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Find your way in Get Lost Bookshop

New owner Amy Stephenson keeps the bookshop true to its roots.

By Pierce Courchaine

Published April 9, 2010

With the front door propped open, Get Lost Bookshop welcomes all curious consumers and book lovers. The thousands of books lining the mish-mash shelves could be combed for hours, but if you're looking for something in particular, just ask new owner Amy Stephenson.

Snacks sit in the store, free for the taking. The plush couch near the window begs to be read on and jazz plays faintly while shoppers mingle. Although you might not get lost in Get Lost's cozy one- (soon to be two-) room store, Stephenson said she doesn't have specific plans for the future. It looks like the same shop it's always been, despite the change in ownership.

"There have been moments, during the process of the purchase, where I thought 'Wouldn't it be cool if I grew it to the point where we move to a bigger space?' " Stephenson said. "But, I don't know. Now that I'm in here, I just love the space. I love the way Meghan has it set up. I kind of like it like it is. We'll see what happens."

She has made a few minor changes to the store's setup.

"The only two things I've done so far is set up a new arrivals section for regular customers," Stephenson said. "I also made a dollar cart, and on that I tend to put books that either we have extra copies of or something that's a really good book and a classic, but somebody has marked it all up with underlining."

Memphis native Stephenson bought Get Lost from Meghan Gilliss in late March.

"Meghan has done a fantastic job, and I don't plan to change much but a few little things like that," Stephenson said. Get Lost is pleasantly packed with a diverse selection of used books for just about anyone's tastes.

"Any two used-book dealers would choose different things from a box of books," Stephenson said. "It's very personal. It's very intuitive. It's very individual. Which is one of the things that makes it so much fun to go to different shops, because everyone's going to have a different idea of what's supposed to be on the shelves."

Stephenson's personal reading choices are as broad as her shop's inventory.

"In a way, I'm an indiscriminate reader," Stephenson said. "I read anything and everything. I feel like once you start naming this or that, it pigeonholes you."

No matter her personal biases, though, Stephenson's love for books transcends tastes.

"I have my secret snobberies but, again, I'll never say," Stephenson said. "I really am not a book snob in general. I think almost all books have merit."

The first bookshop Stephenson owned was in Memphis and although she has sold that one and moved to mid-Missouri to own another, she said she still has a hard time defining what she loves about books so much.

"Why does anybody like anything?" Stephenson asks as she looks over the store's robust collection. "Some people love to climb mountains. I'm not one of them. But, it gives them that feeling. That completely satisfied feeling that they're doing something that they love to be doing. I get that feeling getting lost in a book."