HALLIE EPHRON: Our local news is full of reports of indie bookstores opening in Boston and the surrounding suburbs. And those that survived the pandemic are doing well, thank you very much.
In my local mall, where a pre-pandemic Amazon Bookstore opened and promptly closed (yes, they did try brick and mortar), a Barnes & Noble has opened and seems to be thriving. Long time stalwarts like Porter Square Books are thriving.
Wondering if the other Reds are finding the same thing in their parts of the world. Are independent bookstores opening, thriving? Or am I seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses?
And from our whirlwind book tour guide Hank, how does it look on the ground (how many bookstores is she visiting?)
JENN McKINLAY: I live down the street from the Poisoned Pen and they certainly do a bang up business. We also have a few other indie bookstores like Changing Hands and Bookmans that are also always busy. And, not for nothing, there are thirteen (approx) Barnes and Nobles in the Valley of the Sun, which is not known for being a super reader metro area.
I do know that the proprietors of the Ripped Bodice, a romance bookstore, in Culver City just opened their second location in Brooklyn, where I am chuffed that one of my books hangs on the wall.
So, yup, it appears bookstores are back, baby!
RHYS BOWEN:Jenn, I also signed at the Ripped Bodice Such a fun store.
I’m also lucky as the wonderful Book Passage is my local store in summer and Poisoned Pen in the winter. I’ve had a close relationship with both those stores for over twenty years. Hallie and I both teach at the mystery writers conference at Book Passage in the summer.
The only thing wrong with Book passage is that it draws all the big names and I mean really big names. So I might find myself speaking with Hilary Clinton the day before me and Tom Hanks the day after. Not entirely conducive to drawing a big crowd!
We also have several good chains in the Bay Area including Copperfields. Lots of readers. Lots of book clubs. I’d say the written word is flourishing.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Dallas has several independent stores. One, Interabang, has been really successful and is getting in the big name authors.
Also, there are fourteen Barnes & Nobles, (two of them new in the last year) with two more coming in 2024! I’m a big fan of Daunt’s books in the UK so was hoping that the new CEO would do good things for B&N. I’m going to have to check out the new store nearest me, as I want to see the new design.
As for my far north Dallas suburb, we have Half Price Books, a Dallas-based chain which sells new and used books. Ours is a great store, and the chain has been really successful, with over a hundred stores in nineteen states now.
My daughter, by the way, has always dreamed of opening a bookshop on the town square here in McKinney. Maybe she’ll give us our indie one of these days!
LUCY BURDETTE: What fun that would be Debs!
We have two local bookstores in Key West, very different from each other and very busy! Key West Island books is quirky, with some old and some new books and lots of personal attention. They sell my Key West mysteries like mad! Books and Books is more traditional and literary, and I love them too.
In Connecticut, RJ Julia’s appears to be going strong. I adore that store. So Fingers Crossed, they all survive at least as long as we do!
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ve always been very lucky to live in Northern New England: we have far more independent bookstores than the big box ones, mostly because of our lack of population density. (Keep in mind, there are literally two malls in the entire state of Maine.)
The last time I went to the annual New England Independent Booksellers Ass’n conference was 2019 - of course - and I was stunned to meet several young booksellers who were opening their own shops. I asked my Very Tall Publicist, Hector DeJean, about it. “Yes!” he said. “It’s a trend. They’re coming back.”
And of course, this was before the whole world shut down.
As much as we leaned on getting everything delivered back then, I suspect the rebound is that many of us crave community, closeness - and the ability to browse in real life, rather then via an algorithm some programmers are pushing on us.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Coming to you from the backseat of an Uber in Austin, Texas, and later tonight at the fabulous Lark and Owl bookstore. I have been in at least 10 independent bookstores across the country in the past dozen days or so, and I can tell you, they are absolutely flourishing.
The people who work in the stores are wonderful and knowledgeable and clever and hilarious, completely well-read and eager to guide readers to their next favorite book.
In my home territory, An Unlikely Story constantly brings in 50-100 attendees for an author, talk, and 300 for the likes of Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell it is an absolutely magical place, and somehow sprinkles fairy dust on all who enter.
Brookline Booksmith has been hosting my launches for more than 10 years, and it is such a solid, reliable institution. Both stores pivoted during the height of the pandemic, and really served their readers, and no, they are thriving every day. Both have become supremely social media savvy, that’s for sure.
What an absolute joy – – and what a relief!
(Here’s a fantastic photo from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest— a treasure of a store.)
HALLIE: I think Julia is right. After Covid lockdowns got us stuck in our homes, and the ease of Amazon delivery kept us there, we've emerged hungry not just for a great shopping experience but for COMPANY of likeminded folks in safe settings where we can linger, sip coffee, turn the pages, and talk about what we're reading.
What do you think? Are you seeing a resurgence of bookstores in your backyard?
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ve always been very lucky to live in Northern New England: we have far more independent bookstores than the big box ones, mostly because of our lack of population density. (Keep in mind, there are literally two malls in the entire state of Maine.)
The last time I went to the annual New England Independent Booksellers Ass’n conference was 2019 - of course - and I was stunned to meet several young booksellers who were opening their own shops. I asked my Very Tall Publicist, Hector DeJean, about it. “Yes!” he said. “It’s a trend. They’re coming back.”
And of course, this was before the whole world shut down.
As much as we leaned on getting everything delivered back then, I suspect the rebound is that many of us crave community, closeness - and the ability to browse in real life, rather then via an algorithm some programmers are pushing on us.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Coming to you from the backseat of an Uber in Austin, Texas, and later tonight at the fabulous Lark and Owl bookstore. I have been in at least 10 independent bookstores across the country in the past dozen days or so, and I can tell you, they are absolutely flourishing.
The people who work in the stores are wonderful and knowledgeable and clever and hilarious, completely well-read and eager to guide readers to their next favorite book.
In my home territory, An Unlikely Story constantly brings in 50-100 attendees for an author, talk, and 300 for the likes of Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell it is an absolutely magical place, and somehow sprinkles fairy dust on all who enter.
Brookline Booksmith has been hosting my launches for more than 10 years, and it is such a solid, reliable institution. Both stores pivoted during the height of the pandemic, and really served their readers, and no, they are thriving every day. Both have become supremely social media savvy, that’s for sure.
What an absolute joy – – and what a relief!
(Here’s a fantastic photo from Page 158 Books in Wake Forest— a treasure of a store.)
HALLIE: I think Julia is right. After Covid lockdowns got us stuck in our homes, and the ease of Amazon delivery kept us there, we've emerged hungry not just for a great shopping experience but for COMPANY of likeminded folks in safe settings where we can linger, sip coffee, turn the pages, and talk about what we're reading.
What do you think? Are you seeing a resurgence of bookstores in your backyard?
Okay, I am officially green-eyed jealous. Here, the closest bookstore, Books-A-Million, is some twenty-nine miles away; Barnes and Noble is thirty-four and a half miles from our house. Sadly, there are no independent bookstores close to us, either . . . but it's good to know that bookstores are coming back in a big way . . . .
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time we had three bookstores within 3 miles of my house... and another 5 a few miles further. We've in no way come back to that level, but smaller independent focused booksellers seem to be making a go of it in littlel "downtown" suburbs.
DeleteJoan, those are very specific measurements. I can tell this has long been a problem for you. Hope someday you get a closer bookstore.
DeleteKaren, thanks to countless drives to both . . . and my great dislike of driving . . . I know how far away the bookstores are. Fingers crossed for something closer someday soon.
DeleteSuch a nice thought amid all the bad news. In the 1990s we lived briefly outside San Francisco and I went to Book Passage to hear Maeve Binchy... what a crowd! She was lovely. I was 38 or so and I remember being startled to read later newspaper coverage describing the audience as "hundreds of middle-aged women." "Oh," I thought, "I guess I am." (Selden)
ReplyDeleteI HEART Book Passage! It's survived because of the community it's in and *absolutely brilliant* owners. Also they have enough parking to host any of the Clintons.
DeleteMaeve Binchy! Be still my beating heart!!
Another fan of Book Passage, my home indie store. Even with their big stars coming all the time, they have made space for me for my own book launch events ever since I first published. Two-way loyalty! I was first a student and am now a faculty member at the conference, along with Hallie and Rhys.
DeleteWe don't have any Barnes & Nobles close to us, but new ones are opening. I'm thrilled to say my local indy, Jabberwocky, is thriving at fifty-two. They didn't get social-media savvy during the pandemic, but people like me ordered all our books through them - and they delivered to my door! I had my first post-pandemic launch party there in the fall, so that has resumed. I'm so grateful for Sue and Paul and all the other loyal employees there.
ReplyDeleteI was delighted in October to appear at Book Passage with Rhys, and at Poisoned Pen in Decembe with three other authors - both stores were author-bucket-list items for me!
LOVE Jaberwocky. It's a delight.
DeleteHere in Braga, a small city, we have several independent bookstores - of course the selections are primarily in Portuguese, but they have English language and other foreign language sections, and they can order books for me, so I do shop at them when I don't order online. I love physically being in a bookstore for all the reasons mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend who used to say she loved the *smell* of books. I agree.
DeleteI do, too! And a public library.
DeleteMy 2 local indie book stores, PERFECT BOOKS and BOOKS ON BEECHWOOD, are doing well. I went to PERFECT BOOKS for several book launch events last year. And two new indie book stores recently opened in another part of Ottawa.
ReplyDeleteSounds as if you're being well served.
DeleteLots of new indies in Rochester, a couple or three B&Ns, and let’s not forget the bookstores in our seven colleges and universities.
ReplyDeleteOne of the indies is Hippocampo Children’s Books! Who knew?
And in addition I’d like to give a shout out to whomever came up with little neighborhood libraries. They have proliferated here, almost one on every other corner. I think these must promote sales in the stores. After all, once you’ve read a Deborah Crombie you picked up one for free, you’ve got to want to read the other twenty! And the children’s books are gone before they’ve been there a few minutes. What a great resource for families.
I’m afraid I must admit that I buy mostly e books tho. My old eyes love being able to adjust the font size and the lighting. I’m finding it very difficult to read print in a paperback. But the good news is I buy anything I want any time of the day … instant gratification!
I've had a hard time getting into ebooks. But audio books! Wondering if independent bookstores ever get a cut of those sales?
DeleteAnn, I am constantly surprised at how many people stop at our Little Free Library! We live on a short road, about a mile, with no sidewalks or parking areas, although our driveway is extra-wide. I've added two more boxes, including one just for kids' books and one for nonfiction, so I can accommodate more adult fiction, and it gets used. Plus, so many authors kindly sent me bookmarks to include in the box, and I hope that also helps my "patrons" find new authors.
DeleteI think Little Free Libraries are great, BUT, how are they different from getting a library card? Are they found in places where there are no libraries, or is it the physical thing of owning a book? I think they are a great idea, but I just don't understand. Signed curmudgeon, and apparently slow-of-thinking Margo who knows the best place in town to put up a Free Library is across from the real library. Open 5 days a week, all the time on the internet.
DeleteMargo, they're gateway drugs to real libraries, or bookstores. Ours got a lot of use during the pandemic when our libraries were pick up only, too. Two different neighbors have kids who beg to stop and see what's new here, and we do have some walkers who stop to browse.
DeleteHere in the Pittsburgh vicinity, we have quite a few indie bookstores including my home-away-from-home, Mystery Lovers Bookshop. Also, Riverstone Books now has two locations. Plus there's White Whale and City of Asylum Books along with several Barnes & Nobles.
ReplyDeleteMystery Lovers Bookshop: sigh. I still have mugs from all my visits during Mary Alice's reign. We'll have to blog one day about the amazing *booksellers* (usually women) who could handsell the bible to the devil.
DeleteI know the stores that I knew about pre-pandemic are still open. But other than the occasional store opening posting I see on friend's social media; I can't say I've noticed any huge number of new stores opening. The closest I could come up with was actually the new Barnes and Noble that opened in my town. And while I would of course love to frequent the independent stores more often than when I go for a book signing, when the B&N is less than a 2-minute car ride across the highway from my job, I tend to go there when I'm picking something up in person.a
ReplyDeleteStill, I do love when places like An Unlikely Story and Titcomb's Bookshop hosts events that let me travel there to pick up signed editions.
Interesting that B&N which we once villified as putting indies out of business now feels like one of the good guys providing community and book buzz.
DeleteI'm not sure about new indie bookstores here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but I know of two successful local indie bookstores that have both been going for years: Whodunit Books, specializing in mysteries, both new and used (and it's where I bought my first three Julia Spencer-Flemings -- second hand; I was hooked), and then there's McNally Robinson that is big and diverse (books, mags, lovely items and a good cafe/restaurant) and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThose are two good ones.
DeleteIf I want a signed copy of a new book by one of the Reds, I call the Poisoned Pen or RJ Julia, or Brookline Booksmiths...you get the picture. I have also ordered signed books directly from the author.
ReplyDeleteOur independent bookstores closed years ago. There is a large B&N in West Hartford Center and probably several more around. I am always disappointed by the number of books that they stock by my favorite authors.
Also, I buy dozens of books every year. Many of them on Kindle. Many on Audible. It is convenient and the formats are easy to use. And, as Ann mentioned, it arrives immediately.
Pre-ordering paper books from B&N or from an independent that is mailing it could mean waiting a month before it arrives. Amazon, on the other hand, delivers the book the day it is released.
When Julia's new book is published, I will order it from Amazon. I don't think I can wait any longer for it to arrive.
And Eight Cousins in Falmouth!
DeleteJudy - we love that you go directly to the bookstore for author-signed books!
DeleteLike Joan, bookstore desert here. There's a B-A-M in Sandusky, about 12 miles away. Anything else is an hour's drive east or south. Which is probably a good thing, in my case. I can be disciplined about online ordering, in spite of how easy it is, but if there were bookstores nearby--can't think of a better way to spend time than browsing in a bookstore and loading up with new finds.
ReplyDeleteI so agree - just hanging out is invigorating.
DeleteVery interesting topic! Barnes and Noble is just about the only store that not only survived but seems to be thriving at our almost-defunct urban mall, Lloyd Center. My go-to indie stores here in Portland are Powell's--the Hawthorne branch rather than the "City of Books" BIG store on Burnside--and Broadway Books (just a couple of blocks from B & N), both of which seem to be thriving. I haven't been to an author event since before the pandemic, but Powell's has a steady stream of author events. Broadway Books hosted Jacqueline Winspear last year. I did consider going, but it was expensive, sigh.
ReplyDeleteSorry you had to miss Jacqualine Winspear. She's delightful and I especially loved her fairly recent autobiographical book.
DeleteHow expensive? Seems like a great way to discourage customers. In the Bay Area, if you buy the book you get into the author event. Except at Book Passages, which is more an event center and a limited bookstore.
DeleteI'm in Pittsburgh with Annette. Yes, Mystery Lovers seems to be doing well. Riverstone has two locations and there are at least two more indies - along with a health number of Barnes & Noble locations.
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty good to me... though like me you probably Mystery Lovers annual conference which they scheduled right after Malice. I have so many fond memories of driving there from DC in a car full of bumptious cozy writers.
DeleteYes, I do miss the Festival of Mystery.
DeleteWe have a wonderful bookstore - Warwick's in La Jolla. It is the oldest family owned and operated bookstore in the country. It is such a delightful & magical place to be.
ReplyDeleteGillian I too love to visit Powel's in Portland. I like the downtown location but the Hawthorne branch is also amazing and my daughter lives close by.
Warwick's! How have I missed that one. I do love Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego.
DeleteI would swear I wrote the comment by Anonymous above about Warwick’s and Powell’s AND Hallie’s comment about Mysterious Galaxy! Those are the three I would have mentioned, along with Kepler’s in Menlo Park (or is it Palo Alto?). Anyway, cheers to independent booksellers!! — Pat S
DeleteSounds like a store I'd love... children's books are dear to my heart.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing: Julia I am ashamed of my ignorance, but I never thought that Maine would have only two malls. I may have to google the state and learn more about your population density – is it many smaller towns, or really rural. Just talking with Harrumper to name a city in Maine and all we can come up with is Bangor – don’t think it is the capitol, just a place that geographically because of its proximity and fishing we have heard about. Count this another day lost, as we tumble into google!
ReplyDeleteNow as for book stores – first setting the scene that I can no longer see well enough to read a book book, and I have not the patience. However, back in those days when I did, I loved any book store – as well as fabric shop, farm supply store (ah the smell of molasses feed!) and computer store – back when I was not considered ‘too dumb to have a cell phone’ – quote from any number of children.
My favourite store was a local 2nd hand bookstore in the nearbyl small town (Alexandria, ON – population at the time about 8000). There was such a smell of adventure when you went in. The owner was quite a fluffy Miss Marple, who could find anything, anywhere in a tumble of boxes. If you were there at 10am, it would have a different inventory than if you came back at 2. She soon learned her clientele and would have a new (old) book ready for you. It was the bane of my economy – fruit this week, or a book or two! You can probably guess which one won. That was the time in my life where there really was a TBR pile, and ‘so many books, so little time”.
Then Julia and Hallie, commenting on the need for not just the books but the socialization. I live in very rural Nova Scotia, I have access to 3 local libraries all under the same umbrella. Our first librarian retired and a new person took over. The books have not changed, nor the service (she is growing into it!), but the focus for years has been social. No being quiet – come in and have a laugh. Nothing to do, just drop by and put a few pieces in the jigsaw puzzle. Bring you knitting and have a tea and a chat. Just sit there and read the paper. Tourist – come in and ask a foolish question – who’s my father, now who is yours and what happened to so and so. As Darlene always said that was not in her mandate, but a part of the job. Now there are also free things – covid kits, skis, snowshoes, summer toys, home improvement kits, and now free passes to the YMCA (a bit of a drive to there). Local kids stop in for a candy on the way home from school, little kids and mothers have a social hour every Friday. Craft times at least once a month for kids of various ages, and adults as well – sometimes all together. In April there is a seed planting session – theoretically outdoors – brrrr! This has become more than just a reservoir of books, but a social service, and becoming more and more appreciated.
My air conditioner comes on April 1st.
DeleteWow, what a great library, Margo!
DeleteLibraries have very much become nondenominational commumity centers... so much more than limited to borrowing books.
DeleteIn the Cincinnati area we are lucky. In addition to our fantastic Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, we also have the private and very beautiful Mercantile Library, as well as the Lloyd Library, which focuses on botany and plant-based medicine. We now have three Barnes & Nobles in the area, including a reopened one in the "new format" (read: no cafe) in an area where the previous store had closed ten years ago. We have a couple Half-Price Books, including one in my community--along with another, smaller used bookstore, and of course our beloved Joseph Beth Booksellers, which has a huge book section with community areas for author visits, including one with a fireplace, and a massive children's book and toy store. The Bronte cafe is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and is a popular place with really good food. With posters of famous bookstores on the walls. Right across the river from my neighborhood is the wonderful Blue Marble Bookstore, children-centric, with a fully realized Good Night Moon room come to life.
ReplyDeleteA couple years ago another independent store opened just a few miles from us, the Bookery, which is utterly charming, has a fantastic children's section with a tunnel entrance for the littles, and an energetic young couple that owns it and blasts new release info every Tuesday on social media.
So, authors, please let your publishers know about Cincinnati! We have a vibrant and enthusiastic community of readers here, and I'm always surprised when book tours don't include a stop in our beautiful city. You're missing out!
Loved Joseph Beth--and meeting you there, Karen!
DeleteA Goodnight Moon room?!?!
DeleteYes, and it's wonderful, painted all the same colors. It's just like you were in the book.
Deletehttps://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/arts/2021/03/18/goodnight-moon-room-comes-life-blue-marble-books-kentucky/4642248001/
That was our first meeting, Debs, right?
DeleteWhen we visit our daughter and her family in Lewes, Delaware, we always take the boys to Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach near the boardwalk. For a small store, it has a great representation of authors whom I adore, better than my town's B&N. The boys always get to choose a book or two when we go. Hank was supposed to do a presentation there last year but it was canceled. If any of my favorite authors have a chance to go there, I will try hard to be there, too.
ReplyDeleteTwo bookstores that I would love to visit – Brome Lake Books in Knowlton Quebec, home of all things Louise Penny – They seem like such a lovely place.
ReplyDeleteThen Vicki Delaney’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium – this place just seems so welcoming, has food next door, and of course a cat.
Brome Lakes Bookstore is excellent. They have moved and expanded since I was there for a Louis Penny book launch.
DeleteMargo I love it when mystery books are set in a bookstore. Valerie Burns' Samatha Washington series takes place in her bookstore and it is a charming series.
DeleteGibson’s Bookstore in Concord NH is thriving! The Books A Million in town is closing. Gibson’s had no -contact “delivery “ during covid and mail order so I didn’t have to resort to Amazon for my book fix. They have author talks weekly. Hank has come up more than once. Love this store and their staff.
ReplyDeleteOur population is 120,000 and our largest employer is Mayo Clinic and the second largest is the school district. (We won’t talk about the demise of IBM.) So I would think we would have a population of readers who would support bookstores. We have a nice Barnes and Noble at the mall ( we used to have a downtown store too), a Christian bookstore at one of the churches, Friends of the Library used bookstore, Paperback Palace used paperbacks, and a couple of other small bookstores with very limited stock and weird hours owned by the same person. Wm Kent Krueger actually had a signing at one of them in a tour of MN Indies, which I took 2 friends to. None of us had ever heard of the store or knew its location prior to that and I only knew about the signing from the author’s newsletter. I’d say there were about 20 people in attendance. We have a nice large public library. I wish they would do more with author visits there, reaching beyond the locals.
ReplyDeleteI'd think you'd have a very strong audience for a bookstore(and libraries too)
DeleteBern has about 125,000 people, so the same size as Brenda's city (see above), and we have a lovely children's bookstore, a store near the university specializing in books in Latin-based languages (as opposed to German), two very small but attractive stores within a few blocks of each other near the cathedral, and two large, elegant stores in the middle of downtown owned by a bookseller based in Zürich with fifty-five branches around Switzerland. I may even be missing one or two other small, specialized stores in Bern. I think books must be selling in shops despite Amazon Germany, France, and Italy (there isn't any Amazon Switzerland--not yet, anyway.)
ReplyDeleteThat's a remarkable concentration of booksellers, Kim. Lucky you!
DeleteAs Rhys mentioned, we have Copperfields here in northern SF Bay Area. There is also a B&N in my town and two used bookstores in my town too and all seem to be doing well. I use Amazon for Kindle and to find publication dates.
ReplyDeleteI've signed at Copperfields there. Lovely store.
DeleteHALLIE: Great topic since I love bookstores. I noticed that bookstores continued to thrive despite the pandemic and still are here. We STILL have the pandemic, though some people seem to think it is over - there are no lockdowns at this time.
ReplyDeleteOnline mail orders made it possible for me to order books from local independent bookstores. And I borrow books through Libby from the libraries.
As far as I know, ALL of the bookstores are still here. I love Book Passage, though it is quite a distance from me, especially with the bridge traffic.
Diana
If any place has the stuff to support bookstores, it's were you are, Diana...
DeleteThere’s a Barnes & Noble at the mall here in my town. When I first moved here, there were two or three other bookstores at the mall. The two independent bookstores that I’m most familiar with are just far enough away that it’s inconvenient to get to them.
ReplyDeleteI usually use Barnes and Noble for print books. They will order something for me if they don’t have it in stock. The last time I ordered through them, they had trouble finding it, and ended up ordering it through Amazon! I could have done that myself, but wanted to get it locally.
DebRo
We have a B&N in town. It’s not the best B&N, doesn’t have a Starbucks or cafe inside and is smaller than most of them, but it’s there. However I’m very excited because a new independent bookstore, Bookish, that is opening the beginning of April. I can’t wait!
ReplyDeleteYay, Bookish! Love the name.
DeleteWe are at "sold out" events like Hank's ONE WRONG WORD launch at The Unlikely Story Bookstore in Plainville, MA owned by author Jeff Kinney! He has a lovely cafe on the first floor near all of the books. The second floor is a huge auditorium with a beer and wine bar! His office is on the third floor which is used for overflow events such as the one that we attended for The Fonz - Henry Winkler. Jeff is also planning to build a restaurant across the street! Check out his website to see his extensive calendar of events beyond author nights!
ReplyDeleteJeff Kinney's bookstore is amazing. Great staff! In addition to an amazing space for book events (the front row isn't chairs - it's a long cushy leather couch)
DeleteI would like to give a shout out to my local independents: Atticus and Grey Matter (New Haven) and R. J. Julia (Madison). In New Haven we also have the used book emporium, Book Trader, and there are several other good used bookstores within driving distance, even though the revered Whitlock's Book Barn has closed.
ReplyDeleteA great place for readers!
DeleteNothing really in my town. I'd love a good mystery bookstore in the LA area again. We used to have several within an hour of me, and I went to signings at many of them, but they all closed long before Covid, and I miss them. I found so many authors I read for years at the store, especially if they did signings there.
ReplyDeleteI loved the LA bookstores. It used to be such a treat to come to LA on book tour. Alas, publishers are not keen on sending authors on tour these days, either.
DeleteVirtually all of the LA bookstsores I've spoke at have closed or are closing.
DeleteVroman's in Pasadena is wonderful, great signings and ideal for Christmas shopping. Now that the owner is retiring let's hope a new owner will keep it going
DeleteHow I envy those of you with independent bookstores in your locale. For years, we had a Books-a-Million here in Owensboro. I took the kids there a lot, especially Kevin. We went to the Harry Potter midnight day-of-publishing parties and even got our name in the paper from one attendance. But, it's been gone for some years now. There is Barnes & Noble in Evansville, about 40 minutes away, which I take my granddaughter to as a treat every so often and let her go wild picking out books. It's kind of our thing, and as she's a teenager now, fifteen this summer, I love still having something she love to do together.
ReplyDeleteOh dear... because bookstores you want nearby like a good pizza place.
DeleteJust have to shout out for my "local" (only a few hundred miles) indie, Murder by the Book in Houston. Such a great store!
ReplyDeleteSecond that!
DeleteAllow me to raise the flag for Bogan Books in Fort Kent, Maine. America's First Mile, you know - sorry Key West! They are a great bookstore with a fabulous selection and they'll order you anything. Shout out to Heidi if you get up that way. She's the owner and a hoot.
ReplyDeleteSigh, there are none near this small otherwise delightful Arkansas town.
ReplyDeleteThere are no bookstores anywhere near me. There used to be a small one downtown here with a very limited selection ( we learned quickly that not only did he never have books we were looking for, he hadn’t even heard of them). I alternate between Amazon and B&N for purchases.
ReplyDeleteWhat we do have is an amazing library for such a small town and luckily my sister is the assistant librarian. If I want to try out a new author she finds me the book. Most of the libraries in Georgia belong to the Pines system and they can get a book from anywhere in the system very quickly. They definitely fall under the “community center “ umbrella too and they just got a bookmobile!
There are also loads of Little Free Libraries here. I don’t need to borrow from them but my family has supplied a few of them.
Here in Portland, we have Powell’s, whose main store sprawls over an entire block. Annie Bloom’s offers an excellent selection and both of them hold a variety of book and author events. We used to have a good mystery store, Murder by the Book, but it shut down quite a few years ago. There are a number of others that I don’t have occasion to frequent.
ReplyDeleteWe have a wonderful Indy, Bookstore in Lawrence, Kansas, the Raven. The owner has been very instrumental and fighting Amazon and also has built a loyal following through Internet orders.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at the wonderful Lark and Owl bookstore near Austin, Texas, the seller saw my address and asked me if I knew about the Raven bookstore. It led to a wonderful conversation.
The Raven hosts author events, often with the library and some other venues in Lawrence (a not so subtle hint). Rhys came to lawrence a few years ago and I have been a fan ever since.
And we are about an hour from Rainy Day Books in the Kansas City area.
Heather Soper
A few great bookstores are gone sadly here in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, but we still have Half Price Books stores, which recently unionized here (!) and also a few great independents still around including Louise Erdrich's Birch Bark Books (it's in her book, The Sentence), a great mystery store that sells all of your books, Once Upon A Crime, and The Red Balloon for children.
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