Want to Know the Heart of a City? Visit the Local Bookstore – Cassiopeia Books in Great Falls, Montana

Over the past decade, Millie Whalen, an attorney from Brooklyn, made several trips to Great Falls, MT, to visit friends and enjoy the great outdoors. As a ritual, she’d stop at Cassiopeia Books on her way out of town, grabbing a paperback mystery from the local bookstore to read on her plane ride home.

Then, in 2019, the bookstore went up for sale. On a whim, Whalen purchased it, and, four months ago, she moved to Great Falls. It’s fitting to say this downtown bookstore is the scene for her next chapter.

While owning a bookstore is what bibliophile dreams are made of, simply becoming a regular at your hometown bookstore can help you take the pulse of a new place: one of the very best ways to become acquainted with a new city is via its local bookstore.