Hey there, bookworms! I’m back again (I know, so soon). I hope you’re all enjoying the start to this week and have your TBR under way! I know I’m falling behind already, but that’s not surprising. I always do. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.
Anyway, I was debating on bringing you guys another review for a book I finished over the weekend (and I’m obsessed with), but I decided to break it up a bit. Since I gave you a review yesterday, I figured I’d talk about my latest find and adventure instead.
When I’m out and about, I’m always looking for some kind of bookstore or library. I may even prepare and do some Google research before said outing. Last weekend was no exception.
I was lucky enough to take a few days from work and have a long weekend to visit a friend who recently moved to Tennessee. Of course I bugged and dragged her to find some literary treasures while I was down there. I’ve been to the state before, but I had never been to Nashville specifically, so I wore Google down and searched Pinterest for the little bookish hideaways I might plan to encounter. One of the top picks I wanted to visit was, unfortunately, closed for good.. which made me sad. It almost made me want to rescue and re-open it, but I don’t have that kind of income.. or inventory (lol). I did, however, find a place called Elder’s Bookstore, and it wasn’t far from my friend’s house, so, it was time to make a pit stop.
Now, here’s the deal. Elder’s was adamant about zero cell phones and such upon entering the store, so the pictures I grabbed are straight from Google Images, but it was such a cool place that I decided I couldn’t tell you about it and then not show you what it looks like. So that’s the little Author’s Note regarding the images.
Thank goodness for GPS because this place was almost a little bit hard to miss. There are a few shopping areas surrounding this store, and there’s no massive sign out to tell you where it is, so the only way I recognized the building was from my earlier planning, so I’m glad I did just that before getting on a plane.
Once our cell phones were off, my friends and I ventured inside. The one little thing that my friend pointed out, that wound up putting me off a bit, were all the political newspaper clippings taped to the ends of some of the bookshelves. I just prefer that if you own or operate a business, to just keep the politics a little bit on the hush hush side. That’s just my opinion. I did my best to ignore that aspect and instead, focus on the books, because there were a LOT of them.
I didn’t know it at the time, but Elder’s has been in business for over 75 years. That’s just… astounding. I was beyond impressed the moment I walked in the building. If it had a stove, toilet, and bed, I could have very easily made this place my home.
I found books on history, academia, fictional, past, present, rare. You name it, that special or unique book you’re looking for, this place probably has it. For being such a quaint shop, it was rather overwhelming and I just didn’t know where to start, and unfortunately, didn’t have all day to look through every single item.
One of the best things about this place? The SMELL! You fellow bookworms know exactly what I’m talking about. I don’t even need to elaborate on that little gem. Seriously, just go here and have a sniff!
Clearly, you can see that almost every single nook and cranny of this place are filled. It was quite a bit to take in, to be honest.
What I did in order to save time and be a little efficient since I was only browsing to check the place out was just scope to see if anything cool caught my eye… and caught my eye, they did.
I couldn’t buy a PILE of books because I was only in Nashville for four days and I was limited on carry-on space in my bags. I wound up leaving with two books and still had to carry them home to New Jersey in a paper bag.
I got my Gabriel Emerson (my favorite book boyfriend from the Gabriel’s Inferno series by Sylvain Reynard) inspiration by picking up a Harvard Classics edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy. While I was at the register, Mr. Elder showed me another copy of the same book with illustrations by William Blake that he had just received for the store. I’m kind of kicking myself for not grabbing that copy as well, but I had to stick with my Harvard copy for the time being.
This history nerd in me geeked out a bit over this funky find. My next (and last) purchase was The King’s Handbook of the United States from 1891. It has a protective covering that I just can’t bring myself to remove, and it smells divine.
Since I arrived home, these two have found their forever home on my shelves, and I’m in utter bliss having added them to my collection. I’m glad I ventured into this little treasure trove. If you’re ever in the Nashville area and need to add some books to your TBR, go check out Elder’s!
Until next time, y’all! Happy Reading!
