It is so sad when independent bookstores shutter.
A Great, Good Place For Books was in business for over two decades, but had to close its doors due to slow foot traffic since Covid-19 hit.
I feel like too many places are becoming book deserts. Anyone else feeling this way too?
So, we visited an independent used bookstore located in a strip mall near our hotel called, Las Vegas Books, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Las Vegas Books is a very cute bookstore with friendly staff members. They buy, sell, and trade books. It should be noted that they offer special book sales periodically, like selling a bag of books for five dollars. In fact, on both July 4th and August 1st, Las Vegas Books will be hosting one of their buy a bag of books for five dollars events. If you're visiting Las Vegas on one of these two dates, then pop by Las Vegas Books and report back on your sale purchases! It would be cool to learn which books one finds on sale. One can come away with a lot of books for five dollars.
Anyway, we enjoyed spending roughly 30 minutes of our time at Las Vegas Books on a Friday morning. I came away with a single, vintage, hardback novel published in 1942 titled, The Little Dog Barked by Anne Rowe. This novel is in great condition for its age and is also wrapped in a clear, mylar type of cover for protection. The Little Dog Barked by Anne Rowe is a mystery novel. I look forward to reading it.
I'm thrilled to learn that after 30 years in business, Planet Books in Signal Hill, California is still thriving after a major move to a new location.
Wigtown, Scotland has an annual ten day book festival. Wigtown also has approximately 14-17 bookstores and a population of 850 to 900 people. Wow, that's a lot of bookstores for a town with so few people!
Checkout the above video on YouTube about three sisters from Ohio who spend a week running The Open Book in Wigtown for a week and why they chose to do so.
Here's another indie bookstore, which sounds like a fabulous one!! Raven Used Books in Northampton, MA is a place I'd like to shop for books.
Check out the above video I found on YouTube about Raven Used Books in Northampton, MA.
Wow, Renaissance Books at the Milwaukee Airport sounds like a fabulous place to purchase books!! This is not your typical airport bookstore as 95% of the books are used.
I think I would love visiting this bookstore.
Click on the above link to visit the Big Chicken Barn website. Additionally, watch the above short video footage about the Big Chicken Barn.
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| Back wall of Railroad Book Depot Bookstore. |
We almost missed Railroad Book Depot... In fact, we did miss it the first go around because there was no signage above the storefront stating the name of the business! So, we drove right by it and had to circle around the block before eventually spotting it.
We arrived a little before 10am in the morning and entered Railroad Book Depot when they opened at 10am. It's a nice sized bookstore with a mixture of both new and used books. They also sell greeting cards and even costume jewelry. Plus, they have local author events.
We took a quick spin around Railroad Book Depot's storefront and were in and out in 15 minutes. I purchased one new paperback book during our visit titled, The Last Letter From Sicily by Lindsay Marie Morris. I learned from the Railroad Book Depot 's website that Lindsay Marie Morris will be at the Railroad Book Depot on Saturday, June 7, 2025 from 12pm - 1pm signing copies of her novel.
Unfortunately, I won't be around for this in person author event. However, The Last Letter From Sicily does sound like a good novel. It's inspired by true events.
It's also worth noting that teachers and library cardholders receive a 10% discount off of their purchases at Railroad Book Depot! That's kind of cool!
Railroad Book Depot is the first bookstore I've actually been inside of since the pandemic lockdowns in 2020!! Now that I think about it, I hadn't actually walked inside of a brick and mortar bookstore since 2019.
I've mainly purchased books online or exchanged books at Little Free Libraries since 2020. It was nice to visit a brick and mortar bookstore again.
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| What's in the bag? |
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| A historical fiction novel!! |
I love these types of news stories where
independent bookstores help promote reading in
all 50 states when it comes to marginalized communities!!
Banned books should not be happening here in the USA.
I lived in the San Diego, California area for roughly 14 years of my life. I attended junior high school, high school, and part of my college years there. In fact, my parents still live in North County in a small coastal town. So, San Diego, in general, has a soft spot in my heart.
So when I came across an article on San Diego Magazine's website titled, The Best Independent Local Bookstores in San Diego, I couldn't resist reading the article.
I was recently in the San Diego area visiting my parents for two weeks. We made a quick visit to La Jolla during my stay. Downtown La Jolla during the lunch hour on weekdays is hectic and parking can be difficult at times. We found a 15 minute parking spot and took it.
Needless to say, I never set foot inside this bookstore because the limited time we had for parking. I did have a brief look at the interior bookstore space through the open front door and the interior space looked amazing! I will have to come back to D. G. Wills Books for a longer visit in the future.
Briefly visiting D. G. Wills Books last month was the first time I've actually visited a bookstore in person since the pandemic began! I've essentially purchased all of my books online or exchanged books at Little Free Libraries since January 1, 2020 onward until visiting D. G. Wills Books. It's amazing that it has been so long since I visited a bookstore in person!
D. G. Wills Books also has a YouTube channel, which I will have to check out as well!
Bonnie Stuppin, one of the owners of Alexander Book Company, said the SoMa bookstore will likely shutter toward the end of April after 32 years of service. The reason, she says, is because downtown San Francisco offices aren’t nearly as packed as they used to be. “We’re not seeing enough customers to justify opening the doors and turning the lights and paying the staff to come down,” she told SFGATE.
“Our, I guess, customer base was really mostly the downtown office workers and they are gone,” she continued. Previously, SFGATE reported that there are about 150,000 fewer workers in the area, and vacant office space has hit a record high.Loyal customers who used to work nearby are now scattered all across the United States, Stuppin said, and though they place orders through Alexander’s online shop, it’s still not enough to keep the independent bookstore open.
If you love reading books from the romance genre, then visiting Meet Cute Romance Bookshop in San Diego, California may be the independent bookshop you need to visit next!!
Meet Cute Romance Bookshop looks awesome! They have author events and even a book podcast. Visit the Meet Cute Romance Bookshop website for more information regarding their book podcast, author events, store hours, and more.
