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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

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You’re not imagining it, the Two Rivers Bookstore in Memphis really is named after the same location from Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time.

Bookstore owner Heather Cummings opened the genre bookstore in February of this year, taking up commercial residence in the same building as a coffee shop and a comic book store, making the complex a one-stop locale for genre fans.

 

For those unaware, the Two Rivers region is the peaceful rural area that the majority of The Wheel of Time’s heroes call home, including the series’ prophesied savior The Dragon (Rand al’Thor). As the conflict of the world outside grows more intense, the Two Rivers remains a wistful inspiration for the characters, an example of how harmonious and relaxed life is really supposed to be.

(It is, in fact, the perfect place for a bookstore. And now we’re imagining Perrin having a kid who opens the first bookstore in Emond’s Field…)

Two Rivers Bookstore also offers a lot of intriguing deep dives into sci-fi/fantasy literature. The store specializes in selling vintage editions, as well as pulp-style pocket books from the 1960s and 70s. Via The Commercial Appeal:

Other paperbacks from the 1950s, 60s and 70s — protected within clear Mylar sleeves — included the likes of Andre Norton’s “Witch World,” Brian W. Aldiss’ “Galaxies Like Grains of Sand” and Philip José Farmer’s “When the Stone God Awakens.” The new-book section included shelves devoted to “Star Trek” and “Star Wars,” as well as a trade paperback anthology, “The Heart of the Serpent: Soviet Science Fiction.” Said Cummings: “Strangely, I have a lot of customers looking for Soviet-era sci-fi.”

(We have also noticed the spiking popularity of Russian and Slavic genre fiction!)

If you’re in the Memphis area, Two Rivers Bookstore is located at 2172 Young Avenue and is open from 11 to 7, Monday through Saturday, and 12 to 5 on Sunday. They also have a monthly book club, which meets this month on May 25.

[via Shelf Awareness]

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