Cave Creek has always had its own book store, at least for twenty-five years of my memory. Owned and operated by Jim Zeno, the store is a small town treasure. Jim has an eye for readable, worthwhile books and on his shelves one will find a veritable literary stew. A former newspaper editor, he enjoys his work and often finds it difficult to let a book go. Ringing a sale, he may rest the chosen volume in his hands as if communing with the author or perhaps recalling how he happened to acquire the work. Eventually he slides the book across his desk and asks if you want a bag for that.
I like his store because it is clean, not musty and dusty like a lot of used book stores. Also, Jim is an excellent conversationalist (unless you want to promote your politics or religion; then he gets pretty quiet until you run down and hopefully leave.) A lot of old geezers hang out with Jim and even buy a book or two. Jim’s planning to retire next year, sell the store or just the inventory (since he rents from Herb the Trane guy who bought the building recently.) Or maybe he will sell books on line. He’s flexible. It will be a shock to some of his long time customers. Other customers have also moved on, like me, although I stop in to see him whenever I am in town checking out my house. The book store fills a community need; if I still lived in Cave Creek I might buy it and install a pickle barrel and a coffee pot (self-serve). Then Jim could stop in and chat with me (and buy some of his books back).
Cave Creek has always had its own book store, at least for twenty-five years of my memory. Owned and operated by Jim Zeno, the store is a small town treasure. Jim has an eye for readable, worthwhile books and on his shelves one will find a veritable literary stew. A former newspaper editor, he enjoys his work and often finds it difficult to let a book go. Ringing a sale, he may rest the chosen volume in his hands as if communing with the author or perhaps recalling how he happened to acquire the work. Eventually he slides the book across his desk and asks if you want a bag for that.
I like his store because it is clean, not musty and dusty like a lot of used book stores. Also, Jim is an excellent conversationalist (unless you want to promote your politics or religion; then he gets pretty quiet until you run down and hopefully leave.) A lot of old geezers hang out with Jim and even buy a book or two. Jim’s planning to retire next year, sell the store or just the inventory (since he rents from Herb the Trane guy who bought the building recently.) Or maybe he will sell books on line. He’s flexible. It will be a shock to some of his long time customers. Other customers have also moved on, like me, although I stop in to see him whenever I am in town checking out my house. The book store fills a community need; if I still lived in Cave Creek I might buy it and install a pickle barrel and a coffee pot (self-serve). Then Jim could stop in and chat with me (and buy some of his books back).
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