So Many Books

I spent a bit of time online today trying to plan a trip to a used bookstore in Wicker Park, a neighborhood I plan to explore more this week. The RTA website wanted me to take a bus, as this is the quickest way. I've been in the habit of taking the El, though, so I have to explore the neighborhood a bit to find what I want. It's a great way to discover things.

Myopic Books is a great used bookstore, one of the best I've ever seen. Right when I walked in, two large dogs came bounding up to me to say hello, followed by their owner. I handed my bag over to the front desk, and recieved a large laminated ticket labeled "hell weapon," instead of the usual boring numbered chip. To my immediate right, a section of shelves labeled "Geek" caught my attention, a selection of graphic novels, sci-fi, and cultural ephemera books. The general fiction section took up the back of the first floor with much of the second on the second floor landing, and then a third floor had essay anthologies and other smaller categories. The basement was stocked with biographies, humor, and sci-fi. Unfortunately, there were no copies of Douglas Adams's Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency, an out of print semi-rarity I always look for in used bookstores.

Here's what I did find:

Fun With Milk and Cheese vol. I, by Evan Dorkin: An old indie comic that's supposed to be really funny. I missed it the first time around.

Darwin, Marx, Wagner, by Jaques Barzun: I picked this one up on a whim. It's about how these three were all alive and working at the same time, and how they all redefined their respective fields. If it doesn't grab me, I'm sure Hyde Brothers or White Rabbit will take it.

The Civil War, by Lucan: An epic poem about the Roman civil war, recommended by my brother as a companion to the Rome TV series. I'm picky about translations of old texts, and I like what I read of the Loeb collection version of this, but $5.00 is hard to pass up for this one.

Peace Kills, by P.J. O'Rourke: I saw him speak a few years ago, and he remains the only political writer of any stripe I can tolerate for more than ten pages. The man is funny and, again, the price was right.

So, that's what I ended up with for that trip. The shop seems to have the right idea of how to stay organized, too. A sign above the basement staircase forbids any upstairs books from going downstairs. Several signs on shelves inform patrons that any book found out of order will be priced one dollar higher to be re-shelved. As a former book shelver myself, I appreciate both the store's system of organization and the store's assumption that I can properly re-shelve a book myself. If anyone reading this far into the post ever wants to find this store, just take the blue line from the loop towards O'Hare and get off at Damen, then walk a little way SE down Milwaukee. It's next to the Double Door, yet another famous club here that I was happy to find.

I found a good blues bar within walking distance tonight, Kingston Mines. Sunday-Wednesday, college students can get in free, but the show I saw would have been worth the full $12. The flavor of blues favored here is a bit brighter and faster than the music often associated with the Mississippi Delta area, and both bands could solo like crazy. The venue is split into two rooms, each with a full stage setup, so two bands can set up and be ready to play and the crowd moves from one room to the other as the two bands alternate sets. I look forward to seeing more music here, as there is always something going on at night.