I recently discovered Sandy and her blog, You’ve GOTTA Read This! She’s been blogging for about six months, is having a lot of fun with it, has joined several reading challenges and been given an impressive number of awards from fellow bloggers. Sandy quit the corporate life 4 1/2 years ago to stay home with her children, now 9 and 11. Her passion for cooking and wine almost matches her passion for reading. Sandy and her kids seek out lighthouses when they travel, and she is now inspired to “collect” independent bookstores as well. When I read the post about *Urban Think!* on You’ve GOTTA Read This! I asked Sandy if we could re-run it as a Spotlight post. She readily agreed, and I’ve added only a few images and links to her original post. This looks like a fun and funky place to visit the next time my family is in Orlando; I love the added bonuses of their pricing structure ($1 above Amazon), and that it’s within walking distance of her kids’ school.
The name of the store is Urban Think! It is a delightful little place, situated in downtown Orlando, in the hip and happening neighborhood of Thornton Park. (You want to hear the crazy thing? I can walk there from my kids’ school!) As you can see below, they have comfy little places to curl up, they have wireless access of course, some nice unplugged music in the background, and under the same roof, a bar called “Infusion Tea” where you can not only get some great hot or cold herbal tea (free with book purchase), you can also have a glass of vino. OK, so why would I want to leave this place?
From browsing their website here, I see they have frequent events, signings, etc. You can shop online as well as in person. They guarantee their online prices are $1 over Amazon, which is fair. If you spend enough each year on buying online, you consider signing up as an Online Urban Thinker for $79, and all your shipping is free. This will also grant you 25% off your in-store purchases. Hmmm…that would be like opening Pandora’s box for me!
I vowed that if I purchased anything, it would be something that contributed to my reading challenges. I walked away with Jack Kerouac’s On the Road for my classics reading challenge, and Elie Wiesel’s Night for my WWII reading challenge.So I got out of my comfort zone yesterday, and I’m glad I did it. I intend to do a little more exploring around town, and see what else I can find!
Great Spotlight Dawn and Sandy. How fun that you discovered a great place close by. Looks like a good place to explore. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Looks like an awsome store!!! I have an aunt who lives down that way so next time we visit I’ll have to stop by.
Dawn, thanks for the spotlight! I am vacationing right now up at my parents’ house in Indiana, and I tried diligently to find an indie bookstore in Lafayette, but no go. There apparently was one at one time, but when we went to try to find it, it had gone out of business. Unfortunately, I think too much of this is happening these days.
What a great store. Too bad I won’t be in Orlando any time soon.
I read about this on Sandy’s blog. Sure was a great find for her!
Great post and I think $1 over Amazon is certainly worth it to keep an indie store going. Looks like a cool place too and so close to you!
BTW.. I loved Night by Elie Wiesel. It’s one thatwill stay with you.
Dawn, once again, another great addition to the series. I so enjoy these posts.
I actually live in Orlando, and have never come across this store. I am so glad to know that it is out there, as most of the independent booksellers seem hard to find in this city. Thanks so much for posting this, I am going to have to check this place out!
Awesome! And how can you beat that guarantee! Next time we visit Orlando, I’ll drag everyone here!
[...] Sandy from You’ve GOTTA Read This! passed One Lovely Blog award to me. When you read Sandy’s blog, it’s hard to believe that she started it only about six months ago! She’s busy with book reviews, beautiful photos and reading challenges. I “met” Sandy when she left an insightful comment on my blog a few months ago … oh, and she writes awesome guest posts! [...]
I really enjoy Sandy’s blog. She’s great. This looks like such a fun store. I seriously would be poor if I lived nearby.
This sounds like a fantastic bookstore…we need one of these here in the d.c. area! I would totally curl up in a chair near sandy, drink vino, and read….I’m so happy that she got her WWII book from that store. Sounds like a new place to purchase online from…Thanks for this awesome post…Sandy rocks!