Beacon Hill Books and Cafe
Beacon Hill Books & Cafe
BY NINA FAUCI
nestled on charles street inside the walls of a classic, triple-decker bostonian brownstone, this whimsical haven for literary wanderers is the perfect place to find your next favorite read (or iced chai latte)
With this being my first post on a literary life, I feel obligated to share that I was minutes away from pitching my blog’s topic when the idea sparked, in which I decided to include reviews of not only book titles but also of places and bookstores where they can purchase these books and enjoy them amongst a community of like-minded individuals. It’s important for me to cultivate such a reality because, growing up, I never truly found my place; I couldn’t wait to come to Boston, attend Emerson, study writing and publishing, and make friends who shared similar interests.
Yes, this idea to include both elements in one blog may have sparked at the very last minute (ADHD mind at its finest!), but my dedication and passion for constantly creating pieces of writing that are simultaneously smart, cool, AND interesting have always been present. In this way, through my posts, I encourage my readers to actively support the smaller independent bookstores in the Boston area and to explore the city through a literary lens, one page, one street, at a time.
I’ve chosen Beacon Hill Books and Café as the subject of the blog’s very first bookstore review because it’s the closest to where I live. After I spent a few hours journaling in Commonwealth Park (and making friends with the pigeons that aren’t afraid to get close!), I took a short walk across the Common, where I found myself in a world that looked much different than my dorm on Washington Street in Chinatown. Beacon Hill is a neighborhood that is much brighter. I looked up from my phone to see the street adorned with brownstones and stained-glass windows overlooking green meadows. As I continued on across the street, I got deeper into a new neighborhood in which the sidewalks became narrower and the windows inside the stores began boasting products I couldn’t afford, and sure enough, I knew exactly where I was.
I continued walking down Charles Street until I found myself in front of it, when I saw, in all of its beauty, a pastel blue sign with engraved gold lettering that read: Beacon Hill Bookstore and Café. I walked up a small set of stairs into the bookstore, and the staff greeted me with a smile as my eyes were unsure where to look first. Upon entering, a staircase sits in front of the door, leading up to not one but two additional floors of books. Yeah, just books.
Once I reached the top of each level, I was greeted by a new maze of vibrantly hand-painted bookshelves spanning entire walls inside each room. They truly cater to the tastes of every single kind of reader, and there is a section for almost any genre you could think of: poetry, fiction, non-fiction, travel, cooking, children’s, sports, art, music, romance, YA, foreign languages...the list goes on.
The staircases were definitely tight at times (that’s Boston for ya!) but it’s due to the fact that the store is very new: owner Melissa Fetter purchased the building in September of 2019, and the store opened its doors officially in October 2022. This charming shop has received nothing but praise from natives of the city. After about 40 minutes of browsing the shelves and getting hypnotized by the gorgeous new editions of my favorite titles like {}, I decided to head back downstairs to the café for something to drink on my walk back towards Emerson. When I stepped inside, it was busy, and for good reason; although they told me they usually only accommodate guests by reservation, I was still able to purchase an iced chai latte with almond milk and extra cinnamon (is there any other way?!) and I walked back out onto the brick-woven sidewalk to enjoy my delicious, dairy-free delight.
PHOTOS
As I near the end of this post, I can confidently say that Beacon Hill Books and Café was a joy to experience. As I sipped my iced chai latte on my way back toward the dorms to meet up with my friends, I reflected on how this charming bookstore really embodied the essence of what it means to immerse yourself in the world of books and reading. The cozy ambiance, with its narrow staircases and maze-like shelves, offers a sanctuary where book lovers are able to lose themselves in a world of words. Melissa Fetter's vision in revitalizing this space into a literary gem is a tribute to the enduring magic of bookstores, especially in this digital age when their existence is sometimes called into question.
