Feeding "voracious" readers

When Seattle was recently named the "Most Literate City" in America, researchers said it was because we have access to and routinely use the Internet.

But Matthew Mors and his wife, Gretchen Montgomery, know better. As the owners of Square One Books in West Seattle, their livelihood depends on how and what Seattle reads. And it isn't all on a monitor.

Rather, customers move through the stacks of this independent bookstore like they're sorting through sea glass.

Yes, they've snapped up "The Kite Runner" and "The Shadow of the Wind." But Seattle readers will always search beyond the best-seller lists.

"Readers here are voracious," said Mors, 31, who has owned the store with Montgomery, 32, for four years. "We have customers who come in several times a week."

So they know what their customers like. They also take pride in their ability to quilt bits of books liked into another title that readers may want to curl up with.

Mors took my list of loves — David Sedaris' "Holidays on Ice," James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" and Laurie Colwin's "Another Marvelous Thing" — and presented me with a copy of Augusten Burroughs' "Running With Scissors." ("It's as if 'A Million Little Pieces' was written by Sedaris," he told me. I'm game.)

They will also talk customers out of a book.

I thought Joan Didion's "A Year of Magical Thinking" would make a good Christmas present. It just won the National Book Award and is about death — something we all face.

"But it's very depressing," Montgomery counseled. "For some people, it might be hard to read over the holidays."

They also love a challenge.

When a customer said her father loved fly-fishing, Montgomery researched the topic, read reviews and presented a list of books to the customer.

Mors just spent the last two days researching the history of fireworks. "And I think we found the perfect book, too — 176 illustrations!"

Before buying the store, Montgomery worked at the Pacific Science Center; Mors for Starbucks.

They knew taking over the store was a risk, but also knew that literate Seattle supports its independent bookstores.

Despite the closures of Beyond the Closet, Madison Park Books and Hullabaloo Books — for which they grieved — Mors and Montgomery are determined to carry on the independent tradition of customer service and community-building.

In that spirit, they offered a list of must-reads for Seattle.

"Mountains Beyond Mountains," by Tracy Kidder.

"All Quiet on the Western Front," by Erich Maria Remarque.

"A Confederacy of Dunces," by John Kennedy Toole.

"Catch 22," by Joseph Heller, which Mors would list even if we weren't at war.

And "The Giving Tree," by Shel Silverstein.

"Parents should read this to their children and children should read it to their grandparents," the couple said. "Then they should all talk."

Joan Didion can wait a bit.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

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