Local bookstores call for curious customers

Local bookstores call for curious customers

A New Leaf in Pine Plains, N.Y.

Ruby Citrin

In the age of modern technology, convenience is king. Though online markets allow people to shop from the comfort of home, physical stores provide value beyond the products they sell. Take bookstores, for example.


Ruby Citrin

Oblong Books

Millerton, N.Y.

Dick Hermans and Holly Nelson opened Oblong Books in the spring of 1975. Over the past 50 years, the store has moved to four different buildings in downtown Millerton, before settling at 26 Main Street. In 2001, they opened a second location in Rhinebeck, New York. Hermans’ daughter, Susanna, now runs the operations. Oblong offers a large collection of titles, including an extensive children’s section, as well as a calendar of events for readers of all ages. The colorful store beams with an assortment of records, puzzles, notebooks, and cards.



Ruby Citrin

A New Leaf

Pine Plains, N.Y.

A New Leaf was opened in 1999 by Ginger Dowd and James Polk and sits at Rural Route 199 in Pine Plains. Soft lighting washes over the decor of old paintings, sketches, and photographs, while lamps and armchairs make up cozy reading nooks. The supply of used books – accumulated from library sales and donations – is well-preserved and remarkably organized. Sprawling little rooms lead to a blooming, green backyard, where customers can soak up stories and sunshine all at once.

Laced with the personalities of staff and customers, each bookshop has its own unique charm. These inclusive spaces for congregation and conversation do not exist online. Their survival depends on continued support from local community members.



Ruby Citrin

The Merritt Bookstore + Toy Store

Millbrook, N.Y.

Founded by Scott Meyer in 1984, the Merritt Bookstore displays an array of toys, cards, crafts and, of course, books. Stories fill the Front Street space in Millbrook, all neatly stacked on wooden shelves or piled in carts and bins. Kira Wizner took over after Meyer’s death in 2015, maintaining his magic and adding her own touch. Deeply woven into the community, the store presents book signings by local authors, makes weekly appearances at the summer farmer’s market, and partners with Millbrook schools to instill an early affinity for reading.



Ruby Citrin

Johnnycake Books

Salisbury, Conn.

The history of antiquarian booksellers in Salisbury, Connecticut, dates back to 1930. Dan Dwyer established Johnnycake Books – at 12 Academy Street – in March of 2000. The name has both literary and personal references: Growing up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Dwyer spent countless rainy afternoons at the Whaling Museum atop Johnnycake Hill, which is also the setting for the opening chapter of Moby Dick. Dwyer’s collection of rare books reflects his own interests and those of his customers. On shelves, tables, couches, and easels, books are displayed like artwork.



Ruby Citrin

House of Books

Kent, Conn.

House of Books – located at 10 North Main Street in Kent – opened in 1976 and is now owned by Kent Barns. For decades, the store has attracted spirited readers who want more than a solitary experience of literature. While books themselves have inherent value, the passion of the people who appreciate them floods the store with wonder. “House favorites” (staff picks) sprinkle carefully curated inventory and browsers act as booksellers themselves, exchanging suggestions and dialogue. A literal house makes up the children’s section and instrumental music twinkles amongst glittering white shelves.

Latest News

Voters approve wakesurfing ban

The July 31 referendum in Kent, Warren and Washington banned wakesurfing on Lake Waramaug.

Photo by Alec Linden

The sport of wakesurfing is now banned on lake Waramaug as the result of a decisive tri-town vote held on Thursday, July 31.

Voters in Kent, Warren and Washington, the three towns that border Lake Waramaug, approved the ordinance with 1452 residents ultimately voting in favor of banning the sport against 421 opposed to it.

Keep ReadingShow less
2025 Jubilee Luncheon
   We look forward to seeing you!

Ruth Franklin discusses ‘The Many Lives of Anne Frank’ at Beth David

Ruth Franklin and Ileene Smith in conversation at Congregation Beth David in Amenia.

Natalia Zukerman

Congregation Beth David in Amenia hosted a conversation on the enduring legacy of Anne Frank, one of the 20th century’s most iconic figures. Ruth Franklin, award-winning biographer and critic, shared insights from her highly acclaimed book “The Many Lives of Anne Frank” with thought-provoking questions from Ileene Smith, Editorial Director of the Jewish Lives series. This event, held on July 23 — the date Anne Frank would have turned 96 — invited the large audience to reconsider Anne Frank not just as the young writer of a world-famous diary, but as a cultural symbol shaped by decades of representation and misrepresentation.

Franklin and Smith dove right in; Franklin reading a passage from the book that exemplified her approach to Anne’s life. She described her work as both a biography of Anne Frank and a cultural history of the diary itself, a document that has resonated across the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Prokofiev, piano and perfection: Yuja Wang at Tanglewood

Yuja Wang performs with the TMCO and Andris Nelsons.

Hilary Scott

Sunday, July 20 was sunny and warm. Nic Mayorga, son of American concert pianist, the late Lincoln Mayorga, joined me at Tanglewood to hear Yuja Wang play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16. I first saw Wang on July 8, 2022, when she filled in for Jean-Yves Thibaudet on the opening night of Tanglewood’s summer season. She virtually blew the shed down with her powerful and dynamic playing of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Nic was my guest last season on July 13, when Wang wowed us with her delicate interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. We made plans on the spot to return for her next date in Lenox.

Keep ReadingShow less