July 21, 2025 • 19 mins
In this episode, I chat with Amanda Friss, the founder of Parentheses Books, which is nestled in the heart of Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Parentheses Books is more than just a bookstore—it’s a space for community, curiosity, and connection. Since opening its doors, the shop has become a vibrant gathering place for readers of all kinds, offering a carefully curated selection of titles and a welcoming atmosphere that invites exploration.
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, Evan Friss
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a
bibliophile.
Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast.
Each week, I present interviewswith authors, independent
bookshop owners and booksellersfrom around the globe and
publishing professionals.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
(00:33):
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
You're listening to Episode 299.
And 99.
Nestled in the heart ofHarrisonburg, virginia,
(00:53):
parenthesis Books is more thanjust a bookstore.
It's a space for communitycuriosity and connection.
Since opening its stores, theshop has become a vibrant
gathering place for readers ofall kinds, offering a carefully
curated selection of titles anda welcoming atmosphere that
invites exploration.
In this interview, I chat withthe founder of Parenthesis Books
about her journey from idea toindie bookshop, the power of
(01:17):
community support throughKickstarter, and how Harrison
Berg's unique character shapesthe store's identity.
From curating the perfect bookselection to recommending local
hiking trails and restaurants,it's clear that both literature
and local flavor are at theheart of everything at
Parenthesis Books.
Hi, amanda, and welcome to theshow.
(01:38):
It's lovely to have you here.
Thanks for having me.
Let's start with yourbackground.
What were you doing beforeopening Parenthesis Books?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, for the 12 years before I opened I was home
raising my boys, and thenbefore that, I worked in a small
independent bookshop inManhattan's West Village called
Three Lives and Company.
So I worked there for eightyears.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I also have two boys.
They're way older now, but Iknow how busy you must have been
.
Raising children keeps you busyand it's hard yeah it is hard.
It's very hard.
I found one of the gifts ofbeing a mom was actually reading
to my kids.
You know, even before they wereborn, but it was such a gift to
(02:20):
be able to read to them and I'mguessing that's been extremely
helpful when you opened up yourstore and develop the children's
section.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It has.
Yeah, when I, when I opened thestore, actually that was what I
knew most about, because I feltlike I haven't, I hadn't been
reading for myself for a longtime.
I had to catch up on the adultstuff.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah, and I'm kind of in the next phase, where I'm
going to be a grandma soon, andI'm just happy that I've kept a
lot of my favorite children'sbooks so that I can read to my
grandkids.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Right yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Now you secured a loan to help with startup costs,
but also launched a successfulKickstarter campaign to fund
your initial inventory.
As of April 3rd 2024, 365backers pledged $55,804 to help
bring Parentheses Books to lifeas a brick-and-mortar indie
(03:11):
bookstore.
How did you attract backers,what types of rewards did you
offer and what advice would yougive to someone considering a
Kickstarter campaign to launch abusiness?
Pros and cons.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, I attracted backers by using.
I use social media, so I was onInstagram.
I essentially compiled emails,the emails of everybody I could
think of that I have ever knownand I was.
I emailed everybody.
Kickstarter has very strictrules about how you can
advertise your campaign, butyou're allowed to personally
(03:43):
reach out to people.
So I personally reached out toas many people as I could and I
tried to go out in the communityand talk to as many people and
tell as many people as I couldabout what I was trying to do.
I offered rewards.
I had a tote bag and a t-shirt.
I had a sticker.
They were all different prices.
The one that I was most excitedabout that I think people liked
(04:05):
, I had a sticker.
You know, they were alldifferent prices.
The one that I was most excitedabout that I think people liked
was I had people fill out aform and then I offered a
personalized like curatedrecommendation list.
So they filled out a form aboutwhat they like to read and then
I gave them a list of books Ithought they would like.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
That's a great idea, and what about your advice to
people wanting to do a similarcampaign?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It was really challenging.
My advice to people would be toreally do a lot of planning
ahead of the campaign if they'rethinking of doing that, because
the time the campaign wasrunning, which was a month, it
was craziness, it was allconsuming.
So I would just factor that inwhen you're thinking about doing
it.
But the advantage is, I mean,you don't have to pay that money
back, you have to pay off therewards and you also it's sort
(04:53):
of also served to create buzzaround what I was doing, and
then people were looking forwardto the store opening and more
people found out about itbecause of the campaign.
I think, yeah, it was adifficult thing to do and it's
also all or nothing.
So if you don't on Kickstarter,at least if you don't raise the
amount of your goal, you don'tget anything.
So it's a little bit risky to doin that way, but it also served
(05:17):
a little bit as a litmus testfor me, because I felt like if
the community didn't you know,come out to support the store in
the Kickstarter campaign, thenmaybe it couldn't support the
store in general.
So I felt like if I could passthat test, I might be okay.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And, along with people buying t-shirts, you also
had some large donations.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I did, I felt I was, I was so grateful.
Man, that whole it was such aheartwarming experience because
people, people were verygenerous.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I was very grateful well, it just goes to show how
much people wanted and needed abookshop in the town.
It's great, um now.
Has your approach to curatingthe bookshop selection evolved
since you first opened and, ifso, how and why?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
it.
I feel like I spoke to apublishing rep early on, before
I even opened, and I rememberher saying that it takes about a
year for you to figure out whatyour community wants to read.
And I feel like it's been ayear and a half now and I feel
like I'm still tweaking it.
I'm still sort of figuring itout.
I do think that I was very Iwasn't very confident early on
(06:23):
that I knew what to buy.
I mean, I bought buy all thebooks for the store.
One thing that's happened isI've become a little more
confident and just trusting myinstinct because I get a lot of
compliments about the selectionand so I've become a little more
confident in choosing and justsort of go with my instinct.
But I tweak it all the time.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, and what do you like to read?
Fiction, nonfiction, what kindof genres in fiction?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I read a bit of both.
I love mysteries, just regularliterary fiction.
I've read a few sort of.
I like a little bit of magicalrealism here and there.
I'm not quite into thefull-blown fantasy.
Mysteries are probably myfavorite fiction though, and I
do read a fair amount ofnonfiction.
I love memoirs.
(07:10):
A good memoir is probably myfavorite thing.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
One of the things I enjoy about going into an indie
bookshop is that you know you'regoing to find a bookseller in
the bookshop who also reads thestyle or the genre that you do,
so it's great to have thoseconversations in a bookshop.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yes, me too, and I definitely have customers that
I've discovered.
I have the exact same taste andso I know that if he likes the
book, I'm going to like it, andwe trade back and forth
recommendations and you know Ilove that.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Yeah, it's definitely fun.
Do you hold a lot of events atthe store?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I have a fair amount.
I've had actually one everyweekend in May I was just
thinking which is a little bitrare for me, but it was good.
We have a story time that we doonce a month.
I have a good friend who's sheused to be an elementary school
teacher.
Now she's an instructionalcoach at an elementary school,
but she does a story time on thesecond Saturday of every month
and she's amazing.
She does songs and then shereads books and she does a
(08:06):
little craft with the kids.
So that's my favorite eventthat we do.
But we also do author, you knowreadings and signings, and I
like it when we can set up aconversation between people.
We've had some music at thestore.
It's been good.
We've had some art exhibits andopenings.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
The space is gorgeous .
I mean, it looks really open.
How many square feet is it?
It's about 900 square feet.
That's a good size, but itactually looks bigger than that.
I guess it's due to the openspace and high ceiling.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
It does and it's really big.
It's in an old warehouse thathas really big windows and I the
corner spot, so it has reallybig windows and exposed brick
wall.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
And yeah, it's very arty looking.
I love it.
Now in researching Harrisonburg, it looks absolutely beautiful
and it has a population ofapproximately 51,000.
Would you say the community isdiverse.
How do local demographicsinfluence your book selection
and is Harrisonburg also atourist destination?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, it is very diverse.
Actually, I was surprised bythat when I moved here.
I think someone told me thereare something like 40 different
languages spoken at the highschool.
That's great.
Yeah.
I would say, though, that about20,000 of the 51,000 are
students at James MadisonUniversity, so they're counted
in that number, I believe and Iwouldn't say they're the most
(09:30):
diverse group, and I also Ithink it's challenging because I
don't think that my customersnecessarily reflect the
diversity, which is, I think, achallenge in some respect.
How to get people you know fromacross the board to shop at an
indie bookstore.
I have some Spanish languagetitles that do pretty well.
Spanish is, I think, the secondbiggest language in town.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
And would you say Harrisonburg is a tourist
destination.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
In some ways not really.
We are right on 81.
There's a highway that goesdown the western side of
Virginia and there are a lot ofpeople who stop in Harrisonburg
on their way to other places,which I guess is not really a
tourist destination, but theystop on their way.
It's a good stopping point, Ithink.
Also there are also a lot ofit's transient in some way
(10:19):
because of the university.
So there are families who sortof are very attached to
Harrisonburg for the four yearsthat their kids are here or
their kid is here, and I seethose families throughout the
time that they're.
I mean, that's a big, I wouldsay.
A lot of my customers arefamilies of DMU students that
come in.
There's also a nearby resort,massanutten, and people have
(10:40):
second homes there and they renthomes in the summer and the
winter because they're skiing.
But I wouldn't say it's a hugetourist destination.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I think social media has really helped elevate a lot
of indie bookshops that aren'tin the middle of town.
A lot of readers go to a townspecifically to take a
photograph of the bookshop, sothat's got to help business.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
It has, and I found that people have come in and
have said that they're passingthrough, they're going down 81
from point A to point B and theywanted to stop and they just
they Google where is theirbookstore, and they've come to
me that way.
I also am right across thestreet from a very popular
restaurant in town.
So, um, yeah, so people gothere and then there's often a
(11:24):
wait there and they can comeover while they're waiting for
their table.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And in the building where you're located are quite a
few other businesses, right?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yes, so I'm in a renovated warehouse building
that was turned into sort of anindoor shopping destination
called the Liberty StreetMercantile, and there's a
florist, there's a coffee shopand roastery.
In the basement there's a vinylshop that just opened down.
There there's a home decorboutique and a little children's
clothing shop.
(11:52):
It's good.
There's also a cookware storein the basement.
There's also an event space onthe top floor, which is nice too
, yeah, and so I'm able I feelgrateful for this I'm able, if I
have events, to borrow chairsfrom up there.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, that's the one thing.
In bookshops it's alwaysdifficult to find space to store
stuff, especially chairs.
Now, for visitors spending afew days in the area, what would
you recommend?
Are there must-see sites,hiking trails for families or
more seasoned adventurers,standout restaurants, especially
given the city's designation asVirginia's first culinary
(12:28):
district, or notable independentbusinesses?
What I loved about the photosthat I saw of Harrisonburg is
the area looks like a hiker'sdream it is a hiker's dream and
there's that there's a hike foreverybody.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
There's a hike if you want to bring your dog, your
kids, if you're a seasoned hiker, if you're never been hiking
before.
There's Shenandoah NationalPark is right just to our east,
and there's hiking to the west,so you basically can go in any
direction within a half houryou're on a mountain, not even a
half hour, really.
(13:01):
Yeah, there are greatrestaurants in town.
I think there are like fivebreweries in town.
So for the size town it is, itreally does have a lot of
independent restaurants andstores.
There's a cat cafe that justopened, which is pretty popular.
There's a really good pizzaplace called Bella Luna that my
(13:21):
family and I love.
There's Magpie Diner rightacross the street.
There's this other greatbreakfast place called the
Little Grill Collective, whichhas been there forever, I would
say walking around downtown.
There's art to look at, there'sgreat things to eat, there's
outdoor activities.
It's great here.
It really is.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
It sounds like a wonderful place to bring up
children.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yes, it really is.
My son tells me all the timethat he's glad that he lives
here.
Which?
I think is so great.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Oh, isn't that a beautiful thing to hear for a
mother.
And how old is he?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
He's 13.
He might change his mind, butfor now he likes it.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And what was it that motivated your move from New
York City to Harrisonburg?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Evan, my husband got a job teaching at James Madison
University.
That's how we ended up here andI honestly feel very lucky
because he was looking for atenure track job and you know
that's not easy to get and wecould have ended up anywhere.
Yes, I feel really lucky thatwe ended up here.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And what do you love most about living there?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I think what I love most most I mean other than what
we talked.
I mean it's so pretty andthere's, you know, everywhere
you look there are mountains.
But I think what I love most isthat it feels very much like a
small town.
I grew up in a suburb inMaryland, columbia, maryland,
and it was very sprawling andyou didn't go places and see
people you knew and you know youdidn't necessarily meet people
(14:43):
who knew other people that youknew and it wasn't.
But here there's this smalltown feel, but you still have
this nice, it's a nice downtownand it's very walkable.
But I like the small townfeeling of people knowing
everybody.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, we live in a small town too, and I just love
it.
Amanda, what are you currentlyreading?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I am currently reading I have it right here no
Less Strange and Wonderful by AKendra Green.
Yeah, that's our book club book.
How is it?
It's great.
I'm at the very beginning, butso far I really like it.
I'm excited to read the rest ofit.
It's an interesting cover it isyeah, and I like that it
doesn't have a jacket.
I like the paper overboards, Iboards.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I love a physical book, hardcover, paperback, I
guess.
For about a year I read ebooksbut I don't like reading them
anymore.
I don't either I can't.
Do you do audio at all?
I don't do audio eitherSometimes, but rarely.
Two reasons when I'm hiking, Ilike listening to nature, so I
(15:44):
don't wear earbuds, and when I'mdriving, I sometimes will
listen to a book or a shortstory.
I listen to nonfiction whileI'm also reading the book,
fiction not as much.
I like to have my imaginationallowed to run freely regarding
voices.
But having said that, if I'm ona crunch and I have a lot of
(16:06):
books to read which I always doI might put one on in the car.
And the other thing is I spendall day either in front of the
computer or, you know, on myphone, and then maybe I'll watch
something at night.
I don't want to be listening tosomething or having a device
near me when I'm reading.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
The thing about audio , too, is that often I haven't
done it, so I don't really knowthe experience, but it seems
like people are listening toaudiobooks while they're doing
something else, and I like.
What I like about picking up abook is that I'm not doing
anything else.
Right then, I'm just readingthe book.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, you're not distracted by anything else.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Right.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Now, before you go, I'd love to hear a little about
your husband, Evan Friss, andthe book he wrote the Bookshop A
History of the AmericanBookstore.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
It's a great book, such a great history of
bookstores and it's verynarrative, so it's really for
people who aren't big nonfictionreaders.
It's not dry and it's not goingto weigh you down with dates
and facts and it's kind of funny.
Because Evan's kind of funny.
Yeah, I was working at ThreeLives in New York and Evan saw
(17:16):
through my experience there thatbookstores are different from
other retail.
They just are, and it inspiredhim to write a history of how
did these spaces get to be sodifferent from other retail
spaces?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yes, indie bookshops are definitely unique.
If you like bookstores, you'lllike his book.
That was a great plug, Amanda.
It has been great chatting withyou and learning about
Parentheses Books.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Thank you, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
You've been listening to my conversation with Amanda
Friss, owner of ParenthesesBooks in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
To help the show reach more people.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Please share episodes with friends and family and on
social media, and remember tosubscribe and leave a review
wherever you listen to thispodcast.
To find out more about theBookshop Podcast, go to
thebookshoppodcastcom and makesure to subscribe and leave a
review wherever you listen tothe show.
You can also follow me at MandyJackson Beverly on Instagram
(18:17):
and Facebook and on YouTube atthe Bookshop Podcast.
If you have a favorite indiebookshop that you'd like to
suggest we have on the podcast,I'd love to hear from you via
the contact form atthebookshoppodcastcom.
The Bookshop Podcast is writtenand produced by me, mandy
Jackson-Beverly, theme musicprovided by Brian Beverly, and
(18:39):
my executive assistant andgraphic designer is Adrian
Otterhan.
Thanks for listening and I'llsee you next time.
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a
bibliophile.
Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast.
Each week, I present interviewswith authors, independent
bookshop owners and booksellersfrom around the globe and
publishing professionals.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
(00:33):
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
You're listening to Episode 299.
And 99.
Nestled in the heart ofHarrisonburg, virginia,
(00:53):
parenthesis Books is more thanjust a bookstore.
It's a space for communitycuriosity and connection.
Since opening its stores, theshop has become a vibrant
gathering place for readers ofall kinds, offering a carefully
curated selection of titles anda welcoming atmosphere that
invites exploration.
In this interview, I chat withthe founder of Parenthesis Books
about her journey from idea toindie bookshop, the power of
(01:17):
community support throughKickstarter, and how Harrison
Berg's unique character shapesthe store's identity.
From curating the perfect bookselection to recommending local
hiking trails and restaurants,it's clear that both literature
and local flavor are at theheart of everything at
Parenthesis Books.
Hi, amanda, and welcome to theshow.
(01:38):
It's lovely to have you here.
Thanks for having me.
Let's start with yourbackground.
What were you doing beforeopening Parenthesis Books?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, for the 12 years before I opened I was home
raising my boys, and thenbefore that, I worked in a small
independent bookshop inManhattan's West Village called
Three Lives and Company.
So I worked there for eightyears.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I also have two boys.
They're way older now, but Iknow how busy you must have been
.
Raising children keeps you busyand it's hard yeah it is hard.
It's very hard.
I found one of the gifts ofbeing a mom was actually reading
to my kids.
You know, even before they wereborn, but it was such a gift to
(02:20):
be able to read to them and I'mguessing that's been extremely
helpful when you opened up yourstore and develop the children's
section.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
It has.
Yeah, when I, when I opened thestore, actually that was what I
knew most about, because I feltlike I haven't, I hadn't been
reading for myself for a longtime.
I had to catch up on the adultstuff.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah, and I'm kind of in the next phase, where I'm
going to be a grandma soon, andI'm just happy that I've kept a
lot of my favorite children'sbooks so that I can read to my
grandkids.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Right yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Now you secured a loan to help with startup costs,
but also launched a successfulKickstarter campaign to fund
your initial inventory.
As of April 3rd 2024, 365backers pledged $55,804 to help
bring Parentheses Books to lifeas a brick-and-mortar indie
(03:11):
bookstore.
How did you attract backers,what types of rewards did you
offer and what advice would yougive to someone considering a
Kickstarter campaign to launch abusiness?
Pros and cons.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, I attracted backers by using.
I use social media, so I was onInstagram.
I essentially compiled emails,the emails of everybody I could
think of that I have ever knownand I was.
I emailed everybody.
Kickstarter has very strictrules about how you can
advertise your campaign, butyou're allowed to personally
(03:43):
reach out to people.
So I personally reached out toas many people as I could and I
tried to go out in the communityand talk to as many people and
tell as many people as I couldabout what I was trying to do.
I offered rewards.
I had a tote bag and a t-shirt.
I had a sticker.
They were all different prices.
The one that I was most excitedabout that I think people liked
(04:05):
, I had a sticker.
You know, they were alldifferent prices.
The one that I was most excitedabout that I think people liked
was I had people fill out aform and then I offered a
personalized like curatedrecommendation list.
So they filled out a form aboutwhat they like to read and then
I gave them a list of books Ithought they would like.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
That's a great idea, and what about your advice to
people wanting to do a similarcampaign?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It was really challenging.
My advice to people would be toreally do a lot of planning
ahead of the campaign if they'rethinking of doing that, because
the time the campaign wasrunning, which was a month, it
was craziness, it was allconsuming.
So I would just factor that inwhen you're thinking about doing
it.
But the advantage is, I mean,you don't have to pay that money
back, you have to pay off therewards and you also it's sort
(04:53):
of also served to create buzzaround what I was doing, and
then people were looking forwardto the store opening and more
people found out about itbecause of the campaign.
I think, yeah, it was adifficult thing to do and it's
also all or nothing.
So if you don't on Kickstarter,at least if you don't raise the
amount of your goal, you don'tget anything.
So it's a little bit risky to doin that way, but it also served
(05:17):
a little bit as a litmus testfor me, because I felt like if
the community didn't you know,come out to support the store in
the Kickstarter campaign, thenmaybe it couldn't support the
store in general.
So I felt like if I could passthat test, I might be okay.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And, along with people buying t-shirts, you also
had some large donations.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I did, I felt I was, I was so grateful.
Man, that whole it was such aheartwarming experience because
people, people were verygenerous.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I was very grateful well, it just goes to show how
much people wanted and needed abookshop in the town.
It's great, um now.
Has your approach to curatingthe bookshop selection evolved
since you first opened and, ifso, how and why?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
it.
I feel like I spoke to apublishing rep early on, before
I even opened, and I rememberher saying that it takes about a
year for you to figure out whatyour community wants to read.
And I feel like it's been ayear and a half now and I feel
like I'm still tweaking it.
I'm still sort of figuring itout.
I do think that I was very Iwasn't very confident early on
(06:23):
that I knew what to buy.
I mean, I bought buy all thebooks for the store.
One thing that's happened isI've become a little more
confident and just trusting myinstinct because I get a lot of
compliments about the selectionand so I've become a little more
confident in choosing and justsort of go with my instinct.
But I tweak it all the time.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, and what do you like to read?
Fiction, nonfiction, what kindof genres in fiction?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I read a bit of both.
I love mysteries, just regularliterary fiction.
I've read a few sort of.
I like a little bit of magicalrealism here and there.
I'm not quite into thefull-blown fantasy.
Mysteries are probably myfavorite fiction though, and I
do read a fair amount ofnonfiction.
I love memoirs.
(07:10):
A good memoir is probably myfavorite thing.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
One of the things I enjoy about going into an indie
bookshop is that you know you'regoing to find a bookseller in
the bookshop who also reads thestyle or the genre that you do,
so it's great to have thoseconversations in a bookshop.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yes, me too, and I definitely have customers that
I've discovered.
I have the exact same taste andso I know that if he likes the
book, I'm going to like it, andwe trade back and forth
recommendations and you know Ilove that.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Yeah, it's definitely fun.
Do you hold a lot of events atthe store?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I have a fair amount.
I've had actually one everyweekend in May I was just
thinking which is a little bitrare for me, but it was good.
We have a story time that we doonce a month.
I have a good friend who's sheused to be an elementary school
teacher.
Now she's an instructionalcoach at an elementary school,
but she does a story time on thesecond Saturday of every month
and she's amazing.
She does songs and then shereads books and she does a
(08:06):
little craft with the kids.
So that's my favorite eventthat we do.
But we also do author, you knowreadings and signings, and I
like it when we can set up aconversation between people.
We've had some music at thestore.
It's been good.
We've had some art exhibits andopenings.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
The space is gorgeous .
I mean, it looks really open.
How many square feet is it?
It's about 900 square feet.
That's a good size, but itactually looks bigger than that.
I guess it's due to the openspace and high ceiling.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
It does and it's really big.
It's in an old warehouse thathas really big windows and I the
corner spot, so it has reallybig windows and exposed brick
wall.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
And yeah, it's very arty looking.
I love it.
Now in researching Harrisonburg, it looks absolutely beautiful
and it has a population ofapproximately 51,000.
Would you say the community isdiverse.
How do local demographicsinfluence your book selection
and is Harrisonburg also atourist destination?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, it is very diverse.
Actually, I was surprised bythat when I moved here.
I think someone told me thereare something like 40 different
languages spoken at the highschool.
That's great.
Yeah.
I would say, though, that about20,000 of the 51,000 are
students at James MadisonUniversity, so they're counted
in that number, I believe and Iwouldn't say they're the most
(09:30):
diverse group, and I also Ithink it's challenging because I
don't think that my customersnecessarily reflect the
diversity, which is, I think, achallenge in some respect.
How to get people you know fromacross the board to shop at an
indie bookstore.
I have some Spanish languagetitles that do pretty well.
Spanish is, I think, the secondbiggest language in town.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
And would you say Harrisonburg is a tourist
destination.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
In some ways not really.
We are right on 81.
There's a highway that goesdown the western side of
Virginia and there are a lot ofpeople who stop in Harrisonburg
on their way to other places,which I guess is not really a
tourist destination, but theystop on their way.
It's a good stopping point, Ithink.
Also there are also a lot ofit's transient in some way
(10:19):
because of the university.
So there are families who sortof are very attached to
Harrisonburg for the four yearsthat their kids are here or
their kid is here, and I seethose families throughout the
time that they're.
I mean, that's a big, I wouldsay.
A lot of my customers arefamilies of DMU students that
come in.
There's also a nearby resort,massanutten, and people have
(10:40):
second homes there and they renthomes in the summer and the
winter because they're skiing.
But I wouldn't say it's a hugetourist destination.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I think social media has really helped elevate a lot
of indie bookshops that aren'tin the middle of town.
A lot of readers go to a townspecifically to take a
photograph of the bookshop, sothat's got to help business.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
It has, and I found that people have come in and
have said that they're passingthrough, they're going down 81
from point A to point B and theywanted to stop and they just
they Google where is theirbookstore, and they've come to
me that way.
I also am right across thestreet from a very popular
restaurant in town.
So, um, yeah, so people gothere and then there's often a
(11:24):
wait there and they can comeover while they're waiting for
their table.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And in the building where you're located are quite a
few other businesses, right?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yes, so I'm in a renovated warehouse building
that was turned into sort of anindoor shopping destination
called the Liberty StreetMercantile, and there's a
florist, there's a coffee shopand roastery.
In the basement there's a vinylshop that just opened down.
There there's a home decorboutique and a little children's
clothing shop.
(11:52):
It's good.
There's also a cookware storein the basement.
There's also an event space onthe top floor, which is nice too
, yeah, and so I'm able I feelgrateful for this I'm able, if I
have events, to borrow chairsfrom up there.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, that's the one thing.
In bookshops it's alwaysdifficult to find space to store
stuff, especially chairs.
Now, for visitors spending afew days in the area, what would
you recommend?
Are there must-see sites,hiking trails for families or
more seasoned adventurers,standout restaurants, especially
given the city's designation asVirginia's first culinary
(12:28):
district, or notable independentbusinesses?
What I loved about the photosthat I saw of Harrisonburg is
the area looks like a hiker'sdream it is a hiker's dream and
there's that there's a hike foreverybody.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
There's a hike if you want to bring your dog, your
kids, if you're a seasoned hiker, if you're never been hiking
before.
There's Shenandoah NationalPark is right just to our east,
and there's hiking to the west,so you basically can go in any
direction within a half houryou're on a mountain, not even a
half hour, really.
(13:01):
Yeah, there are greatrestaurants in town.
I think there are like fivebreweries in town.
So for the size town it is, itreally does have a lot of
independent restaurants andstores.
There's a cat cafe that justopened, which is pretty popular.
There's a really good pizzaplace called Bella Luna that my
(13:21):
family and I love.
There's Magpie Diner rightacross the street.
There's this other greatbreakfast place called the
Little Grill Collective, whichhas been there forever, I would
say walking around downtown.
There's art to look at, there'sgreat things to eat, there's
outdoor activities.
It's great here.
It really is.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
It sounds like a wonderful place to bring up
children.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yes, it really is.
My son tells me all the timethat he's glad that he lives
here.
Which?
I think is so great.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Oh, isn't that a beautiful thing to hear for a
mother.
And how old is he?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
He's 13.
He might change his mind, butfor now he likes it.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And what was it that motivated your move from New
York City to Harrisonburg?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Evan, my husband got a job teaching at James Madison
University.
That's how we ended up here andI honestly feel very lucky
because he was looking for atenure track job and you know
that's not easy to get and wecould have ended up anywhere.
Yes, I feel really lucky thatwe ended up here.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And what do you love most about living there?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I think what I love most most I mean other than what
we talked.
I mean it's so pretty andthere's, you know, everywhere
you look there are mountains.
But I think what I love most isthat it feels very much like a
small town.
I grew up in a suburb inMaryland, columbia, maryland,
and it was very sprawling andyou didn't go places and see
people you knew and you know youdidn't necessarily meet people
(14:43):
who knew other people that youknew and it wasn't.
But here there's this smalltown feel, but you still have
this nice, it's a nice downtownand it's very walkable.
But I like the small townfeeling of people knowing
everybody.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, we live in a small town too, and I just love
it.
Amanda, what are you currentlyreading?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I am currently reading I have it right here no
Less Strange and Wonderful by AKendra Green.
Yeah, that's our book club book.
How is it?
It's great.
I'm at the very beginning, butso far I really like it.
I'm excited to read the rest ofit.
It's an interesting cover it isyeah, and I like that it
doesn't have a jacket.
I like the paper overboards, Iboards.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I love a physical book, hardcover, paperback, I
guess.
For about a year I read ebooksbut I don't like reading them
anymore.
I don't either I can't.
Do you do audio at all?
I don't do audio eitherSometimes, but rarely.
Two reasons when I'm hiking, Ilike listening to nature, so I
(15:44):
don't wear earbuds, and when I'mdriving, I sometimes will
listen to a book or a shortstory.
I listen to nonfiction whileI'm also reading the book,
fiction not as much.
I like to have my imaginationallowed to run freely regarding
voices.
But having said that, if I'm ona crunch and I have a lot of
(16:06):
books to read which I always doI might put one on in the car.
And the other thing is I spendall day either in front of the
computer or, you know, on myphone, and then maybe I'll watch
something at night.
I don't want to be listening tosomething or having a device
near me when I'm reading.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
The thing about audio , too, is that often I haven't
done it, so I don't really knowthe experience, but it seems
like people are listening toaudiobooks while they're doing
something else, and I like.
What I like about picking up abook is that I'm not doing
anything else.
Right then, I'm just readingthe book.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, you're not distracted by anything else.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Right.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Now, before you go, I'd love to hear a little about
your husband, Evan Friss, andthe book he wrote the Bookshop A
History of the AmericanBookstore.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
It's a great book, such a great history of
bookstores and it's verynarrative, so it's really for
people who aren't big nonfictionreaders.
It's not dry and it's not goingto weigh you down with dates
and facts and it's kind of funny.
Because Evan's kind of funny.
Yeah, I was working at ThreeLives in New York and Evan saw
(17:16):
through my experience there thatbookstores are different from
other retail.
They just are, and it inspiredhim to write a history of how
did these spaces get to be sodifferent from other retail
spaces?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yes, indie bookshops are definitely unique.
If you like bookstores, you'lllike his book.
That was a great plug, Amanda.
It has been great chatting withyou and learning about
Parentheses Books.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Thank you, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
You've been listening to my conversation with Amanda
Friss, owner of ParenthesesBooks in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
To help the show reach more people.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Please share episodes with friends and family and on
social media, and remember tosubscribe and leave a review
wherever you listen to thispodcast.
To find out more about theBookshop Podcast, go to
thebookshoppodcastcom and makesure to subscribe and leave a
review wherever you listen tothe show.
You can also follow me at MandyJackson Beverly on Instagram
(18:17):
and Facebook and on YouTube atthe Bookshop Podcast.
If you have a favorite indiebookshop that you'd like to
suggest we have on the podcast,I'd love to hear from you via
the contact form atthebookshoppodcastcom.
The Bookshop Podcast is writtenand produced by me, mandy
Jackson-Beverly, theme musicprovided by Brian Beverly, and
(18:39):
my executive assistant andgraphic designer is Adrian
Otterhan.
Thanks for listening and I'llsee you next time.
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