BY CAROLINE FORRESTER
A book is a gift you can open again and again,” Garrison Keillor so eloquently stated.

Kindles may be everywhere, but they never will match the tangible experience of a book. From early childhood, we learn to love books. They fill our heads with thoughts to dream on, soothe away the worries of the day and provide companionship. You can’t get that cozy with electronics. Just as children feel magically charged when they walk into a toy store, there is another kind of magic that happens when you step into an intimate bookstore. But such book sellers are in jeopardy, as they compete with changing technology and a tough economy. Cornerstone Books of Salem just announced it would close, and when the doors shut forever, so will the book signings and clubs it supported. In the spirit of giving back to the community, remember to stop in at local book stores where you will find the works of local authors who have written of our communities.

In coming issues of North Shore Life, we will highlight independent book stores, seeking their opinion about new releases from North Shore authors.

THE BOOKSTORE OF GLOUCESTER at 61 Main St. is much more than just a place to buy the latest novel.
For the past three decades, the Main Street shop has been described as a “kind of watering hole for literature lovers of all stripes and, in particular, those of a progressive bent.” Walk into this shop and you can feel the pulse of Gloucester, which is a deeply literate city. You will see the selections of phenomenal authors who have called the city home, among themVincent Ferrini, Charles Olsen, Joe Garland, Mark Kurlansky, Sebastian Junger and Peter Anastas.

Shop owner Janice Severance recommends this new release: “Alone At Sea, Gloucester in the Age of the Dorymen (1623-1939),” by John N. Morris. A Gloucester native, this author is froma line of
fishermen going back to the 17th century. According to the write up on aloneatsea.com, Norris’ book is “the culmination of 10 years of intensive research, sparked by a personal quest to learn more about his grandfather.” His grandfather was a doryman who disappeared at sea.Visit the book's website, www.aloneatsea.com.
Other local treasures at the Bookstore of Gloucester include “War,” by Sebastian Junger, who followed a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan. Click on sebastianjunger.com/page/contact-soldiers, and you can send a message to soldiers in the platoon. Also, “Edible Stories: A Novel in Sixteen Parts,” by Mark Kurlansky. For children, “Little Charlie Goes to Gloucester,” by Henry Ferrini and illustrations by Stefan Mallette, a children’s storybook about the poet Charles Olson’s early years exploring Gloucester.
Visit gloucesterbooks.com.

THE BOOK SHOP OF BEVERLY FARMS at 40 West St. was founded in 1968. It was a
regular hangout for resident John Updike, and it remains an important center for local authors, book groups and schools. Shop manager Pam Price recommends “Father of the Rain,” by Lily King. “Lily grew up on the North Shore, and this novel is her depiction of the complexity of a divorce and subsequent growing up in a stepfamily,” Price says, adding, “Lily said the Book Shop was very much a part of her growing up on the North Shore.” This book even made it onto Oprah’s recommended list. Beyond books, the shop offers a nice selection of puzzles, holiday giftwrap and 2011 calendars. Check out the wonderful little video clip on the shop’s site, called, “It’s a Book,” that reminds us a book cannot tweet, be charged up or scrolled
down. It is purely and simply a book. See Realbookshop.com

Also available at the Book Shop is “The Closing,” by Beverly resident Chava Hudson, a fast-moving, often humorously suspenseful novel that touches on assisted suicides. The main character, Anne, sells the houses of the terminally ill while helping them die.