Today and every day books--new releases, remainders, collectibles, rare finds,, used (pre-read?), sheet music, bookish merch, etc.--need readers to buy them from independent bookstores that keep them in stock and special ordered, just waiting to be discovered and claimed by curious humans of all ages, orientations, ethnicities, nationalities, abilities, shapes, sizes, heights, shades, genders, and personality types who are eager to explore the universes of adventure, entertainment, and information a stellar variety of authors and creatives contribute to the readersphere. Independent bookstores anchor their neighborhoods and serve their neighbors. They're sources of dynamic exchanges of investments in mutual benefits of enrichment—cultural, economic, emotional, and intellectual—engagement, connection, and joy. As a person who was born in Washington, D.C., raised mostly in Maryland, and attended college in Virginia, my regional bias leans toward the U.S. mid-Atlantic, and my list
A blerdy binge reader comes clean, and riffs about books and life.