The New Place

It's too bad when nice places fold up.  People get used to how a place is.  How it feels to go there. Those nice places have a way of growing inside the folks who frequent them, and when they disappear, the people feel the loss.  

The Hard to Find Bookshop on St. Benedict's Street was one of those nice places. It was fine in every way a used book store ought to be.  

Sadly, the church that owned the building it was in decided to sell it. Used books don't generate the kind of cash that would have been needed to buy it, so it folded.  

And was reborn. 

This is my starting point on K' Road in Auckland. This is the Rainbow Bridge. From here it's about a 20 minute walk to the old or a 25 minute walk to the new location.  

I climbed to the old place in the morning sun. At the top of the hill I climbed again from the street to the front door. In stronger sun.  

 

The new place hasn't as much sun. I only climb a little early on from the Rainbow Bridge and from Symonds Street near the store, I turn, then turn again, descending, to reach it.  In the morning when I go, the last two blocks are shaded.  

Let me show you around inside the new place. It's on a basement level. I step down from the street to enter and then take several more steps down to the main floor.  

Rather than the multitude of small rooms the old place had, this is mostly one large room. It feels good though. The books are, of course, what makes the place, and this feels right. There are many reminders from the old place.  

The quirky chest of drawers seems to say, 'Yeah, remember me? This is it. You've found us again.  It's all still here and something's got your name on it."  

Do you see the yellow chair on the left?  I've gone through a stack of Wodehouse books there, decided which ones I'd take, and recently sat there and decided on Flannery O'Connor and Hemingway books of short stories.   

The pulpit from the old Chapel.  

I read that there are 150,000 books here.  The atmosphere is charged with the aroma of years.  

Recent purchases. 

Old friends leave and new friends arrive.  In this case, much of the old is alive and well in the new.  I'll always miss the old location, but I'm already very fond of this one.  

I wish you could all get to know this place. Its chairs have been molded by thousands no doubt to provide maximum comfort when taking a break from browsing.

You can do one thing though, to simulate a visit to the Hard to Find Bookshop. You can find your oldest book, sit in your most comfortable chair or sofa, close your eyes, hold the book beneath your nose, and sniff. Hopefully, if your book is properly aged, you'll smell the exact same smell that permeates my bookstore.  

And if you don't have any books of sufficient history, by all means go out and find the oldest book you can find and buy it. You want something at least 50 years old. Go to it.     -djf