What do you get when you join two local treasures: Northside Book Market and the Haunted Bookshop? One fantastic book destination.
Imagine my surprise when I walked up to the door of one of my favorite used book stores in Iowa City, Northside Book Market and saw a sign on the door that read “The Haunted Bookshop.” I thought, ‘Huh, what is my other favorite Iowa City used book store doing advertising at Northside…odd.’ Turns out the two stores merged earlier this year. The store will retain the Haunted Bookshop name but operate at Northside’s former location, 203 North Linn Street, Iowa City.
When you walk into the store you are immediately surrounded by thousands of nonfiction jewels. They have Atwood, Demille, Irving, Updike and so many more. It is wonderful. Take some time to meander through sections dedicated to literary criticism, history, foreign language, self-help, sports, biographies and children’s books. The Shop has literally thousands of books, which they get through donations, estate sales, garage sales and buying used books from customers.
The Haunted Bookshop was started in 1978 by Rock and Jan Williams, who named the store after a book by Christopher Morley called, surprise, surprise, “The Haunted Bookshop.” Naille (pronounced “Neil) Sylvan took over in 2004. Both sets of owners were married in the bookshop, in separate ceremonies. If that is not the sign of a true book lover, I don’t know what is! Both ceremonies were appropriately interrupted by customers coming in the shop in search of the perfect book.
Naille’s favorite thing about owning the shop is the people because she “loves readers as much as [she] loves books.”
When the Haunted Bookshop merged with Northside in January, the move, which could have taken months given the sheer number of books that had to be moved and rearranged, didn’t take long at all because of the volunteers, who wouldn’t accept any payment other than pizza.
Naille loves getting to know her customers and gets a certain joy from finding that perfect book that she just knows one of her customers will love, like the time she helped a women find a book she’d been looking for since 1942. Naille didn’t have the book in but got on the internet to see if she could find it. While the woman waited a man came in with a box of books to sell. Not only did the man have the exact book the woman was looking for, his copy had had an inscription to the woman’s cousin! It was just amazing, says Naille.
When you stop by the Haunted Bookshop, pick up The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. A great read that stretches the reader’s imagination and definitely makes you think.
