Tales and Tails Bookshop
More than a bookstore, Tales and Tails is a respite from the work-a-day world for even the busiest of human beings.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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When Christine Bowman needs an escape, she turns to books. “Reading was my escape from this crazy job I have,” she told the Advance.
That “crazy job” is as an emergency room physician here in Fredericksburg. How does one manage being an ER doctor and a bookstore owner?
“I like to be busy,” she said.
Bowman describes the bookstore as her “fun passion project, and I needed something fun and joyful, because the ER is not always fun and joyful.”
She grew up in Warrenton, but went to medical school abroad and did her residency training in Michigan. She and her husband Hunter Bufkin returned to Fredericksburg last summer and quickly found out that Fredericksburg is a “book town,” but there were no independent bookstores that were selling new books.” From there, she said, “we made it happen.”
Tales and Tails is also an escape for Bufkin, who taught school for eight years at North Stafford High School. He has stepped away from that, however, to make the store his “day-to-day.”
He says the coffee is his “baby.”
What’s in the Name?
So why Tales & Tails for the name?
“We’ve both always been dog people,” Bowman said. “I’d have a 100 if I could.” So when we were looking for a fun twist on the name, it just made sense.
The store is “mission based,” Bowman said. They have t-shirts for sale, and the proceeds go to the SPCA and the Old Dominion Humane Society. And they also do adoption events. “It was really important for us to offer a place for people,” Bowman said, “to meet adoptable dogs.”
What Bowman and Bufton didn’t know when they started planning the store was that another individual, Andie Ayers, was also planning to open a bookstore — Novel. The two opened within a month of each other this spring, but don’t expect cut-throat competition.
Ayers and Bowman “sat down and had a coffee,” Bowman said, “and we’re like, we had the same idea at the same time…. I think we’ve both done a good job of putting our own twist on things.”
Bowman said that the “vibes and experiences” at the two stores are different, and she believes there’s a “piece of the pie for everybody.”
Instead of pitting small businesses against one another, Bowman sees it as small businesses against the huge conglomerates.
“If you go onto Amazon,” she said, “are you going to run into your neighbor that you haven’t seen in five months and sit down and finally have that coffee? No.”
Readers
Bowman and Bufkin are both avid readers.
Bufkin has recently finished James, which he describes as written from the “point-of-view of the slave’s position in Huckleberry Finn.” It’s a book that “tugs at your heartstrings throughout.”
From there, he jumped into Jaws. “I was surprised what they left out of the movie.”
Bowman reads “a little bit of everything.” She was early on into whodunits, and thrillers, but now she’s getting into fantasy literature. And she also tries to read at least one nonfiction book a month.
Bufkin says they approach reading in two different ways. Bowman devours books and tears through them. Once she starts a book, she won’t put it down until done. For Bufkin, it takes a little longer to get into a book.
“It’s two different worlds of how we read,” he said. But it’s the variety in their approaches that helps make Tales & Tails what it is.
Shoppers will find a bit of everything there, from mysteries and thrillers to literature and nonfiction, and most everything in between. That’s what the two wanted at the beginning. But “once they checked that box,” Bowman said, “the next question becomes, what are your values”?
For Bowman and Bufkin, that takes two tacks. First is “carrying books that support our values and the values that we want to see in our community,” and the second is “inclusion, … so we made a point of having books for the pride community, the Black community, the Muslim community.”
In short, their selections of books is all about their creating a space that is welcoming.
That goes for the kids’ room, too. There, kids are encouraged to put their hands on the products and play with the books.
It’s all part of nurturing readers.
Third Spaces
Another factor driving Tales & Tales is the need to create “third spaces.”
“Fredericksburg, like the downtown specifically, is lacking third spaces for people. Bowman and Bufkin wanted to create spaces where “people could sit down for a while, meet, chat, and have a coffee.”
There are multiple rooms upstairs — each appropriately outfitted in dog themes — that people can reserve for free.
And then there’s the dog-themed chess board near the shop’s side entrance.
“One of the coolest things to both of us,” Bowman said, “is how many people sit there and play chess.” The best part is that they’re not on their phones, but that they are playing chess and “talking to one another.”
“It’s fantastic,” Bowman said, “and that’s what we wanted to foster so badly.”
The two are also helping people connect through book clubs.
The shop runs four, three of which are free to sign up for.
Book is better than the movie book club — Currently reading Jaws
Romantasy book club — Currently reading Summer in the City
Banned book club — Currently reading Fahrenheit 451
The fourth club is Crafty Readers. Participants pay a small fee for the craft that the group works on while discussing books.
A Place for People to Meet
What started as an escape for Bowman and Bufkin has now come full bloom into Tales & Tails bookshop. Wedding their passion for reading, love for dogs, commitment to craft coffee, and desire to create spaces where people can meet and interact, the two have created an ideal Third Space that is sure to attract book fans and more for years to come.
To learn more, visit the Tales & Tales website.
Visit the store at 1010 Charles Street in Fredericksburg.
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My son & I stopped in a couple of weeks ago and loved this cute shop. We got a book (plus a free bookmark!) and treats for our dog. Also the shop features excellent customer service; we'll return, for sure!