Bookstore Explorer

On this episode, Matt is joined by Dr. Lady Vowell Smith, owner of Huntsville, Alabama's The Snail on the Wall – a bookstore without the store! Lady shares how she offers the personal service indies are known for with her online bookshop. Books We Talk About: The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novic, Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven by Nathanial Ian Miller, the books of Heather Webber, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, and Before and After by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate.

Teenager Calvin Crosby walked into The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1980 and found a safe space. Forty years later, he became its co-owner. On today's episode, he tells us how it happened.Books We Talk About:- Three Junes by Julia Glass- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne- Hester by Laurie Loco Albanese- Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah- Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine- Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty- Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr- The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

On today's show, we talk with Julie Buckles, owner of Honest Dog Books in Bayfield, Wisconsin, who tells us about buying a beloved bookshop on a whim! Books We Talk About:- Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube - Blair Braverman- Dogs on the Trail - Blair Braverman- Winterdance - Gary Paulsen- The Sentence - Louise Erdrich- Charlotte's Web - E.B. White- Blueberries for Sal - Robert McCloskey- Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery- Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

This week, our guest is Lynsey Pippen, owner of Little Bus Books in Lakeland, Florida, who tells us about turning a vintage 1953 Va-Ka-Shun-Ette trailer into a mobile bookstore.Books We Talk About:- 50 Hikes in Central Florida by Sandra Friend and John Keatley- Best State Ever by Dave Barry- Florida Day Trips by Theme by Mike Miller

On this episode, we're joined by Terri LeBlanc, co-owner and operations manager at Swamp Fox Bookstore in Marion, Iowa, a shop that's small on square footage but big on personality.Books We Talk About:- Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman- The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens- The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield - Middlemarch by George Eliot- Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark- The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo- A Taste of Blackberries by Doris Buchanan Smith- The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb- Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Have you ever wanted to spend the night in a bookstore? Linda Roller's Liberty Book Shop in Avis, Pennsylvania, is a bookshop Airbnb that provides guests 24-hour access to the store! Check out Linda's shop on Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20149706

On this episode, we visit with Patrick Kutcher, owner of Bagatelle Books, a fantastic used bookshop in Asheville, North Carolina.

On this episode, Matt talks with Hannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle – siblings, avid readers, and co-owners of the Book Shop of Beverly Farms – about taking over a well-established indie shop and hosting their own book podcast.