My friend Sarah writes about The Neverending Story, writing as a career, why physical books matter, and her search for the ideal bookstore:

“And then, of course, I moved to Salem and found Derby Street Books. I quietly freaked out a little when I first walked in and saw the stacks of books teetering over my head. But how often do you step into a childhood dream?

Everything was right. The literal taste of the air — dust and leaf litter and that tongue coating you get from breathing leather and ideas and mold — was right. Even the guy behind the counter was such a dead ringer for Carl I had to double check he wasn’t reading anything exceptionally magical. Derby Street Books is on a very short list of Perfect Places, along with a Perfect Bar, McSorley’s Old Ale House in Manhattan, a Perfect Restaurant in Corniglia, Italy, and a Perfect Park Bench, which is under a tree in Aberystwyth outside the National Library of Wales.”

She also quotes Giles from Buffy. Why yes, I do get to hang out with her on a regular basis. Seriously though, it’s a heartwarming literary read.