Book Tours: Bobby Minelli of Household Books Pt. 2

October 7, 2023

Literature

Interviews

Nesha Ruther

Writer at Bond & Grace

Walking into Household Books on a summer day in Cincinnati, you can quickly see that Bobby has accomplished his goal of creating a place “where I could make and do cool things with people who were interested in [books].” The storefront is nondescript and easy to miss, but inside is a book lover’s paradise. Coffee is sold in the corner by the door, vinyl and vintage clothes in the back, two young women play cards by the window and thick leather couches practically beg you to settle in. This is not a browse, buy, and leave bookstore, but a place you can make yourself at home.

“Bookstores are amazing because you’re selling infinite possibility within a quiet, lovely, contained environment,” Bobby says. “That’s what makes The Last Bookstore or Powell’s or The Strand so sublime, that’s what I was interested in replicating.”

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Household Books therefore, is not only a bookstore, but a gathering place. In the evenings there are concerts, book clubs, and public readings. During the day, you can pick out a book and spend an afternoon on those cozy couches. This is the environment Bobby has tried to build, a place that is welcoming whether you purchase anything or not. “I would love it if every kid who came in found their favorite book and referenced that book throughout the rest of their lives,” Bobby says. “But that’s lightning striking, and it's subject to a whole lot of variables I can’t control. But if every kid who comes in here can have an amazing time, and become excited by bookish spaces and being surrounded by books, if I can pass that on, that would have a larger impact and is something I can control.”

That is the crux of Household Books’ philosophy, a used bookstore and literary venue with a focus on connection, curation, and community. While it may seem simple, Bobby has put a tremendous amount of thought into the infrastructure and business model to make it so. “There are built-in social equity components to [Household Books],” he says. “The experience of hunting for your favorite used book or piece of vintage or vinyl supports a larger necessity within the community. I wanted people to be able to spend time with themselves, enjoy being in a used bookstore, wander around and look at the shelves, and know that when they do so, they are participating in something that enriches their community.”

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While this may feel intangible, Bobby has built direct links between the purchase of certain books and the funding of community events. For example, if you buy a stunning Harry Potter set from Juniper Books, you directly support the budget for the Black Youth Reading Night Bobby hosts alongside the local Black Power Initiative. “There’s a direct correlation between the books that have a much higher secondary market value, and paying for the social equity components that don’t have inherent profit mechanisms,” Bobby says. “It’s my particular way of trying to solve a problem.”

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When Bobby moved back to Cincinnati from Los Angeles, his collection of over 6,000 books came with him, and buying books specifically to fund community ventures has only enhanced his collection. “I should mention that despite the math and the business model, I’m still a book lover. It’s sort of a grandiose reason to buy hundreds of books,” he laughs.

“I think anybody who has ever arranged their shelves and then rearranged them again and again probably understands better than they know the process of putting together a bookstore. You’re constantly categorizing and sub-categorizing. You take into consideration how your bookstore reflects your personality, how your tastes are reflected, and then you add market research and what’s popular with customers.”

This philosophy has divided Bobby’s inventory into three categories: Firstly, there are volume sales. These are the majority of books in the store. They are typically low-priced to allow for a quick turnover rate and make up the bulk of small sales. “I now have over 500 cookbooks, because cookbooks are beautiful and people buy them,” Bobby says. “In the same way, vintage Haruki Murakami books sell really well, so I’ll buy them all the time.”

Secondly, there are rare books and special editions that sell less frequently, but at a higher price point. “These are materials I’ve specifically collected because they have a high secondary market value. These books have the potential for online sales or rare book sales. These books typically provide revenue for social equity programs and stuff like that,” Bobby explains.

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Lastly are the personal testaments to Bobby’s taste. Household Books isn’t anyone’s bookstore, it's his. “These books are stubborn statements of my own taste,” he says laughing. This is not to say that these books don’t sell, but rather that Bobby is not buying them with sales in mind, he buys them because he loves them. “Shirley Jackson is a favorite [author] of mine, Stephen Graham Jones is a favorite of mine. They are what I consider internally, a load-bearing statement of taste. It doesn’t matter to me whether I make any money on their books, but I’ll buy them every time because I want my taste reflected in that way.”

Similar statements of taste include Folio Society editions of The Princess Bride and another personal favorite of Bobby’s, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. “For me, these books may not have a monetary benefit, but they provide something totally different in that they beautify the space,” Bobby says. “Some books make you feel a certain way every time you look at it. So if that’s the case, bringing revenue into the store isn’t my first consideration or even my third, it's more understanding where the value of that book lies.”

“Someday soon, I’ll join The American Booksellers Association and explore purchasing newer books at a discount price, but for now I’m happy to insist upon certain books being in this space. Because you need to have opinions, you need to have a point of view. That’s the great thing about secondhand bookstores, they’re a reflection of the people who put them together.”

Bobby’s collection, which began with 100 hardcover copies, has expanded to a personal library and public bookstore 15,000 strong.

It may be difficult to imagine picking out favorites from such a literary arsenal, but Bobby has no trouble pointing out the books he loves.

“This is the typed manuscript that Raymond Chandler wrote A Long Goodbye on,” he says proudly. “I have a first edition Great Gatsby that Fitzgerald hand-wrote a dedication in.”

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This is my first edition of Bill Goldman’s The Princess Bride. I found it at a Half Price Books in Bloomingdale, Illinois and got it for $3.99. I couldn’t believe it. I went to the register and felt like ninjas were going to drop from the ceiling and try to stop me.”

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Bobby pulls out a standard-seeming copy of The Catcher in the Rye. “This is a first edition, and you can tell because the first edition print had this photo of J.D. Salinger that he hated and was lined up really poorly. It cuts off at the top. Subsequent jackets fixed the photo, so it’s only the first few printings that have it. This is a top five for me,” he says,

Bobby and I share a mutual worship of Michael Chabon, who has a distinguished place in Bobby’s literary canon. “As lush and emotionally honest and vulnerable Michael Chabon gets, he’s still playful, he’s whimsical and irreverent. It’s the same reason I love David Sedaris and Mark Twain,” Bobby says. “I like writers who are a little impish. I gravitate towards people who are up to something in their writing. It doesn’t surprise me that’s what’s reflected in my taste and in the store as well.”

Whether you come to Household Books for buying, perusing, a book club, or a yoga class (yes, it has those too!) There's plenty of fun, mischief, and love of books to go around.

“There’s a common spirit in the shared space, in that infinite potential that exists in bookstores. And some people think of bookstores as a thing of the past, but I believe as long as humans are interested in surpassing the limits of their own circumstances and connecting with each other, bookstores are not only essential now, but will be in the future.”

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Learn more about Bobby and Household Books at @householdbookscincy

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