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Business & Tech

Crazy About Books? Check Out Blackwood's New Bookstore

The Book Asylum, the township's one and only bookstore, opened in December in downtown Blackwood.

Jeff and Rosemary Moore are crazy about books.

So, it was only natural the couple would open The Book Asylum, a new and used bookstore on Black Horse Pike in downtown Blackwood.

“We ran out of room to store all our books, so we decided to give this store a go,” says Jeff, who is a welder by day and a bookseller on nights and weekends.

The Book Asylum opened in December and specializes in books of every kind. The shelves are packed with more than 2,000 books in every genre, including old and rare books, horror, literature, romance, cooking, men’s health, new age, religion, sports, art and chick lit. There is also a large children’s section with books for every age, including some of the classics by authors like Beverly Cleary, Laura Joffe Numeroff and Barbara Park.

And the Moores have a few thousand books waiting to be sorted.

Books are new and used. The couple travels around the Northeast to find and buy books for the store. Once they brought back a literal truckload of books from New Hope, PA, to sort and categorize.

“Buying is the fun part. You never know what you will find,” said Rosemary.

Among the Moores' great finds—books in pristine condition from the 1800s, a 1905 University of Pennsylvania Yearbook and a copy of the seventh printing of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.

Customers can also bring books in to receive store credit. Depending on the condition of the book, you can get 25 ¢ for a mass market paperback; 50 ¢ for a trade paperback and $1 for hardcover books.

For shoppers, prices for books vary from 75 ¢ (on the sale rack) and up, depending on the type and quality of the book. “Like” the store’s Facebook page to get notifications of one-day sales (sometimes 20 percent off the entire store stock!) and special promotions.  If you can’t find what you are looking, the Moores will try and locate a copy for you through their networks.

The Moores have loved books for a long time. Jeff sometimes buys two copies of a book he loved—one to read and one to save.  Jeff’s favorite books are The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Rosemary is a Stephen King fan and her favorite is It.

In an age of Kindle, Nook and iBooks, the Moores still prefer the real thing.

“There is something about holding a book in your hands,” said Rosemary.

The Moores' children are readers, too. Their oldest son Jeffrey’s favorite is Repairman Jack, and their youngest son Jason is a fan of the new and extremely popular series Hunger Games. (But don’t expect to find his copies of the Hunger Games in the store just yet—Jason isn't parting with them.)

If you go, book prices range (I scored a handful of used Junie B. Jones books for my 5-year-old for $3). The Book Asylum is located at 26 N. Black Horse Pike, in Blackwood. The store is open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m., Friday from 4 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The telephone number is 856-227-7525. The website, which will in the future have online inventory, is www.thebookasylum.com. Follow The Book Asylum on Facebook for updates on sales and special promotions.

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