She quickly made it her routine to drive to Montague three mornings a week to sit in the cafe and the bookstore reading and writing and staring out the window. ‘‘It felt like home,’’ she says. When the business went up for sale she jumped at the opportunity. ‘‘It’s every writer’s fantasy to own a bookstore or a bar,’’ she says. Since taking over, Shilliday has filled the shelves with more books to ‘‘make it more what it already is, which is — the nicest, funkiest most beautiful place ever.’’
Montague, 413-367-9206, montaguebookmill.com. Daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m., later on concert evenings.
(Text by Jonathan Levitt for the Boston Globe; Montague Bookmill photo)
