Buy The Book Cafe, Daegu, South Korea

Falling in bookstore love again/what am I to do?/I can't help it/I was made that way...

It took some doing to find this place  -- a few false turns down crooked, crowded streets -- but as they point out on the back of their menu, if you *really* want to find them, you will!  The Spawn played Natty Bumpo to my directionless colonist.

Those are the steps.  No elevator.  Bookworm power!

The cover of the menu

So in love with the shabby chic, eclectic feel of the place.

The walls and ceiling have an industrial look to them.  I wonder what was up here before.

This painted up, broken down recliner flanked by  two kiddie chairs made me smile.

Piles of books -- a delicious mix of fiction and nonfiction.

I wanted to stretch out on this sofa and stay there all weekend.

The playfulness with colors, textures, objects and books made me feel so at home.

Menu board featuring the daily specials.  I think the woman behind the counter is Sandy, one of the owners.
I loved Buy The Book so much  that I was too shy to talk to her.  I know, but I was afraid I'd burble.

Sign hanging by the stairs on the way out.  If anyone steals from Buy The Book, I hope Karma messes with them more than twice!  How about fifteen times, and a trip down the stairs?

Buy The Book, thank you so much for existing.  I'll be back.  You're my reason to come to Daegu.

WHAT THE BOOK?

I can't believe I haven't made a blog entry for so long! Anyone would think I'd forsaken books! Never happen! In my defense, I must say that making piles and piles and piles takes up time.

I'm studying on a field trip to a bookstore called WHAT THE BOOK? Here's their website: http://whatthebook.com This field trip will be good for me for two reasons:

1. I'll get more books! DUH!

2. I'll overcome my fear of traveling in Seoul alone. Not sure what ails me. Busan presents no problem. I feel comfortable there, but when I think of strolling around in Seoul, my self-confidence is somewhere down around my ankles. Especially when I think of taking the subway from Seoul Station to their store in Itaewon...and having to change lines???

Gulp. But I'll do it all, and more to get to WHAT THE BOOK? I'll be so proud of myself for being independent and brave. I've come to notice lately that generally, it's not worth my time and energy to be independent and brave unless it involves something to read. Bookwormishness has the damnedest by-products at times!

I know intellectually that I'm equal to this adventure, but the craven & cowardly part of me is whining piteously and wishing to find a friend that's middle-aged, female and bookwormy to a fault. Someone who knows Seoul like the back of her hand and will guide me/us to the books.

Snort. My chances of that are as remote as those of waking up tomorrow morning with an autographed first edition of The Great Gatsby under my pillow and Larry McMurtry and Anne Tyler standing over my bed fighting about which of them is going to bring me an Egg McMuffin.

In an attempt to jack up my own morale, I repeatedly remind myself that WHAT THE BOOK? supposedly has around 20,000 titles in stock. And it's not just the new bullshit that *everyone* is reading -- like The DaVinci Code, for example. No, WHAT THE BOOK? also has a nice selection of used books, so many reading treasures await me.

Yo, Bybee! Listen up!

Are you going to let almost twenty thousand books lay around unopened, unread, unsmelled (or worse, bought up by someone with courage!) while you sit around quivering because you might get lost on the subway?!