Why Búho Books?

We came up with the name long before we opened the doors to the bookstore, and if I remember correctly it was me who came up with the name. The inspiration, however, came from Rigo and his owl-obsession over the years.

Every time Rigo goes travelling he comes home with an owl (not a live one) from his destination. I don´t know how this started, but I guess we all have our things that we like to collect. I once had a huge zebra obsession, which luckily has passed, and I have now adopted Rigo´s owl-obsession. Long before opening the bookstore we already had the decoration for it; a whole lot of owls in different shapes and colours; as paintings, sculptures and even a shower curtain.

When people enter the store there is no doubt as to why it is called Búho Books; there are owl everywhere. Oh, and Búho is owl in spanish, by the way. The name is combined spanish and english, which might sound a bit weird, but it also has a certain cling to it. I also have to say that, again, my friend Troy in Lucha Libro gave me some inspiration. Their name is catchy and easy to remember because both words starts with a L. So I thought my name should also have that same catchy tone, without at all resembling their name. Therefore it couldn´t be Búho Libros, and it had to be Búho Books. 

For some reason owls are often connected to books, bookstores and even universities (it´s the logo of my home-town University in Bergen), and they are considered wise and smart animals. However, after a quick google of the owl´s smartness, it turns out they actually have quite small brains considering their size. One explanation for them being considered wise is that the ancient greek goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was accompanied by an owl, and from that image the owls have gained their own reputation as wise birds. 

I am trying to stop buying everything that has an owl on it, especially now that it has become so popular and you find awesome owl stuff everywhere! But the funny thing is that now every time a friend or family member gives me a gift, it´s almost 100% sure it has an owl on it. I love that, and it makes great additions to my bookstore. 

My eldest sister even made me a homemade owl table cloth for christmas!