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Not-so-hot take — there’s nothing better than a local bookstore. Browsing through the shelves, judging books by their covers and picking up a brand new volume (or five) to curl up with at home — it’s a Sunday well spent. Guaranteed. With a certain behemoth online retailer named after a rainforest dominating the book space, local bookstores definitely aren’t getting the foot traffic they used to.
We get it. The convenience of shopping for books online is hard to beat. Sometimes, you want that next volume of your can’t-put-it-down sci-fi series delivered right to yo. Now, you can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak, with Bookshop.org.
This new online book retailer is as easy to use as Amazon and supports local, independent bookstores with each purchase. The organization believes that bookstores are essential to a community’s healthy ecosystem, and we couldn’t agree more. With each purchase, you can select a specific bookstore on their platform that will receive 100% of the profits, or your order will contribute to an earnings pool that’s evenly distributed to indie bookstores, even those not on Bookshop.
It’s an incredible service-based model that donates 75% of its profits towards its mission and is worth trying if you have a few books on your list you’ve been meaning to purchase.
You can enter your favorite bookstore and search through their inventory or find an indie bookstore near you using the map on their website. It’s a great tools that helps anybody, anywhere track down a local bookstore worth supporting. They also have a super flushed out advocacy program where authors, websites, bookclubs and other book-adjacent organizations can sign up, start their own “shop” on the site with their recommendations and receive rewards for their advocacy of books.
If you want a little literary inspiration, I’ve included a few of my recent favorite reads below, or you can head to Bookshop and browse for your next read.
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The Immortalists
This volume follows the lives of four siblings, all of whom visited a psychic when they were young and were told the day they were going to die. It’s a dazzling, joyful, raw and deeply moving account of life, death, family and what it means to truly live in today’s world. 10/10 would recommend to anyone.
No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work
This is one of the best business books I’ve read in a while on a topic that’s very necessary to discuss in today’s work culture. Emotions in the workplace — two female authors tackle what this looks like and examine work’s role in our emotional lives from a variety of angles. It’ll help you reflect, improve, channel correctly and change your whole workplace experience for the better.
The Name of the Wind
This first volume in the Kingkiller Chronicles is a book revered by the likes of George R. R. Martin and Lin-Manuel Miranda for its harrowing story, epic fantasy and vivid world that will grab onto you, hold on, and lead you through a story you won’t want to end. It’s a fantasy novel at its best, and the best part is the story is not over. The third book of the series is rumored to be released this year or next.