Good Words about "The Kinder Gentler Bookstore" and Another

 A colleague in Texas referred a friend to us - and The Others Across the Street, herein known as TOATS - and he stopped in yesterday. He's here for a convention, and made a post on a blog, to which our colleague sent us a link . Our thanks to him for the good words, and will surely welcome him back. Anytime. And, I even referred him to our friend and colleague, Ann Devere at Plaza Books. Read on:

I’ve never really thought of Las Vegas as a bookish town, but (a friend) tipped me off to two vintage bookstores that I visited today. I heartily endorse both of them, and strongly recommend that you visit both. Doing so is pretty easy, as they’re basically right across the street from each other.

I’m sorry I didn’t catch the name of the gentleman who runs Greyhound’s Books, but he came across to me as someone who’s very much worth knowing. I wouldn’t describe him as “kind”, as I so often describe others; he seems intolerant of the rude, the willfully ignorant who wish to remain so, and others who would waste his time. (While I was there, he literally chased one person out of the store for using a cell phone.) But for the serious and polite book shopper, this store is a delight. He seems to be very strong on mystery, military history, and history in general. His food and cooking selection also seemed strong to me; he had the only copy of Cross Creek Cookery I’ve seen in probably five years of searching. (The owner also writes, along with other folks, at Books of Worth, an entertaining site I was previously unaware of.)
I didn’t want to press for details (I’m not sure it is any of my damn business) but Amber Unicorn Books appears to be related in some way to Greyhound’s Books. I didn’t have as much interaction with the owners there as I did with the Greyhound’s Books owner, but they certainly seemed like very nice folks. Amber Unicorn appears to be stronger in paperbacks, especially genre paperbacks, but also has a good stock of history, mystery, and law/true crime.
One thing that really struck me about both stores; the folks at both knocked 10% off the total of my purchases for no apparent reason, other than (I guess) I was reasonably polite and didn’t use my cellphone or urinate on their rugs. They didn’t have to do that, and it was very much appreciated.
(And it helped, especially at Amber Unicorn. They had a copy of Skeeter Skelton’s Good Friends, Good Guns, Good Whisky, a book I didn’t even know existed until today. I’ve written before about the gun writers I read growing up; I remember Skelton’s stories with great fondness. Especially the one reprinted in this volume about Dobe Grant and his crate full of Colt Single Action Army parts. When I read that for the first time, man, I wanted a vintage Single Action Army. Still do, come to think of it. I don’t want to say what I paid for that book; let’s just say “Nostalgia is a moron” and leave it at that.)
If you’re a serious book person, you have to visit both of these stores if you’re ever in Las Vegas.