Getting Lost in the Mine

It was one of those rare twice-a-year Saturdays.  One where we travel to Jacksonville to load up on books from the Chamblin Bookmine.

It may not be the biggest bookstore on Earth, but it sure feels that way when you are in its rambling corridors.  You see how the aisle gently curves so you cannot see the end of the corridor?  The whole store is like that - a mysterious jumble of corridors and sections, sometimes with combinations and connections you wouldn't expect.  Christianity is near human sexuality, near the juvenile section is Presidential Histories.  You can wander from graphic novels to travel books. 

I have been to two of the bookstores that are bragged about the most as being among the best in the country.  One was the Strand in New York City.  The other was Powell Books in Portland, Oregon.  Both were huge, impressive bookstores.  But both are in more modern, carefully laid out buildings.  They have multiple floors, and special rooms for rare books.  They have attentive staff, and clearly laid out departments for trading and selling books.  The feel fantastic, and I loved being in them.  At Powell's, I was able to give them my book for store credit, so that History of the Trap can be on their shelves for sale!

They're marvelous, but they're not an adventure.  Chamblin Bookmine is an adventure.  It's like a Dungeons & Dragons game for the book lover.  There is always something new and exciting to discover.

They have a wide variety of older books.  I have been slowly collecting some of my favorite authors there - the books don't have to be new or in-print.  They often have both the more popular works, but also the more obscure.  I have been collecting books by H.G. Wells, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Jim Thompson and Margaret Atwood, just to name a few.

If you live near Jacksonville, or are there for any reason, and you love books, please give Chamblin Bookmine a visit.  An adventure awaits you!