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The Great Literary Trip: Day 13

 I'm back (finally)!! Welcome to the day 13 recap. My apologies for the late post. When I got home from driving for 11 hours in one day, I took a couple of days off, as we were all exhausted. This post recaps the events of July 2. 


Day 13

CITIES

We hopped from town to town, exit to exit everywhere from Hanover, NH to Altoona, PA. It certainly was a big driving day, as we arrived at our hotel at almost 2:00 am after foraging the Poconos in complete darkness. That was fun. 


BOOKSTORES

Northshire Bookstore
This bookstore was sincerely one of my favorites of the entire trip. Nestled in a gorgeous and unfathomably green small town, I felt as if I had stepped straight into Stars Hollow, waiting for Rory Gilmore to burst into the store and complain about her bus being late from Chilton. The organization was impeccable, another facet Rory would appreciate; I appreciated it too. 

Most impressive to me, however, were the hundreds of staff/customer recommendation cards clipped to each bookshelf. Plastic-covered, index cards were carefully placed on the shelf in front of books that certain staff members and patrons found particularly inspiring or well-written. It struck me that Northshire not only trusts their staff to recommend books (it is their job) but they also trust their patrons to suggest books to other patrons. These cards are handwritten and signed. Reading them, I felt connected to staff members and past customers in our mutual love of not only reading books but passing the books we loved to those we love. 

This bookstore also had a balanced collection of books for purchase. Northshire truly had a book for everyone: all backgrounds, all ideologies, all religions. Good bookstores are built on trust, as each customer is trusting that the staff will curate a collection of titles that she can find a piece of herself in. It is clear that Northshire trusts its patrons to select a book for themselves, and its patrons trust the staff to curate a diverse collection. 



The Montague Bookmill
While I was not the biggest fan of this used bookstore's collection, I was a huge fan of the layout and atmosphere. The inside of the Montague Bookmill was rustic and heavy with Sunday afternoon nap, coffee, and reading vibes (aka the best vibes). Plants hung from the ceiling, leather armchairs sat in dim, moody corners, and old, wooden stairs creaked under the weight of curiosity making its way up the stairs and onto the second floor. The view of the river is visible from every window on both levels at the back of the store. Over the soft jazz, you can hear the roar of the river, shushing the noisiest patrons into the all-consuming, dreamy mood. I was tempted to stay and read my own book that I always keep in my purse but, alas, Altoona was waiting. 






Thank you all for following this trip. I really appreciate your readership for my little blog posts. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity. More posts about my takeaways are coming very soon. 

xoxo, Hallie

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