Beverly Books | McNally Jackson

McNally Jackson

I kept wandering the city, checking my google maps for nearby bookstores. I came upon McNally Jackson.

About McNally Jackson

McNally Jackson Books is an independent bookstore in New York City owned and operated since 2004 by Sarah McNally. The company operates five stores across the city in Soho, Rockefeller Center, Seaport, Downtown Brooklyn, and Williamsburg, as well as three stationery stores called Goods for the Study.

The first thing I saw was the huge wall of books. The lighting and bookcases made for an impressive first impression.

I didn’t realize just how big the store was. I can’t remember which location I was at, but when I thought there weren’t anymore books, I found another corner.

I liked how they did shelf talkers.

An excellent choice of book to recommend, even if it will shred your heart to pieces.

Parable of the Sower is another must read.

I left with House of Frank, one of the first Bindery Books releases!

When I’m in NYC another time, I’d like to visit more of the McNally locations.

When Trees Testify: An Author Interview With Beronda L. Montgomery, PhD

Your book touched upon hundreds of years of history. What time period do you feel like you learned the most from?

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly; however knowledge that I gained about the early 1900s in my research on Blackdom, NM in the chapter on apple trees was very new to me. Also, on a personal level, looking into the massacre in Elaine, AR in 1919 was very moving because of the connection to my maternal grandfather and family history.

I hope that readers may learn something new about African American history...

I hope that it will inspire individuals to embrace a dual history of Black Americans and botanical history in the US. Many are aware of the trauma associated with chattel slavery, even as many are not aware of the depth of this trauma. Fewer are aware of the depth of agricultural expertise that enslaved Africans contributed to the success of agriculture in the US. I hope that When Trees Testify offers the opportunity to being to understand that Black botanical legacy and to celebrate it.