Nancy Edmonds Hanson

After nearly a year without an off-campus bookstore, Moorhead now has two.
More Than Words opened in mid-summer, and Words To Live By in autumn. The two enterprises have one big thing in common – a mission to bring the best in books to the Moorhead area’s avid readers. They’re just five blocks apart along Center Avenue. Coincidentally, both locations are in spaces originally occupied by Kvamme Travel.
But each has its distinctive personality, offering different approaches to the pages proffered on its shelves.
More Than Words, Sydni Kreps’ stylishly comfortable bookshop, is located in the North Center Mall strip of independent businesses, a short jaunt beyond the soon-to-be-demolished Herberger’s end of the Center Mall itself. The indie bookstore offers a curated selection including the newest releases, as well as a broad range of current fiction and nonfiction. Its sunny space houses a separate area for younger readers. You’ll also find what Sydni calls “bookish goods,” ranging from cards and gift wrap to journals, puzzles and kids’ crafts.
Words To Live By occupies the main floor at 819 Center Ave. near the Armory Event Center. Owner Jill Johnson and her husband Chris, who has been selling antiques for the past , have stocked their shelves with used books, many at bargain prices. Jill’s love of reading, like Sydni’s, propelled her into the book business, but from a different angle: After hunting classic and more current titles at estate sales and similar venues, she started out with a booth at FM Antiques and More. She also offers a selection of vinyl records, CDs and DVDs.