Ever-more hazy Bookstore Days 3 and 4

Side of a building in Burien

I think the it was the very next day (aka Tuesday) after the events described here that I gave myself a pep talk--"you're not scared of a little traffic, are you, punk?"--and set out on my own for the wilds of Burien. It's not really that far nor is it particularly hilly, but there's a good stretch of fast, busy road with no bicycle lane that makes me a little nervous. I opted to apply the general rules of Seattle ("this lane restricted to buses [and bicycles]") to Burien where the signage is just "this lane restricted to buses." I kept an ear out for approaching buses to avoid any actual confrontations and kept my speed up, of course, which made it all a little more stressy than one might like. 

Bessie, feeling a little shy after the adventure of the bus lane

But it was all fine, fine I tell you, and I reached the first of my two bookstores of the day, Page 2 Books, without incident. Page 2 falls into the category of "sweet little shop that I wish I'd get to more often." The staff is always friendly and helpful and they have a nice blend of new and used. I tend to judge a store by its "recommended" selection and I found that I agreed with a great many of the recommendations. Unfortunately, that meant I'd read those books already so it wasn't as helpful as it might have been. I ended up selecting a used copy of a recommended title that I hadn't read yet:

The staff at Page 2 expressed some excitement about my bingo card (when they must have been sick to death of the business by then) and helpfully gave me directions to the second bookshop in Burien, saying it was right next door to an enticing bakery. I then walked the few blocks to Three Trees Books (what is it with Burien and numbers in their store names?) which was indeed right next to a cookie shop with the most delightful aromas. But, books first!

Note Cascadia and Turn-Around Time in the window display

I find the term "curated" pretentious and overused, but it seriously applies--in a good way!--to Three Trees. Their stock isn't huge, but what they've got is all pretty darned good--and not all the usual obvious suspects. I can't tell you how pleased I was to see not one, but two copies of The City is More than Human on the shelves. But I've read (and own) that one already so I had to find something else and that took me a surprisingly long time. I at last went nonfiction:

 

Afterward, I stopped by Treat, the neighboring cookie shop, and picked up some cookies to take to the nice women at 2 Pages. They seemed pleased. I then opted to put Bessie on the bus for a mile or two to avoid that alarming stretch: Burien, get yourself some bike lanes! I debused in time to visit the home of the DubSea Fish Sticks--opening day is June 1!--and windowshop a few stores in White Center.

Quinceañera dresses in White Center shop

The next evening, Scott joined me for a ride to Georgetown so we could both get stamps at Fantagraphics, a shop we'd been to before, but never for bookstore day. 

Apartments available upstairs in this fine old building

It was a nice night for a ride and the route there turns out to be incredibly easy; I'd say I don't know why we always gave it a miss but that'd be a lie. It's an easy ride but it's hell and gone from every other store and we're just not that into comics. I was hoping they might have a stand-alone The Dream of a Thousand Cats, but alas. Maybe that doesn't exist or maybe they just don't carry Sandman.  I ended up replacing a book that somehow went missing when I moved a few decades back:

 

 

Sadly, we didn't stick around Georgetown after Fantagraphics; the coffee shop next door had closed for the night and while we sort of wanted a cocktail or dinner, we didn't especially want to be biking afterwards.

Georgetown does quirky

Oh, so close to the end of this series (previous entries here, here, here, here, and also here)! But the final installment involves some serious multi-moduling so it must wait at least another day.