Apr 83 min read

In praise of neighbourhood bookstores.

Here's to celebrating neighbourhood bookstores that offer a warm and stimulating place for cold winter days.

We love love librairie Renaud – Bray (Brossard branch)! We have spent an inordinate amount of time there since the holidays; it has become a place to retreat from the winter chills for the kids and I. With the weather hitting -20s these days, we have found it a warm place to spend time, and it has risen to the occasion of welcoming us -- snowy boots and all.

I am not quite sure why that space feels different from any other bookstores. I reckon it must have something to do with the fact that most of the books are on full display on separate tables and at eye level, giving one the pleasure of reaching out to touch any book without the need to pull it out.

I like that you can read the titles of a hundred books as soon as you walk into the store. This arrangement creates a warm decor of the room as you are immediately able to see the varied colors of the different books all at the same time.

The openness of the space could also be a factor; it does not feel overwhelming to be there at all as one section seamlessly merges with another – history, memoirs, cooking, journals, toys, comics, and mathematics books – everything seems to have its place.

Once inside, my humans scatter to their favorite corners: The girls head off to the Japanese books corner — that's what I call it. They are following this particular series written by a Japanese whose name I don't know, but that's all they talk about these days.

Yesterday, I overheard one trying to convince the other to skip Book 12, which was not in stock, and read Book 13. I cautioned against that: "Don't lose the storyline," I said. "Be patient!" She seemed to agree and asked the bookseller to reorder Book 12. (If you have young teenagers and would like to borrow some of the books, don't hesitate to reach out to me.)

I learned something new from them yesterday about Japanese books. It turns out that all Japanese books usually start from what we consider the back of the book and then to the front; in effect, the last chapter is the first chapter.

This is new knowledge for me. Not knowing this, I was shocked when upon arriving home an hour later, I found one of the girls reading the back page of the book. I exclaimed, "Don't tell me you have finished reading the book already!" She was quick to assure me she had only just started. What an exciting way to read a book!

Monsieur of the house heads to the Lego section, where I imagine he hopes that one day, I could be kind enough to spend a big $ on a 1491-piece Lego set. I have assured him that dream will never come true if my wallet is involved—he builds those in an hour or two.

These days, he gives that section a quick look, and then finds the comic books section to stand around (there should be some charge for reading the books for a long time).

On my part, I start with a quick browsing of new French titles; though not fully bilingual, yet,😅 l still love to flip through the newly printed pages. Then, I make a quick stop at the “Romans en anglais” row to see what’s new in the small collection of English language novels. The cooking books speak a language in pictures, so I spend a little more time in that section.

My favorite corner is the end of the shop: the small gift section and journals section. I don't think I have ever seen so many beautiful little things gather together in the same spot. I always end up getting something small for myself, a pen, wriggling pencil, or another beautiful journal to add to my growing pile as I promised myself one more time to start journaling. I have failed miserably in the past; maybe this time will be different. #NewYearResolutions.

The little Miss does not have a favorite section; she just tags along with me as I move about but not before she picks a good book. She is quite the bookworm (comic book kind). I have been amused at the different comfortable positions she puts herself in to enjoy her book while I wander around the store. So far, it has been such a great experience hanging out at the bookstore.