Meet Mark & Kiki

Mark and Kiki are the dynamic husband/wife team behind Bulrushed Books. They are book lovers and advocates, and have been in the used book business long before Bulrushed Books was born.

When Kiki first met Mark, he was on the brink of opening Ball & Cross Books, an enchanting brick and mortar spot hidden in the alleyways of their quaint northern Idaho town. Mark had been supplying books to the neighboring coffeehouse during his college years, and with the encouragement of some good friends, he began stock-piling quality literature, history, children’s books… you name it, and Mark probably had it (or knew where to find it!)

The bookstore opened on Labor Day in 2003.

Mark and Kiki loved owning a bookstore and having the opportunity to share their favorite authors with the community, and the Saturday mornings where kids would scamper in hoping to snag their favorite sprinked donut.

With the economic troubles of 2009, they sold the business and pursued other career opportunities. And this is where Bulrushed Books was born.

It began at the dump.

A palette of used books, just sitting there.

Mark took a look at them, and just couldn’t leave them. Books in the trash never sit well with the book-lover that he is, and he believed there was still value there. 

Mark was convinced that with a little bit of love, (okay, maybe a lot of love) these books could be saved to be used once again.

So they got busy fixing books. Really busy.

It was an experiment as they tried to create the best repair formula possible: clear tape, glue, razors, scissors, this kind of tape, that kind of tape - every color tape you can imagine. They got things wrong until they finally got it right.

Bulrushed Book’s first headquarters was the living room and dining room table in Mark and Kiki’s Cracker Jack sized house. Banana boxes of books pouring into the family night routine, and a lot of heart.

But they believed in what they were doing, and still do. It is that belief that inspires our efforts to this day to deal with the used and the bruised. At Bulrushed, we are bringing books back to life. Helping students. Helping the planet. One. Book. At. A. Time.