Bookstores

Without any advance warning, the [url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/insidehup/displayroom.html]Harvard University Press Display Room[/url] bookstore in Holyoke Center closed on June 18. It had been in business for 61 years. I found out it was gone only when I walked by it this week.

...at least when we're not obsessing over tabloid murder dramas:

A university president has maintained on ongoing research project, attempting to rank America's Most Literate Cities:

This study attempts to capture one critical index of our nation’s social health—the literacy of its major cities (population of 250,000 and above). This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources.

Boston currently ranks 8th. Some might quarrel that it's not higher, and the absence of cities such as NYC lead one to question the statistical measures used, but it's fun to peruse: http://www.ccsu.edu/amlc08/ [link corrected]

A Globe gallery feature on the best used and specialty bookstores:
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/gallery/usedbooksto...

My vote for best used bookstore goes to the Brattle Book Shop on West Street. The outdoor carts have great $1-$3-$5 bargains, and with an excellent selection inside. I have taken out-of-town visitors there and they have raved about it too.

Although Boston & Cambridge have lost a number of their bookstores over the years, this remains a great place for book lovers.