A Bookish Place: Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN

This past weekend I (Jenny) had the privilege of going to Nashville to attend IJM's Northstar Conference. For those of you who do not know about IJM, click here to be introduced to one of the most brilliant non-profits on the planet. (I will be blogging more about them later, as I am reading a book written by the founder and president. They really deserve their own blog post!). This post, however, is about a really wonderful bookstore I had the opportunity to visit while I was there.

I first ran across this bookstore on some list of the independent-bookstores-you-have-to-visit-before-you-die variety. I do not remember exactly where I saw it, but the name was stuck in my subconscious, apparently, because when we happened to eat lunch at the Chipotle in the same shopping center as Parnassus, something in my brain went, "You must go there".

Thank goodness for such a wonderful, unique name -  Parnassus Books. It is very unassuming on the outside; I mean, it is in a shopping center for cryin' out loud. How much more uncool and corporate can you get? That name, however, was a beacon shining from a mundane exterior, hinting at the brilliance within (I am writing a thesis on allegory, can you tell?). Does the name ring any bells? Unless you are a Classics major/minor/professor/devotee, it probably wouldn't. I had to look it up to make sure I remembered correctly from that one Classics class I took as an undergrad. Parnassus was where the Oracle of Delphi was located. The area was sacred to Apollo, Dionysus, and the Muses- everyone who was responsible for the creative arts in ancient Greece. Pretty cool, huh?

So, while the exterior left something to be desired, the inside most definitely did not. The walls are lined floor to ceiling with books. The minute I walked in the smell of books enveloped me, making me hesitate inside the entrance just to take in the visual and olfactory magnificence of the space. It is a relatively small space but is used in such a way as to cram the max amount of books possible into it. 

My two favorite parts of the bookstore were definitely the ladders and the kids' section. Yes, you read that right- ladders. They had Beauty and the Beast ladders along the shelves to reach the top shelves. 

I took a picture of this specific one because, as you can see, they have a whole section dedicated to book club books. What a wonderful idea! And the best part was that they were not just books that had/were being made into movies. A lot of thought had gone into the selections. They have their own book club (which I would kill to be a part of) so you know a good bit of experience has gone into picking these books. 

Next favorite part- the kids' section. Look at this most adorable entrance:

It looks like the entrance to a Greek temple! I did not do a good job of scaling the picture for y'all but think of the door at the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House. And yes, of course I walked through this way. Most of the other, cooler customers were laughing at me but I did not care. It was just so wonderful, you know? 

So. If you are ever in Nashville, you must visit. I bought two books I cannot read until I am done with my thesis because I couldn't not buy something from there. 

There is also a blog you can visit which has cool posts on everything from book club picks to stars in Nashville who stop by the store. The amount of events the store puts on is really amazing. It truly is a community-oriented bookstore, working to spread the love of reading in Nashville. I listened in on the staff suggestions when someone would ask them questions and they were so helpful and so friendly. I was very impressed. It was obvious they love their job and love to introduce people to new books. If I were you, I would plan a trip to Nashville just so I could stop by here. You won't regret it.