Skip to content

Seaside Stories

Cozy Up With Bookstore Owner Karen Emmerling

August 23, 2022 | by Margarett Waterbury

SEASIDE SPOTLIGHT: Our latest profile in a series focused on the behind-the-scenes movers who make Seaside the unique destination it is today. NextPreviously.

 

Many have dreamed of quitting their jobs, moving to the Oregon Coast and opening a bookstore. For most of us, it remains a fantasy. But for Karen Emmerling, that dream became reality in 2005 when she opened Beach Books in Seaside. Today this welcoming independent bookstore is the literary anchor of one of Oregon’s favorite coastal towns.

Bookstore proprietor wasn’t Emmerling’s first career. Before starting the shop, she worked in television and advertising, and she co-owned Gearhart Ironwerks with her blacksmith husband (recently transformed into a custom knife-making operation called John Emmerling Knives). But after attending Wordstock (now Portland Book Festival) in 2005, she realized that wrought iron and ad sales might not be her calling after all. 

“I walked into the convention center and I just felt immediately, instantly at home,” says Emmerling. “This is where I should have been all my life.”

Beach Books opened its doors not long afterward. Today Emmerling says part of the store’s success is a sterling roster of fantastic employees, including store manager Alexa Butler, who started working at Beach Books in high school and stuck around. “We’re real friendly here, and people come in because they like the staff,” Emmerling says. 

That friendly touch even extends to the often-impersonal realm of online sales. Every online order from Beach Books comes wrapped with a personalized note. The staff also try to pass on advance reader copies — preview copies of books sent to retailers by publishers — to customers with an interest in the author or genre. 

“I really am a lousy salesperson unless I am really passionate about something, which I am about books,” says Emmerling. “I love putting the right book in the right hands. It doesn’t feel like selling.”

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Emmerling believes it’s actually been a good time for booksellers. Local support has been strong, and online orders have poured in from around the country. 

“The pandemic taught us to appreciate the people who are in our community who are going to be there for you,” says Emmerling — like independent booksellers. “If you value having a bookstore, it says something good about a community.”

Although online sales are still brisk, Emmerling relates that she’s relieved to be back with open doors, welcoming visitors and locals alike to browse shelves stocked with mysteries, nonfiction, memoirs, poetry, novels, young adult and kids’ books, cookbooks and more.

Karen’s Beach-Read Recommendations

Beach Books stocks all genres, including as many local authors as they know about. Emmerling is partial to novels when it comes to a great beach read. She shared three of her recent favorites, and what she liked about each one.

 

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

“The story takes place in an aquarium, and there’s a very precocious octopus who likes to roam around the aquarium at night. The octopus has a connection with an older woman, and it’s just a delight. It’s heartwarming. There’s more to the story than just the octopus. It’s really quite wonderful.”

 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

“The story takes place in the early ’60s. A woman chemist is pregnant by her boss, and they are not married, and so she is fired. The only job she can get, because she has to raise this child, is as a television cooking-show hostess. She takes the opportunity to teach chemistry to her viewers. It’s quite timely, but it also has a lot of humor and warmth.”

 

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Book Lovers is the story of an editor and a book critic who have a contentious relationship. They end up in a small town together. The editor is taken there by her sister, who has this list of things they’re to do while they’re there, and she and the critic become interconnected.”

If none of those sound quite right for your own leisurely reading needs, stop by Beach Books for a personalized recommendation. Then settle in on a beach blanket (or in a relaxing Seaside coffee house, perhaps) and lose yourself in a great story.

and so much more!

Smoothies, Boba, Floats and Other Specialty Drinks

It’s hot out and you’ve worked up a thirst. Sometimes that plain old water isn’t going to satisfy. Luckily, it’s easy to f...

Learn More
Seeing Seaside on a Surrey

Cruising around Seaside on a Surrey can be great exercise and a scenic journey

Learn More
Camping in Seaside

Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner. One of my very favorite things to do during Memorial Day weekend is to go camping. I love setting up the tents, snuggling in a warm sleeping bag, sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows for s’mores, and smelling like a campfire all weekend. I love every bit of it! If you’ve never camped by the Pacific Ocean then you are missing out! You get to add the salty air, sandy beach, and all the benefits of being near Seaside to add to your camping experience.

Learn More
Gone Fishin’

You know you’re in Seaside when . . . this sentence can be completed in numerous ways. Today I’ll finish it with: . . . you see a guy walking down the road in tall rubber boots, fishing pole in one hand, long silvery fish dangling from the other.

Learn More
How to Sip Coffee Like a Local

Want your favorite coffee drink for free? Easy! Help us keep the beach clean and your coffee is on us. Seaside has something for e...

Learn More
The Daddy Train

The Seaside train depot was the major transportation hub before 1938.

Learn More
Broadway Boon

A glimpse at the history and evolution of Broadway.

Learn More
Five Great Burgers in Seaside

Sam’s Seaside Cafe A well-executed burger shaped and grilled to perfection, layered with the proper ratios of ingredients, i...

Learn More
The Perfect S’more

As the sun continues to make more regular appearances, I continue to look forward to external sunshine. And, yearning for a sweet treat, I’m reminded of that summer favorite: S’mores!

Learn More
Mural Walking Tour

Seaside has a flourishing art scene with quaint galleries and a monthly art walk in the historic Gilbert District, but it also has...

Learn More
Family Reunion

Seaside is a hot spot for family reunion get-togethers.

Learn More
Going for a Dip in the 1920s

Seaside ocean antics in the late 1920s

Learn More
Shopper’s Delight: Selnes Grocery

The hustle and bustle of Holiday shopping in Seaside circa 1926 was not nearly the same as it today.

Learn More
Beach Books is an independent book store in Seaside, Oregon.
Where to Shop for Souvenirs in Seaside

Hunting for bargains? Searching for Seaside souvenirs? Seeking one-of-a-kind gifts? You’ve come to the right place. To your deli...

Learn More
How to Take an Extended Stay This Winter

It’s Sunday afternoon and you’ve been sightseeing, sipping and shopping in Seaside all weekend. It’s about time you start he...

Learn More
King Tides Safety and Viewing in Seaside

King Tides on Oregon’s North Coast (photo by Don Frank) ** Story updated for the 2022/2023 King Tides ** King Tides come eac...

Learn More
The Whole Clam Family

Family clamming on Seaside's beach is a tradition that literaly goes back thousands of years.

Learn More