Happy Independent Bookstore Day!

Did you know it’s Independent Bookstore Day? Did you visit your local indie bookstore?

Indie bookstores are to readers what local yarn shops, or LYS, are to knitters (and crocheters and other fiber artists). Sure, the big box stores have yarn and everthing else you need, but they’re not where you go to get the good yarn. They’re not where you go for help with your project or suggestions or community. Those you find at your LYS.

Similarly, Amazon’s algorithms can make suggestions based on other books I’ve read, but it can’t know what books I might hate and why. It can’t help me if I want to try something new. It can’t geek out with me over how amazing a book is. If I want those things (and I always want those things), I go to an indie bookstore.

There are a lot of things I despise about Amazon, and how they treat authors is a big one. I haven’t bought a book from them in years. And the most recent book I bought (a pre-order of my friend’s magical cozy mystery!) was actually cheaper on Bookshop, which gives me the convenience of online shopping while also supporting local stores.

My indie bookstore is an hour away (today, I chose not to drive to Bangor for the sixth time this week) and the logistics can be a lot, but I wanted to at least take a minute to shout about the magic of local stores on this Independent Bookstore Day.

**Note: I’m now a Bookshop.org affiliate! So this post does contain an affiliate link, which means I get a few cents if you purchase the book through that link. I’m slowly building a list of the books I love. If you’d like to take a look at that list, you can find it here.**