Bluestocking Books in Hillcrest, San Diego, California

Any fan of the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan flick 'You've Got Mail' would dream of stumbling onto a real neighborhood bookstore like the one that Kathleen Kelly inherited from her mom. You know, the good old friendly place that refuses to die to the great frustration of the big bad chain bookstores. In which case, you would then be well advised to make it a point to stumble into Bluestocking Books on Fifth Avenue between University and Robinson in Hillcrest (the hip uptown community) when visiting downtown San Diego.

Bluestockings Books, owned by Kris Nelson, is the sort of (mostly used and some new) book places where you drop in not in search of a particular current bestseller, but to spend hours browsing through its cozy aisles and shelves looking to be ambushed by a book or two that you've never heard of before and can't possibly leave behind once you've read a page or two of it.

The store being small-ish in size, there isn't as many titles to choose from in any given topic as you would encounter at Borders Bookstore or even at the Fifth Avenue Books across the street. But they make up for it with more topics covered and the many forgotten gems that ought to have made the bestsellers list but didn't (and can now be had at a bargain price). The shelves are clearly and logically labeled, so specific topics are easy to find. There are chairs and little wooden stools around for you to get comfy browsing for your next literature find. The staff (usually Kris herself) is really nice about letting you be while being very helpful when you can't find something. The store is on low light setting, which really gives the place a cozy feeling. There is enough light to read fine prints, but not so much that you feel x-rayed while loitering around in it.

I walked in last week looking to find another good real life adventures book to take home, but instead found a basketful of printed opera libretti in great English translations (for only $3 a piece!) and a really rare paperback version of Lotte Lehmann's book about how to interpret Lieder (classical art songs) for $6.50.... A real steal considering that the same book is only available on hardback on Amazon for $82! There were a couple of real adventures books I wanted to pick up, too, but I was on a $12 book budget.

It's still an amazingly good trade off for me. Opera fans would already know how revered Lotte Lehmann was for her Lieder singing. For the non-opera fans, she was one of the biggest opera stars of the 1920-40's who could make even Arturo Toscanini cry with her vocal acting. She was also beloved for renouncing her German citizenship and moving to the USA after the 1938 Anschluss in Germany. I dare say that there are some fans and singers who would kill to get their hand on one of her 'More Than Singing' books! And here I was, waltzing off with one for under $10 without having to battle anyone. There ought to be an opera written for such a coup!

The store also has a good selection of alternative magazines (including locally published ones) rather than the usual kinds you get at regular newsstands. They also take trade-in books for store credit.... and they can custom order specific books for you, too.

So, the next time you are in San Diego and thinking of dropping in to lunch or dinner (or party) in Hillcrest area, stop by at Bluestocking Books on the east side of Fifth between University and Robinson. There's got to be at least a book or two with your name all over it waiting to be found in that bibliophelic place!

Bluestocking Books: 3817 5th Avenue (between Robinson and University Avenues in Hillcrest), San Diego, CA 92103. Tel. (619) 296-1424.Opens Fri-Mon: 11AM-9:30PM, Tue-Thu: 11AM-7PM.
Website: www.bluestockingbooks.com