During our delightful trip to Pittsburgh, we experienced several culinary delights (Primanti Brothers: that life-changing burger, Apteka: absolutely amazing vegan Polish cuisine, Prantl Bakery: burnt almond torte) and some literary ones, too.

After visiting the wonderful Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, we made our way to the White Whale Bookstore, which I’d been scoping out on Instagram and wanting very much to see in real life.

And I’m here to tell you, it’s even more charming than it looks in the photos. And that’s saying something.

The selection is well curated, the displays are enticing, and the atmosphere is inviting. The Dear Man and I both bought books that are making us very happy indeed.

So, if you’re visiting Pittsburgh, here’s the hungry reader must-see list:

• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
• White Whale Bookstore
• Apteka
• Primanti Brothers
• Duquesne Incline
• Prantl’s Bakery

Anyone else pleasantly surprised by Pittsburgh? Any recommendations?

Pittsburgh: so much to love.

We saw surprising historic sites, rode an incline, saw gorgeous views from the heights, ate fabulous and unusual foods that delighted us, and visited a gorgeous library with dinosaur views.

We arrived in Pittsburgh in the evening, and libraries have generous hours so we headed there first.

We visited the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Main Library, which:

• Is named in honor of the Carnegie—Pittsburgh philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who is famous for the library buildings he funded nationwide
• Shares space on a huge city block with the Carnegie Institute museums

So we’re talking about a spectacular, swoon-worthy library that causes this kind of reaction…

And it means that when a person is in the nonfiction stacks and looks out the window, this is the view…

And the stacks are utterly charming.

And they’re kept their old card catalog, which holds some of their indexes. And who doesn’t love an old card catalog?

And of course, the most important part is the staff. We were greeted warmly and offered assistance, and a kind librarian answered my questions. And then we wandered into another area, and more pleasant attentiveness there.

As an introduction to Pittsburgh, this place won me over completely.

Well done, city of Pittsburgh. A good library is a great testament to the strength and health of a city.

On a quick weekend jaunt to St. Louis, we saw all kinds of historic sites and of course we hit a bookstore.

On a Saturday evening, after a fine, full day of visiting the Cahokia Mounds and the charming town of St. Charles, we swung by The Book House in Maplewood — which happily is open until 10 pm Saturdays.

From the outside, it looks just like an ordinary storefront, but inside… so many books!

It’s an indie bookstore, and they sell mostly used and rare books, but they also stock a small selection of new titles.

And their shop has library ladders!

There are books all over the place, and thankfully there’s a nice bookstore guide stationed at a desk inside the front door to provide guidance to the history and politics sections or whatever a person might be wanting.

Here’s a view of part of the fiction section…

I found two books on my Wish List and bought them, and now they’re still in that new book glory area of our home library where I place new acquisitions before I break down and shelve them.

Other highlights of the trip:

The Dear Man bought a book about Cahokia at the gift shop.

We did some Lewis & Clark tourism.

We ate some amazing cookies in St. Charles.

We said hey to our old acquaintance Daniel Boone.

We went to Pappy’s Smokehouse for life-changing BBQ. (Ribs for him, baked potato for her)

We ate our 2nd St. Louis style pizza — this time at Billy G’s — and analyzed it thoroughly. We’re Chicago people, and while we don’t despise provel, we just can’t make ourselves crave it. Still: it’s not bad pizza, and it easily passes the “Would we eat this again?” test.

So, once again, St. Louis is a hit.

Anyone else visited a great bookstore lately?

The Bookshop – Nashville, Tennessee

3 words: bright, lovely, well-curated

Our recent visit to Nashville had a single mission: attend the wedding of the Dear Man’s dear nephew and his dear fiancée. Mission accomplished! The wedding was one of those really, really good ones — where the couple are so right for one another and it’s truly a blessed occasion.

Rehearsal dinner & amazing BBQ

Plus, at the reception, there were s’mores.

When we weren’t spending time with family, we did some history geek tourism and we stopped by a bookstore whose Instagram feed delights me.

The lightness of those white bookshelves! Those light fixtures!

And the bookshop is every bit as pretty in person (though my photo doesn’t do it justice).

We browsed a good while, and I finally selected two books to buy for my home library:

• Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
  

• To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope by Jeanne Marie Laskas
  

So we’ve got some fiction (such a favorite!) and a new nonfiction book about a president, by an author whose writing I adore.

Here they are in our living room, because the Unruly home library is not yet open for business. (The move! The boxes! Thank goodness there’s a public library less than a mile away.)

Anyone else doing any bookstore tourism this fall? Any great finds?

A week-long vacation in a tropical paradise. You know what I’m thinking, because you’re thinking it, too…

What books to pack?

Recently the Dear Man and I joined my sister’s family on a vacation to Costa Rica to visit our aunt and uncle.

So yes, I packed two swimsuits and a sun hat and a gallon of sunscreen and sandals… but most of my packing energy focused on the books. There were hard decisions to make, people. My primary criterion: weight. So I went with all paperbacks.

Here’s what I packed…

And coming up… the big reveal of What I Actually Read. But first…

What I did instead of reading

So here’s the thing. With a party of 8, things stay busy. And the most fun I really can even imagine. I love these people.

My vision was this: while the teenagers are surfing, their auntie will be reading. In reality, it was too much fun watching the kids surf and talking with my people and playing in the waves. So the books stayed in the beach bag, and that was just fine.

We spent time in the air (ziplining— a huge triumph for she who fears heights) and in the water (paddle boarding in the sea).

And we ate wonderful foods (gallo pinto and casado and pizza #106 and heavenly coffee). But as we know, in the end…

Reading always wins 

I grabbed a little reading time while hanging out on the balcony of the house we rented and lounging in the room with a view (oh my land, what a view).

I read the middle section of No More Words: A Journal of My Mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh by Reeve Lindbergh, which seemed a strange but perfect thing to read while on vacation. (Reading about Alzheimer’s is not particularly light or jolly.)

I actually bought the book at the Charles Lindbergh home in Minnesota during a long weekend, so it was a book bought on vacation and read on vacation. And the book made me think all kinds of thoughts, and it was a pleasure to have the time to consider them.

So I had just enough time for some basic maintenance reading there on the ground…

It wasn’t until our long flight home that my books got much attention. And then it got serious.

Here’s what I read…

• I finished the Lindbergh book.
• Then I read our upcoming book club book cover to cover. This sounds all impressive, but since the book is only 176 pages long, it’s not that grand an achievement. Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth was a great vacation book: it’s a swift-moving, surprising, violent Western romp featuring hippos. I don’t mind flying, but the cramped quarters make me glad to be able to escape somewhere else on long flights.
• Then I read a couple of essays from Portage: A Family, A Canoe, and the Search for the Good Life by Sue Leaf, including a chapter about a river the Dear Man and I have canoed (hello, beautiful Upper Iowa!)
• And then I dove into Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, which I also bought on a previous vacation (at the marvelous Novel Neighbor bookstore in Webster Groves, Missouri). And I read half the book on the flight and kept saying to the Dear Man, “This book is so good.”

Now that we’re home, the poor neglected book is in a holding pattern while I get caught up on laundry and all the other adulting things that are clamoring for my attention. But the lovely thing is that once I immerse myself in the book again, it’ll transport me not only into the story itself, but also into The Vacation Feeling. I love that.

So, my fellow readers… what’s your favorite vacation reading tactic?

The Novel Neighbor bookstore, Webster Groves, Missouri

3 words: blissful, lucky, jubilant

During a recent long weekend in St. Louis, the Dear Man and I spent one of the best days ever.

It included a kitschy antique store visit, Route 66, a fast food restaurant we checked off our list, the Daniel Boone home, another fast food restaurant we didn’t expect to see (where we ate amazing donuts), an iconic bookstore, life-changing pizza (at our 78th pizza place), and the Gateway Arch.

Making a purchase at an antique store on Route 66

Hello, Tim Hortons!

Of course we’re gonna focus on the bookstore, partly because this is a book blog but mostly because It Blew Us All Away.

I learned about the Novel Neighbor from the What Should I Read Next podcast, where Anne interviewed Holland Saltsman, bookstore owner and reader extraordinaire (and they even taped a live show there).

On one of the episodes, Holland raved about The One-in-a-Million Boy. I’ll be forever grateful for that.

And when we visited her fantastic bookstore, I fell head over heels in love with it.

I was seriously in a blissed-out daze.

This bookstore is intensely comfy and cozy, yet it’s also wide-ranging and it just keeps going. And there are delights around every corner!

Here’s what I bought (minus one gift I bought for a friend)…

I selected the book Tell the Wolves I’m Home from the “Holland’s Favorites” shelf because I trust her like that. I bought a book I’d never heard of, simply because I trust her taste. (I adore shelves of staff picks!)

Oh, my goodness, dear readers. If you’re ever in St. Louis, I sure hope you stop by the Novel Neighbor. It’ll bliss you out, too.

My fellow bookish tourists… what’s your best bookstore experience?