Bogan Books
Your store is described as “A tiny little indie bookshop with a big heart and kaleidoscope of good vibes.” What has the response from the Fort Kent community been since you opened in 2018?
In so many ways, Fort Kent is a terrific community and the majority of the population understands the importance of shopping local. We have had wonderful support from the locals, and we also have many tourists that enjoy a good bookshop experience. The overwhelming comment has been that “Bogan Books is a feel-good place.”
What is one thing our members, and the state, should know about Northern Maine’s reading community?
Mainers in general are community-centric and they are really smart. Northern Maine is no different in that regard. Like anywhere else, the Northern Maine reading palette is varied and deep. Bogan Books offers a diverse collection of books to accommodate this spectrum. I have found that my readers are responsive to awareness campaigns and materials. The authors that put in the time to build awareness of their books tend to get read more frequently and a lot of my readers come in looking for books that may have been featured on Maine Calling and NPR.
Last November you had Tasting Tuesdays, where you provided tasting samples from your favorite cookbooks such as The White House Cookbook and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Table. How did this creative (and delicious!) idea come about? Will it be a recurring event?
I love to cook, but I have learned that it is difficult for novice cooks (and sometimes experienced ones, too!) to know if a recipe is a good one until they have a chance to try it out. Tasting Tuesdays was an idea I had to help shoppers determine if they would like a highlighted cookbook. We had a different cookbook each week and I tried to coincide the cookbooks with other book releases. For example, The White House Cookbook was featured the same week that Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming, was released. I do plan on doing these again this November. It makes a great lead-in to Thanksgiving and it is fun for the community.
Do you have an all-time favorite Maine author? Who is it? What is your favorite book of theirs and why?
Annette Jackson (My Life in the Maine Woods) and Helen Hamlin (Nine Mile Bridge) are some of my all-time favorite authors from anywhere. These women wrote books of their experiences of living in the North Maine Woods as wives of game wardens. Harsh winters kept them isolated for long periods of time, they learned how to survive from the land, and they marveled at the lives they led rather than get discouraged. They were independent women before it was popular to be so, and their lives are wonderful examples to all of us on how to be strong without losing joy and a sense of self.
