Bookstores attract the right kind of folk. Good people like A.J. and Amelia. And I like talking about books with people who like talking about books. I like paper. I like how it feels, and I like the feel of a book in my back pocket. I like how a new book smells, too.
Officer Lambiase, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry 

Lots of people retire and move to a new home, slowing down and enjoying newfound leisure time. When Sue Boucher’s husband retired last year, the Bouchers sold their house in the Chicago suburbs  and settled in a place they’ve vacationed in for years — Leelenau County, Michigan. The move also meant that Sue had to sell her beloved store, Lake Forest Book Store. Sue enjoys gardening, knitting, hiking, biking, spending time with friends and family — and of course, reading — but she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the book business.

“I never thought I’d fall in love with another bookstore,” Sue said, but fall in love she did — with one of the most charming bookstores I’ve ever seen, the Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, Michigan. Housed in a log cabin that was built in 1920 and moved from its original location to its current one in 1998, the shop is packed with a wide assortment of carefully chosen books — plus puzzles, games,toys, and cards. The walls are covered with the work of local artists. Sue bought the store in the spring of 2014 from longtime owner Barbara Siepker, who was planning to retire. (Her vision of retirement apparently didn’t involve running a small business!)

“Summer is our version of the Christmas season,” Sue said, when I mentioned how busy the store was on a Monday afternoon. Glen Arbor overflows with visitors and summer residents from June through August, with a tiny local population the rest of the year. Last week — which should have been one of the store’s busiest all year —  a storm of Biblical proportions with 100 mph winds hit the town, downing hundreds of trees and causing power outages for nearly a week. The Cottage stayed open almost every day, conducting business with old-fashioned technology (lanterns) and modern technology (iPhones).

I had fun “working” as a guest bookseller in the shop for a few hours on Monday, which meant that I put on an official Cottage Book Shop apron and walked around the store straightening shelves and chatting with customers.  I recommended some of my favorites, and  — since I know the alphabet — I was able to help a few people locate specific titles. A constant trail of families entered the store, looking for summer reading for both parents and children. “This is my favorite time to read,” a woman told me as she picked out a stack of paperbacks. “Every summer we come here for two weeks and I come here right away to stock up. It’s my first stop right after the grocery store.”

What’s popular right now at the Cottage Book Shop? Bestsellers include A Man Called Ove (Fredrik Backman), The Red Notebook (Antoine Laurain), Leaving Time (Jodi Picoult), The Martian (Andy Weir), Ordinary Grace (William Kent Kreuger), Lisette’s List (Susan Vreeland), The Boys in the Boat (Daniel James Brown), and My Salinger Year (Joanna Rakoff) — all great choices for vacation reading. Local interest books are big sellers as well, including gorgeous photography books (Ice Caves of Leelenau), children’s picture books (Petoskey Stone Soup) and field guides (Birds of Michigan).

Not surprisingly, Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman has been selling briskly — and Sue had a great turnout for a screening of the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird the night before the release of Go Set a Watchman. I haven’t read it yet . . . unfortunately, I’ve read so many articles about the book that I can’t imagine enjoying it. Too many preconceived notions can spoil the excitement of starting a brand new book. I did enjoy, and wholeheartedly recommend, Marja Mills’s The Mockingbird Next Door, a delightful account of Mills’s friendship with Harper Lee and her sister.

I suggested The Mockingbird Next Door for the September selection for the Cottage’s Book of the Month Club. (But maybe it’s not a good suggestion — maybe everyone has heard enough about Harper Lee?) Every month, club members receive a paperback in the mail. Sue and her staff try to pick high-quality books with broad appeal. The August choice is  a wonderful one — Neverhome, by Laird Hunt, a lyrical novel about a farmer’s wife who leaves her husband behind to fight for the Union in the Civil War.

I can’t wait to go back to the Cottage Book Shop — maybe in the winter, when the little log cabin will be buried in snow? I’d love to hear which bookstores you’ve visited on your vacations.