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This lifelong bookseller brings her love for books, wine to beloved Winchester bookstore
Lauren Tiedemann of Book Ends joins Boston.com’s Book Club to talk about ‘Chasing Beauty’ by Natalie Dykstra.
Frequently, there are successive generations of doctors, dentists, lawyers, or artists in the same family. For Lauren Tiedemann, co-owner of Book Ends in Winchester, it is bookselling that runs deep in her blood.
The Melrose native has been in bookselling since she was a teenager, and was raised in the tradition through her mother, who worked at her elementary school library and then at Barnes & Noble beginning when Tiedemann was 12-years-old, and her aunt, who worked in publishing for Houghton Mifflin.
She recalls fond memories of making a selection from her aunt’s “book closet” — a bookworm’s dream! — and evenings spent listening to her father read chapters from classics like “The Chronicles of Narnia” or “The Wizard of Oz.”
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It came as no surprise when, as soon as she turned 16, she decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps and work for Barnes & Noble. Except for a brief stint as an event planner and fundraiser for Columbia Business School, she has spent her entire career bookselling there, the MIT Coop, and now, Book Ends.
It was at a Barnes & Noble managers’ meeting at the Harvard Coop that Tiedemann met future co-owner Jillian Hartline, also a Barnes & Noble buyer and manager for 10 years.
“After a few glasses of wine, we realized we shared the same dream of someday running an independent bookstore instead of working for corporate,” Tiedemann said. “We had great experiences working for corporate, but it’s just so nice to have your own store and get to call the shots.”
The duo made their dream a reality in November of 2022 when they bought Book Ends from longtime owner Judy Manzo, who had owned the bookstore since 1992. The store has been Winchester’s beloved independent bookstore since 1984.
“It has been an absolute dream come true, we have been so lucky,” Tiedemann said. “The store has been around for 40 years, it’s clearly the heart of the community. We feel like we’ve been entrusted to watch the bookstore and help the bookstore grow,” she added.
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They’ve done just that by offering a wide selection of books in-store and online for readers across all ages, as well as general interest and sci-fi/horror/fantasy book clubs, storytimes, and a heap of events.
Tiedemann manages the sales floor and said she’s thrilled to be back talking to people about books all day long.
“I’m just not the kind of person that likes to sit at a desk all day,” she said.
The bookstore is also heavily involved in the local community. They partner with local public schools to provide books for Authorfest, an annual fall event that brings authors and illustrators to all of Winchester’s public schools.
Tiedemann, who is also a certified sommelier, has started a new monthly wine tasting event at the store and said she has a five-year plan to add a wine bar to the shop — something she said the town is currently missing.
“There’s two wonderful pubs, there’s a few wonderful restaurants, but there’s no casual, ‘meet-up-with-a-friend, have-a-date, sit-by-yourself-and-enjoy-a-book-and-a-glass-of-wine,’ place.”
In the meantime, Book Ends has partnered with Medford Brewing Company to host a monthly book fair.
“It’s amazing how many of our customers didn’t know the brewery opened and how many of the brewery’s customers didn’t know there’s a bookstore,” she said.
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The inter-city collaboration has been especially rewarding, she said, for bringing books to people, and people to the bookstore, from around the town and beyond.
“Yes, we’re the bookstore in the heart of Winchester, and yes, so many of our wonderful regulars are from Winchester. But we also want to make sure we’re everybody’s local bookstore. Just because you live in another town, we’ve got great things for you, too.”
Join Book Club’s live author discussion on April 30 at 6 p.m.
This month’s Book Club pick is ‘Chasing Beauty’ by Natalie Dykstra. Tiedmann will speak with Dykstra about the new book, which she called “wonderfully written” on April 30 at 6 p.m.
The biography dives into the story of Isabella Stewart Gardner, the woman behind one of the nation’s most impressive art collections and host to the single largest property theft in the world.
Tiedemann said the book is a “fascinating” exploration of “the woman behind the museum and the curation of it,” and is excited to ask Dykstra about her writing process.
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