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Saturday, July 2, 2022

Asheville, NC Vacation - Part 5 - Two Bookstores and some author info...

Last post about our trip to North Carolina.  I wanted to share pictures of two bookstores we visited and, of course, I bought a couple of books.  Not too many as I was having to transport back by air.  Anyway, hope you enjoy these.

The first bookstore is in downtown Asheville and it's called Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe.  We really enjoyed looking around the store and I bought one of those 'blind date'-type books.  More about that below.  The employees were very friendly and there was a great display of local/areawide authors that was fun.

I learned that an author that I'd been aware of, but not read, was from the area.  His name is Mark de Castrique and he has a mystery series, featuring Sam Blackman, that's published by the Poisoned Pen Press.  It is set in Asheville and, as I said, I'd been aware of his books - probably saw them at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore.  Anyway, I was glad to know the Asheville connection.

I also had vaguely known that Zelda Fitzgerald had been mentally ill and hospitalized for a portion of her life.  It turns out that she had been a patient at Highland Hospital in Asheville and actually died in a fire at that hospital.  Anyway, Lee Smith, an author that I've read a couple of times, wrote a book called Guests On Earth, and it's a fictionalized account of mental illness treatment in the early 1900's and includes the fire at Highland Hospital where 9 women died in the fire.  I'm planning on reading Guests On Earth at some point.  As I said, nice display about area authors.      




 

My 'blind date' book is below.  As you can see it was wrapped in brown paper and had 'Asheville landmarks, Mystery and murder, Quirky characters, Amazing animals, Roller derby, And a bird to love' as a teaser.  Yes, they had me at 'Mystery and murder'.  When I bought the book, the staff at the checkout desk said that I would likely not guess the author if I wasn't from the area.  And I did not guess.    


When I unwrapped the package, I found As The Crow Dies by Kenneth Butcher.  I haven't started it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.    
 

The second bookstore that we visited was in the little town of Hickory, North Carolina and called The Book Exchange.  It's between Asheville and Charlotte.  A fun little used bookstore that I enjoyed wandering around for a bit.  




I told the lady behind the counter that I was checking to see if they had any of Mark de Castrique's books, since I had just discovered that Asheville mystery series.  Happily, they did have one book and I snatched it up.  It's the 7th book in the series and entitled Murder In Rat Alley.  The first book, which my local library happily has, is Blackman's Coffin and I think there just happens to be a picture of the Biltmore on the cover.  Ha! 


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Well, that concludes my lengthy sharing about our North Carolina trip.  As I've said, we had a great time.  Hope you found something you didn't know or of interest to you.

Take care everyone and I hope that all have a nice holiday weekend if you're in the US.  Happy 4th of July!


26 comments:

  1. Oh how fun. I love to visit bookstores when on vacation!
    Mary @Bookfan

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    1. Bookstores and libraries - I usually visit both when we travel. I actually visited the main library in Asheville and it was nice, but I didn't have anything 'unique' to share about it. :-)

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  2. It's always fun to visit local bookstores on vacation!

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  3. I love going to bookstores in other cities. My favorite one so far is The Strand in NYC.

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    1. Vicki, I've not ever been to NYC, but if I ever get there, The Strand is definitely on my list!

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  4. After all the yammering I've done about Mark de Castrique on my blog, it took actually going to North Carolina for you to get your hands on one of his books. Hallelujah! I really think you're going to love his series-- and it would be best if you started with the first one.

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    1. Yes, yes, I get you. Ha! And I am going to start with #1. I had just forgotten that's where the books were set. He's been on my TBR for years, but you know how that goes...LOL!

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  5. I love a good bookshop post! I'm in Cornwall at the moment with my husband and a bookblogging friend from Boston. Going to St. Ives tomorrow and hoping to find a few new books. I'll try to remember to take photos.

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    1. Oh Cath - it would be lovely if you took a few photos and shared them. One never knows where one might travel. Well, maybe not so far these days, but maybe. LOL

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  6. I love visiting bookstores on vacation. I always end up impulse buying a ton of books, because it's vacation! I remember hearing about Guests on Earth and the Zelda Fitzgerald connection. I need to read that too.

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    1. Yes, I usually get a bunch of books, but it's easier when you can ship them home or drive them home. Shipping seemed a little complicated right now and that first bookstore was really busy. We'll have to see what we think about Guests On Earth if we get around to it.

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  7. Fun post! I love visiting bookstores when we're traveling. You found some interesting books that sound like they have great potential. I recognize one bookstore's name - Malaprops - Jen from Introverted Reader has an affiliate relationship with the store! Small world. :)

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    1. Oh, that's interesting about Jen. Lesa Holstine, another blogger, has also talked about and visited that bookstore. When I saw the name, I knew I had heard of it more than once.

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  8. I always try to visit a local bookstore (and, naturally, buy a book or two) when we are on vacation. Thanks for sharing the one you found with us. The "Blind Date with a Book" is such fun... I picked one up once at Book Culture in NYC. Our library often does a "Blind Date" display, complete with decorated brown paper wrappers for Valentine's Day. Always a big hit with patrons!

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    1. Yes, I've done 'blind date' book thing at another bookstore and my library does it for Valentine's Day as well. I think it's fun! With the library this year, I really tried to guess several of the books before I chose one. Not sure how successful I was, but I like the idea.

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  9. Interesting posts Kay. thanks for sharing. I love the "blind date" bundle. Strand Bookstore in NY does that on a quarterly subscription. Not that I need more books. but so fun to see what you get!

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    1. Gayle, I remember you telling about your Strand subscription. That does sound fun!

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  10. So glad you told us about your trip and the bookstores around there. I've always wanted to go to Asheville. I guess I didn't realize Zelda died there. I should read Lee Smith. I'll put her on my list. The mystery series also sounds interesting. Happy reading!

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    1. I love telling others about 'new-to-me' bookstores and libraries. Those are a really pleasant part of any vacation we take.

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  11. I enjoyed traveling vicariously through your posts, Kay. Asheville is on my list of places to visit.

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    1. Catherine, it is a beautiful place indeed. Hope you get to go there one day.

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  12. I love seeing new bookstores, and I have missed that in the last few years. These all look very nice. The mystery book looks very interesting and what fun to buy one like that.

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    1. As I've said, visiting bookstores and libraries are a part of any vacation we take. Or I try to make it so. I love telling about them and showing a picture or two. You never know who might be visiting there next.

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  13. I love Malaprop's. They've asked me to speak there if I'm ever in Asheville again. Thanks for the book recommendations. Glad you had a good vacation.

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    1. Thanks! Glad to know I'm not the only Malaprop's fan! :-)

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Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy to hear your thoughts and will respond as soon as I can. Happy Reading!