Parnassus Books, now at your local airport!
If you are like me, the prospect of flying gives you terrible anxiety. Not because you're scared a plane crash or anything silly like that, but you are terrified that you'll finish your book halfway through your flight and then be stuck with nothing to read for hours.
This anxiety inevitably leads me to buy far too many books at airport bookstores and lug them around. (And yes, I have a Kindle, too, but what if the battery dies?) But now, at least when I fly in and out of Nashville, I'll be able to buy all those books from Parnassus! Yes, you read that correctly — Parnassus has now opened at BNA!
“As someone who spends about a third of my life in the Nashville airport, I’ve had a lot of time to dream about a branch of Parnassus Books on the concourse,” Parnassus co-owner Ann Patchett said in a blog post announcing the news. “There are few things I hate as much as not having the right book for the plane. With Parnassus in the airport, no Nashville traveler will have to worry about not having something great to read.”
Technically, the new location of Patchett's beloved indie bookstore (that would still be even better if it were located just about anywhere outside of Green Hills) is a partnership with the Hudson News shop that was already there. But if you're a serious reader and regular traveller, this partnership is the best news possible. Not only will you be able to get the latest bestselling mysteries and romances, you'll be able to pick up some books that haven't hit the bestseller list, along with a selection of local and regional authors — and some of the quirky gifts for which Parnassus is known.
The new BNA Parnassus is located at the intersection of Concourses A and B. Unfortunately, because it is in an airport, there will not have any shop dogs — unless, possibly, maybe, a cute security bomb-sniffing dog starts hanging out there? Let's hope.
