True Northwest: Good reads at the Tacoma Book Center

When was the last time you picked up a good book? I don't mean reading on your cell phone or a tablet, but physically holding a book and thumbing through the pages. With technology advances these days, it may have been a while. But in this edition of True Northwest, photojournalist Michael Driver takes us to a place that's encouraging you to put down your devices and lift your favorite story off the shelf. There is a magic to be found in almost any bookstore I walk into. But coming into the Tacoma Book Center feels like I have come home. It is comforting. It is quiet. And it is unique. For Washington, we are the largest nationwide. We're probably in the top 100, I would certainly think. Over half a million books. If anybody comes in here, they should be able to find a section of something that's going to appeal to them. I will never get tired of hearing the door open. It starts to swing closed and just wow. One thing to notice, all the bookshelves are handmade. The fact that this place has been here over 40 years is a huge testament to the owners, Larry and Dave. No, that sounds good. It's the old saying, if you do what you love, you won't work a day in your life. And for this business, that's true. A lot of people have been finding ways to try and get out of the digital rabbit hole that they find themselves in. I still don't think people want to stare into a screen or a TV screen 24-7. It just wears on you. There is something special about being able to tactile have a book in your hands. The feel of the pages, the different textures of different papers, the smells are truly fantastic. People have been trying to replicate the smell of old books and candles and fragrances and perfumes for centuries, and they never can quite get it. It gives you an experience you're not going to get anywhere else. This is the aisle where everybody thinks it's a mirror. They go, hey, that's not a mirror. There's something fantastically simple about text on a page that can bring about a piece that most other things in life can't offer. You have a beginning, a middle, an end. 26.72 today. You have accomplished a finite thing with the phone or tablet. It's everything. It's out there. There's no sense of, hey, I finished that book. I like that book, didn't like that, get rid of it, I'll put a new one up. If you've never picked up reading before and you're thinking, I haven't read a book since high school. And then those were good books. There are still books for you. You don't have to be an amazing reader. You don't have to have a college degree to pick up a book off a shelf. All you need is some interest and maybe the right bookseller to put you in the right direction. It's a break from the world that is all around you. So I would say spend some time with a book. Find an area you love or a genre and explore it. And if you can, explore it with a book. Brings me a heck of a lot of joy, so I'd say try it. I think you might find it works quite well. So Frankie, if I walked into that bookstore, I would never come out. I would just get lost. Just lost in that world, lost in the words. That's so inspiring. I have two books on my nightstand looking at me while I'm looking at my phone. now I'm inspired to do what they're telling me to do tonight you will read a page we'll see