It’s Friday and one of my Company X coworkers is doubling checking the procedures for the work he’ll be covering while I’m out on vacation. Then he asks the question. “So whatcha ya gonna do? Going anywhere?” My response: “I’m going to Book Barn on my birthday and then I have to find out where the heck Colchester is because there’s a bookstore called Books & Boos that has new and used books and all kinds of cool stuff…” Cue co-worker shaking his head. Whatever dude…
So clutching directions to Colchester (which turns out is a few towns over from my in-laws), I hopped in Mr Honda yesterday and sent out on an adventure. Books & Boos is nestled in a small New England town and the trip there takes you on winding country roads. Would I get lost on the way? But I DID have directions, a full tank of gas and a Stephen King audiobook playing. Before I knew it, I had crossed the Colchester town line, saw the yellow building Books & Boos is in and pulled into the parking lot.
I had gotten about three feet into Books & Boos when I was knew I was going to find some treasures. A vintage Better Homes & Gardens gardening guide? (I have a collection of those binder Better Homes & Gardens guides) Hello there! And then turning and seeing a cool Zombie Poe t-shirt? My kind of place. Books & Boos is also a shop that is proud of the local creative community and supports them wholeheartedly. Display cases flanking the horror section have handcrafted wooden items and stuffed collectibles (my favorite? the stuffed blood stains). On the walls are hung with framed artwork by local artists available for purchase. And there are two large racks of local authors. One of my favorite things on the local writers racks? A little sign over Stacey Longo’s Secret Things: Twelve Tales to Terrify saying there’s a 50% chance the author is in the store. How many bookstores can make that claim?
Not interested in local authors and want a good used book? No shame in that. Books & Boos will have something for you. There’s everything from fiction, biographies, religion, history, kids books (they have Nancy Drew!), cookbooks and more. There’s a locked case full of amazing movie tie-in books from all genres including Imitation of Life. If I was still collecting vintage cookbooks from the 1950s onward I would have found quite a few titles to add to the kitchen bookcase. I ended up with three books in great shape for very reasonable prices including the Joyce Carol Oates edited H.P. Lovecraft collection (Blacklight: “Of course you bought Lovecraft…” Me: “Hey, I also bought a Richard Matheson paperback too!”). I bet even Mr Picky Pants Blacklight could find something nifty in Books & Boos stacks. (Blacklight: “What’s wrong with my books?” Me: “Stephen R. Donaldson, Tom Clancy, Larry Bond…” Blacklight: “You know there are books that aren’t H.P. Lovecraft or Stephen King or Shirley Jackson or that Grace Malicious right?”)
Books & Boos isn’t a giant used bookstore with what Andy calls “the Wall of King and Koontz” like Book Barn down in Niantic or Andy’s beloved McKay’s Used Books out in Tennessee but it’s totally worth the trip. After all, there’s nothing like a good used bookstore with friendly staff and a welcoming atmosphere. I’ll take that over Barnes & Noble any day even if you waved a $1,000 Barnes & Noble gift card in my face.
Books & Boos Online
whiskeytangowendymarie.com 