I had read rumors of cats in the bookstores: a sign announced an “Attack Cat On Duty” at both Book Bin I visited, in Salem and Corvallis. Rose, the attack cat of Salem “who shares a birthday with H.P. Lovecraft” was nowhere to be seen when I stopped by, but today her grandmother Tess was guarding the “T” section of Literature in Corvallis.

In Medford, at the Village Bookstore, there was no sighting either of Winston the cat, successor to the “Quality Inspector cat” Mr. Dickens… though customers were warned about his drinking habits or suicidal tendencies – I am not sure which, as I forgot to ask the owner.

 We did, however, have a nice chat about her bookstore, which turned out to be a very pleasant surprise in the middle of an otherwise nondescript shopping mall, alongside the supermarket, the gun store, and the nail salon. This is another bookstore whose proprietor wants her business to do more than sell books, and is dedicated to serve as a link for the community and as a cheerleader for “the reader in the family” (sadly, I am told that the singular does apply, statistically).

I did not find two books I have been looking for, but enjoyed looking at the daedalus of shelves and great selection of books. I was intrigued by the “mystery bags” of books that could be had for a couple of dollars, but not enough to succumb; and I was surprised to find a small section of foreign-language books (mostly French, German, and Spanish classics) with a whimsical display starring Bécassine, the less-than-apt nanny from Brittany, next to a Hebrew dictionary and “How to read Egyptian”.

My own modest “bonne idée” was to go on, and check more bookstores along the way.