Literary Tourism: Book Beat in Detroit, Michigan

Even though I live in Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit is only like three hours away, I haven’t spent much time in the area. But while I was traveling, researching, and interviewing skaters for my book, Midwest Shreds, I stopped in Detroit and fell in love with the city.

I got to hang out with my friend Jane Kahan, who I actually met because of this blog! She was googling around for bookstores in Dubuque, Iowa, and happened upon my literary tourism series. Which is this series right here where I visit bookstores and write about them. So it’s pretty cool (not to mention meta) that I got to hang out with her and add to the literary tourism series while spending time with her.

Jane took me to The Book Beat, which is technically in Oak Park, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. She described the place as “funky” and “groovy,” so I knew I’d love it.

Here’s me and Jane under the sign for the kids section. I figured it was appropriate since Jane loves children’s literature and when you put two book nerd friends in a bookstore, we’re like kids in a candy shop.

Speaking of the kids section, it was jam-packed with goodies!

Book Beat has a wide variety of books, though they specialize in art and photography books. Their love of art is reflected in their decor. I loved checking out the statues around every corner and all the fun pieces hanging from the ceiling!

I know sometimes bookstores that have piles of books everywhere stress some people out, but I like it. I think because I grew up going to yard sales and thrift stores, there’s a part of me that loves digging for a treasure. I’ll eventually get tired, but if there’s a pile I can dig through for a while I’m thrilled!

There were several of these bright, abstract paintings on the concrete floor and I thought they were so pretty! It made me want to get creative on my basement floor.

Usually when I visit a bookstore like Book Beat that has a potpourri of everything, I don’t go in with a particular book or agenda in mind. I just browse and see what strikes me.

So I browsed around and came home with two books: Bookshelf by Lydia Pyne and A Measure of Belonging: Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South. I didn’t expect to find southern lit, especially a book I hadn’t heard of, in Detroit so that one was an extra special treat!

The Bookshelf book is part of the Object Lessons series, which is a deep dive into seemingly basic, normal objects and its history. I also recently bought the Object Lessons book on shopping malls and am eyeing the one on souvenirs.

If I had more money and more space in my house, I totally would’ve bought some of the vintage and antique art. I adore spaces with eclectic style that blend decor from various decades to make the space truly unique. That’s a look I try to achieve in my own vintage shop. I believe there are beautiful designs in every style and decade.

In addition to books and art, there are CDs, puzzles, stationary, and journals too!

Did I mention the art? Walking around Book Beat feels like walking around a museum. And you’ll want to take your time––it takes couple of rounds to take it all in.

Books, books, books shoved into all the crannies and all the nooks.

I could also tell Book Beat is beloved by the community because there were a good number of people shopping at the same time we were. I had to take care not to get anyone in my pictures. (Because how awkward is it to be shopping and someone come up on you announced with a camera?)

Treasures are everywhere.

More hanging pretties!

Big fan of the retro stained glass shop sign.

And note the selection below the sign. Book Beat had a pretty robust section of antiracist lit and books by BIPOC authors. And most of them are right when you walk in the door, so they’re proudly letting you know what they’re about. None of this hiding the liberal stuff in the back business.

This makes me want to get some trailing plants to run along my bookshelves.

And some funky ceiling decorations. I’d love some stars and moons draping across the room as long as my cats wouldn’t try to snatch them from the air.

You know it’s a good bookstore when the shelves sag in the middle from the weight of all the books.

And a bonus for the cat lovers: this is Jane’s cat, Maxwell! She was sweet enough to let me stay at her place while I was visiting and he was sweet enough to cuddle with me for a little while. Mostly I think he was displeased that someone was in his bed, but I was really missing my cats on my travels and Maxwell was a doll.

So if you’re visiting Detroit, hop on over to Book Beat! You’ll be glad you did.