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.

The Book Mark

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).

Prince Books
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.

Porter Square Books

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.

Ninth Street Book Shop

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.

For more of this week's Saturday Snapshots, please visit Alyce with At Home With Books.

The move from Florida to Virginia Beach is done. I'm happy to be back in an area I love, but there is so much about Florida I'll miss, especially since this is where my husband and I got married. In North Florida, the Neptune and Atlantic Beaches areas are barely known about, even though it's just outside of Jacksonville. When tourists visit Florida, they never go North; it's South Beach in Miami, the Gulf Coast, or the Keys. North Florida's First Coast on the Eastern side consequently has some of the best, uncrowded beaches around. And sand so firm you can ride your bike on the shoreline!

Jacksonville also has significant film history since it was the original Hollywood. New York producers looked for a spot to have their winter headquarters and they settled on Jacksonville for its easy railway access and warmer weather. Then, someone realized California had better weather...

Quick Creative Facts about Jacksonville

• Jacksonville's 1st silent film studio was opened in 1908
• The first picture made in Technicolor and the first feature length color movie ever produced in the United States was filmed on location in Jacksonville in 1917, entitled The Gulf Between
• Jacksonville was a crucial part of African-American film history. Richard Norman produced films starring African-American actors showcasing positive images, versus the derogatory roles offered at the time and in contrast to the negative images The Birth of a Nation stereotyped.
• G.I. Jane, starring Demi Moore (all the training scenes especially), Basic, starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, and Forces of Nature, starring Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck were filmed in Jacksonville.
• Pete's Bar, established in 1933 in Neptune Beach (pictured below), was mentioned in John Grisham's book The Brethren.

So here's what I'll miss...

Neptune Beach

Neptune Beach

Pete's Bar, which was featured in a John Grisham novel

Indie bookstore, The BookMark

For more facts on Jacksonville, please click here.

To visit indie bookstore, The BookMark, please click here.

Me and Lisa Gardner

I am absolutely certain that this is the exact way to spend a Sunday.

The Book Mark, a locally owned and operated independent bookseller in Neptune Beach, Florida, always has incredible authors who stop by to discuss their newly released book, or just to visit with their fans. Lisa Gardner, author of twenty-six novels and known for her suspense/thriller D.D. Warren series was today's visitor, and I was thrilled to sit amongst Lisa's diehard fans to hear her stories of the Body Farm in Tennessee, Search and Rescue dogs, and all the other tidbits of developing her stories.

Here's one interesting tidbit that she shared when she visited the Body Farm: Did you know that Search and Rescue dogs actually get terribly sad when, although successful in finding a body, become very depressed that what they did find is no longer alive? Dogs are incredibly sensitive and intelligent animals, and they get burned out by their jobs and experiences. Many times, dogs need to end their day on a good note and their handlers will ask someone to hide for thirty minutes so that the dog can be rewarded for not just successfully locating the individual, but that this one is alive.

To put it bluntly, Lisa was wicked cool to listen to. Is it weird that I enjoy reading books and listening to authors talk about macabre details on murder and mayhem?

Steve Berry

And of course, it is always a treat that Steve Berry, author of the Cotton Malone series, introduced her! His new book, The Jefferson Key is coming out in May! (Note: I would have included the picture of me with Steve Berry, but suffice it to say, it was not a flattering picture of moi, so I had to leave it out. He will be back in May however, so I will be present for that and will have my husband there to take my picture this time).

Lisa's new book is Love You More, published by Bantam Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, and is in stores this month. A synopsis from her site:

Pushed to the brink by an abusive husband, state police trooper Tessa Leoni finally snapped and shot him in self-defense. But Tessa isn't talking - not about her dead husband, her battered face, or her missing six-year-old daughter. Now, Detective D.D. Warren will have to race against the clock to unearth family secrets, solve a murder, and save a child.

I'm already excited to read this one!

Happy Reading,

Coffee and a Book Chick