Joseph-Beth Booksellers celebrated its 25th birthday last year, as their first Cincinnati-area store opened in 1986. With the closing of Borders and the continued disappearance of so many independent book stores, it was nice to see one brick-and-mortar store have something to celebrate.
I've always been able to spend hours in Joseph-Beth, and not just because of their books. I love their greeting cards and gift items like journals and stationary, and they also have fun things like literature related t-shirts. In addition, there is a fantastic cafe called Bronte's inside the store.
Joseph-Beth is known for author signings and other literary events, and they also have wonderful programming for children, including weekly story hours.
Even though I love my Kindle and I'm a huge fan of Amazon and of online shopping, I would hate to see brick-and-mortar bookstores completely disappear. It's unfortunate that it almost seems inevitable in the current climate.
In any case, a belated happy birthday to Joseph-Beth. I know it's probably not likely with the radical changes in the publishing world, but here's hoping for another 25 years.
(This is just a quick drive-by post, as I've come down with a sore throat and fever and have been out of commission for most of yesterday and all of today. I'm sorry I haven't been able to do any blog reading but hope to get back to normal and catch up with everyone's blogs soon.)
Love the name of the cafe.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just noticed today that our old Borders has construction workers in it. Have no idea what they will turn it into, but all the activity reminded me of ants tearing apart a dead grasshopper. :(
Glad you still have a brick and mortar store to shop in.
Great post. Definitely a great virtual tour of Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteNot many bookstores remaining. Hope they make it.
ReplyDeleteHope you begin to feel better soon! I love bookstores too and would hate to see them all go out of business. We just have to hope that they will win out in the end.
ReplyDeleteYay bookstores! There's a used one that popped into the abandoned Borders Express near here, but I have checked it out. Sadly, they probably don't have a cafe.
ReplyDeleteOh man! Sorry you're sick. I hope you'll be feeling better soon. I hate when the germs invade. No fun. :( Still a fun post though and good to learn about this store! Whoo-hoO!
ReplyDeleteAwww, I do hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a non-food post, Julie! (Although you did still mention a cafe...) :)
ReplyDeleteFeel better soon! Take care!
I hope you feel better real soon, Julie xx
ReplyDeleteIn UK we have Waterstones bookstore and our local one in Llandudno has a coffee shop in it. To me there is nothing more comforting than sitting, reading and watching people (not necessarily all at the same time lol)
Oh I agree with you. It'd be a pity to see the bookstores close. I enjoy taking a walk and jsut looking at the books being offered in my local bookstore. gives me this wonderful feeling (I'll call it bliss) being around books..
ReplyDeleteOw,,, Hope you feel better, Julie. :)
Hope you feel better soon. BTW even with you are not feeling great, you did a great job today.
ReplyDeleteTake care of yourself - read a book :)
ReplyDelete@LG, Aww, that makes me sad to think of your old Borders. I hope at least it will be turned into something nice.
ReplyDelete@Tonja, thank you!
@Alex, me too, but I doubt it will be for very long.
@ejw, thank you, I'm finally feeling a little more normal today!
@Gwen, I guess the cafe isn't essential but they sure are nice LOL.
@Leigh, thanks so much, I appreciate it!
@Sarah, thank you!
@Madeline, LOL, I didn't even think about that with the food. Thanks so much.
@Carolyn, thank you! And I agree 100%, I love that. Sometimes people watching is the best of all LOL.
@Cecilia, I totally agree with you, and thank you!
@LynnMarie, oh, thanks, that's very nice of you!
@Carol, great idea, thank you. :)
That's awesome! I wish we had a cool bookstore like that in town here.
ReplyDelete@Christine, we are lucky to have it, it's a great place. :)
ReplyDeleteStopping by for the A to Z challenge. I have family who recently moved to Cinci, and I've visited once, so I'm curious to catch up a bit about it on your blog!
ReplyDeleteWith Borders gone it leaves a gap in physical bookstores for me. It's sad! I have a great independent I go to, which strangely enough, is a couple blocks away from a Barnes and Noble, and those are the only big bookstores for quite a stretch. I live in suburban Chicago but still the bookstores are pretty slim.
@Stephsco, hi, it's great to meet you! Oh, it's sad to think that even in a huge place like Chicago the bookstores are really dwindling. Glad you still have your independent store. I love Chicago, by the way. Thanks for stopping by!
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