Enjoyed my trip to Alabama last week, to sign books at the Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham and Page and Palette in Fairhope. If you’re ever near one of these cities and you like books, be sure to stop in and visit these places.
Jake Reiss, the owner of Alabama Booksmith, is a huge fan of books with good taste in literature. His store is one of the must-stop venues for author signings, and so he has a wonderful selection of signed new books and first editions. Good cookies, too. Ask him about how he used to be a tailor.
Page and Palette is right on the main street of Fairhope, and gets its traffic from plenty of loyal locals as well as all the tourists who come to see the town. Karin and Kiefer Wilson, the owners, keep the story busy with author visits and signings throughout the week. They have a great coffee shop, too, where you can sit in one of the unusual high wooden chairs (shoe-shine chairs?) and read the books you just bought while sipping your iced mocha.