Independent Bookstores: Copperfield Books

(Repost of a missing post as yet unrestored by Blogger)

When people go to drink wine in California, most of the time they think of Napa County, an area just north northeast of San Francisco, but given a choice, I'm going to go where most people aren't, in this case, that place is Sonoma County, which lies due north of San Francisco, one imaginary line away from it's "sexier" neighbor.  

I love Napa County, and Sonoma County isn't exactly deserted but when I see limousines pull into a grape farm, I get the distinct feeling the experience is more Hollywood than Healdsburg, and I'll take Healdsburg over Hollywood anyday.

Hollywood and Vine:::::::Matheson and West

 Healdsburg is Andy and Aunt Bee's Mayberry with good restaurants, cute shoes and a Copperfield Book Store, one of the reasons I fell in love with this small Sonoma county town.  

The lovely thing about opening your own chain of book stores as Barney Brown and Paul Jaffe have done, is that you can make each one an experience unique to its surroundings, not that there's anything wrong with comforting homogeneity, but when you have to leave a bookstore to go see what town you're in, maybe a little shakeup is in order.

 Bovolo is one such shakeup.

There are any number of bookstores where you can get Corporate Coffee at five bucks a pop, but how many book stores will sell you a salted caramel affogato at 9am.  

The unbelievably good restaurant attached to the bookstore, Bovolo will do so.  They also offer things like hot apple fritters served with a maple crème fraiche dipping sauce, but I was shocked to find there are limits to how much sugar I can eat before noon.
    
Healdsburg is also in an area that smart rich authors flock to for its physical beauty and for the short hour drive from San Francisco so you're likely to get a signed book like the one my husband picked up, though in the case of his book, I doubt the physicists who signed his copy of ? are rich.  

They may be famous, just not to me.  

Have I mentioned my husband is an extreme geek? 

 In fact, I'd give you the title of the book, but he's not here right now and neither is the book.  He carries it with him in his briefcase.  I'm not sure why. It's not very helpful in his job but maybe the laugh factor is.  

There's a chapter on why the government insists your wine be radioactive or you can't buy it.  Turns out radioactivity is the only way the government knows how to tell your wine was made from grapes instead of crude oil, which suggest government employees should drink more wine.  

I think the DMV experience would be vastly improved should they decide to take up my suggestion.  I know mine would if I was drinking.

By the time I write my own bargain book adventure for Bargain Book Bonanza, I'll try to get it away from him long enough to share it with you, but until then, if you're wandering around north of San Francisco, stop in at one of the Copperfield Book stores and hug someone.

If you stop in at the one in Healdsburg, have an affogato while you're there.

The nice smart people who make it for you will even explain to you what you're drinking, unless it was just my clueless facial expression which led to this largess.

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