Christmas Between the Covers

"Book lovers are thought by unbookish people to be gentle and unworldly, and perhaps a few of them are so. But there are those who need books as wildly as the dope-taker in pursuit of his drug. They may not want the book to read immediately, or at all; they want them to possess, to arrange on their shelves, to place by their bedside." Robertson Davies

I can't imagine a better vacation! We stayed down the street from The Tattered Cover in LoDo and spent four or five hours there each day. Dixon's, the awesome restaurant next door, served us Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Anglaise Sauce for dessert, and custard soaked French Toast with pure maple syrup for breakfast (almost the same, but since it was served as the meal, I'm sure it was healthier.) While other people ski, snowshoe and sleigh ride, my heaven is a cozy barn that smells like cherry pie and features plump, soft chairs, oak library tables, and thousands of books.

Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes." Erasmus

"Like the faces of people, books develop character as they age. Is there a more pleasant place than a room full of books?" Erik Christian Haugaard




"The great gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites. It gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind...I like being around books. It makes me feel civilized. The only way to do all the things you'd like to do is to read." Tom Clancy

From our earliest days together Dee and I have haunted bookstores...actually some of them are haunted, they say! Where else are there real ghosts from the past, telling their stories and inviting us into their lives?

When we go out, we usually have a fabulous meal somewhere, with the idea of going to a movie after. Most of the time we skip the movie, and visit a bookstore instead, and go home early to read our new purchases. There have been many nights that one of us has started a book, and found the other in the middle of it the next morning. Helen MacInnes was one of the first favorite authors we shared, then Robert Ludlum, and Frederick Forsythe.

Searching out bookstores in faraway places and spending hours in little cubby holes, between the covers of old books, is our favorite pastime when we travel, too. A few of our discoveries are:

1. The Mysterious Bookstore, NYC
2. Chapters Bookstore, Toronto
3. Indigo Bookstore, Ottawa
4. Mystery Books, Washington, DC
5. Get Lost Travel Books, San Francisco
6. Howell's Bookstore, San Francisco
7. Shakespeare and Company, Paris
8. Galignani, Paris
9. Books of Wonder, NYC
10. Hatchards, London
11. The Tattered Cover, Denver
12. The Bookbarn, West Chester, PA
13. Banff Avenue Bookstore, Banff
14. White Rose Books, Thirsk, Yorkshire
15. Waterstone's Bookstore, York England

Our itineraries are often arranged around visits to bookstores, and I try to choose a hotel within walking distance of a great bookstore. Do you have any suggestions? Kris told me that Powells in Portland is fabulous, so when I'm going that direction, I'm anxious to visit. Look for me. I'll be next to this guy!

The Bookworm, by Carl Spitzweg

Logan Pearsall Smith summed it up this way: "People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."