Independent bookstores: A glimpse into the soul of a city

Contributing to the cultural fabric / Powell's City of Books, Portland, Ore.

The comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said that a bookstore is "one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking."

Thank goodness for bookstores. Thank goodness we are still thinking, too.

Visiting independent bookstores are always a treat because they offer something unique. Whenever I travel, I try to seek them out. They offer a glimpse into the soul of a city and a sense of a pretty cool place to buy a book.

Despite the shuddering of nationwide chain Borders a few years ago and the bland sameness of Barnes & Noble stores throughout the U.S, we can be grateful for the colorfulness of independent bookstores across the country. In cities such as Portland, Ore., independent bookstores like Powell's City of Books – which covers an entire city block and offers maps for its customers – not only are thriving, they contribute to a city's cultural fabric.

READ / Window display outside of
Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle.

A neon READ sign in a window display greets customers as they walk by Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. It's a sign I never tire of photographing each time I visit the bookstore – and I've been coming to Seattle for more than 20 years. With over 120,000 titles to browse, and a spacious interior that includes original fir floors, a beamed ceiling with skylights, and an in-store café, Elliott Bay Book Company is always on our list of places to see – and to buy a book – when we visit our longtime Seattle friends.

Last Saturday, Independent Bookstore Day was celebrated across the United States. It brought to mind the many wonderful and unique independent bookstores I've visited over the years and willingly patronized. A few of them come to mind:

Book Passage in San Francisco's Ferry Plaza Building; Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts in Berkeley; Powell's City of Books in Portland, Ore.; Books & Books  in Coral Gables, Fla.; Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, Miss.; Faulkner House Books on Pirate's Alley in New Orleans; Common Good Books in Saint Paul, Minn.; and my favorite, Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle.

Bought a good book lately? Remember: Support your local independent bookstore. READ!

Original fir floors, beamed ceilings, plenty of
 books inside Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle.

Tomes Not Drones / Timeless commentary
at Common Good Books, Saint Paul. 

Eat Sleep Read Dig / Window mantra
at Mrs. Dalloway's Literary & Garden Arts,
Berkeley, Calif.

We Recommend ... / Good books,
great atmosphere at Book Passage,
inside the Ferry Plaza Building,
along San Francisco's Embarcadero.

All photos: © Michael Dickens, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.

2012 ~ My Year in Pictures

The beauty of nature / Dutch tulips at Floriade 2012.

I'm an avid photographer.

Most of you who follow this blog or are friends of mine on Facebook know this about me. And, as picture taking has matured from film to digital, the hobby of photography has become easier and more affordable. No longer do I have to buy and store film or worry about whether the roll of film I shot of the Eiffel Tower is in focus or not. Instead, I make it a habit to bring my camera (a Canon PowerShot A570 IS) with me wherever I go or travel. Thanks to the addition of an iPhone two years ago, I now have two sources for taking pictures.

As I have transitioned into becoming a digital photographer, it has allowed me to become my own editor. For instance, if I take a photo that I'm not happy with, I can easily delete it and re-shoot the photo, then edit it for clarity. And, thanks to social media like Facebook, uploading and sharing photos with a large group of friends has become fast and simple ~ and, a daily exercise to share with others "it's what's on my mind."

Each year, I take more than a thousand photographs of people, places and things. In revisiting the photo albums I've shot over the past 12 months, I've pulled together a group of 50 photos that I'm pretty excited about. They cover a variety of things important and interesting to me: Flowers and nature, sports, music and urban landscapes in cities like San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. 

You may recognize some of these photos from appearing on my Facebook page.

I hope you enjoy the exhibit and I welcome your comments and feedback.

Cheers and Happy 2013!

Brussels / Le Botanique.

Brussels / Walking through Le Botanique.

Brussels / The Grote Markt (Grand Place).

Brussels / Le Cure Gourmande.

Brussels / Corne chocolatier in Galleries Royale
St. Hubert.

Brussels / Chocolate sculpture in
Galleries Royale St. Hubert.

Brussels / Colorful public art.

Brussels / St. Michael and St. Gudula
Cathedral.

Brussels / Hotel Bloom.

Paris / Notre Dame Cathedral.

Paris / Sculpture artwork at Notre Dame Cathedral.

Paris / Notre Dame Cathedral.

Paris / "Flowers That Bloom at Midnight"
Sculpture by Yayoi Kusama.

Paris / Arc de Triomphe at
Place Charles de Gaulle.

Paris / Le Tour Eiffel.

Amsterdam / Pop culture meets fashion.

Amsterdam / At the Bloemenmarkt.

Amsterdam / The Concert-Gebouw at night.

Amsterdam / Through the looking glass.

Amsterdam / In the courtyard of the
 Hermitage Amsterdam.

Amsterdam / Dutch tulips outside the Rijksmuseum.

Amsterdam / The Venice of the North.

At home / Pristine rose bud.

At home / Pristine rose bloom.

At home / Pristine rose bloom.

Seattle / Saturday breakfast French toast at Chinook's.

Seattle / The Space Needle.

Seattle / Monument at the
Fishermen's Terminal.

Seattle / Late summer sunset over the Puget Sound.

Seattle / Labor Day baseball at Safeco Field.

Portland / Whisper hybrid tea rose at International
Test Rose Garden.

Portland / The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
playing at the Doug Fir.

At home / Mr. Lincoln red rose
in black and white.

Portland / On the grounds of the International
Test Rose Gardens.

Berkeley / The Cal women's volleyball team
celebrates a victory and waves to the crowd.

At home / Queen Elizabeth rose bloom.

San Francisco / Seeing Glen Hansard
at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

At home / Enjoying an autumn Queen Elizabeth rose
blooming in our backyard garden.

San Francisco / Grace Cathedral.

Berkeley / University of California women's volleyball
team in action.

San Francisco / Classic Converse Jack Purcell sneaker.

San Francisco / Giants World Series victory parade
along Market Street with team broadcasters.

Berkeley / Kat Brown of the
Cal women's volleyball team being
interviewed by the Pac-12 Network.

Oakland / Lake Merritt on Thanksgiving Day
standing on pier at Lake Chalet. 

San Francisco / SPCA Adopt-a-Pet display at Macy's
during holiday season.

At home / Late-season First Prize rose.

Albert Lea, Minn. / Fountain Lake view as seen
on Christmas Eve afternoon.

Berkeley / Court side view of Cal women's basketball
game against George Washington University.

Amsterdam / Classic bicycle that is everyone's
choice for transportation around the city.

At home / An amazing spider web that
I photographed on our patio deck.

All photographs by Michael Dickens, copyright 2013. All rights reserved.