Still Think There Are No Old Bookstores in Tyler?

January 8th, 2010

Try Fireside Books

As someone who loves books I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I never realized just how many bookstores we have in Tyler. One of the better ones is found at 110 East Houston, and has been at that location for nearly ten years. Fireside Books is not for the casual reader who knows exactly what he or she wants.

This is not a chain, where the reader can walk to a carefully arranged aisle and select the latest novel by the trendiest, hottest new writer. This is a bookstore for the reader for whom the six dollar paperback is not sufficient and time is not an issue. With its dusty shelves, and stacks of books scattered literally all over the store, it almost seems not to belong in Tyler at all. And the lack of conventional organization only adds to the charm.

Many of the books found here are of the old and rare variety. The store stocks a great many first editions and signed copies. Local authors and bestsellers are on hand. There are large paperbacks and leather bond biographies. Fireside does not stock an inordinate number of common paperbacks. Not to say they have none; just that they do not make up a very large portion of the store’s inventory, which is rare in the used book biz.

The history section is probably the crowning jewel of the place. There are both familiar and unfamiliar volumes, on a wide range of historical topics. The Texas history section in particular is excellent and features biographies of many famous Texans. All the editions they sell are clean copies; which brings me to another plus. Fireside doesn’t waste the customer’s time pushing damaged or otherwise low quality literature as a means of rounding out their inventory. Every shelf seems to have something worth reading, (unless of course you’ve no interest whatever in the subject matter).

A warning though, for the impatient shopper, on the hunt for a particular title this bookseller may be a bit frustrating. The local chain is probably a better choice for that person. Fireside is for the reader who sees the journey as its own reward. If you enjoy pulling up a spot on the floor and perusing a stack of yet to be stocked books, this is probably for you. But be careful you may end up losing track of time or going over your spending limit.

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A Large Bookseller With Local Appeal

January 8th, 2010

While the Barnes and Noble chain is often seen as the Walmart of the bookselling world, the benefits of having one in Tyler are innumerable. Even though B&N is far from a local business, it has become something of a social and cultural center here. Not only does the store boast thousands of titles for sale, but since its opening, countless musical presentations, author signings, and other events have taken place within its doors.

The Starbucks café has served as a meeting place for book clubs, chess players, church groups, and even the occasional college student cramming over a cup of Joe. Sometimes it’s a place for prearranged meetings, and sometimes it’s just a place to kill time. And who can resist wandering the book filled aisles looking for nothing in particular, but finding some volume we can’t live without.

On-line booksellers like Amazon.com or even Barnes&Noble.com and others are useful tools for locating those hard to find or out of print books. But they cannot replace the bookstore experience. It is one of the pleasures of life to sit on the floor and read the first couple chapters of a book before deciding whether or not to make the purchase. And unlike electronic books, a hard copy will never crash or freeze up.

The sympathies of a literary purest aside, the book store turns a tidy profit, both for the company and the community, and with a sizable staff employed there a certain amount of the dollars do stay in Tyler. So even though our neighbor B&N isn’t company headquarters, and its not a mom & pop style business it is nevertheless a staple of our local community, one we are fortunate to have.

Tags: Aisles, Amazon, Author Signings, Barnes and Nobles, Barnes and Nobles Tyler Texas, Bookseller, Bookstore Experience, Chess Players, Church Groups, Company Headquarters, Couple Chapters, Cup Of Joe, Electronic Books, Line Booksellers, Musical Presentations, Pop Style, Starbucks, Starbucks and Barnes and Nobles, Style Business, Sympathies, T Company, Tidy Profit, Walmart
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Holiday Reading

December 17th, 2009

Well, Christmas is upon us again and we’re all busy rushing around looking for those perfect gifts for the people in our lives. As someone who grew up in a family of teachers, books have always been a huge part of our holiday giving. For our family a welcome part of the holiday experience has always been taking the time to sit down crack open some new reading. I’ve written fairly extensively about Tyler’s area bookstores, but given the season I thought it might be advantageous to our readers to quickly revisit some of our better establishments for those looking for some seasonal literature.

Barnes and Noble

B & N in Tyler always has some great deals for Christmas. If you’re looking for the latest best sellers you can’t do much better the retail giant. They usually offer about a twenty or thirty percent discount on whatever happens to be hot at the time. They also have a huge selection of calendars, cards and other gifty items. Another advantage of shopping there is the café. The Starbucks franchise sells everything any coffee addict might want, from travel mugs to bags of coffee beans. The one disadvantage (if it bothers you), are the crowds. As with most retail stores; the Barnes and Noble does a large percentage of its business at this time of year. If you don’t mind the rush however, this is always a great place to check out.

Fireside Books

For those looking for literature on the more unique side I would suggest Checking out Fireside Books at 110 East Houston. This is a locally owned bookseller specializing in used and rare books. The store is not as trendy or seasonal as B & N, but for those on our Christmas lists who value those more obscure or hard to find titles this is good place to check out.

Pea Picker Books

I my opinion Pea Picker is not a store for those bigger gifts. The business carries largely paperback books of varying quality and is probably not the place for nicer purchases. If you’re looking for stocking stuffers or more last minute items you may have some success, but don’t expect to find too many gems.

Lifeway Christian Stores

Lifeway is another good seasonal store (not unlike B & N actually) with a Christian theme. The store carries the latest Christian literature, music and gifts. They also sell mugs and coffee. The new location is a beautiful store, and will undoubtedly be a busy place in Tyler this Christmas.

The Scroll

I must confess that the Scroll is one of my area Favs. It is a Christian bookstore with a wide variety of literature. They carry all kinds of music, gifts, mugs and other items with a religious theme. The staff is there to offer any assistance the customer may require. This area business has been a staple in Tyler for a lot of years so expect a busy store.

There are a few other Booksellers in town but these are probably the best ones to visit for the holiday shopping. For those who require a more detailed description of the stores listed above, visit the Tyler Blog section of this site and look for the following titles: A large bookseller with local appeal, Still think there are no are no old bookstores in Tyler, The Scroll Christian Bookstore in Tyler, Pea Picker Books in Tyler, and The New Lifeway in Tyler.

Tags: Barnes and Noble, Bookseller, Christmas Books, Christmas Lists, Coffee Addict, Coffee Beans, East Houston, Fireside Books, Holiday Experience, Holiday Reading, New Reading, Paperback Books, Pea Picker, Perfect Gifts, Rare Books, Retail Giant, Retail Stores, Starbucks, Starbucks Franchise, Teachers Books, Time Of Year, Travel Mugs, Tyler TX Books
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Tyler’s Book Barn

September 15th, 2009

Well, I mistakenly believed that I had written about all the bookstores in Tyler; that is until I was told about the Book Barn. So out of a desire to do justice to all the small local booksellers I paid the passed over store a visit.

The Book Barn advertises as a used bookstore with new bookstore atmosphere. While I would love to say that the establishment lives up to its mantra, it just doesn’t. I walked through the store and found that nearly the entire inventory was composed of paperbacks which could be found in an airport newsstand. They carried the usual thrillers and tech novels, and of course the ever present romance novels, but the history section was pathetically thin. If cookbooks and self help books are what you’re after, than sure, this may be the place, for you, but you may need to look elsewhere for classic literature, especially if you want a hardcover.

If you’ve read my review of Pea Picker Books, (which can be found under the Tyler blog section of this site), you’d know I’m not a huge fan of that particular store, but at least their huge volume makes it worth checking out. You may even discover some hard to find selections there. Unfortunately, Book Barn’s selection is very small. There are an awful lot of gaps on the shelves, and what they carry is mostly mainstream and easily found elsewhere. The store has yet to find its own niche in Tyler’s already crowded market.

The fact is, there is more to owning a used bookstore than just loving books and having a big library. Book Barn needs to offer something readers can’t find at other area establishments besides promising a lower price. There are plenty of other options offering the same advantage with a better selection. And the atmosphere is not a big enough draw to pick up the slack.

On a scale of one to five I’m forced to give the Book Barn a two. I’d love rate the store higher out of a desire to help a local bookseller, but I just wasn’t that impressed with the selection. For those who are still interested they are located on South Broadway in the French Quarter around the corner from China King. Perhaps other readers will have better luck finding what they are looking for than I did.

Tags: book barn, Bookseller, Booksellers, Bookstores, Classic Literature, Cookbooks, Establishments, Gaps, History Section, Library Book, Loving Books, Mantra, Newsstand, Niche Market, Paperbacks, Pea Picker, Romance Novels, Self Help Books, Shelves, Slack, Thrillers, tyler texas book barn, tyler tx book barn, used bookstore in Tyler Texas
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