Honeymoon Bookstore Tourism

I was recently clever (and lucky) enough to marry a man who loves reading and bookstores as much as I do. On our third date, he gave me a book of poetry purchased from a bookstore he'd discovered while he'd been away on a cycling trip. On our fourth date, he invited me to his house for dinner, and when I arrived, my poetry book was casually lying on his coffee table. Obviously, this man had me pegged.

It's no surprise, then, that our two-part honeymoon through Southern Colorado and the Pacific Northwest included sniffing out bookstores wherever we went. We visited some old favorites in Telluride and Crested Butte, and we discovered several new ones along the way. And of course, we purchased poetry in each one.

My favorite finds were Olivia Gatwood's collection, New American Best Friend, and Oregon Poet Laureate Kim Stafford's tribute to his brother, 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do. Both books are worthy reads from very different writers.

Below are a few snaps of the new bookstores we found.

Top row: Maria's Bookshop, Durango, Colorado; Buckskin Booksellers, Ouray, Colorado

Middle row: Powell's Books, Portland, Oregon; Griffin Bay Bookstore, San Juan Island, Washington

Bottom row: Serendipity Used Books, San Juan Island, Washington; Eagle Harbour Book Co., Bainbridge Island, Washington

Powell's Books in Portland is worth its own look. Incredible. The bottom three photos below are all from the poetry section. I've never seen anything like it. It was overwhelming, and for a while I found myself staggering around, not sure where to start. It was a pretty nice problem to have, and I'm resigned to the fact that I'll just have to come back again and again until I master it.