In the Coffee and a Book Chick house, we prefer to participate in Small Business Saturday. The idea of competing with a gazillion other buyers at the larger franchise stores is just stressful. Instead, contributing to the growth in the economy by supporting locally-owned businesses is much more helpful, not to mention extremely fun! And as you can imagine, independent bookstores are a treat to shop at. To help you with your shopping efforts this season, I've compiled a snapshot of those I've been lucky enough to visit this year. Add your favorite independent bookstore in the comments to give them some word-of-mouth marketing! If you aren't familiar with one in your area, click the button on the sidebar to help navigate to one in your town.
Neptune Beach, Florida
For six years, I lived in the North Florida area by Neptune Beach, outside of Jacksonville and was so thankful that The Book Mark was located in such a cute part of town right by the beach. Swing by and support Rona's shop! She and her team are extremely helpful and they always have phenomenal authors stopping by. On a recent trip to Florida, I purchased The Malice of Fortune and Shantaram (which I'm currently reading and the only thing I can share is WOW! Shantaram is amazing).
Norfolk, Virginia
Moving bak to the Virginia Beach area, I head into Norfolk when I can and shop at Prince Books. It's also attached to a great cafe.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
On a recent trip to Boston and Maine, my husband and I swung by Porter Square Books. In the blogging world, you all may be familiar with this wonderful bookstore because The Boston Bibliophile is one of their booksellers. She was on an envy-inducing vacation to beautiful Italy at the time we stopped in, but we still happily browsed and purchased a couple books to support the store. I bought Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (it's autographed!) and I can't wait to dive in.
Wilmington, Delaware
This was a recent and fantastic find! When I was in Delaware recently for business, I had an opportunity to swing by the Ninth Street Book Shop in Wilmington on the way home to Virginia. Meeting the owner Gemma was a delight; a nicer and more helpful person you will not find, I assure you. If ever in the Wilmington area, do make certain you swing by her store and support Gemma and Jack's new location. I bought Tana French's The Likeness which I can't wait to get into, considering how much I enjoyed her debut In the Woods.
