Atlantic City Weekly

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Payday is a beautiful thing. You work 40 hours or more a week and people give you money. Realistically people give you about half the money your work and time are worth, and then there are taxes, but that’s another column.

So, after cashing my check, there’s almost nothing I enjoy more than checking out a good bookstore. Up until just recently, a trip to a black-themed, owned and operated store meant going to Philadelphia. And while any reason to visit Philly is a good one to me, the trip by bus can be very long, especially just to buy a few books. Driving can be quicker. However, you need an interpreter to decipher the code involved with the new parking kiosks and even when they had meters you could get a ticket for parking during bad weather.

So believe me when I say that I was pleasantly surprised to find a black themed, owned and operated bookstore in Pleasantville (about 10 minutes from A.C.) called Urban Books Store that reminds me of my favorite Philadelphia book store. The one exception is that at Urban Books, I can shop for more than 15 minutes without running out to a meter/kiosk to make sure my car is alright.

Located at 28 Old Turn Pike Rd. in Pleasantville, the store has plenty of street parking. Inside the store are books on every subject you could imagine. You can find books on religion, whether your words of faith are in the Bible, the Qur’an or any other.

Books about God are not the only classic material I found at Urban Books. Looking for a new copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the Mis-education of the Negro, or Before the Mayflower? You can run right over to Urban Books Store and pick it up, no waiting.

Since I already own most of the classics, on paydays I like to pick up new books, preferably by new authors. I venture through the shelves of fiction until I see a cover that grabs my attention. Then I will read an excerpt and if the author can get to me in the first paragraph, they’ve got a sale.

I’m also always on the lookout for brand-new resource material. Not text books, but books that examine aspects of life, culture, the pursuit of freedom — books like A Testimony of Hope. This particular book collects all of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights speeches, his sermons on civil rights and war, letters and essays, and what’s really special about this collection is that it includes transcripts of Dr. King’s appearance on Meet the Press and an interview with Roots author Alex Haley.

What everyone seems to be looking for these days is “urban” or “street” fiction. Urban Books definitely has all the new and classic urban-fiction titles.

You can find urban-fiction titles by pioneer Donald Goines, veterans like Vicki Stringer and the always erotic Zane, as well as books by up-and-coming authors including local writers Mikell Davies (Black Mafia) and Shamirah Smith (NY: Street Religion).

As well as urban fiction, Urban Books Store has an assortment of materials on urban facts with magazines like Don Diva and video documentaries on American gangsters and hip-hop. The owners also support local filmmakers as well, so you can find some interesting indie films.

Visiting Urban Books also offers the opportunity to pick up one-of-a-kind art, and the owner, Dobulu, creates hand-made jewelry, oils and incense. You can actually shop at Urban Books Store 24 hours a day at urbanbooksonwheels.com, or you call them at 383-9100.

Raymond Tyler hosts the Alternative Soul Sunday Breakfast Club radio show each Sunday from 7–8am on 96.1FM WTTH - The Touch.