I used to spend hours. In another life, the bookstore was my safe haven from everything and anything that fought for my attention. Back before you could find anything you needed with the flick of a keyboard. Back before cellphones became an extension of our every move.
The bookstore was the rhythm I moved to for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a family that believed reading served every good purpose that good people needed—education, inspiration, consciousness of thought. Reading was never just something I did; it has always been a way of being.
And then, as the world raced to a more technologically driven purpose, the bookstore drifted into oblivion. So, when I see headlines about bookstores not just surviving—but thriving—it hits a little differently. It feels personal.
After years of doom-and-gloom predictions, the script is flipping back again to the way of the book. Print book sales are up. Indie shops are thriving. And Barnes & Noble, once thought to be a relic, plans to open 60 new stores this year, including a return to its iconic flagship in Georgetown.
Part of the credit goes to the digital world we actually thought might be its undoing. Platforms like BookTok and Bookstagram have made bookstores cool again—romantic, even. Today’s bookstores are hip. Wine bars. Live music. Local partnerships. Pet adoptions (you read that correctly). Bookstores are becoming more than places to shop, but rather places to be.
Okay, I’ll say it. Because we are a culture craving real connections, bookstores offer something we’re not getting from scrolling ourselves into nausea. They offer belonging. A pause. A shared moment.
I read at least one book a month (as I currently finish up my 800-plus biography on Paul McCartney). Not because I have to. Because I want to. Because books still remind me who I am and who I might be. They still allow me to dream. Inspire. Reflect.
The stories and the atmosphere we embrace always stay with us. They give us meaning. They remind us that slowing down isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. And in a world that’s constantly pushing us forward, bookstores are the rare places that invite us to simply stay.
Michael J. Pallerino is Director of Content for Commercial Construction & Renovation magazine. Over the past 30-plus years, he has won numerous awards, including the “Jesse H. Neal Editorial Achievement Award,” recognized as the Pulitzer Prize for business-to-business magazines. He can be reached at mikep@ccr-mag.com.
