A true-crime tale from the strange subculture of men obsessed with Victorian fly-tying, of how a mild-mannered flautist broke into a natural history museum to abscond with a king's ransom of irreplaceable endangered bird skins. The theft is outrageous, the characters eccentric, the story a total page-turner, and we are treated to such vivid scenes from natural history as Alfred Russell Wallace standing on the deck of a burning ship surrounded by flaming birds of paradise.

Summer hours are:

Monday             10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Tuesday            10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Wednesday        10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Thursday           10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Friday               10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Saturday           10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Sunday              Noon to 4:00 PM

We're in the heart of Downtown Palmer, right across from the Train Depot (that's the big blue building!)

Fireside Books

720 S. Alaska St.

Palmer, AK 99645

fireside@goodbooksbadcoffee.com

907.745.2665 

Way back in the later part of the 20th Century, David Cheezem and Melissa Behnke decided they wanted to open a bookstore. Both husband and wife were and are avid readers. Melissa's mother Peggy helped grow the small Wasilla library, and she grew up in a family of readers. David had just completed his Masters in Fine Arts degree in creative writing, and felt that his fellow writers deserved a place where good writing was honored and celebrated.

They found the perfect location for a bookstore in Palmer -- the small agricultural town in Alaska with a rich history and cultural heritage.

In 2001 David and Melissa discovered an empty storefront within a stone's throw of Vagabond Blues, their favorite Alaskan coffee-shop. It was the perfect location for a bookstore.