We believe every book should have a story beyond its pages. Our collection features vintage treasures, independent voices, and literary gems you won't find anywhere else.
I always knew people would ask me the origin story of The Hound Books. “Why did you open a bookstore?” I could imagine the conversations even before they happened.
I thought I would tell them about how I learned English by rummaging through dusty magazines and discarded copies of Sweet Sixteen or Sweet Valley High stories at our local used bookstore. Growing up in Izmir, Turkey, this used bookstore was where army expats left all their unwanted books and magazines before returning to the U.S. For years, it was my first stop every Saturday so I could get first pick at whatever was dropped off. The magazines I brought home turned into collages for my own journals. The YA novels filled up my mini library in my young adult room. I wrote book reports for my English teacher, who jotted down sweet sentiments in red pen before returning them to me – grammar and spelling corrected, the writing and reading encouraged.
My love of reading made me fast friends with our librarian in high school, who was a Mount Holyoke College graduate. By 1992, I was a first year at Mount Holyoke and fell in love with The Book Mill in Montague, MA. Dreams of “I’d like to own a bookstore one day” became “I’d like to own a bookstore like The Book Mill one day.”
In the many decades that passed, the dream hasn’t changed. While establishing a career in publishing in almost as many years, I shared this dream with all who would entertain it with me. After moving to a house in the Western Catskills, I knew the dream would become a reality somewhere here.
The Hound Books curates a collection that honors the literary tradition flowing through these mountains like the streams John Burroughs once fished. This legendary naturalist grew up right here in our backyard, bringing friends like Walt Whitman to camp and write along the very waters that still wind past our converted barn. There's something about these Catskill valleys that has always drawn writers seeking truth in the quiet spaces between words—the same peace you'll find settling into our reading nooks on a rainy afternoon, or browsing our Nature table while the pellet stove crackles nearby.
We've gathered the voices of those who understand that the best writing about wilderness doesn't just describe the landscape; it captures why we need these wild places to remember who we are. From Burroughs' gentle observations to contemporary essays on fly-fishing philosophy, these books reflect the deep connection between this place and the writers who've called it home.