A Great Schoharie Valley - Mohawk Valley Bookstore.

After leaving The Bibliobarn on Good Friday, we stopped at Catnap Books in Cobleskill. This store is also one of our favorites bookstores. It is only about a half hour drive from anywhere in the eastern Mohawk Valley.

Here is a quote about Catnap Books from The Catskill Mountain Regional Guide:

A half-hour away, in Cobleskill, Jim and Roberta Brooks operate Catnap Books. Roberta agreed that more bookshops would be beneficial to everyone. "Unlike most types of businesses," she said, "used book sellers don't see each other as competition. The more bookshops in an area, the more reason for people to make a day browsing."

At Catnap, paperbacks are an especially good deal. "We offer a paperback exchange," Roberta said. "We sell them for a dollar and the customer can bring them back, in good condition, of course, and receive a fifty-cent credit. We also sell books that are a lot more expensive. And we sell prints, posters, ephemera—anything related to books. And my brother-in-law's maple syrup."

Catnap also is filled with a wide range of books, but does help to fill a specialty niche. "We carry some new books," Roberta explained, "especially books of local history—Catskill Region, Adirondacks, Mohawk Valley. There is a big interest around here in local history, particularly the Revolutionary War period. The Old Stone Fort in Schoharie carries certain books of local history, but the Fort is only open part of the year and we stock those books so that they are available year-round."

Although there isn't much space in Catnap to host readings," Roberta said, "we do occasionally have a book-signing for a local author." And Roberta finds that the public views book dealers as knowledgeable about activities in the larger community—and she thinks they're probably right. "People stop all the time to ask about B&B's, museums, antique shops and restaurants. Andy Rooney stopped one time, looking for a good place to have dinner."

Catnap is at 45 Main Street, Cobleskill. Their phone number is 518-254-0336. Open daily, 10-5, (in summer, often until 6) Thursdays, 10-8. You can email them at catnapbk@telenet.net.

Read the entire article.