From Seattle’s The Stranger: More Than a Bookstore.
But here’s the thing: Even as people downstairs were fearing for the future of Seattle’s bookstore industry, Ravenna Third Place Books was thriving upstairs. Customers browsed the stacks contentedly; a group that gathers monthly to discuss science-related topics was sitting in a semicircle; and the store’s newest addition, a branch of the popular Capitol Hill Greek restaurant Vios Cafe that’s within the bookstore, was slammed-not an empty table in the place. It had been a while since I’d walked into a bookstore and heard the steady murmur of people in the background; I’d forgotten how pleasant that sound is.