A sophisticated emporium of culture, on the grand canvas of Market square, located in the first floor of the historic granite Customs House
We are a unique blend of bookstore, cafe and wine/beer bar for downtown Portsmouth. The inventors collectively had over 75 years of owning bookstores and cafes in New England. We offer highly selective used and discount titles and host readings, live music and community events. Our vision for Portsmouth couples all this with an upscale café serving espresso, beer, wine, baked goods and small plates all amongst a literary salon. We encourage you to relax inside or on our beautiful patio while sipping a beverage of your choice and of course, reading a book.
Here is some information on how we got to where we are today through the original owners creativity and experiences.
The bookstore resembles original creator John Petrovato’s two Boston area shops, Raven Books in Harvard Square and on Newbury Street. The bookstore stocks around 15,000 well selected titles with an emphasis on literature and the arts. The Raven’s are not musty bookshops but have established themselves as two of the best shops in the country. In fact, as opposed to the growing trend of bookstores closing, both Raven’s have had their best year yet in 2011. The Raven won The Boston Globe’s “best of the new” in 2010, and The Boston Phoenix’s reader’s poll in 2011 and has been featured on MSN’s website and a dozens of other literary journals and magazines.
Jon Strymish recently sold New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton, MA. NEMB was a highly respected as well as the largest independent bookstore in New England for the past 2 decades. Jon is still with us in a book purchasing capacity and is an integral part of keeping our community ties strong through music and art.
David Lovelace’s store, The Montague Bookmill, has become an iconic cultural presence in Western Massachusetts. The bookmill had been co-owned with both John Petrovato and Jon Strymish over the past 20 years. The bookstore, café and performance space has been featured numerous times in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and Yankee Magazine. After selling the Bookmill, Dave wrote and published a book with Penguin.
