Happy end-of-September week, bookish friend! I started another book over the weekend, so this week is going to be a bit of famine-and-feast: no book reviews at the outset and then an absolute barrage of them later on. Over the weekend the ladyfriend and I — let’s call her Joy — celebrated our two years of her putting up with me by driving across the state to Jacksonville, Alabama. We were not there to cheer on the Fighting Gamecocks, but to check out a bookstore known for its collection of rare and first-edition books. (We did some exploring before and after, finding everything from a Civil War-era furnace turned knife museum to an old train station that’s been incorporated into a rails-to-trails project. And the furnace was her idea!)

Somehow, neither of us took a picture of the outside of the bookstore: we may have been distracted by the typewriters in the window.

I am not exaggerating when I say that the inside of Recollected Books is 90% books, 9% aisle, and 1% cat. Every usable inch of the place was crammed with books!

Every. Usable. Inch.

I’d imposed a limit on myself of $20 dollars (I wound up spending $24, I think), so I purposely didn’t tempt myself with any first editions. There were some I had to admire, though.

Profiles came in a plastic wrapper to protect it from grubby-handed window shoppers. The shop also had unusual decor:

I wish I’d got a general shot of the interior, but this instagram post will give you some indication of how busy it was. There were so many books in this shop I could delight in the Old Book Smell oooozing out the front door!

I’m planning on going to the grand opening of another indie bookshop in Prattville, so this ‘celebrating indie book shops’ may turn into an occasional series.

Afterwards, we found a place to eat with an irresistible smell. Until next time!