Maria's Bookshop

Welcome!

Maria's Bookshop is located on historic Main Avenue, in downtown Durango, Colorado. Co-owners Andrea Avantaggio and Peter Schertz--along with their two children, Evan and Lydia--are longtime Durango residents, avid unicyclists and champions for our local community.

Oddly enough, there has never been a Maria who has worked at Maria's Bookshop. In fact, the store's namesake is master potter Maria Martinez of the San Ildefonso pueblo, whose beautiful designs inspired the bird that is our logo.

A full-service general bookstore, Maria's Bookshop carries an inventory of nearly 40,000 books on custom-made wooden bookshelves in 2200 square feet of retail space. Antique snowshoes, skies, and sleds as well as some beautiful work by local artists hang from our walls. We have a staff of fourteen dedicated booksellers, and a large and loyal clientele from the local community of about 45,000. Maria's Bookshop sponsors 85 active book clubs, hosts dozens of special events a year, and helps support several local non-profit organizations. We are proud to be a long-standing community resource!

We hope you'll have a chance to come to the store, or come back again if you're a regular. If not, our website offers some great suggestions from our well-educated, talented and quirky staff as well as information about upcoming events. Thanks for the visit!

Photo courtesy of Scott D. W. Smith

Maria's Bookshop Events

As our mission statement says, Maria's Bookshop enriches the passions of life through books and community. The events we host and sponsor are a key part of that mission.

Title of Event: Adam Schrager
When: Monday, July 28, 2008 6:30 PM
Location: Maria's Bookshop
Description: Political reporter Adam Schrager will be at Maria’s Bookshop reading from and signing copies of his inspiring story of the fight for Japanese-American rights after Pearl Harbor, The Principled Politician: The Ralph Carr Story.

The Principled Politician tells the true story of the only political leader in the country to welcome Japanese-Americans to his state during World War II. Colorado Governor Ralph Carr was an unwilling candidate who catapulted to the top of the national Republican Party and was even pegged as a possible future presidential candidate by the New York papers. But when he took a courageous, yet unpopular, stance on the constitutional rights of Japanese-Americans, Carr fell rapidly from favor. He resisted demands from his political opponents to call up the National Guard to keep the Japanese out of the state, declaring, "If you harm them, you must harm me first." Speaking out on the issue, Carr fielded thousands of insults and fought off threats of impeachment. A riveting biography, The Principled Politician is the story of a courageous man sadly forgotten by Colorado and never known by his country.

Whether it’s the jailing of Americans suspected of terrorism at Guantanamo Bay or the Patriot Act or calling up the National Guard to stem immigration, Ralph Carr’s words and actions can serve as a guide. We are debating today the very issues he faced in 1942. History has proven Carr right. This August will be the 20th anniversary of President Reagan signing into law an official apology to Japanese Americans for their treatment during WWII.

Ralph Carr is the elected official we all say we want. Someone who doesn’t stick a finger in the air to determine the position of the day, but one with principle. Someone who is willing to walk away in order to do the right thing.

Adam Schrager covers politics for KUSA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Denver, Colorado. In more than fifteen years in the business, he has won numerous broadcast journalism accolades, including more than a dozen Emmy awards. He teaches an introductory class on broadcast journalism at the University of Denver and has conducted dozens of seminars on the impact of the media on politics. He is also a regular contributor to 5280 magazine and has been a freelance contributor to many other publications around the country. He lives in the Denver metro area with his wife, Cathy and their daughter, Harper.

For more information on The Principled Politician, please visit Fulcrum Books or the author’s website, adamschrager.tv.

Maria's Bookshop's Bestsellers

Check out what's selling at Maria's Bookshop this week.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
by Mortenson, Greg, Relin, David Oliver
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Talibans backyard

Anyone who despairs of the individuals power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistans treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schoolsespecially for girlsthat offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortensons quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, "Three Cups of Tea" combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.

Women's Resouce Center Monthly Picks

Every month, as a service to our community, Maria's Bookshop and Durango's Women's Resource Center partner up to recommend three outstanding titles exploring and celebrating women's lives.

The Bower Bird
by Kelley, Ann
Continues the story of Gussie, a precocious young girl with a rare heart condition. Despite this, she is determined to live life to the fullest, experiencing typical adolescent troubles such as love and parent troubles. While never complaining, she offers a direct and honest insight about herself and the world around her, in a story which is poignant, charming, and oddly optimistic.