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The Southeast's Best Bookstores

     Southern Living's The South's Best Bookstores highlights five bookstores in the southeastern United States that the publication deems noteworthy based on a wide range of traits. While the article does not go into much detail nor has a central theme besides telling readers of good bookshops, the bookstores look credible after further research. While I have only been to one of the stores (Sundog Books in Seaside, which I love), I did research on the others and found four more bookshops to put on my bucket-list. 
     

     While not very old, The Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham has a long history of literary predecessors. Even so, The Alabama Booksmith holds its own among its successful precursors considering it opened its doors in 1999. The shop makes it its mission to sell all signed copies.  "Every book in the store is now signed!" - The Alabama Booksmith, About Our Store. Additionally, Alabama Booksmith's remodel of 2012 allows the bookstore to boast unique displays which allow books to face out instead of the traditional displays where only the spines are visible. "Who can tell anything about a book when the only area visible is the spine?" - The Alabama Booksmith, About Our Store. 





 MALAPROP'S

     Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe was founded in 1982 by a Hungarian immigrant in Asheville, North Carolina. Malaprop's values poetry and the reading of 'banned books'. While nestled in Asheville, Malaprop's has been able to get 'big-time' publicity. According to Travel Leisure's The Independent Bookstores Every Booklover Should Visit in the US, Malaprop's "stands at the vanguard of literary culture". Additionally, Ann Patchett's Guide for Bookstore Lovers published in 2017 by The New York Times declares, "Malaprop’s was the heart and soul of Asheville, N.C., when Asheville was a sleepy little hippie town, and it’s still its heart and soul now that the city is cool and overcrowded, a position Malaprop’s maintained by being unabashedly true to itself."




     Opened by John Evans in 1975 in Jackson, Mississippi, Lemuria Books believes in the "value of the physical book" - Lemuria Books, About. Priding themselves with their wide range of genres specializing in Southern writers, this bookstore has a beloved daily blog and weekly author signings and meet-and-greets in order to connect readers with writers. What's in a name? According to myth, Lemuria was an advanced, human society that existed well before Atlantis that recorded their thoughts of human telepathy and other advances in the first known books. Founder, John Evans explains his store's name to the American Booksellers Association by saying, “When I was first starting out, it was like I was kind of alone and lost down here, trying to do what I was doing: opening a counterculture bookstore in the South. I could identify with being a lost continent.”



 FAULKNER HOUSE BOOKS

      Faulkner House of Books was opened by attorney Joseph J. DeSalvo Jr. and his wife Rosemary James in 1988. Just off Jackson Square in New Orleans, Louisiana, Faulkner House of Books is a "sanctuary for fine literature and rare editions, including, of course, books by and about Mr. Faulkner" himself.  - Faulkner House of Books, About. Faulkner's first book, Soldier's Pay (1925), was written in the building where Faulkner House of Books is located. While the news hasn't much to say about Faulkner House of Books, it looks like a very intelligent bookstore where I would love to visit. 


SUNDOG BOOKS

      It's not just Sundog Books' large children's section or friendly service people that make it my favorite bookstore in the southeast. While the bookstore is in the heart of beautiful Seaside, Florida and next to a picturesque ice cream shop, the reason for readers' love for this bookstore goes beyond the scenery. Sundog Books is where many children learn to love to read. I love to read because of this place. Children's books are not Sundog Books' only focus, however. Books by southern authors lay sprawled on tables, while their expansive New Urbanism collection takes up plenty of shelve space. Beach reads filled with characters from southern mothers to kings of ancient lands captivate Seaside tourists and locals alike. 












Works Cited
"About." Faulkner House Books, Wordpress, 2019, faulknerhousebooks.com/about/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2019.
"About Our Store." The Alabama Booksmith, Comodo Secure, 2019, www.alabamabooksmith.com/about-our-store. Accessed 18 Oct. 2019.
Carson Vaughan. "The Independent Bookstores Every Booklover Should Visit in the U.S." Travel Leisure, Meredith Corporation, 26 Jan. 2017, www.travelandleisure.com/culture-design/books/best-independent-bookstores-america?slide=507231#507231. Accessed 19 Oct. 2019.
"Lemuria Books." Lemuria, Wordpress, 2019, lemuriablog.com/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2019.
Lemuria Books. Lemuria Books, 2019, www.lemuriabooks.com/About-s/188.htm. Accessed 19 Oct. 2019.
Malaprop's. 2019. Travel Leisure, Meredith Corporation, 2019, www.travelandleisure.com/culture-design/books/best-independent-bookstores-america#intro. Accessed 19 Oct. 2019.
Patchett, Ann. "Ann Patchett's Guide for Bookstore Lovers." The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/travel/an-international-bookstore-guide.html?mcubz=0. Accessed 19 Oct. 2019.
Persons, Mike. The Alabama Booksmith, Birmingham. 2019. USA Today Travel, Gannett, 2019, www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/experience/america/fifty-states/2018/05/17/most-underrated-travel-spots-in-every-state/35028043/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2019.
---. The "front out" display at Alabama Booksmith. 2019. Atlas Obscura, 2019, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/this-adorable-alabama-bookstore-only-sells-signed-copies. Accessed 19 Oct. 2019.
Southern Living Editors. "The South's Best Bookstores." Southern Living, Meredith Home Group, 2019, www.southernliving.com/travel/best-southern-bookstores. Accessed 19 Oct. 2019.
Sundog Books. 2019, www.sundogbooks.com/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2019.
Sundog Books. 2019. So Wal, SoWal.com, 2019, sowal.com/story/sundog-books-is-a-seaside-original. Accessed 20 Oct. 2019.
"Who We Are/Our History/Our Name." Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe, Malaprop's, 2019, www.southernliving.com/travel/best-southern-bookstores. Accessed 19 Oct. 2019.

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