Wilson’s Book World has been a reader’s paradise in St. Pete since 1971

Wilson’s Book World, located at 535 16th St N, St. Petersburg, is owned and operated by Michelle Jenquin. Michelle moved Wilson’s from its previous location off MLK Blvd when she took over the business from her father, Jeff Morris, in 2017. At Wilson’s Book World you can buy, trade, sell, or donate books. When I arrive, two kids and their father are hauling hefty bags full of children’s books and educational materials to be passed on to other readers. That’s the beauty of books, passing them on.

When Michelle was weighing whether to take over the business, her father said, “All right kid. You can either find a new location and reopen the store as a third-generation owner or you’re going to have to get what they call a real job.” Thankfully, Michelle didn’t get “a real job.” Like the books themselves passing to new readers, the business passed to Michelle, who preserves the generational legacy of her family, and the beloved St. Petersburg staple, from fading.

If COVID revealed anything else positive, it’s that people still crave less vapid forms of entertainment. Since no one could come into the store during COVID, Michelle organized grab bags of 12 books, selling them at 20 dollars. “They were really popular,” she says. “Everyone was stuck at home and craved another kind of entertainment.” Michelle sold 10-20 bags a day, just enough to float the business through the tough weeks. And I’m psyched that the store is here to stay.

I asked Michelle to recommend a few of her more recent reads. She cited Immortalist, by Chloe Benjamin. But the store has more than fiction. There’s history, biography, and travel literature. Comics line the shelves. A cozy children’s reading nook is complete with commensurately sized reading seats. Poetry, of course, and what seizes my attention, the rare books section, which is comprised of handsome limited editions that will lend soul to any space in your home.

For more information, visit Wilson’s Book World or check out their Facebook.

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