About the Hampton Union article on Drake Farm Books

Drake Farm Books - No. Hampton NH

I enjoyed reading the article by Nick Reid, a reporter for the Hampton Union, commenting on the selection of Drake Farm Books by Yankee Magazine as one of the Best 5 Used Bookstores in New England. What I liked about the article was that he took the time to interview the folks at the bookstore, he looked into the guidebook I wrote that included a commentary about Drake Farm Books, and he contacted me to get some direct comments.

That’s more effort on a small story than I see on much larger stories that may be more significant. As a former newspaper reporter, I understand the pressure placed on writers to get something into print and the tendency to short-cut the research to meet a deadline. But, in this case, Nick did the most you could do with the simple story. He probably started with a press release from Yankee Magazine, but he made the effort to find the points of interest that his readers would appreciate. I know I did.

The article led with the news about the selection of the bookshop by Yankee Magazine as one of the 5 Best Used Bookstores, then went on to justify the selection based on the author comments and other published comments. He followed that with comments from the owners and a description of the bookstore’s history, its unique characteristics, and that at this point in its life, that the shop was for sale. That’s great news for some reader who wants to get into the high-stress world hand-selling used books! Is that you? Let me know.

My Not So Easy Choices for Best Used Bookstores

The editor of Yankee Magazine asked me to select my five favorite used bookstores for their Best 5 in New England feature. It seemed easy, as I have lots of favorite used bookstores, so surely I can pick the best five?


Best 5 Used Bookstores

Oops! Imagine trying to pick your “best” grandchild? What seemed easy became a bit of a chore when I had to get down to selecting five used bookshops. Mel Allen, the editor of Yankee Magazine, gave me some grace to select an additional 10 runners-up, which helped a little. My selections appear in the January-February issue of Yankee Magazine, and the runners-up appear in the online version.



The shops I selected were:



- The Montague Bookmill – Montague MA

- Shire Book Shop – Franklin MA

- Pleasant Street Books – Woodstock VT

- Drake Farm Books – Northampton NH

- The Book Barn – Niantic CT

I feel very comfortable with these choices and the 10 honorable mentions too. They are certainly worthy candidates for someone looking for a great used bookshop in New England. It’s just that there are many others equally worthy of being a Top 5 choice. In my book, A Vacationer’s Guide to Rural New England Bookstores, I write about 31 used books shops that are among my favorites.



January-February 2013 issue

Here are the 10 runners-up from Yankee Magazine:


- Big Chicken Barn – Ellsworth ME

- Carlson Turner Books – Portland ME

- Bar Harbor Book Shop – Hulls Cove ME

- Henniker Book Farm – Henniker NH

- Whitlock Farm Booksellers – Bethany CT

- The Traveler Book Cellar – Union CT

- Vintage Books – Hopkinton MA

- Book Bear – West Brookfield MA

- Myopic Books (Paper Nautilus Books) – Providence RI

- The Book Shed – Benson VT

You can link to Amazon to buy my Guide.