Burke’s Books

How many of us want to hug their grocer? We’re two weeks in, folks. We can do this!

As Memphians know, Burke’s Books (open since 1875!) is a fantastic book shop in the Cooper-Young District. Stacks of books organized in a fun, old-bookstore way invite lots of wandering around to enjoy that nice, old book smell. They buy and sell used books – and some new – but obviously, no buying from the general public at this time.

Look at this! Adorable and inviting, right?

Burke’s Books

Last Friday, I popped in to add to my CS Lewis collection:

The title of the top book seems a smidge ominous?

Thankfully, I saw a box filled with envelopes that looked like they filled with books to be shipped to new owners! Their website is easy to navigate: You can search by author, title, or genre (a very specific listing of genres). I ordered and paid online, then got an email a few hours later letting me know my books were ready to go. I tried to use curbside delivery, but with one spot left in front of the store, I would have had to parallel park, a skill that is not in my wheelhouse. I parked in the nearby parking lot, and was in and out in less than 45 seconds. (They now offer only curbside delivery.) They also ship out of state. I might also need to get one of these cool mugs.

Would this taste good as a doughnut? Of course not, but a doughnut (and a lovely beverage) would pair nicely with Mr. Lewis.

Does this shop sell toilet paper/offer a free roll with purchase? Again, no, and I will NOT sacrifice pages holding Mr. Lewis’s words of wisdom even if the world ran out of tp. I’ve got a few other books on my shelf whose pages would go first.

As I was taking the photos of Burke’s front window, a man walking down the street was in the middle of an expletive-filled rant (on a blue tooth phone? to himself?), but he paused to give me a friendly hello, then continued with his tirade. Gosh, I love this city!

Coffee Date at City & State

We’ve made it through one week of social distancing – we can do this!

My goal is to visit one or two locally owned businesses a week so our favorite spots will be there after we’re no longer cringing when TV characters get closer than 6 feet of each other.

First stop is City & State on Broad. You can order online and note that you’d like curbside pickup.  You can also note what time you expect to arrive.

Other options: check out their merch!  (Out-of-towners, you can look all cool with your niche Memphis swag.) They also just added a 64 oz bulk brewed coffee option. (Perfect for those big projects you’ve been meaning to do!)

You can also buy gift cards to use later and/or make a donation to support their 13 employees.

I had cup of English Breakfast tea and a pimento cheese scone. The tea was lovely, and the scone was wrapped in enough white baking paper to assure me that no one had touched it (humor me!) after it had been baked. The scone tasted like gourmet pimento cheese, but with the added benefit of a crumbly-cakey scone.

We’ll ask the following two questions on our shop-small tour:

1. Would this taste good as a doughnut? English Breakfast tea doughnut – absolutely. Pimento cheese doughnut? Y’all, I thought about this with as much open-mindedness as my Covid19-obsessed mind would allow, but I’m going with a negatory.

2.Does this shop sell toilet paper/offer a free roll with purchase? No, no they do not, but in a pinch, the baking paper miiiight work?

The pickup process was simple. I just called the number posted in front of the designated pickup parking spot, and the C&S person brought it right out to me. Mr. C&S walked out of the store at the same time as a fellow who had apparently just patronized the shop. That fellow apparently mixed up my white SUV with his friend’s white SUV, which was parked two spots over. The fellow tried to get in my car, so I’m pretty sure under the current circumstances, that counts as a date, right?