With a strong list of indie bookstores, libraries, readings, and more, Pittsburgh has always been a wonderful city for book lovers, but lately it’s become an increasingly great city for a more specific group of book enthusiasts: used book lovers.
Take Fungus Books and Records, for starters, which celebrated its three-year anniversary on Sept.14, and goes out of its way to foster this growing community.
“I guess I first started collecting science fiction books, and those were all used, chintzy paperbacks,” says shop co-owner Ed Steck. The store carries a solid range of vintage science fiction books, but as you browse the shelves, it becomes quickly apparent that Fungus has a vibe that’s entirely its own.
“I’ve always loved the bookstores that are here, but I feel like I was really kind of desiring one that, oddly enough, I would want to buy books at. Not that I don’t want to buy books at other stores, but somewhere that just really focused on, you know, poetry, philosophy, or anything on the fringe.”
While teaching English at the University of Pittsburgh, Steck started to feel burnt out on academia, but at the same time he was collecting and selling books on the side until he finally felt ready to open a store. “I was making more money on books than teaching, so that was the decision I made. And I’ve always wanted to do this, and it was kind of a dream, so I’m very happy that I am doing it.”
To walk into Fungus Books and Records is to be immediately fascinated with the shelves of deep cuts; books from edgier publishers that pushed boundaries in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s like Grove, Black Cat, and New Directions, alongside books on cryptids, UFOs, and jazz theory, just to name a few.
A browsing customer hands Steck a book for donation, which the store is always happy to accept, and asks if they are “still on for 6:30.” The store had a book release planned for that evening with Timothy Grieve-Carlson and his new book American Aurora.
Hayley Mulhern, a bookseller at Fungus, says returning customers and locals stopping in is the norm. “Lots of repeat customers, which is maybe one of my favorite parts of the day to day — all kinds of characters come in.”
“Yeah, we love our customers,” Steck adds. “They support us very much. They’re very dedicated to the store, which is something I love.”
“Some of my closest friends in the world,” Mulhern says, “I’ve met through the store.”
Steck, a published poet, knows and appreciates poetry, and the store often hosts poetry readings and releases, as well as events for fiction and nonfiction with occasional accompanying soundscapes, musicians, and DJs. That’s part of what helps maintain the strong sense of community felt at Fungus. “Communities formed around the events that we’ve had here, especially the poetry stuff,” Steck says. “Writing groups have gotten together, friend groups have gotten together.”
“We get poets from all over the country coming here,” Mulhern says. “We’ve gotten to know other people that are doing their own small presses.” She explains that someone came into the store and mentioned they had their own small press based out of a university library in Lawrence, Kan. After a “two hour long” chat, Fungus discovered that Ryan Skrabalak’s Spiral Press would be a good fit for the store. “Now we stock a bunch of his books,” Hayley says, “and we’ve had a lot of poets come through that have been published through Spiral.”
Fungus is a used bookstore at its core, and while they don’t sell new art books or print their own, they’re always happy to make relationships with other small presses. “That feels really important because we obviously care very much about small presses here,” Ed says. “No matter how much people say that small press poetry is dead, people are never going to stop trying to put their work out there.”
Before I leave, I ask what their favorite part of working at a used bookstore is. After some back and forth about the correct phrasing, they find the one they’re looking for: “It’s a labor of love.”
I know, because I’ve also worked in used bookstores. One thing that’s great about working in a used bookstore is getting to see the way people light up when they find that book. The reward of the search is something only used bookstores can offer. Many customers have a backlog of books they are always on the lookout for, and will make regular visits to one store, or many, to fulfill their quests for specific editions, the art, the translation, the year of printing.
Bottom Feeder Books in Point Breeze is the perfect destination for those on the hunt for a specific edition or cover design. Walking up the entryway stairs and into the main floor of the store, one enters what feels like a hidden room on a David Lynch set: black and white checkerboard tiled floors, white walls and ceiling, and shelves filled to the brim with glorious vintage books.
Owner and bookseller Ryan McLennan operates the store daily, often accompanied by his dog, Sky, napping behind the counter. “The floor was not me, it was already here,” McLennan says when asked about the black and white tiles that fit the store so well. “I redid the whole ceiling and the lighting. I had to build all the shelves and that wall. I built the space out, built all the counters and the display case in the front. Ripped a wall out in the front. So, I mean, I did a lot of work.”
And the hard work paid off. The store is well lit and well stocked with walls of vintage literature, as well as plenty of art and photo books.
McLennan left Oregon for Pittsburgh in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. Adjusting to a new city during a time of widespread, COVID-induced isolation would be a daunting task for anyone, but Ryan made the most of it. “There were just so many unknowns and so many new things, I just decided this is the time to do it. It still took a couple years after we moved here.”
Originally from Virginia, McLennan worked for Chop Suey Books in Richmond where he learned the trade of bookselling, and got deeper into vintage books and their authors. After a move to New York, McLennan met his now fiancée, Lauren, who is from Pittsburgh. Upon returning to her hometown, McLennan says he had the idea of starting his own bookstore. As it turns out, opening a used bookstore store was a good way to meet people in a new city. “It helped,” he says. “There are still booksellers in town that I have not met, but I would say at some point before opening the store I did visit a lot of stores. And I have since for sure met quite a few people, like the crew at Fungus; we all know each other pretty well.”
McLennan is an artist and art lover as well as a bibliophile, so it was natural for him to bring the two together at Bottom Feeder. The back room of the store functions as a gallery space, always showcasing works from local and nationwide artists alike. “Every four weeks, sometimes three weeks or so, there’s a new art opening.” The gallery also serves as a space for readings and film screenings.
With such a wide range of events, Bottom Feeder sees a fresh crop of visitors every month. “I say with every event I have, there’s always new people, but I definitely recognize faces.” McLennan says the store gets a good mix of repeat, local customers and out-of-towners, those that have Bottom Feeder on their list of stores to visit.
As for the types of books Bottom Feeder shelves, it’s clear there’s an attention to quality and design. Most hardcovers are wrapped in brodart and feature some of the most iconic cover art designs from big and small publishers alike. “I cater to that. People like that have a love for good covers and good editions of the covers.” I tell him that other booksellers in this city all say the same thing — that Bottom Feeder has the most consistent collection of vintage editions with good art. “I mean, I go out of my way to find them,” he replies, “or in hopes to find them.”
Like any book lover, McLennan has his favorites that he keeps for his personal bookshelf. “I did have to restrain myself a bit, especially when I was opening the store. But mostly Grove Press editions, the ones from the ’50s and ’60s, I collect a lot of those, especially ones from the late ’50s that were all black and white, like a gray scale. There are some around the store.”
Grove Press covers are also my favorites, and when I mention a certain Samuel Beckett book that I framed, Ryan nods. “A lot of Beckett. He did a lot of the Becketts.” Sure enough, I find my edition of Beckett’s The Unnamable on the shelf, and Ryan confirms its art is by the same designer. “There’s one that’s a hardcover and it’s just black and white with the same art.” Another edition I’ll have to keep an eye out for.
In Shadyside, there’s a used bookstore that feels something like visiting an old friend’s house; a friend who’s obsessed with books. As you step inside, Mark Jay and Layla Zaina will most likely be sitting in two comfortable chairs while they sift through a few piles of books for listing in The Cozy Corner Bookstore.
“It’s just a place where you can feel free to come and relax with each other,” Jay says. “We try to have mellow music playing. At some other types of bookstores you have to be in the mood, you know what I mean? I want to just have a place to come in, sit down for an hour, just chill out.”
Jay worked for Eric Ackland at Amazing Books and Records, one of Pittsburgh’s beloved, long-standing used bookstores, before opening his own store with Layla. “When I worked at Eric’s, I really had a very positive experience. That’s where we met,” Jay says, looking over to Zaina. “She came into the store and she asked for a book recommendation.” The book he recommended? Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day. “Eric kind of helped introduce me to the book business. And then when I started dating Layla, I had this dream and she was super into it.”
Zaina and Jay started their bookselling journey by setting up a library cart full of books around Frick Park and Oakland while also putting up flyers around the city that said they were buying books and taking donations. “That seemed like the best solution, “ Zaina says, “like the best outcome that we could come up with before we had a physical store.”
The Cozy Corner opened its storefront in the spring of 2023, and there is still a library cart of books out front, along with a table of books with the same great quality as the ones found inside. “We spent some time in other cities, especially in New York,” Jay says. “There, bookstores always have books outside.”
Jay says they try to have a little bit of everything. “I kind of wanted the space to be more inviting to someone who wasn’t into a certain mold. You can bring a relative, you can come as a family. We try to have a decent children’s section. My mom helps us carry the children’s books actually.”
Their store matches Jay and Zaina’s personalities: warm, relaxed, smart. Amongst the carpeted floors and rugs, there are tables and shelves full of classic and modern literature with an impressive representation of translated works and specific publishers as well as local authors.
The Cozy Corner’s intimate atmosphere makes it a great place for events like a recent reading of Oscar Wilde’s works. “There’s this guy who lives around here, an Irish guy who comes in three or four times a week. Really great guy,” Jay says. “He just sits there for an hour and talks to us. And he’s super into theater.” Jay and Zaina say a lot of their events happen by people simply stopping in and asking if they can do something.
When asked about how they found their location for the store, Zaina tells me it was somewhat random. “We got back from a trip and adopted a cat on the way. She’s over there, sleeping behind the wall of books.”
A small gray tabby saunters over to us and hops onto a table of paperbacks. “Yeah, so we adopted her on our way back here. And we took her to the vet next door. And then we saw that this place was for lease. And the landlords were super into our idea.”
The cat, as it turns out, is named after author Kazuo Ishiguro. “The first book that I read recommended by Mark,” Zaina says. “We just call her Ishy though. She basically is, not what started it all, but definitely what brought us to this space.”
Zaina’s favorite part of running the bookstore is seeing everything before anybody else does. “I like to cherry pick.”
“I like that it’s a very pleasant space,” Jay says. “When we were in California, on a little road trip, there was a woman who had a bookstore that was kind of helping us out. She was like, ‘I’ve been here for 30 years, and nothing unpleasant has ever happened in my store.’ And it’s kind of the same sort of thing.”
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2024.
