NOT SO SQUARE, IT'S THE VILLAGE OF THE LITERATI

Author: By Kim Foley MacKinnon

Roslindale's third bookstore is set to open in February, almost an embarrassment of riches for this small corner of Boston. Often compared to Jamaica Plain, might a comparison to Harvard Square, with a bookstore around every corner, be more in order?

When Village Books opened in Roslindale Village about eight months ago, the collective sigh of relief from residents could almost be heard. No more trekking downtown or to a suburban mall for new books. While there was one bookstore already in operation in Roslindale, Books & More sells used books, and its owner keeps somewhat irregular hours.
Roslindale is "the new literary capital of Boston," said Brian Frawley, owner of Books & More, with a laugh. Now Pazzo, the latest addition and also a used-book store, will open just around the corner from Books & More on Washington Street. Frawley couldn't be happier.

"If it brings people to the block, I'll be out cheering," he said, likening the situation to antique shops. "There is never one antique shop. It's always 10. People will shop where there is more choice."

Annie Bauman, owner of Village Books, agrees.

"I think it's great. You think of Harvard Square with new and used bookstores everywhere, and they all can survive." Bauman, who tracks her customers by ZIP code, said most of her shoppers live in Roslindale, with many coming from surrounding Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, and Hyde Park.

The new business owners, brothers Tom and Brian Nealon, decided to open a used bookstore more out of a desire to find work that suits them than anything else. Tom, the elder of the two at 31, said he's mostly spent his post-collegiate years "finding out things I didn't want to do." Brian, who is 21, originally came up with the idea of opening a bookstore. He is recently out of college and said he didn't want to end up working a 9-to-5 job. The thousands of books they have collected through the years, now waiting in storage, also made the decision an easy one.

The brothers, who live in Jamaica Plain, picked Roslindale for several reasons. "It's very community-oriented," said Tom. "And the diversity is so great. There's a Greek bakery on the corner and an Italian grocery across the street." The store is situated between McLaughlin Shoe Repair and a yet-to-open laundromat.

So far, the hardest part of the process was picking the store's name, said Tom. Finally, the nickname of a character in "Catch-22," by Joseph Heller, seemed to fit.

It takes more than a catchy name to do well in business, though. Bauman says that her bookstore business is booming. "People here get it," she said "People in Roslindale understand if you want nice stores and restaurants, you have to go to them."

The Nealons are banking on that. They signed a three-year lease.