Village bookstore owner recommends tales of suspense and horror.
Bending shelves and stacks of books line narrow pathways of White Rabbit Books.
Derek Edwards, the owner of the used bookstore for 25 years, said his love of literature comes from being born dyslexic in a family of readers.
“Reading was a struggle as a child so it seemed like something to go into,” he said. “I saw the joy the rest of the family got out of reading so it gave me something to shoot for.”
White Rabbit Books is named after the first book Edwards managed to read, “Alice in Wonderland.”
Edwards entered into the business at age 17, selling books at a flea market. After the bookstore he worked at closed, Edwards invested his money to start his own bookstore. Now, 35 years later, books always surround him.
Edwards said he doesn’t have a single favorite book, but he loves reading horror, mystery and fantasy stories.
Edwards recommends “The Shadow over Innsmouth and Other Stories of Horror” by H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft was a 1920s writer of supernatural fiction comparable to Edgar Allen Poe.
This book is a compilation of six of Lovecraft’s classic tales including a story of a man who wakes without memory in a rundown castle, a story of what mysteries lay beneath ancient Egypt and a story about a hybrid race of humans and creatures.
Although Edwards said he loves mystery stories best, he has a wide variety of other genres in his store for customers to explore.
“When you read, you read anything you can,” he said.
