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Does the possibility of life exist for bookstores beyond the doors of the behemoth Barnes & Noble? The chain has claimed space with eight storefronts in the Cincinnati area in the past decade, combining the cozy coffee-and-couch feel with the never-ending rows of books, magazines and music.
Contrary to popular belief, though, Cincinnatians have taken that same initiative for more than two decades by hiding behind dusty shelves and diminutive storefronts. They revel in the literature they sell and the customers to whom they sell it.
These stores take everyone who enters into a world where obviously one person’s trash is another person’s greatest work of literature. And each bookstore has more character than any one Barnes & Noble.
The idea to research such stores started with some initial recommendations and later an in-depth look through the White and Yellow Pages. The initial listings ran more than five pages.
After coming to dead ends with many disconnected numbers, I realized these stores weren’t exactly on every street corner across the city. After talking to the owner of what was once Thornapple Wine & Books (and what is now Thornapple Wine), the cause of liquidation for stores was coming into focus quickly.
It only made sense to register this downsizing as an even greater adventure to find these more valuable treasures. And so it began: A trek to find our city’s unique and quirky bookstores.
If these stores don’t satisfy your need for truly quirky bookstores, you might have to find another city. See the sidebar Bookstores Galore to get your own feel for other small stores that make reading more fun and interesting than Harry Potter ever can.
It’s impossible to give the full scoop on every detail of every store in the area. This is at least a dent in the stack, a source for your own adventures out and an opportunity to stick your nose in some old books.
Home Sweet Home
The adventure began in searching for Books in Shandon. Blink once and you might miss the store; blink twice and you might miss the town of Shandon, located west of Ross in the Miami River Valley.
The town itself maintains itself on its history as the first Welsh settlement in Ohio. Among the cornfields and historic markers sits Books in Shandon, a white, ivy-eaten, early-1900s home.
Upon entering in what was once a parlor, you see the house is filled only with books and silence. After scanning the neighboring rooms, in walks Jim Wilson, a warm and friendly old man. Not long after, his wife Carol enters the room from the second floor staircase, sweating in the summer heat.
Jim immediately fills my hands with past news articles, Shandon flyers and Welsh cakes (an old tradition, of course) and invites me to tour the house. We embark first to the garage, where local history reigns supreme, from Miami University books to pamphlets on the first Indians in Ohio. Next comes the kitchen where, shelves of cookbooks sit among coffee cups and the makeshift computer.
The grandparently couple takes pride in their extensive collection and their recent addition of Internet selling, which has helped business greatly, Jim says. Their books seemed to grow as the couple and their children left the U.S. for work and found they needed something familiar.
“When we lived abroad, (the books) helped it feel like home,” Carol says, reminiscing on their adventures.
Visiting Books in Shandon, if you leave without books in tow, you’re at least guaranteed to feel a great sense of warmth after being in the company of the Wilsons and their 3,000-plus books.
Books in Shandon, 4795 Cincinnati-Brookville Road, Shandon, 513-738-2962. Hours: 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
Pleasure Principal
From the storefront on Hamilton Avenue, Elyse’s Passion looks like nothing more than an adult store, the polar opposite of Books in Shandon. Giant XXXs flash and the words “Best Sex Organ” float just above the heads of passers-by.
Upon stepping inside it still looks like an adult bookstore. But if you look hard enough, you’ll see it’s something else entirely.
Owner Elyse Metcalf often sits behind her desk in the front room under a cloud of smoke, guarding her wares, but she immediately pops up to show me the store, pointing out the heavy stock of literature that almost secretly lines the shelves amidst sex toys.
“A lot [of these books] do relate to sex,” Metcalf admits, “but they are not just ‘adult’ books.”
Her collection ranges from books on spirituality and philosophy to feminism and classical literature, with Shakespeare sitting below adult films and Orwell just to the left of glow-in-the-dark body paint.
“My original intent was to mix sex with life,” says Metcalf, but it doesn’t seem like the outside world has seen her store as such.
Over the four years she’s been in business, she has faced obscenity charges, and the Yellow Pages kept Elyse’s Passion listed under “adult stores.” Rather than arguing against this title, she simply adds on that her intent is to “educate, enlighten and (inspire) questions” about sex in the context of our everyday lives.
Metcalf’s store is certainly one of taboo, but it shouldn’t be like that. Her purpose is mature and respectable, especially in a town where people shudder at the mere mention of a Hustler store.
Why doesn’t Metcalf settle for a life as a used bookstore owner? Her formula, however strange, is perfect, taking literature to a different and new level for most people.
Elyse’s Passion, 4181 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-541-0800. Hours: 12-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
On the Down Low
Down the hill from Clifton, in what might be the most random location for a bookstore, sits Books Brengleman. Tom Brengleman, resident coffee drinker and bookstore owner, preferred that his store be left out of this article.
“Good people come in here,” he says. “It’s a word-of-mouth kind of place.”
After contemplating the exposure while talking among his math and philosophy books, he agreed to let me look around, advising me to “start at the top and go with the heat. That way you’ll be cool when you come down … and ready for some coffee.”
It doesn’t take much to realize that Brengleman and his bookstore are truly eccentric, but that’s what makes this adventure all the more worthwhile. After trekking up to the fourth floor, I’m greeted in several rooms by mannequins, all of whom watch over piles and shelves of dusty books. Even though I was warned ahead of time of these chicly dressed ladies on Brengleman’s Web site, they still shock each time I enter a room they inhabit.
For Brengleman, the idea of owning a bookstore came at the perfect time. The year was 1979, and he and a friend had traveled to England, where they wanted to utilize a space for sale to start up a used bookstore and coffee shop.
The England bookstore plan didn’t pan out as hoped for financial reasons. But upon returning to Cincinnati, Brengleman realized his bookstore could be done just as easily here.
“That was before coffee shops were popular and books were worth anything,” he says, thinking back to the start.
Due to the unpopularity of old and used books back then, Brengleman found hundreds of books for a very low price, immediately creating an enormous inventory.
Books Brengleman, 454 West McMicken, Clifton Heights, 513-621-4865. Hours: 2-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Cat’s Meow
At Dickens’ Book Shop in Lebanon, the store’s resident pet brings customers in and always coming back. Dickens, the store’s tiger-striped cat, slinks around the bookshelves and between customers, as if he hasn’t a care in the world. The cat came with the store, which has been around for 14 years but recently changed owners.
Children flood the store on a Sunday afternoon, immediately exclaiming “Hi Dickens!” after moving to the large children’s book section. Just behind the picture and chapter books is a small area of used books, organized by genre, but not much else.
If you’ve been in search of some rare paper doll books, this is your store. Rock’N’Pop Stars of the Sixties is among other books of paper dolls, featuring dolls and wardrobes for Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin and Sonny & Cher.
Dickens’ is your everyday bookstore, but with the addition of Dickens, the founder-of-sorts of the store, you can’t help but feel a sense of community and warmth when you step in from Main Street and see him slink toward you.
Dickens’ Book Shop, 26 S. Broadway, Lebanon, 513-932-7001. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 12-5 p.m. Sunday.
To Infinity and Beyond
Last on the uncharted book territory sits Duttenhofer’s Book Treasures in Clifton Heights. Owner Russell Speidel got the idea to start up his own used bookstore when many of the retiring art professors at UC discarded their books into his hands.
Nearly three decades later, Speidel boasts a large section of art books, “more than most” he emphasizes, along with every other genre of book imaginable. His two plump cats, Fred and Ginger, reside among the shelves, keeping an eye on their food and any suspecting customers.
Speidel’s literature collection is also something to boast about, including his extensive collection of the yellow and black pamphlets, Cliffs Notes, familiar to most students. Also interesting is the old and antique book section that holds a large volume entitled The Young Folks’ Cyclopedia of Common Things, published in 1879. Among entries is a discussion of the planets, a few short of a full solar system back then.
Duttenhofer’s is exactly what a used bookstore should be. Set quietly in a bustling college town, it offers nothing more than thousands of great adventures for its shoppers. Its value isn’t in coffee and chairs but in truly great works of literature for anyone to pick up.
Duttenhofer’s Book Treasures, 214 W. McMillan St., Clifton Heights, 513-381-1340. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday. ©
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2003.
