I'm a big reader here and although I've only visited one of them (Bookends in Florence section of Nhampton), I counted like three other bookstores, most of which are somewhere around downtown or somewhat closer. I hear Ravens Used Books is cool to browse.

In addition, there's a bookstore in nearby Easthampton called Book Moon which is located somewhere downtown.

And then there's another bookstore in Southampton called Hertiage Books.

I've only seen one bookstore thereafter for miles south of the Hamptons in the Springfield metropolitan area. Unfortunately, There's only one independent bookstore left in Springfield or anywhere in the greater Springfield area. It's located right off I-291 & Route 20. It's called Red Brick Bookstore. There's no bookstore for many miles thereafter. The closest one east of Springfield is either in Palmer or Monson.

It seems for y'all avid readers that Northampton is lucky to have so many bookstores in that city especially since there used to be a lot of independent bookstores all over Springfield and everywhere many years ago and then Amazon took over and shut down most of them overtime.

I think we're hungry for more books!

I have never been to jury duty. Now I got summons in Lethal Lowell. I don't have a car, and google maps says it would be over 2 hours to get to their bus line. I think an Uber would be appropriate

There's also T appropriate courts everywhere!

I'm sorry what do I do?

I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!!! (Yes I know the date) #ifyouknowyouknow

Can someone share YMCA woburn (North Suburban) referral link with me? Thank you

If I bought a car a few towns over how would I go about legally getting it home I don't intend on using it one the roads after it's homeward journey so I would hate to have to take out an insurance policy on it just to drive it 6 miles but I also wouldn't want to drive a vehicle uninsured because while nothing probably will happen it's really shitty to not have insurance

Howdy folks,

Long time lurker on this sub reddit, first time poster. I spend a lot of time in Mass for work and family, and I'm coming off of a negative experience with MSP. Is it okay to vent? We've had two instances with the Mass State Police within the last two weeks and I'm kind of, no actually, super pissed off about the whole situation.

About two weeks ago, my wife was pulled over as she was getting on to the I-495 on ramp in of Methuen. The officer claimed that she failed to use her turn signal while getting onto the highway. He didn't want to identify himself or the department he was with. Instead, he chose aggressive with my wife and started making some intrusive comments towards her. Then when she ask who he was and what his badge number was, he told her to have a good night and to leave, and basically took off towards his cruiser. She asked again what his name was and he mumbled it getting into his car and said State Police. Since she was a bit put off by his comments, she decided to call the barracks to report the interaction and according to the dispatcher "We don't have an officer by that name with the State Police." What...?

Then, just about an hour ago, again on 495, I was pulled over with my wife. This time the accusation was that the officer witnessed me "swerving all over the lane" within the 1/2 mile that he was on the highway with me. Mind you, he entered the highway, got into the middle lane, and started riding my ass between the on ramp and where he pulled me over. He asked where I was, how much I had been drinking, etc. At least in this instance he did say who he was and where we was with, but the whole reason for the stop again seemed bunk. I told him I coming back from a dinner with family, nothing to drink, and I to my knowledge did nothing wrong. He didn't seem to like that because then got a bit more aggressive and asked me again how much I had been drinking tonight. I literally held up my water bottle and said, "About a gallon of water tonight."

I had been on the highway for at least 20 minutes at that point going between 55 - 65. I know for a fact I maintaining my lane, being mindful of the flow of traffic, etc. There's *nothing*, and I say that with confidence, that I did wrong while on the road tonight. But at this point I was a bit pissed and thought that it seemed like I was pulled over for being an out of state driver on the holiday week. My wife said she felt the same about her experience two weeks ago. He came back, told me I was getting a "verbal warning" and to "be more mindful", whatever, and got back onto the highway.

No shit, he gets on the highway behind me, immediately cuts over to the left lane and starts cruising up the lane going noticeably faster than the speed limit. About 4 minutes from when we get back onto the highway, I witnessed him swerve across the left and middle lane, nearly clipping a driver. Then he started to ride up close behind another vehicle. I can only guess that he saw it was Mass plated car so he pulled back into the left lane, cuts around and nearly clips this guy, and starts riding up against the next car. This time, it's a New Hampshire plate, so he hits his blues and pulls this guy over. Again, within 4 minutes, I see him do the crap he accused me of, and then tags another NH vehicle.

So... needless to say, I'm a bit frustrated this evening. I totally, completely, 100% understand that there are a shit ton of horrible drivers on the road that should be pulled over, that should be ticketed, and who need to do better. But as someone who drives more miles in a year just for work than most folks do, I feel like I do a pretty damn good job of maintaining my lane and being mindful to not be an ass behind the wheel. Whereas this officer, in all his official capacity, seemed to relish the fact he's empowered to pull people over, at will, and look for any reason to justify a stop and to cut a ticket.

I just feel like with all the bullshit MSP has been accused of. With all the bullshit that other Mass Police Departments are dealing with... Why even put yourself in a position to not only waste someone's time but also open yourself up to a misconduct complaint. In my day-to-day, I have a lot of opportunities to interact with police and while I'm always a *bit* skeptical, I'd say most of the folks I interact with are genuinely good people. It just pissed me off when a select group decides to make the rest of their colleagues look like jackasses just so they can feel tough.

Anyhow... sorry for the rant. I just wanted to express some annoyance. Appreciate you reading this far.

I’ve been opting out of Black Friday for some time now and would love to buy some local gifts. For a state with so many small businesses I could not find many small business markets today outside of Boston. I did find one in Marshfield and one in Weymouth.

My hunch is there are plenty of these holiday markets happening across the state and there’s just lack of marketing, so if anyone is aware of any holiday small businesses/ crafts markets in the upcoming weeks that are not Sowa, Bow Market, or the Snowport, please comment them here!

What are some of your favorite things to do in Massachusetts for the holidays? I like driving around neighborhoods to see lights. I also like watching the tree lights in Faneuil Hall.

Looking for a house and omg. Can someone explain to me why they're building 1.5M condominiums in HUDSON, MA? Why are they building new construction 800K houses in AYER? People are screaming for 350-400K housing and this is what they're doing?

Just curious if this might be a thing. I mean one card with fraud charges is obviously par for the course, but then a second and a third all in the same very tight orbit is kind of strange. And coincidentally on Wednesday my Amazon Chase card was hacked.

Just doing a little crowd sourcing :-)

Edit: because someone felt the need to correct an obvious spelling mistake ;o)

Might be a shot in the dark, but does anyone know the name of the coffee shop that used to be at South Station in Boston about 20 years ago? Not The Well. It was there before that. If you were facing the trains, it was along that wall, right in the middle.

TL;DR: Can anyone recommend a town or a B&B that has some actual activity ON Christmas Eve/Day?

My dad died a few years ago a week before Christmas, and my partner was beside himself with how to make the pain go away, but he knows I'm a huge Christmas person, and that the holiday was the one I used to spend with my dad growing up. So he whisks me away to this adorable B&B in Freeport, ME, where it snowed on Christmas Eve, we went ice skating at the LL Bean, drove around looking at lights, and day after Christmas did outlet shopping. The B&B was the best too: piano in the lobby, stockings on the doors, fireplaces in the rooms, the whole nine yards of holiday hubbub. Since then, we've gone to a different New England town seeking "The Christmas Spirit" from Dec 24-26.

All of the other posts I've found in this sub and others have given great recs of towns that have good Christmas fanfare in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but we tried one in the past and on the actual holiday, everything was just dead, it felt like Ghosttown Christmas, and I really need there to be something going on, at least where we are staying, to feel less alone at the holidays.

It could be as simple as a neighborhood with a lot of lights, a Christmas brunch at a hotel, a holiday train display in the window of a local toy store, a pond we could skate on, a hill the locals sled down, etc. I just need a little slice of something to hold onto to feel my dad still in the air each year.

Within 3 hours of Boston would be ideal.

My sister just officiated my brothers wedding with a one day license, I saw that you can only do it once. Does that mean just with that license or can you re-apply at a later time to officiate another wedding?

I was wondering if anyone has first hand experience of getting a vanity plate. I’ve heard from someone that it costs $1200 and the process is a lot slower than surrounding states. But when you google it, it states it’s $80 the first year and then an annual $30 after that.

My partner and I are considering Feast & Fettle for meal delivery since we are both working and things are very hectic with a baby right now. Is the food quality good? What are the portions like? We are in the greater Boston area and looked at the Boston magazine recommendations but half the links are broken.

The actual portions are vague, there’s not much nutritional info on the website and they’re charging $260 a week for two people.

Thought this could be fun.

I used to live on a busy yet still residential stretch of route 27. One night I called the town police (the one and only time I ever called the police in my life for a non-life threatening emergency) to warn them about someone that was bombing down that stretch at probably 100mph every 10 minutes or so. It was late at night on a weekday, so besides it being incredibly loud, it’s of course insanely dangerous.

The woman on the phone kept repeating, “well, just call us the next time they come back.” Then I’d have to explain well they’re only “there” for about two seconds and then they’re gone again. But again she’d repeat herself and I realized wow, this is coded language for “GFY we’re not going to do anything about this.” I even offered up my address so a cop could chill in the driveway. Didn’t matter. “Call us when they come back.”

What’s been some experiences you’ve had with our “public servants”?

Preferably south shore. Need for my pizza! Thanks!

Hi all - I’m trying to move into a Tudor style home but they seem hard to come by. Mass seems to have a lot of the modern colonials and mcmansions, so I want something a bit more interesting than that. I love the brick and wood look of houses like these.

I’ve tried asking realtors but they either have no idea what I’m talking about or don’t care because they keep trying to show me colonials and that’s not what I’m looking for.

I know Newton has a bunch but I was wondering what other towns have pockets of houses like this so I could improve my search. Thanks!