BookHunters is new independent bookstore
By TIM WEST twest@stmedianetwork.com April 24, 2012 10:50PM
Updated: May 26, 2012 8:05AM
Just when everyone seemingly is opining that the printed word is going the way of the dodo bird, another bookstore opens in Naperville.
BookHunters, a true Indie, is located in Naperwest Plaza at Aurora Avenue and Route 59, on the Naperville side of Route 59. The address is 548 S. Route 59, but I’ve always found that shopping plaza is accessed easiest through Aurora Avenue when you’re coming from Naperville by turning left into it off Aurora.
BookHunters is an independent store owned by a knowledgeable book lover. Though not large, the store has thousands of books, both new and “gently used,”
Vicki Allison, BookHunters owner, comes by books naturally. Her father owns Moody Books, a large book store in Johnson City, Tenn., which has about a half-million volumes, mostly centering on theology, religion, out of print books and autographed editions, and which has been around since the 1970s. She was raised working in her dad’s store.
Allison herself had her first bookstore in Batavia on Fabyan Parkway from 2003-2005. She closed it when her husband’s job moved them back to his hometown of Indianapolis. She then sold books online until the couple came back to this area and Allison opened BookHunters on April 7.
After looking for a location in the Naperville area she ended up in the Naperwest Plaza, a couple of doors down from Disc Replay, a place that has contributed mightily to my rock ‘n roll CD collection — another form of media apparently on its way out.
Allison advertises that she wants to buy books in gently used condition, especially hardcovers in their original dust jackets.
And her attention to the condition of her stock shows.
Her books are by and large in excellent condition and are reasonably priced as well.
She also has a small group of signed first editions, a few of which I bought.
Allison said what she likes most about the business is “being surrounded by knowledge, by books of every type and genre.” She said her two primary passions and specialities as a bookseller are literature and religious books.
The BookHunters owner said she especially enjoys reading classic authors such as Steinbeck, Hemingway and C.S. Lewis plus more modern writers including Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, T.C. Boyle and Ian McEwan.
BookHunters, with its good used books, carefully selected by an owner who really cares about books, makes a nice accompaniment to downtown Naperville’s independent seller of new books, Anderson’s on Jefferson Avenue.
Both are places that readers can treasure.
BookHunters can be reached at 630-432-4604.
Speaking of books,
donations needed
for AAUW sale
Every year, the Naperville area American Association of University Women holds a used book sale to benefit its scholarship program.
And every year the AAUW sells thousands of used books, CDs and DVDs. Of course when I started to attend the sale decades ago, there were no CDs or DVDs involved. I suppose in the years to come there may be used Kindles as well, but I prefer not to think about that.
Before there can be the sale, however, there is the collection of donated used books and other items to be sold.
This year, used book drive collections will take place on Saturday, April 28, and Saturday, May 12, from 9 a.m. to noon at the School District 203 Administrative Building, 203 W. Hillside. A final collection date is Saturday, June 9, from 9 a.m. to noon at Neuqua Valley High School, 2360 95th St.
The sale itself will be at Neuqua from June 13 to 16, but right now the key is collecting donations.
So, if you have books, CDs, and DVDs you are willing to part with, box them up and take them to the collection sites on the dates indicated above.
The AAUW and its scholarship recipients will thank you.
