Literary Interlude - The English Major Bookstore

hello kiddies - something you should know about.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

The English Major Bookstore, for everyone i've met so far in memphis who says "we need a good bookstore in midtown omg sooo bad!!!!" well here it is. i met the proprietor, Karin Morley, when i was still an employee of a certain coffee establishment downtown which shall remain nameless, and we've been chatting back and forth for the last few months as she prepared to throw open her doors about the trials and tribulations of a small business owner and oh goodness isn't it all so tragic. ANYWAY. you wanted a bookstore. here, in fact, is a bookstore.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

books, old and new! she's got no shortage of stock and is apparently bringing in new titles by the truckload every day. the store's been open roughly three months or so and is still very much in the process of growing and changing, but the books are there, the prices are good, and karin's always on hand to let you know what the next big plans are.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

case in point - sections actually started happening in between my last visit and this one, and apparently a whole back wall of some type has been constructed since these pictures were taken. i find this shit so fascinating, to watch something grow this way.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

apologies for the blurriness of some of these pictures - i am a complete f-head when it comes to my camera sometimes and i forgot to press a button. anyway there are little quotes like this sprinkled throughout the store (and throughout karin's awesome blog) which are usually pretty delightful in their simplicity and not too hallmark-y, which is nice.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

there is, seriously, no shortage of stock, i don't remember exactly how many thousands of books she told me were on hand, but it is quite a lot of thousands, however many it is.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

GIANT SPOOOOOKY HOLE IN THE CEILING OHH NOOOO!!!!!

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

the selection is totally eclectic and great, and patience when browsing the shelves is always rewarded.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

and oh did i mention PUPPIES!!!!!! karin has two of the cutest little dogs that i have ever seen - her "burglar alarms," as she calls them. there was also a cat lurking around somewhere but let's just say it was not feeling photogenic and leave it at that.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

"Between God and Gangsta Rap" two books down from Will Durant's treatise on Rousseau. it warms the heart, truly it does.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

definitely some good genre fiction here too, no shortage of little scifi paperbacks and the like.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

i really love the space the store's in too - words like "intimate" and "cerebral" come to mind, along with phrases like "holy crap there are so many freaking books everywhere." like i said, definitely no shortage of stock, with more coming in every day. but it's also getting packed up and organized every day too, so don't expect squalor or anything, please. i just found this to be a fascinating image, but it's not at all indicative of what most of the store is like. srsly

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

just in case you were wondering where to get an official 1984 price guide to hummel figurines & plates. you should all know by now how much i love this kind of sh*t.

From New Album 9/24/08 2:40 PM

some of you may be asking yourselves "but dear narrator, as an aspiring bookseller yourself, why would you publicize what is ostensibly your future competition, at some point?" well, that's a very profound and insightful thing to ask there, imaginary person who lives in my head and asks me conveniently leading questions! good work! the answer is pretty simple. it's a good store and i'm happy it's open and i want it to stay that way. as i said earlier i've been chatting on and off with karin for months and we both decided early on that MORE bookstores in midtown is better than LESS, and that, in the final summation, there are probably enough books to go around (and enough people to buy them).

so. bottom line.

English Major Bookstore
1700 Madison Ave (Madison + Belvedere)
Memphis TN
833-3099
T-Sat 11-6
Sun 12-5

tell your friends, tell you neighbors, tell your pets but don't expect them to do anything but give you the same quizzical look they always do. blog is here. go. go now. go to store. buy book. well wait don't actually go RIGHT now, it's 7 in the morning. let me rephrase. go. go during store hours. pet dogs. look at weird hole in ceiling. buy many book. good.

good.

d

ps we'll be returning to our regularly scheduled programming tout and/or suite here pretty shortly, with promised beef-ups in design and content and all that good stuff. keep your eyes peeled. until then love ya lots and go buy some books, dammit!