Late last year I drove over to Birmingham to visit my daughter and she insisted that we check out Jim Reed Books/The Museum of Fond Thought located in the historic downtown district. She knows what I like.
In business since 1980, the store boasts a collection of about 50,000 books, magazines and posters along with another 250,000 undocumented items. It's a great place to browse down memory lane. Many of the books that fill the shelves I hadn't seen in a while, but I recall as being quite popular in their heyday. (How soon the bloom of popularity can fade.) I ended up purchasing a copy of Jim Harrison's 1984 novel Sundog. When I am in a reading rut, I always turn to Harrison to get out of it. His novels are spirited and meaningful without being pretentious (kind of like Reed Books).
It is worth stopping by Reed Books when you're in Birmingham, if for no other reason than to get on their mailing list. Since I signed up, I now get weekly, quirky, emails from the owner Jim Reed promoting the store, which includes a list of items people purchased throughout the week (Kind of like the MARTA book club). Reed, who is also a writer, edits the Birmingham Arts Journal.
You sure are lucky to have a cool daughter to take you fun places!
Posted by: Bonnybee | January 11, 2012 at 11:48 PM