Bookstore Hall of Fame

It's a great idea and surely if baseball, football, basketball, and rock and roll all get to have halls of fame, so should bookstores.

So I congratulate Robert Teeter on the website he has put together. From my point of view, it's way too California-centric and has cavernous gaps (no mention of new literary-indie-bookstore hotspot Brooklyn? and a tepid endorsement of the Strand – come on! New Yorkers, speak up for your favorite stores!) but that's OK. It's a beginning and it'll be the responsibility of readers everywhere to make further contributions.

I love the idea of creating a global directory of the best bookstores. What is nicer when you travel than being able to rest your weary feet for a few hours in the company of a lot of good books and maybe even some congenial readers?

The Ten Best in North America is just a beginning, but it's a good place to start. So now it's up to the rest of us to speak up for our favorites. Visit the Bookstore Hall of Fame and offer a nomination.