and operated by former lbpost.com columnist Sé Reed – which is where I was introduced to Long Beach native poet Derrick Brown and where I picked up two of his collections, autographed.
In the few times that I’ve seen Brown live at the Lightbulb Mouth Radio Hour variety show, he regularly refers to Long Beach as the City of Authors. And certainly you can’t throw a rock in the East Village without hitting a writer. But suddenly we live in a Long Beach that will soon close the doors on its most historic literary landmark. So where does that leave the City of Authors?
Maybe not in such bad shape. About a year ago, I wrote about the virtues of the One Dollar Books store downtown, where I pulled off a similar Fingerprints-esque heist. And recently, Apostrophe Books on 2nd Street has been enjoying a nice little following. But I know there are more out there, so help me out.
What else am I missing? Sound off with your favorite local bookstores in the Comments section below!
P.S. Tonight, {open} is hosting a release for Rise Of The Trust Fall by Mindy Nettifee, a wonderful poet on the locally-run Write Bloody publishing roster. You should totally check it out.