Bookstore Explorer

This week, we visit with Jessie Canute, owner of Canute Books in Portland, Tennessee, and her daughter, Sessily. Their brand-new shop is located inside of Bloomin’ Deals, a 4,000 square foot thrift boutique home to more than 40 vendors. They tell us how they want from being "book dragons" to bookshop owners!

This week, we're joined by author Jonathan Corcoran to discuss his new memoir, No Son of Mine, and his lifelong love of bookstores! In addition to No Son of Mine, Corcoran is the author of the short story collecction The Rope Swing, which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards and long-listed for The Story Prize. His essays and stories have been published and anthologized widely, including in Salvation South, Still: The Journal, Best Gay Stories, and the Oxford University Press textbook, How Writing Works. Books We Talk About: Sugar Run by Mesha Maren, The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels, Black Tickets by Jayne Anne Phillips, and Fierce Attachments by Vivan Gornick

This week, we're in Huntington, WV, to visit Cicada Books & Coffee. This family-owned spot was opened in 2018 by mother-daughter duo Dawn Hylbert and Katie Norman, who join me to discuss the store’s history, its place in community, and its unique blend of books, coffee, and art. Books We Talk About: Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin, Devil House by John Darnielle, Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias, and Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson

This week, we're in Mount Airy, NC, known as "the real Mayberry!" The original home of Andy Griffith is now home to Pages Books & Coffee, and owner Cynthia Taylor joins us to discuss the shop. We're also joined by Barb Collins, organizer and promoter of the Writers Roadshow Tour, a new series of events that's bringing authors to rural North Carolina through a partnership between the Northwest Regional Library System and Pages.

This week, we head to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visit a store that’s been serving its community for 40 years. Co-owner Shannon Guinn-Collins and Store Manager Robert Flippo take us behind the shelves of Bookworks. We discuss the store’s long history, the amazing authors who have passed through its doors, and a recent change to an LLC structure for ownership. Books We Talk About: Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, We Don't Eat our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins, Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

This week, we visit Skylark Bookshop in Columbia, MO, named one of 150 bookstores you need to visit before you die. Owner and novelist Alex George discusses the inspiration and mission of Skylark, as well as the city's prominent Unbound Book Festival, which he founded, happening this spring. Books We Talk About: Splinters by Leslie Jamison, Still Life by Sarah Winman, Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson, and The Book of Delights by Ross Gay.

This week, we visit Hearthside Books & Toys in Juneau, Alaska. Owner Olga Lijó Seráns has owned Hearthside since 2022, but the store has been serving the people of Juneau for nearly 50 years. She takes us through its rich history and how things have been going since she took over. Books We Talk About: If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende, 90 Short Walks Around Juneau by Mary Lou King, Homestead by Melinda Moustakis, and Jimmy Bluefeather by Kim Heacox

This week, Stan Zimmerman joins the show to discuss his new book, The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore, all about his career writing for such shows as The Golden Girls, Gilmore Girls, Roseanne, and many more. We chat about those and other projects, plus some of his favorite books and bookshops. The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore is available now!

This week, we head to Biddeford, Maine, where owner Michael Macomber shares the story behind Elements: Books | Coffee | Beer. The combination bookshop, bar and cafe has been serving the people of Biddeford for more than a decade and helped usher in a new wave of downtown revitalization. Books We Talk About: Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

Beth Merrick of Sunshine Book Co. in Clermont, Florida, discusses her journey from Disney employee to bookshop owner, and offers up some excellent ideas for bookshop events that drive customers into the shop. Books We Talk About: A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith

First opened in 1972 by Willard Williams and family, The Toadstool Bookshop - currently with locations in Peterborough and Keene - has been serving the people of New Hampshire for decades. One of its longtime customers was Emerson Sistare, who began visiting The Toadstool at age 7. Today, he owns it. Emerson discusses the history of The Toadstool and what it has been like taking over the reigns of a beloved community institution. Books We Talk About: North Woods by Daniel Mason and The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut.

My guest this week is Stacy Hardin of the Peoria Book Rack in Peoria, Illinois. Stacy tells us how she went from drawing her dream bookshop layouts in a childhood journal to now owning a decades-old shop that she has visited since she was 12 years old. Books We Talk About: The works of Stephen King, John Saul, Rebecca Yarros, and Sarah J. Maas.

The Bookhouse Hotel is a 4-room boutique hotel nestled in the heart of downtown Kennett Square, PA. Housing over 5,000 books, it is a haven for bookworms or anyone else looking for a uniquely cozy place to relax and unwind. Co-owner Stephanie Olenik joins the podcast to tell us how this historic building, which had most recently been a bookstore, is keeping the book magic alive. Learn more and book your stay at https://thebookhousehotel.com. Books We Talk About: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Potter’s House is a nonprofit café, bookstore, and event space in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Since opening in 1960, it has been a key place for deeper conversation, creative expression, and community transformation. Joining me to share the shop's story are Executive Director Andrea Lewis and bookseller Eliza Cohen. Just a heads up: We did have some audio and connectivity issues here and there that I've done my best to minimize. Books We Talk About: Kindred by Octavia Butler, Pleasure Activism by Adrian Marie Brown, The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, and the works of Jesmyn Ward, James McBride, and K. O'Neill.

This week, we head back to Michigan once more to chat with Joanna Brookshire, owner of Brooks Books in Wyandotte. Books We Talk About: The works of Johnathan Rands, Ronald Malfi and Kate Morton.

This week, we're in Mentone, Indiana, to visit with Maddie Anweiler, the "Pete" in Pete & Freddy's Pages Aplenty. In this open and candid conversation, we discuss Maddie's shift from a partnership to a one-person shop, the importance of bookstores to small towns, and of course who the heck are Pete and Freddy! Books We Talk About: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Annie Barrows, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, the Saga series by Brian K. Vaughan, and the works of Eva Ibbotson and TJ Klune.

This week, we welcome Shane Gottwals, owner of Gottwals Books, a shop that began as a used and new bookstore in 2007 and has developed into a chain of stores carrying a wide range of genres for all age groups and interests. Go deeper into the story of Gottwals Books with Chapter By Chapter: The Gottwals Books Story, available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znsfw_2G_Fk. Books We Talk About: The works of C.S. Lewis, Wendell Berry, Andrew Peterson, Rick Bragg, Rabbit Room Press and Wolfbane Books.

This week, we visit with Nannette Crane-Post, owner of Black Ribbon Books in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This unique bookshop is located inside the historic Arlington Hotel. Nannette shares the town's and the hotel's rich history and discusses the balancing act of running a bookshop while juggling another full-time job. Books We Talk About: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Upstream by Mary Oliver, The Vapors by David Hill, and the books of Marilynne Robinson, Katherine May and T.C. Boyle.

It's a Very Special Bookstore Explorer as we welcome essayist, radio personality and podcaster Julia Pistell to go bookstore exploring. Julia is cohost of Literary Disco, alongside actor and filmmaker Rider Strong and novelist and critic Tod Golderg. We discuss that show, her other impressive literary credentials, and her favorite bookstore explorations. Listen to Literary Disco wherever you get podcasts! Books We Talk About: Circe by Madeline Miller, Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang, American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee, and the books of Anthony Horowitz. (And, okay, several others!)

Happy Halloween! Books Around the Corner is the perfect business to spotlight this time of year. It's an online store specializing in spooky reads. Guest Stephanie Rose discusses taking her woman- and disability-owned bookshop from a successful brick and mortar to a successful online store. Books We Talk About: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, Starter Villian by John Scalzi, Into the Mist by P.C. Cast, Holly by Stephen King, Blood Sugar by Sascha Rothchild, This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham, The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Pledge by Cale Dietrich, Nestlings by Nat Cassicy, Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie, Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah, and My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine.