Search articles from thousands of Examiners
Write for us
San Francisco Arts and Entertainment Seattle Literature Examiner
Seattle Literature Examiner

Ravenna's Third Place Books

March 16, 10:37 PMSeattle Literature ExaminerSarah Dansey
1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe


Get alerts when there is a new article from the Seattle Literature Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.
Email Address


  Include other special offers from Examiner.com
Terms of Use


The interior of Third Place Books

 

Third Place Books, contrary to popular belief, are not the books that didn’t make varsity their sophomore year. Rather, the name of this atmospheric book store comes from the theory of sociologist Ray Oldenburg. His theory, outlined in his book The Great Good Place, states that for an individual to live a rewarding life, each individual needs three places. The first place is the home, the second is a workplace or school, and beyond that they require a place where all kinds of people from all walks of life can interact and celebrate their community. This is the Third Place. This one just happens to contain books.

The shop does a good job of sticking to their mission statement. Patrons are allowed and even encouraged to relax and read in the many chairs scattered throughout the store. The shop contains an internet café, as well as a food café where patrons may read recent purchases, work on their novels, or just catch a quick bite.

The shop also gives a sense of community by how it treats the book it sells. Third Place Books is big on used books and I would estimate that most books on the shelves have been in homes at one point or another. Their guidelines for buying books can be found here. They also have new books, but these are usually handpicked by the staff, who don’t just work at the store, but are connected to the books they sell. This is evident by the small hand-written recommendations by the staff posted below books of note.

Third Place Books’ selection is extensive, but they are still lacking in a few areas, such as business and romance. I also found their comics section to be nearly non-existent. They seem to specialize in contemporary fiction, but also have a wonderful young adult and children section. This sunny store is a good excuse to visit Ravenna and a great place to spend an afternoon.

Happy Reading

More About: Bookstores

Comments

Name:


Comments:
characters left

NOTE: Do Not Alter These Fields:

Recent Articles

Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Look at the Birdie is the title and the title work of a brand new collection of posthumously published works by the celebrated Kurt Vonnegut. While I …
Friday, September 25, 2009
Dan Brown's most recent work, The Lost Symbol, was recently released to an eagerly waiting public. About half the public was actually excited for the …

Things to see and do

Ian Anderson
09 Nov 2009 - 7 pm
Warfield, The
More music »
Ashford and Simpson
Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko, The
Reggae Sunday
Il Pirata