web exclusive: Find a Book You’ve Never Heard of at the Athens Book Center
I wonder sometimes what the great writers of the English language would say if they saw the way we buy books today. Chain bookstores are admittedly clean and well-organized, but they’re scrubbed of personality. They are miserably packed with people at the beginning of the quarter, and definitely aren’t conducive to lingering.
I really think Shakespeare would have something to say about this.
At least there are places like the Athens Book Center to fill the gaping hole left by other bookstores. With plenty of volumes to explore and cozy places to do homework, it’s the perfect place for bibliophiles to gather.
Located at 74 East State St., the Athens Book Center is housed in long brick building. Tiny lights hang along the windows and the door is thrown open on warm days. Long shelves crowded with hundreds of books extend on both sides of the store, all the way to the back, and the smell of old paper drifts through the air.
Where you go first depends on what sort of book you’re itching to peruse. Along the left wall, on dark wooden shelving, are cookbooks, hobby books and an interesting section of local books. (My personal favorite: Rosie the Rubber Worker, a book about women working in Akron’s rubber factories. A whole book about that—who knew?)
The opposite wall houses literature and fiction, and books on health and religion (both Eastern and Western). Interspersed among the stacks of books on the wall shelves are odd curiosities—statues of Indian gods, pairs of green salt and pepper shakers. A Sherlock Holmes doll peeks out from one of the shelves. The collection of items on the walls is just as eclectic, from black and white photos to vintage movie posters, like the one that reads, “Monster on Campus” in neon lettering.
Some of the most interesting finds reside in the back of the store, tucked in dusty cabinets that form the walls of a little sitting spot with two armchairs and a circular table. There are volumes of the Harvard Classics with gold titling, Greek poetry and shelves of old mystery novels with juicy titles in gaudy print, like Fools Die on Fridays. If you’re looking for something you don’t see, the Athens Book Center will order it or find it for you, and you can sell books to them for extra cash.
Best of all, there are two enveloping couches and a few tables and chairs to sink into once you find the book of your fancy. You can buy a bottle of root beer or a cup of tea to sip, your reading quietly accompanied by strains of classical music. It might not make the work for accounting class any more palatable, but at least you can pick out the next book on your reading list for when you do finally have time to tackle it.
Direct link: http://backdropmag.com/a-town/web-exclusive-athens-book-center/