Who Doesn't Love the Smell of Books?
Summer is for reading, chasing memories and going home
I opened the door to my bookshop this summer solstice morning to the satisfying smell of books. With a sigh, I dropped my bags by the door, flipped on the lights and felt a flush of gratitude. Chapters Bookshop is more than the realization of a dream. It’s a window into my soul.
“Ingrid, get your nose out of that book.”
How often did I hear my mother’s admonition on summer days when she had jobs waiting to be done — and I had a new book to be read? Once I had tackled my list of chores for the day, I would be free to loll under the maple tree with a novel. But Mom’s priorities took precedence over mine.
Chapters Bookshop is now two months old and people are starting to find us. The bookshop is deep in the bowels of an historic brick building, across from the county courthouse, behind a coffee shop and down the hall from a tattoo parlor. If you follow the signs, you’ll find me. I consider visitors to Chapters to be curious adventurers, up for the hunt and hoping for treasure when they walk through my door.
My personal favorite corner of the shop is filled with beautifully-bound classics: Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, Tom Sawyer, The Great Gatsby….treasures, every one of them.
A young fellow wandered into the bookshop today and paused to peruse the non-fiction shelf. I expected him to choose a biography or perhaps a political memoir. Instead, he turned to the colorful books on the classics shelves and brought to the checkout a hefty copy of Anna Karenina. “This should keep me busy,” he said.
As a proud mother of four adult male readers, I wanted to give him a hug.
While I haven’t read every classic novel or well-researched history book in my bookshop, I do have a deep appreciation for authors who have been teaching me how to write for decades. My favorite novel, Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry, is the “textbook” I’m currently using to craft my novel. The voice of Hannah is guiding my protagonist Ruby in unfolding the story of her life.
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island.” ~ Walt Disney
Writers aren’t the only readers who can be formed by good storytelling. Four women from my community have joined me this month in reading A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter. As we’ve hunted moths with Elnora in the Limberlost and watched her grow into an educated, confident young woman, each of us have commented about how invested we are in the outcome of this tale. Published in 1909, the novel challenges us with archaic terminology and grammar while growing our appreciation for the swampy Indiana setting just miles from our community.
Next up on my summer reading list is American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. What will you find yourself reading under a tree this summer?
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I traveled to my hometown. Our goal was to enjoy the community’s summer festival, take a tour of the Noble County Historical Society’s Old Jail Museum and catch up with friends who make their home in a nearby lakeside cottage. Our adventure was a great start to summer.
The festival did not disappoint. Every summer during my 20+ years living in this small Hoosier community, the highlight of the season was the Chain O’Lakes Festival. On this beautiful summer evening, we wandered around the courthouse square to the sound of carousel music and the smell of hot dogs before walking the few blocks to climb the steps to the jail museum’s front steps. My friend, Sarah, is the county historian and she greeted us at the door.
The Old Jail, as it’s called, is filled with relics that detail the history of the community where I grew up. In fact, our family often visited the county sheriff and his family at the apartment house in the historic jail when I was a child. The brick structure was built in 1875-1876 at a cost of $27,000. It housed prisoners (and the sheriff’s family) until 1968. Today, it holds a treasure trove of artifacts and memorabilia recording the history of the county. Wandering through the building was a trip down memory lane.
We ended the evening with a waterfront chat with friends we’ve known for decades and a few of their adult children.
Why do I tell you all of this, and why should you care? Maybe because in a time when the evening news makes me wonder if we’ve lost our way, and when we too easily let differences divide us, it feels good and right to return to what we know and value. To reach for the good and let memories guide us. I can’t think of a better way to begin summer than by savoring the smell of books, eating hot dogs to the tune of carnival music, exploring my hometown’s history and enjoying friends.
Happy Summer!