Parnassus Rising

Like many other folks who live in Nashville (or used to), I mourned the loss of Davis-Kidd Bookstore. I met David Sedaris at that bookstore, and Orson Scott Card for the first time. I had my very first booksigning there. The staff actually knew about books and cared about books and actually read books and recommended them to people. (Amazing, right?)

Bookstores are closing now…but it doesn’t come as a shock to most people. Many of them are staffed with kids who make minimum wage that will get fired if they don’t sell their quota of e-readers or membership cards or magazines or candy bars.

I remember my first trip to a Barnes & Noble. I wanted to move in there. It was wonderful. Apart from the Barnes & Noble in Cool Springs, TN (where I volunteered for Harry Potter Day), I don’t get that same feeling anymore. The closest I’ve come since then was at Turn The Page, the tiny bookstore in Boonsboro, MD owned by Nora Roberts.The staff is wonderful and kind and very helpful, and the store hosts signings and women-only events and features local artists. It’s a destination spot, and well worth the journey.

Perhaps more authors should open bookstores.

In that vein, I heard a rumor that Ann Patchett was openng a bookstore in Nashville. I hoped it would come to fruition (about as much as I was mad that I’d already moved away). Today, a friend sent me an article confirming those plans. Parnassus Books is set to open in October! Huzzah!

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Bestselling author Ann Patchett and business partner Karen Hayes will open Parnassus Books in Greenbriar Village behind the Donut Den on Hillsboro Pike in October.

‘Nashville wants this’

Brookside Properties will develop the 2,500-square-feet bookstore, located in the former suite of Tan 2000 and Beyond. The company also is developing retail space near the new bookstore that will include a vitamin shop, toy store and several restaurants.

“I think Nashville wants this and needs this, and I don’t want to live in a city that doesn’t have an independent bookstore,” Patchett said.

You can read the rest of the article from the Tennessean here for more information.