Brazenly Stolen from the Parnassus Facebook Page

Well, it’s not technically true.

Yet.

But if the stars align and the creek don’t rise (not a joke in Nashville), we will actually have that bookstore I talked about when that other bookstore closed.

Yes! Ann Patchett, Karen Hayes, and Mary Grey James announced today that they will, in fact, open Parnassus Books in Green Hills.

I’m expecting that they’ll have wonderful books, of course. They’re already promising stationary and journals and a book club that somehow involves signed first editions. They’re, understandably, talking about fabulous customer service and online access to ordering and eBooks and newsletters. They’ve already set up a facebook page for announcements and such while we wait for that website to go live. And, being Nashville, there will have to be some music.

That’s all cool but here’s what I’m really hoping for…

I want a place I can take my kids — who love books as much as I do — where they can talk with other readers. I want my son to go on and on about the topics and genres that light his fire and hear about other readers’ interests, too. I want my daughters to latch on to new authors that just make them gleeful. I want a space where I can grab 4 titles and go sit in a chair and work for an hour to narrow them down, only to leave with 6 books because when I’m heading toward the cash register I keep finding things I’m dying to read. I want to head there with Ned Andrew on date night to catch a reading or some music. I want reasons to go beyond a list of required reading from school. I want events. I want warmth. I want connection. I want the bibliophile community that has existed recently only in fiction or on my rare trips to Great Barrington.

Parnassus Books will open in October across the street from where Davis Kidd shuttered last year. It’ll be housed in the recently-renovated shopping center best known for its decades-old lease to The Donut Den.  While sort of physically close — by Nashville standards — to the originally-rumored Belle Meade location, Green Hills is miles away in terms of accessibility. I’m pretty serious when I say that I’d rather strain coffee grounds with my teeth than drive and park anywhere in the area. (It’s true!) I’m also willing to do just about anything to support a really real bookstore.

So, yes, I’ll be there. I have to pick up that copy of Moby Dick I left at The Book Loft.