If hosting the bustling Southern Festival of Books for more than 30 years wasn’t enough to convince you, let this be a reminder: Nashville is a city that loves its books. But Nashville’s long-standing dedication to the written word isn’t solely based on an annual festival and some prestigious universities — it’s just as much centered on the city’s homegrown booksellers, from upstarts to longtime institutions.
There’s something for everybody in Nashville, whether that’s an antiquarian masterpiece from Elder’s Bookstore (not too far from beloved chain Half Price Books), a collection of classics and new favorites curated by the soft-spoken experts at Rhino Booksellers, or an afternoon among world-renowned authors at Parnassus Books, the Green Hills outpost of bestselling author Ann Patchett. East Nashville has a wealth of gems, from Defunct Books and Novelette to the wonderful Bookshop, while securing a towering stack of books for the cost of breakfast at McKay’s is a veritable Nashville rite of passage.
An alarming amount of people simply don’t read, and the dangerous recent forays into censorship remind us that even the very institutions of fact, fiction and poetry are on shaky ground. I applaud Nashville’s bookstores and booksellers, who are keeping this essential activity alive and well.
—Alijah Poindexter
Contributor, Nashville Scene
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