I love malls, not so much for shopping – I can’t remember the last time I bought anything other than food in one – but for people-watching and picture-taking. In South Florida we are blessed with two of the nation’s most successful malls: Sawgrass Mills and Aventura Mall. I rarely enter the first; I sit with a book on a bench outside and watch the parade of nations pass by. Aventura boasts one of the best food halls in the region and, since the summer, a delightfully unconventional bookstore.
Unlike Sawgrass’s Books-A-Million, Quade Books is a small, bright, extremely well-curated space. It sits next to the Apple store on the second level; you walk under the food court to get to it. And there you find books in English and Spanish, not in separate sections, but on the same wall, in the same genre. It is an interesting approach, and one perfectly reflective of our bilingual home. On one shelf you can find Leslie Jamison in English and on another Eduardo Galeano in Spanish. There are also romance novels, with their bright covers, and a large section of children’s books. It is a wonderful addition to the mall, a place where I will actually buy something.
