We writers see the inside of a lot of bookstores.
Most are okay.
Some are exceptional.
And then there are those few we never want to go back to. I won't tell you about them, but in this new feature, I'll tell you about some of my favorites.
This month, The Book Café.
Great coffee and good books at bargain prices
You'll find The Book Café where I did, just up the street from Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Abigail Olson launched the store two years ago with little money and a lot of faith.
She and her husband were living in Des Plaines, Illinois. Both were about to be unemployed, and their lease on their apartment was up. "So we decided to go wherever God wants us," Abigail says.
They came to Waukesha to visit their daughter, Pam, and there they saw a shop for rent—this shop.
"I started wondering what would I put in it?" Abigail says. "Used books? There wasn't a used book store in town. Awesome, the shop was right next to a college. And the landlord suggested history and religion, and those were the kinds of books we owned."
The Olsons closed out in the Chicago burbs and moved north, into the apartment over the shop. And friends and family scouted for books to fill the shop's shelves.
All sorts of pieces came together—small miracles—so Abigail also could put a coffee counter in the store. She serves the great Door County brand.
Good coffee and good books.
And good people—the Olsons.
© Jerry Peterson.
