Skinny shelves, wide shelves. Books on the floor and up to the ceiling.
Page turners are everywhere at The Book House.
Michelle Barron, owner, said, "We'll fit 'em wherever we can."
There's new and vintage. Best sellers and rare finds.
She said, "Books. It's amazing. It's like a time machine.
There's about 300,000 of them. So many they have to use a rolling bookshelf ladder.
She said, "People call it our Beauty and the Beast ladder, people love it."
From 1986-2013, The Book House was located in a Victorian house in Rock Hill.
That house was torn down so they had to find a new home which is located on Manchester road in Maplewood. And they've settled in just fine.
"It's like Christmas everyday. You find things you never knew existed."
20 percent of the store is rare and collectible books and in her three decades of experience, she's never seen a book like this before.
She said, "Meet Me in St. Louis is about $3000. First edition. The dust jacket is two thirds of the value. I've never seen one with the dust jacket."
But that's not even the most expensive book.
"This is an original first printing of The Hobbit. Printed before Lord of the Rings so he actually rewrote a chapter in the book... so he could write the sequels.... Originally at $12,000 we got it down to 8."
You might be surprised to know that even with the popularity of e-readers, The Book House has not only weathered the storm, but is growing.
"There's a renaissance of bookstores going on. Young people love bookstores, we are doing better than we ever did."
facebook.com/bookhousestl
7352 Manchester Rd
Maplewood
(314) 968-4491
