Bookstore Explorer

This week is the first of a new feature on the podcast: conversations with authors about what indie bookstores mean to them and their careers. I'm joined by Richard Mirabella, whose debut novel "Brother and Sister Enter the Forest" was released earlier this year to critical acclaim. His short stories have appeared in Story Magazine, American Short Fiction online, One Story, Split Lip Magazine, and elsewhere. Richard shares his favorite bookshops and the books he'd recommend to customers. Books We Talk About: The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marissa Crane, Endpapers by Jennifer Savron Kelly, Hawk Mountain by Conner Habib, Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash, and The Turner House by Angela Flournoy.

This week's guest is Andy Hunter, founder and CEO of Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with an explicit mission to help promote and financially support the brick-and-mortar independent bookselling community. It is a platform that provides independent bookstores with an easy way to promote their stock and book lovers an alternative to purchase the books they love online without driving sales to Amazon. Books We Talk About: The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut, and The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.

Welcome to season 2 of Bookstore Explorer! In this episode, Matt heads to New England to visit with Katya D'Angelo, owner of Bridgeside Books in Waterbury, Vermont. Books We Talk About: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay and The Treehouse on Dig River Road by Catherine Drake.

Samara Nicoll had wanted to own her own bookshop since her teens. After years of working in one, the dream became reality when she opened Notably – A Book Lover’s Emporium – in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, in 2021, featuring new books and stationary items. Books We Talk About: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, The Woefield Poultry Collective by Susan Juby and The Wild Heavens by Sarah Louise Butler

Ahu Terzi opened The Hound Books, named after her beagle mix pup, in Roscoe, New York, last fall. In this episode, she shares how she's managing to learn the ropes of the bookselling business while balancing the store with a full-time job and a commute from NYC. Books We Talk About: Upstream and Felicity by Mary Oliver, Hiking the Catskills by Randi Minetor and Stacey Freed, Upstate by Lisa Przystup, The Idiot and Either/Or by Elif Batuman, Nineteen Reservoirs by Lucy Sante, Body Work by Melissa Febos, Nights of Plague by Orhan Pamuk, Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, and Walking on the Ceiling by Aysegul Savas.

This week, we visit Hanapepe, Hawaii, to learn about Talk Story Bookstore, the western most bookstore in the United States. The doors opened in 2004, when owern Ed Justus was offered a month’s free rent to start a business. Books We Talk About: The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker, How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff, and The Automatic Millionnaire by David Bach.

Sarah Bagby spent years working at Watermark Books & Cafe in Wichita, Kansas, before taking over the reigns of ownership. She walks us through the store's rich history and shares some of the best-selling titles, including a few spring 2023 releases that she predicts will be hits. Books We Talk About: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, Inciting Joy by Ross Gay, Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion, Continental Drift by Russell Banks, Devotions by Mary Oliver, The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Stout, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Search by Michelle Huneven, Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson, I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai, Blaze Me a Sun by Christoffer Carlsson, Spare by Prince Harry.

This week, we're back in Texas to visit with Jane Estes, one of the founders of Lark & Owl Booksellers in Georgetown. It's a fun shop specializing in new books and community spirit. Jane discusses how they developed their unique name, their varied takes on the traditional book club, and why a bookshop is no place for haters. Books We Talk About: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman and other bestellers at the store!