It’s the third night of Hanukkah when, if you’re me, you’ve finally remembered all the blessings and don’t stumble over them while you light candles. It’s also getting pretty LIT.
Ha ha. Ready for another giveaway? Let’s do this!
Today’s prize is a Kate Spade Jae Medium Double Zip Wristlet in deep cornflower blue.
I absolutely love this color. It’s just beautiful.
Here are the specs!
- It measures 4.7″ H x 7.4″ W
- The inside has six credit card slots
- It has a zip closure
- My favorite review: “it’s bigger than it looks, fits everything I need including hand sanitizer.” I bet a mask will fit, too!
- Seriously, I can’t tell you how much I love this color.
Want to enter? Yay!
Just leave a comment and tell us your favorite bookstore, real or imagined?
Standard disclaimers apply: I am not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and ready to always remember your essentials when you step outside. Not responsible for feelings of tranquil, cerulean-hued peacefulness that may steal over you while gazing at this color (seriously I really, really love it a lot and I hope you do, too!).
Comments will close 13 December 2020 at or near 12pm ET, and winner will be announced shortly afterward.
Good luck, Happy Hanukkah, and thank you for being part of Smart Bitches!
Winner update: Congratulations to Linh! Please check your inbox today for details!
Powell’s in Portland, OR.
My new fave is Midtown Reader in Tallahassee, FL. I just moved here in February, and I only managed to get to the actual store once before Covid, but I recently discovered that they will deliver books right to my apartment. I absolutely love that.
I loved Harry Schwarz Bookstores in Milwaukee. Alas, they closed about 15 years ago because they couldn’t compete with the big retailers and Amazon. The staff there were knowledgable and friendly–great service!
My favorite local bookstore is New South Books in Montgomery, Alabama. They don’t have many romance books, but they have a wide variety of books written by local authors or about progressive topics, and always sell local crafts and artwork as well.
I love visiting bookshops when I travel. There’s a lovely bookshop in Dublin that I visited, but I don’t remember the name. 🙂
My favorite bookstore was the main Borders bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Now I have to specify that the location that was my favorite was the location that they took over from the Jacobson’s dept store. (that was the third or fourth location) Sadly, Borders is no more.
Currently, I go to Barnes & Nobles &/or RK Books in Wisconsin.
My problem is I now get more ebooks than paperbound books!!
@Elizabeth Trabe: perhaps it was the Winding Stair? I’ve always wanted to go there (supposedly it’s a great place for coffee/tea fanatics, too)…
I may not ever get to go there again, unless I happen to visit Spokane WA, but Auntie’s Bookstore(the downtown branch). Small but well curated romance section, extremely good sci-fi/fantasy and mystery sections, and lots of local history stuff. On two separate occasions, about a year apart, I found autographed copies of Lois McMaster Bujold books, just sitting there in the used book section! What are the odds?
Rakestraw Books in Danville CA. I moved away 18 months ago and it is still my favorite. Michael and crew are the best!
The Blue Marble in Ft. Thomas KY which specializes in children’s books
Powell’s Books! Maybe the only thing I miss about Portland
There used to be a used paperback store in the town next to me. It was where I indulged my romance bug for many years. I understand times change but I miss it.
Books and Crannies in Martinsville, VA!
Unfortunately, there are only a few big chain bookstores around here. Most of the independently-owned ones have closed.
Real, found while travelling. Long and narrow with 2 stories, the main floor bright with tidy shelves of books, and up a narrow side stair a warren of floor to ceiling shelves overflowing with used books in varying conditions, and that old book smell: dust, paper, hint of tobacco. No idea where this was, maybe the Netherlands or Denmark? I think upstairs and downstairs operated “separately”.
Favorite bookstore: Windsong on Main St. in Fort Bragg, CA. The front has some touristy things. Also some tarot cards. Once you get past the front room, it is all books. Used books pretty much. I have spent a number of happy afternoons in there.
For new books, that would be Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino, CA. I could just move in there and be happy. Plus nice view out the front window.
Sadly, I have not found my bookstore home now that I have moved to the Davis ares. But I am still looking.
The favorite indie I’ve visited is The Ripped Bodice in Culver City, CA. Bea and Leah are so lovely, and their space is terrific!
The Book Barn in Niantic CT which is a used bookstore so big it has several buildings full of books.
My favorite bookstore just closed after something like 40 years in business – a used bookstore in Falls Church, VA called Hole in the Wall. I started going in high school, and never stopped. Half of it was fantasy, and it fed my habit for years and years! It was chaotic and wonderful.
Imagined: Barrons Books & Baubles
It is based on an actual book shop in Portugal that is on my bucket list to visit.
I’m going to say Jenny Lawson’s Nowhere Bookshop in Texas. She can’t open it due to COVID and her autouimmunes, but she is taking online orders. Jenny is also a humor/real-life author and blogger.
2nd place: Half Price Books
The Book Star near my childhood home, where my parents took us to buy books!
My favorite bookstore is the original Tattered Cover in Denver (when it was in Cherry Creek). I spent so much money there! I would shop the three floors, picking up multiple books and then head up to the Fourth Story, where they had their restaurant, for brunch or a snack. For about two years after I moved to Denver, I went there every weekend. I wasn’t lonely in a new place when I had SO MANY BOOKS surrounding me!
I can still hear the creak of the steps under the carpeting as I climbed the stairs . . . heaven.
Fictional- Mr. Truepenny’s book gallery and emporium
Barnes and Noble because it’s the only one for miles
The Strand for wandering and serendipitous finds!
Robert’s Bookshop in Lincoln City, Oregon. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
The Abbey Bookshop in Paris, France. My idea of Heaven.
Whenever I was in London I went to Slightly Foxed. They had new books upstairs and used ones downstairs and also published books. Now it’s online only, but they still have a fascinating inventory of reprinted old books and new ones.
In Washington, DC, where I live, I go to Politics & Prose (well established, their author talks are available online) or Solid State Books (the new, scrappy underdog). Don’t carry lots of romances, though, although they do have some.
Copperfields in Santa Rosa California!
Bakka Phoenix Books in Toronto. Haven’t been for years but their recommendations were always spot on for sci fi and fantasy novels.
Gorgeous! I loved Powell’s when I lived in Oregon. On of thd thing I miss the most.
My favorite bookstore is Copperfields in the northern region of the Bay Area. I’m biased bc i work in one (it’s a small, independent chain) but even before when I was a customer it was one of my favorite places to be
The Ripped Bodice
Capitol Hill Books in DC is one of my favorites! It’s one of those tiny second hand book stores so crammed full of books there’s barely room for people. I loved them as a school social worker because I could always find YA novels there, which I have found to be rare and used book stores. They also have really cool first editions or signed copies of books. And vinyl records! A treasure trove.
My favourite bookstore is No Alibis in Belfast (Ireland). is an independent bookstore that mainly specialises in mystery fiction – no suprise given its name. However, it is so much more than that. As a student it will stock the textbooks I need as well as hidden gems by local authors. Before Covid it held concerts, lectures and readings.
Left Bank Books
Genre loyalty has me saying both Love’s Sweet Arrow and the Ripped Bodice. I admire the creativity and the dedication of them both!
My favorite bookstore exists in the past. It was the particular Barnes and Noble I worked in for 5 years in the early 2000s. I had such lovely coworkers who made coming to work more of an adventure than a retail grind of doom. Nothing that good can last forever, but I remember it fondly.
The Ripped Bodice