Lee and I took the day off yesterday and messed around. We found a house with two sphinxes in front and a gigantic iron birdbath…we found a German deli with Happy Hippopotomus candy…we found Black Cat Books.
Black Cat Books is a hole-in-the-wall bookstore up in Manitou Springs. The part of the place that’s upstairs holds kids books, a wine bar, and a couple of coffee pots (donations, please). Most of the books are downstairs.
There’s not really any rhyme or reason to the books. A copy of Asimov’s Foundation omnibus sat next to The Secret Life of Bees. Couches, overstuffed chairs, a dining-room table, and a window nook padded with pillows provided almost as many places to sit as there were racks of books. A den of books.
Next door–only to be accessed through the bookstore–is a metaphysical shop. Native American, Buddhist, and Christian influences sit side-by-side. I found a teal-and-pine spice rack decorated with turtles that I’d like at some point. A spiritual-healing room dedicated to the Archangel Michael. A painted meditation maze on the floor.
Altogether, an odd but enjoyable place. We picked up a used Agatha Christie paperback, Amy Tan’s Saving Fish from Drowning, and Tom Robbins’s Jitterbug Perfume. Very Manitou Springs.
It used to be “Mountain Miracles,” but the restaurant (now Charlies’) never really took off. I always stopped by when I was wandering through the shops, although the Dulcimer Shop probably has most of my business these days.