Crowd Favorite — Blog — Rebel-Mouthed Books

Bookstores Aren’t Dying; They’re Changing + A Mini-Guide to Bookselling

This month, I spoke with the owners and staff at two bookstores— Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe in my current home of Bend, Oregon and Union Ave Books in my childhood home of Knoxville, Tennessee. I wanted to hear success stories and learn the ins and outs of how to start and run a bookstore. I’ve created a super informal “How-to Guide,” compiled at the end of this piece for all of you out there who have wanted to open your own slice of book-heaven, but did not know where to begin. And, above all else, I spent this time researching, talking, and writing to highlight exactly how bookstores flourish: by supporting and having support in their community.

Why “Educated” Bothered Me & Action Items for a Lifelong Education

“Educated” suggests that Dr. Westover’s education is complete. But I believe our work is never done.

Memoirs are a reflection not simply on what was, but how that affects what is. That reflection is missing in Dr. Tara Westover’s wildly popular memoir Educated. What she is missing out on is the opportunity to address a massive and impossible question: How can we improve education for everyone? This is a great moment for Dr. Westover to step up as a survivor and a potential leader, someone who can maybe help others in her situation, with bold ideas for change— brave, and again perhaps impossible solutions for girls who grew up like she did. But she doesn’t. She approaches the ledge, looks down, and then backs away. Accountability is key here. Dr. Westover is accountable for her beliefs AND for her silence in the lack of her beliefs.

I won’t settle not because I hate Tara Westover or her story. Quite the opposite. I won’t settle because I love Tara Westover. I love her as much as I can love a stranger, a fellow writer, a fellow woman. I’m here to challenge her because I care. Love is work, after all.