“We want stepping into the shop to feel like you’ve stumbled into a bookshop from your dreams—one where you’ll find exactly the book you need, even if you didn’t know it.”
– Crista DeRicco & Maura MacDonald, co-owners
The Imaginary Bookshop pairs marvelous gifts with a carefully curated selection of excellent books. Crista DeRicco and Maura MacDonald met their first weekend at Roanoke College, when Crista and another student invited Maura to go write flash fiction in the library. Their two-decade-long friendship spanned college, graduate school, and careers in different states before the two of them ended up in Greenfield going into business together. Crista is a professional book enthusiast who worked at bookshops, and in event planning, marketing, and education before becoming co-owner of the Imaginary Bookshop, and Maura is a bookseller and editor by trade. After existing in the online realm and at pop-ups for about five years, the Imaginary Bookshop opened its location in downtown Greenfield in 2022.
The Imaginary Bookshop is the only genre-specific bookshop in the area that focuses on small presses and books written by women and other marginalized groups. Their selection is full of horror, fantasy, sci-fi, speculative fiction, and the best and weirdest books for children. They have books and curiosities you won’t find anywhere else. The store primarily sells children’s books, with a small selection of adult books, as well.
Located in the Imaginary Bookshop is the Storyteller’s Writing Center, the only youth writing center in the Pioneer Valley, established by Crista and Maura in 2021. The writing center is based in the belief that young people need places where they can write, be heard, and have their voices amplified. In addition to interactive student workshops, they plan to publish student work, bring in local writers to work with students, and create weird public writing displays to share with the community. Free story prompts are always available during shop hours, to work on there or to take with you.
“Wonderfully quirky selection – a lot of titles you won’t easily find elsewhere. And the book choices are surprisingly plentiful for the size of the shop; there are delightful oddities for all ages of readers. And they have fountain pens! Overall, a fun and friendly bookshop with a delightful niche. Can’t wait to see how they grow!”
– Ann Childs (Google)
