Today is Indie Book Store Day. If you need an excuse to go book shopping, there it is.
You don’t by the way, ever need an excuse to buy books. If you happen to see this after Saturday, every day can be Indie Bookstore Day. There may be fewer goodies and giveaways and special events happening, but there are still books (and other cool stuff).
I adore independent bookstores. I love libraries, I do, and I use them a lot — but I also love owning books, and I buy them mostly from indie bookstores.
In 2020, when the library was closed, I ordered a lot of books. A lot. I ordered directly from favorite books stores for pick up or delivery. I ordered from Bookshop.org.
What I didn’t do was order from Amazon (okay, confession, I ordered two books that year from Amazon, one a Scrabble dictionary with a Scrabble game with a gift card, and a gift for my sister because I noticed a new book by an author we liked two days before my sister’s birthday. It was a crappy year, a gift delivered to her door on her birthday felt big.)
All the other books — boxes and bags and piles of them — were from indie stores. I have not untangled from Amazon, but I drew a line for books, because I want and need indie bookstores to make it.
How Do I Love Indie Bookstores …
I love indie bookstores because they each have their own quirks—a quote board with a discount if you guess the book or author, a bright orange chair to browse in, an iron spiral staircase, dogs or cats … or goats.
I love them because they each have their own character and focus. If I’m looking for a book in stock (I know anyone could order it for me), I know which of the local stores to call first.
I love the little cards on the shelves from patron readers and booksellers recommending books. I love the “If they like … give them …” suggestions and the themed displays.
I love my booksellers! Do you have a favorite bookseller? Is there someone who you can chat books (and writing and kids and the best pie around) with? Is there someone who will hand you the book you need to read when you walk in the door? Is there someone who says, “Oooh, I need to add this to my list,” when they see your special order? You should. It’s fabulous.
Barring that, I find booksellers (my librarian friends do this too) ask “What’s the last book you read and loved?” and follow up with “What did you love about it?” And then they start putting the right books in your hand. It’s kinda magic.
I love discovering books in books stores. I might go in looking for something specific, but it’s the book I didn’t know was out there that calls my name. You might find me in a bookstore muttering aloud: read it, loved it, oh that was good, I think I heard about this one, loved it … Sometimes books get a boost by being on a shelf with books I have loved, especially in tiny stores with small, but well curated collections.
I’ve created bookstore traditions (of course I have): taking myself out book shopping on my birthday, spending time really reading a few/several pages of each before deciding; and we get Christmas Eve books and chocolate. Bookstores often have chocolate. And stickers and cards and bookish socks. I highly recommend creating book traditions for yourself.
How I’m Celebrating Indie Bookstores Today Any Day
I’m honestly not sure I’ll make it to a bookstore today. It’s a sports heavy day in my family, but maybe … when I drop one kid off at soccer, during warm ups … I might be able to pop in to Odyssey Bookshop. Hmm …
But yesterday we stopped at High Five Books for two gift cards … even on that in and out, it was more than a transaction, because I know my booksellers and they know me.
I bought myself books at Book Moon Books last Saturday while killing time between drop off and pick up. I was at High Five Books a few weeks ago picking up my daughter’s book group book and also during vacation week when she wanted to use a gift card. It probably won’t be long before there’s another birthday or I find myself popping in just because I’m driving by.
When’s the last time you visited a bookstore?
How to Celebrate Indie Bookstores Every Day
Visit and buy something. Go to your favorite local store. Go to a local place you’ve never been in. Find some place new near where you live or travel here. If you can’t get to one, order from their website or from Bookshop.org — you can choose the bookstore you want to support. Commit to buying books from Indies throughout the year. Set a goal, give yourself a book budget for your favorite store. Treat yourself on your birthday.
Post something about your favorite bookstore. During the pandemic when I was ordering so many books, I posted about it, and a friend discovered a local bookstore she didn’t know about. Another friend visiting her kid in the area went to High Five, and when my family was in quarantine, one of my clients tracked down that bookstore I was always posting about and sent gift cards to my kids.
Ask for a recommendation. This works so much better for me than the online algorithm. Ask a bookseller. You can give them too! Tell the person looking at the book you loved how great it was.
Follow bookstores on social. You’ll learn about their special events — author visits, kid activities, writing contests, book groups. You’ll get book recommendations. And I have to say, having your feed filled up with bookstores is lovely. I follow favorite stores we’ve been to and places I’ve heard about but not yet visited. It entices me to make visiting new stores happen.
Seek out bookstores wherever you go. When I took my daughter to visit the King Arthur company store, we visited the Norwich Bookstore just down the road. We set a goal of visiting one new to us bookstore in every New England state last summer (sorry, Rhode Island, maybe this year). We found one in Vermont on the way to pick up my daughter from camp and popped over to Keene to pick up New Hampshire. That goal encouraged me to visit Book Moon Books, which is only 20 minutes away … and yet I had not been. Now I have — and I’ve been back!
I have dream of a giant road trip (or many shorter road trips) built around going to bookstores. Our New England summer of books was a precursor. I have a growing list of places people have suggested. I want to go visit friends and have them take me to their favorite store. Each is different and a delight.
What’s your favorite bookstore? What do you love about it? What’s one fun thing about it?
I’d love to add it to my list.