Maggie and Leigh Ann are listening to the audiobook of “The Buried Giant” on their travels
March 23, 2015
Bookmobile!
To our dear friends who love books-
After serving 4 years on the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association board, we’ve packed up our final board packets, wished our successors all the best, and headed west towards the Oregon coast. The plan is a 5 day tour that will take us to bookstores throughout the Oregon coast and central Washington region.
We want to give back to and promote PNBA. So – Tuesday we begin our much-anticipated journey. We hope to talk to people about books, Independent Bookstore Day, Bestsellers lists, Holiday catalogs and other PNBA benefits. We hope to collect memories and books, photos and new/old friends to share with you. Tomorrow, we leave Portland and head to the coast: Manzanita, Cannon Beach, Seaside and Astoria.
Look for our posts along the way.
We wish you well.
–Leigh Ann and Maggie
Day 1: March 23, 2015
We started in Portland at 9 am and headed for the coast on highway 26. Our first spontaneous decision was veering off onto Highway 6, and we were delighted to discover that this is wine country. We witnessed the cutting down of a 60 foot tree which was pretty exciting and stopped for a nostalgic bookmobile visit. We blitzed through Tillamook and Rockaway with no bookstore sightings. In Nehalem we stopped at a lovely gift shop, Trillium, and talked with Susan about bookstores she frequents, with the Cloud and Leaf Bookstore in Manzanita being the only one close by.
Leigh Ann at Cannon Beach Books
We found it on the main street looking very much like an inviting hobbit house. We missed seeing Jody, the owner, but we enjoyed our discussion with Susan, an enthusiastic employee. The store is a gem.
Next we visited the Cannon Beach Book Company, which has new owners as of last summer, Deb and Maureen. Deb was not at the store but Maureen and Kay, a faithful employee, were happy to see us. The store looks great and they will definitely attend the next PNBA trade show for the first time as owners.
Then onward to Beach Books in Seaside. Karen moved the store to this corner location recently. The books and Oz (the resident rather large cat) are very happy here.
We called Karla at Time Enough Books in Ilwaco. It was a great surprise that Luanne, a former bookstore owner and dedicated PNBA volunteer, answered the phone. Karla was on vacation and Luanne was helping out.
It was 5 pm by this time, so we met Luanne at Lucy’s Books in Astoria. Lucy’s is a sweet store and Lisa, the new owner, told us she was very excited about PNBA. She attended the show last year and found both the education and trade show extremely beneficial.
That’s it from the road. More soon.
–Maggie and Leigh Ann
Maggie is the former owner of Parnassus Books in Ketchikan, AK. Leigh Ann has been the Trade Book Buyer/Assistant Manager at the Western A.S. Bookstore.
I see an empty back seat. When do you two pick up your Brad Pitt character?
I have always loved what you do and this is the cherry on top
Love it! I know Sylla will totally agree with this as well. PNBA board members on the road visiting bookstores~ Such an awesome idea! Love you both
So great! Claudia is right – I wish I was doing this…Someday!
Brian,
I understand the Brad reference, however…. Leigh Ann and I would’ve much rather come across one our wonderful Pacific Northwest authors (you can fill in the blank from the numerous choices) for our back seat. By time we reached Bellingham, the seat was barely visible beneath all of the treasures we collected along the way.