Bookstore Explorer

This week, we head to Berkeley, California, to visit Book Society. Co-owner Laura Guzman discusses this fantastic bookstore and wine bar. Books We Talk About: We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, The League of Lady Poisoners by Lisa Perrin, Places We Swim California by Caroline Clements, My Friends by Fredrik Backman, and many others! Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real...

This week, I’m joined in person by Julie Schultz of This House of Books in Billings, Montana! Recoded live in the shop, Julie walks us through the history of this fantastic co-op-structured store, which is shared by approximately 700 owners. Books We Talk About: The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington, the Sean Stranahan mystery series by Keith McCafferty, and This House of Sky by Ivan Doig

This week on the pod, we head to Bloomington, Indiana, to hear the fascinating story of Morgenstern Books with co-owner Jenna Bowman and bookseller Grace Hamilton. Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

It's a very special episode of Bookstore Explorer as Matt welcomes some old friends to the show! This week, we visit with Stephen and Nicki Bentley Colthart, owners of Volume Bookshop & Studio in Buckhannon, West Virginia. Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

This week, we’re heading to Kilmarnock, Virginia, to talk with Lisa McLaughlin, the owner of The Bookshelf on Church. Books We Talk About: Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian Weiss, The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram, Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano, Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... List...

On this episode, Matt is joined by Aimee Chipman of Bluestocking Bookshop in Holland, Michigan. Books We Talk About: The works of Jacqueline Carey, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, and The World Gives Way by Marissa Levien Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

In this episode, Sisters Sarah Krammen and Rachel Rattenborg take us on a tour of their family-owned bookshop, Dragonfly Books in Decorah, Iowa. Books We Talk About: Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle, Bog Queen by Anna North, Hound Triptych by Dani Janae, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, and the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Patrick Rothfuss Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A p...

Today we head to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, to talk with Margaret Magle, owner of OtherWords Books & More. Books We Talk About: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, Amish Vampires in Space by Kerry Nietz, and 1984 by George Orwell Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Today I'm joined by Rae Gosling, owner of Hidden Nook Booksellers in Grayling, Michigan. Books We Talk About: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, Redwall by Brian Jacques, Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Andy Corren, Dirtbag Queen by Andy Corren, and Zeal by Morgan Jerkins Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, la...

Today I'm joined by Jesi Crawford, owner of the new shop Indie Darling Bookstore in Lander, Wyoming. Books We Talk About: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir and Martyr by Kaveh Akbar. Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

This week I'm joined by Kathleen Madden of Sassafras on Sutton in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Books We Talk About: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan, and Man's Search for Meaning by Vicktor Fankl Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

On this episode, I'm joined by Kevin Coolidge, owner of From My Shelf Books & Gifts in Wellsboro, PA. With 20 years of experience in bookselling, Kevin shares everything from the changes in genre popularity he's seen over the years to the close bonds we form with our customers. Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Ap...

I love a mobile bookshop, and today I’m joined by Melanie LaBorwit, owner of Burque Books & Art in Alburquerque, NM! Books We Talk About: Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafrón, Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about li...

On this episode, we head to sunny California to learn about Ink Spell Books with owner Cindi Whittemore. Books We Talk About: The books of Shawn Harris, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, the works of Jane Austen, The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan Laugh Love Law Real c...

From shortbread to bookshop, owner Cori Theroux walks us through her journey of opening the Green Dragon Bookshop, as well as creating the Iowa Bookshop Tour. Books We Talk About: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis, The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Ap...

On this episode, I’m joined by Meg O’Brien, owner of Good & Golden Books in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Books We Talk About: Tomes & Tea Rebecca Thorne, Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

On this episode, I’m joined by Amy Ford and Lindsey Gartman, sisters who own Woven Words Bookshop, a book and craft shop in Akron, Ohio. Books We Talk About: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, Carrie Soto is Bac...

On this episode, I’m joined by Brittany Haynes, owner of Book Bar in Palmyra, Pennsylvania. Books We Talk About: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Remnants of a Scarlet Flame by Cindy L. Sell Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about life, law and... Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spot...

On this episode, we head to the Pacific Northwest to visit with Sascha and Gem Schaudies, owners of Bundok Books in Puyallup, Washington. Books We Talk About: Gender Swapped Fairy Tales by Karrie Fransman and Jonathan Plackett, Saints of Storm and Sorrow Gabriella Buba, Battle of the Butts Jocelyn Rish, The Last Gifts of the Universe by Riley August, The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, The Ha...

This week we visit with Linda Kass, novelist and owner of Gramercy Books in Bexley, Ohio. Located in suburban Columbus, Gramercy is known for its series of fantastic author events and much more.  Books We Talk About: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead,...

Last week, we welcomed to the pod Evan Friss, author of The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore. This week, we visit with his wife, Amanda Friss, owner of Parentheses Books in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Books We Talk About: The works of Kevin Brockmeier, West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman and Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact....

This week, we talk with Evan Friss, author of The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, out now from Penguin Random House. Starting with Benjamin Franklin and moving up to the present day, it is a love letter to bookstores that The New York Times calls "A spirited defense of this important, odd and odds-defying American retail category." Books We Talk About: The Death and Life o...

Today, we’re visiting Happy Magpie Book & Quill in Ogden, Utah. I’m joined by owner Patrick Ramsay, who operates the shop on a unique pay-what-you-want model. Books We Talk About: Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, Red Rising by Pierce Brown, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles, and Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan. Laug...

John Evans opened Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1975 and joins me to discuss his five decades in bookselling. Books We Talk About: From Moby Dick to Eudora Welty, we cover a lot in this one! Our theme music is Whiskey River II by Erin Eades. Check her out wherever you stream music or visit ErinEadesMusic.com. Laugh Love Law Real conversations. Real people. Real impact. A podcast about...

After 14 years, Dane Ferguson knows a thing or two about the bookselling business, and he walks me through the ups and downs of the trade as we visit Ferguson Books & More in West Fargo, ND. Books We Talk About: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon. Our theme music is Whiskey River II by Erin Eades. Check her out whereve...