Rediscovered Books

Interview with Bruce DeLaney of Rediscovered Books

When did you get started in bookselling?

Laura and Bruce DeLaney started Rediscovered Books in 2006 after careeers in Education and Engineering. We decided to open a bookstore after realizing that it was a job where we could work together and do something that we both loved.

What drew you to bookselling?

Every time we would travel we would visit the local bookstores as part of our trip. The independent bookstores like Mac's Backs in Cleveland or Powells in Portland were places of wonder to us, and we wanted to make a store full of books and magic in Boise. Being surrounded every day by Books and the people who love them is a huge perk in our lives

Did you have any mentors in becoming a bookseller?

When we started considering opening a bookstore we joined the American Bookseller's Association and the Pacific Northwest Bookseller's Association and began to go to meetings and Trade shows. So many bookstore people were so generous with their time and knowledge during the 3 years we were doing our planning. We still attend the PNBA annual trade show to learn new things and pass on what we have learned to the community.

What are your specialties as a dealer?

We deal in both new and used books, mostly recent titles. Since we are a general bookstore we have a bit of everything but we try to have a very well curated sto e so that what we have is the best of any category. This means that we spend a lot of time reading books that are not the popular bestsellers but eh books that you would not know you wanted but that are fantastic.

What is your favorite part of being a bookseller?

The people who we meet in the shop. Bookstores are a place where you never know who is going to walk in the door. We have had so many interesting conversations over the years with people we never would have met anywhere but the bookstore.

Do you have an open storefront or have you in the past?

We have 3 storefront locations. Our original Rediscovered Books store opened in 2006 in Boise with . We have second Rediscovered Books location in Caldwell Idaho which is about 30 miles from the Boise store. In 2018 one of the longtime used book store owmners in Boise decided to retire and we purchased her store from her when she did. Since her store sold only used books we decided not to rename it as a Rediscovered Books to avoid confusion, and so and So we have Once and Future Books in Boise

If so, do/did you have any bookstore pets?

We have t bookstore cats in Caldwell, Apollo and Pixie.