Historic District of Madison Indiana
Shops In Walking Distance

 
 
 
 
Village Lights Bookstore street front view, 110 East Main Street, Madison Historic District, Southern Indiana, where the magic shops

Village
Lights
Bookstore

Historic Madison’s
Full Service Independent
Bookstore

110 E. Main Street
Madison IN 47250
(812) 265-1800

Mon-Thur 11-7pm
Fri-Sat 11-9pm
Sun 12-5pm

broad selection
of quality books,
used and new,
traded & sold.

Educational Family Activities

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Special orders, cultural events, art gallery, kids’ area, comfy chairs, coffee, Steinway Grand Piano, free WiFi, Mr. Oscar Wilde & Grrrtrude Stein (Bookstore Cats)!

Thou Shalt Read

Outside walking, I couldn’t help but to feel the lights calling, and beckoning me in off the streets.

Like Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but rather in Madison Historic District, I swung in off Main Street to explore. As I investigated, I found books. Lots of books! However I wasn’t just looking for any chalice that looked fit for a king, for I knew looks could deceive.

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I was looking for a special cup, I admit not entirely like or unlike my sippy cup, but nevertheless one which might not look so special to others, for it’s old worn torn covers. One out of the many, which I knew held the stuff, the stuff of ever lasting life. Of course I speak of the old magic in books, where in a story we never grow old or die. One for which I might discover, and drink it up, passionately, not unlike a lover.

Stairway to Heaven?

When you step inside, and start to look around, eventually you’ll notice and start to wonder. What is up there? All you can see is the light at the end of the tunnel, up there so high at the top. I dare you, I challenge you, to try, until you make it all the way up, don’t stop. Scale that mountain and see therein what you’ll discover.

Some of the things you can’t miss: Book display cases,
left and right, and book table in the center, with a nice christmas bear on top.

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Current Book Titles
Paperback & Hardcover

  • "An object of beauty, "
    by Steve Martin.
  • "Gabby, "by Gabrielle Giffords & Mark Kelly.
  • "Wicked Appetite, "
    by Janet Evanovich.
  • "The girl with the dragon tattoo, "
    "The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest, " or "The girl who played with fire, " by Stieg Larsson.
  • "Little Bee, " by Chris Cleave.
  • "The American Boys Handy Book, " by Daniel C. Beard.
  • and "The American Girls Handy Book, " by Lina and Adelia Beard.
  • "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, "
    by David Sedaris.
  • "The Glass Castle",
    by Jeanette Walls.

  • "Out of Oz, " by Gregory Maguire.

  • "Knit Two, " and "Friday night knitting club, " by Kate Jacobs.

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Not books,
Dreams...

Books are not like television, radio, or movies. Books help to find and create actual dreams in your mind, that don’t exist anywhere else, where it feels like you’re really there, in the moment, living through an adventure, exploring first hand, living out fantasies that could never exist in the real world.

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The Matrix or Inception, have nothing on books. What many people don’t understand is that half of what’s in a book, is not on the pages, but rather in the audience who reads the book. With each story there are a million fold possibilities beyond the what’s written by the author, just waiting for you to explore with your creativity. What makes all the difference, is not just the words on a page, but the possibilities of your imagination, as the reader, as the audience, that can take you from the one page to a magic land of a million dreams!

Secret Places,
"where fairy tales..."

Winnie the Pooh, Curious George, blue cats, bunny rabbits, fire place, rocking chair, bench, secret doors,
good lighting, and classic architecture!

I could tell you more,
but it’s a secret.
So you’ll have to visit
and see for yourself.

Of course to enter,
you’ll be sworn to secrecy.

Bring 3 forms of ID,
a recent utility bill, and... (LOL)

Where fairy tales do come true!

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Coffee

Coffee, tea, or hot water, is available just outside the entrance to the Mark Twain room, just past the secret place, on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mark Twain
Room

Deep colors, ambiance, coffee and Mark Twain for inspiration.

Except this, if you want to be a writer, you have to actually read a great deal. A good writer probably reads at least several times the amount he or she writes. Criticize, analyze, and imagine new directions from everything you read. Don’t get stovepiped into only one narrow tunnel vision, hasty assumptions or theme choices, which damage, once written, one can’t undo, and miss the forest, not for the trees, but for not even looking in the first place. Read a diverse variety of authors, subjects, and time spans throughout all of human history.

Mark Twain

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One can’t have perspective based on only the recent state of things, which is more often then not, not the place where we want to stay, but rather the place we want to move forward away from, and beyond.
And always, keep an eye on the most important things going on in the world. After all, the people, depend on writers for reminders about what’s important and about what to watch out for. I think we can all agree, we can’t depend on politicians for direction or moral authority. Mark twain directed our attention to funning things, yes, but also to dark things as well, that if left to history alone, may have been swept out and forgotten, leaving us only to repeat the disasters of old again and again. His work, like the work of so many other’s, helps human history develop and grow, and not just wallow in repetition.

Steinway Grand Piano

The book shelves go very high, however I wouldn’t use the ladder without permission. Bookstores and libraries are typically quiet places. So, please don’t play the piano without permission.

Piano played by invitation only Bill Moyers, a World of Ideas, a good book

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Mark Twain Room

We do well to remember and honor great ideas!

Keep the
Lights On!

When you’re about to leave, and look back, out to what’s left of the sun light, casting shadows on the sidewalk and cars going by, you get that feeling in your stomach, and you cry a little, just like when you were young, cause you knew what was coming and didn’t want that time to come.

Tarot Blowin in the Wind

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In this picture, looking down the stairs, I find myself thinking about the sounds of the street and the feeling of pavement, while walking under my feet. I realized this door has magical powers, and I begged them, please, please, don’t take me away, but rather let me stay. If just another hour if not another day, for in this magic place, all I wanted was to stay.

Let us not end play time this day, for we shall be brave and tomorrow’s may never come, so we band and fight together again, come sun shine or rain, the Village Lights shall remain!

"Magic Land of
a Million Dreams
"

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You Tube Video

Trivia: Suggest a good trivia question a trivia question.

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Back to

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Sometimes people think Madison Historic District, also known as Historic Madison, is located in Milton Kentucky, but we are actually located just 1 mile north in Downtown Madison Indiana, across the Harrison Bridge on the north side of the Ohio River.

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Note that the opinions, ideas, or statements found on this site are not necessarily the opinions or views of any the shop owners, operators, principals, or other interested parties. The opinions, ideas, and views found here are entirely third party opinions about what we have found, discovered, or outright made up just for fun, about the shopping district and area in general here in Indiana’s own Madison Historic District. To comment see the link entitled "corrections and requests" above.

 
 

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