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Binding Commitment

A great independent bookstore that's bucking the odds

Nantucket_MitchellsBookStore_ogan_2012-2Photo: Susan Ogan

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here are fewer more satisfying vacation combinations than a book and the beach, and Nantucket—barely, as you’ll read below—still has a great independent bookstore to complement its great, relaxing beaches. Mitchell’s Book Corner somehow crams 40,000 titles into its small space, plus a back room with the most complete selection anywhere of books about Nantucket, whaling, maritime lore, and island genealogy. Top authors who summer on or visit the island sign their books on Saturday mornings or read from them in programs at the nearby Athaneum.

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Mitchell’s Book Corner would have closed, thanks to competition from the Internet and high Nantucket rents, but was rescued by summer resident Wendy Schmidt, the wife of Google CEO Eric Schmidt.