The Bookshop Chronicles

Reading may be an isolated activity, but like so many of us, we long for friendships with people that share our love of books and stories. Where do we find them? Kim Tanner is a teacher, and a dedicated reader who was determined to establish her own reading community of Kindred Spirits through #bookstagram. Kim has been a member of our Petal Club community and established a strong connection to our readers. Her desire to read widely and have solid friendships is something she has in common with SO many of us - I hope you enjoy her story and feel inspired to reach out, be your authentic self and find your people.

Today's episode is brought to you by the 2022 DCBC Reading Challenge - get out of your reading funk and join us as we cross new categories off the list and discover new writers and titles. Email me at [email protected] to receive your free PDF and get reading!

Books Discussed:

Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt

The Guernsey and Literary Peel Pie Society by Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Anne of Green Gables  by L.M. Montgomery

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

Our bookstore offers audiobooks which you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

We have some of the best Readers ever in our little Daisy Chain Book Co. community. Beth Harding is one of them. Beth is a testament to perseverance, grit, and passion. She and I first met when she visited the booktruck at the beginning of my travels, and we hung out, chatting and exchanging stories of service and inspiration cementing us as Kindred Spirits. Beth works as a communication manager for a non-profit, is one of our Petal Club's original members, and she is dedicated to service in parenting, business, and she's one of the all-time best huggers. She reads historical fiction for fun and non-fiction books about awareness and leadership that are actionable. 

So, whether you want to discuss who would sit at your imaginary ideal dinner table, or you want to talk about pursuing passions, or you want to eavesdrop on two giggly middle-aged women fangirling for an hour... feast your ears, Friends. This is the episode for you.

Today's episode is brought to you by the 2022 DCBC Reading Challenge - get out of your reading funk and join us as we cross new categories off the list and discover new writers and titles. Email me at [email protected] to receive your free PDF and get reading!

Books Discussed:

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake

Kate Morton titles

Elizabeth Hay titles

Tennessee Williams titles

My Policeman by Bethany Roberts

Circe by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Our bookstore offers audiobooks which you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

Earlier this year, I introduced you to Melissa Ahmed. Your response to that conversation was outstanding. It was the most shared and downloaded episode of our podcast EVER, and I received the most DMs about it. Melissa's ability to say what's on her mind and on her heart in a bold, refreshing "I don't care" attitude is what we need. 

Once again, please listen to this episode and then SHARE IT. This conversation with Melissa Ahmed is too good not to share. She is an avid reader, a Muslim mother of 2 young girls, a Homeschooling teacher, and advocate for social justice, a feminist who seeks to intelligently raise the bar for women, and speaks boldly about what matters most. Melissa and I talk about the challenge to find a Bosom Friend when you are older, the reality of being understood and valued for what makes us different. She believes strongly, loves fiercely and fights daily. I am sure you will love her almost as much as I do. 

Today's episode is brought to you by the 2022 DCBC Reading Challenge - get out of your reading funk and join us as we cross new categories off the list and discover new writers and titles. Email me at [email protected] to receive your free PDF and get reading!

Books Discussed:

For the Love by Jen Hatmaker

Blubber by Judy Blume

That Was Then, This is Now  by S.E. Hinton

Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Bookshop of the Brokenhearted by Robert Hillman

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Will by Will Smith

Call of the Wild and Free by Ainsley Arment

Gwendy's Button Box by Richard Chizmar

The Twenty One Rules of Love by Matthew Dicks

Our bookstore offers audiobooks which you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

At Daisy Chain Book Co., we are led by creativity, passion and curiosity. That means finding new ways to serve our reading community as we tell our own story in the marketplace. For a firstborn like myself, that means doing what no one else is doing because copying others is just not how we roll. It is not boastful or cocky to recognize areas of achievement and pat yourself on the back. I can say these things confidently because I did not do any of it alone. I have the most incredible team and the dedicated support of our online community that has cheered for us every step of the way. Thank you so much!

So, here are some ways we have led the way:

1. 1st booktruck in the province

2. 1st bookstore in YEG to partner with Libro.fm for audiobooks

3. 1st bookshop podcast in YEG

4. 1st bookstore in YEG to reach 10k followers on Instagram

5. 1st bookstore in YEG to launch a monthly book subscription - The Petal Club

6. 1st bookstore in YEG to get on TikTok (for better or worse)

7. created the "Booktruck Quote of the Day" - which became "Bookshop Quote of the Day" for social media

AND NOW...

8. we are the 1st bookish community in YEG to launch our own book awards - The Daisy Chain Book Awards!! Stay tuned to our social media for updates and chances to VOTE!

9. In January 2022 we are launching the DCBC Reading Challenge - you can vote from anywhere in the world for 12 fun categories that we will announce on social media and our website. Join us and vote for the Winners! #DCBCReadingChallenge

The booktruck was on the road for 2 years and the bookstore has only been open for 1 year. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done! To read our Core Values, go HERE.

Our bookstore offers audiobooks that you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music was created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

I think I need to take a sec and brag a little on our incredible community at Daisy Chain Book Co. We are so fortunate to have gathered some of the most stimulating and diverse readers in the area. They encourage me to read outside my comfort zone, they remind me why it is so special to be a Reader, and they excite me with moments of togetherness that have been so vital during a time when the world has gotten more used to staying apart.

In the bookstore, we run Book Clubs that meet in person. The chance for humans to sit together and find commonalities while they discuss the complex story ideas in a fictional novel is a precious thing. One of the Readers who has become a valued member of our Book Club is Karen Irwin. Karen is a teacher who is fiercely dedicated to the literacy of students. She has also been a determined role model for reading to her kids, and her High School aged daughter is also a member of Book Cub on a different night! When Karen talks about books, I pay attention. I hope her suggestions of titles and passion for books inspire you.

Books Discussed:

The Weird Sisters

The Secret Garden

The Island of Sea Women

The Mountain Story

The Girls

This Little Light

The Spirits Up

The Space Between Us

The World That We Found

The Egypt Game

Black Dog, Dream Dog

Where the Red Fern Grows

Our bookstore offers audiobooks that you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music was created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

One of our mantras at Daisy Chain Book Co. is "Creating a Community of Readers". I am passionate about humans connecting over books, stories, and our diverse experience with both. In today's episode, I am pleased to share a special person in our DCBC community with you. Rachelle Lee is an Electrical Engineering student and a reader of all things Fantasy and Imagination. She reads broadly, she loves movies, and she truly appreciates a fun story in any format. We have loved having her be a part of our Book Club which she calls her "favorite day of the month", and she has recently joined The Petal Club, our monthly book subscription. Rachelle's feelings about the books she reads are so contagious, and I have written down new titles she speaks about every single month!

The "Murder Van" meme I mentioned can be found here.

This episode has been brought to you by Book Clubs. Wherever you are, find other people who want to discuss books and feed your bookish delights. Reading may be a solitary activity, but discussing them is not - find your bookish community!

Books Discussed:

Harry Potter Series

The House in the Cerulean Sea

The Passengers

The One

Library of the Unwritten

Sharp Objects

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

The Push

The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue

Percy Jackson series

The Extraordinaries

The School For Good & Evil Series

Wish You Were Here

Podcasts Discussed:

My Favorite Murder Podcast

Our bookstore offers audiobooks that you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music was created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

Books are great. Of course they are. But the business side of running a bookshop has been a wild ride, and like all businesses, we have been impacted by a pandemic in ways we couldn't have imagined.

In 2019 I was a Guest on a podcast called "Keeping Shop: A Brick and Mortar Podcast" hosted by Rachel Wentworth. We had such a fun conversation, and I decided it was time to rekindle this connection. During what Rachel calls "the before time", we talked about customer connections and serving your people well. Now that we are in a pandemic, our conversation is still about our customers, but also about how to adjust your business model to serve your people well when the world is wonkypants. Rachel and her business partner, Meredith, have adopted new ideas, re-prioritized and took some risks that are still centred on the same "why the heck not?" POV.

I hope this convo inspires you and encourages you to SUPPORT LOCAL because these small businesses are the core of a thriving community - support them to keep them.

Today's episode has been brought to you by FORTY WINKS. If you are in the Cambridge, Massachusetts area, shop for intimate wear at Forty Winks. "if you have boobs you want to put in something safe and cozy, visit Forty Winks!" (not endorsed by Forty Winks, just shared because I want to support them)

Books Discussed:

Disappearing Earth

Circe

Daisy Jones and the Six

Podcasts Discussed:

Retail For the Rest of Us

Being Boss

Here Lies Me

Our bookstore offers audiobooks which you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

Well, hello again! It's been a crazy month at the bookstore, but I am back again for another installment of "What Has Brandi Been Reading?". I read 11 books in October and I am here to break them all down for you, the hits and the misses. If you'd like to find my up-to-date reviews on the books as I go, please become a Friend on Goodreads!

Today's episode is brought to you by THE PETAL CLUB, a monthly book subscription through Daisy Chain Book Co. - a surprise book wrapped and delivered to you each month with a local small business bonus thrown in? Yes, please! Go to Daisy Chain Book Co. to sign up!

Books Discussed:

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Flower Crowns & Fearsome Things by Amanda Lovelace

When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

The Last Days of John Lennon by James Patterson

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Our bookstore offers audiobooks which you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

Here's what I want you to do. You trust me, right? I'm not going to ask to to dance in the street singing New Kids in The Block in your underwear, come on.

I want you to listen to this episode and then SHARE IT. This conversation with Melissa Ahmed is too good not to share. She is an avid reader, mother of 2 young girls, a Homeschooling teacher, and advocate for social justice, a feminist who seeks to intelligently raise the bar for women, and a Muslim. She was homeless for a period of time in her young life, and she has always turned to books as her safe place, her refuge and ally against a hard world. Melissa and I have become friends at the bookstore and I cannot imagine the space without her. She believes strongly, loves fiercely and fights daily. I am so grateful for you, Melissa. Thank you for sharing some of your story with me and for being my Friend. xo

Books Discussed:

Starlight Tour: The Last Lonely Night of Neil Stonechild   by Susanne Reber

That Was Then, This is Now   by S.E. Hinton

No Promises in the Wind  by Irene Hunt

Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls   by Jessica Diarmid

Five Little Indians  by Michelle Good

Our bookstore offers audiobooks which you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.

Daisy Chain Book Co. has had so many firsts.

Like looking back through our bookshop baby book in which we record milestones and firsts, here is one I am super proud of: in Edmonton, we were the first bookstore that partnered with Libro.fm as an audiobook provider for our Readers. From Day One I have been amazed at how this company supports independent bookstores and provides outstanding customer service, all the while making it possible for us to fit books into our very active lives.

Today it's my pleasure to share a conversation with Jenna Clark, a software developer with Libro.fm and avid audiobook listener. This was a fun convo, and if it doesn't make you want to sign up with Libro.fm and/or SWITCH from an ama*on's Audible subscription, then I don't know what will!

Books discussed:

The Final Girl Support Group

The Rural Diaries

Between Two Kingdoms

Finlay Donovan is Killing It

Fight Night 

Our bookstore offers audiobooks which you can listen to on your iPhone, Android device, or PC. These audiobooks are available through our partner, Libro.fm, and all sales support our store. Choose to support indie bookstores with your audiobooks - it MATTERS.

Let's get social - follow Daisy Chain Book Co. on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or email me at [email protected]

If you are in the Edmonton area, come and see our beautiful new store! For updates on all the bookish events at the bookstore, and an online database of our marvelous books visit Daisy Chain Book Co. 

Podcast theme music created and performed by the incredible Kerri Bridgen.