The Bookshop Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Alibi Bookshop in Downtown Vallejo, California, is a general interest and proudly independent bookstore. After spending nearly twenty years in the publishing industry, Karen Finlay, and her husband Jon Burchard, bought the store from Shannon Hartlep and reopened it under the new name of Alibi Bookshop. The store sells both new and used books and an assortment of fun gifts. Alibi B...

Send us Fan Mail On February 12 of this year, I read an article by Jonathan Franklin, a digital reporter on the News desk at National Public Radio here in the United States. The article, titled: Artwork from the Black Lives Matter memorial has a new home: the Library of Congress, lit a fire in me, and I immediately contacted Stephanie Stillo, Curator, Rare Book and Special Collections Division at...

Send us Fan Mail Today I'm exploring a bookshop of a different kind, set within a National Historic Landmark and specializing in books on architecture and landscape.  The Gamble House is an iconic American Craftsman home in Pasadena, California, designed by Greene and Greene's architectural firm.  Heather J. Marquez is the Director of Retail Operations at The Gamble House Conservancy. Th...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Mary Hill-Wagner is the author of Girlz ‘N the Hood: A Memoir of Mama in South Central Los Angeles , which was released by the Pact Press in September 2021. She grew up in South Central Los Angeles, near Manchester & Broadway for the most part. Although most of her teenage years were spent in Compton. She was valedictorian of Compton High School in 1982.   Dr. Hill-Wagner...

Send us Fan Mail If you have children to buy books for, this is the episode for you!   Flashlight Books is an independent bookstore located in Walnut Creek, California. Owners Shoshana Smith, Marian Adducci, and Gigi Reinheimer are dedicated to promoting a sustained love of reading in children and see the bookstore as a community-focused space that celebrates curiosity, passion, and learning. Shos...

Send us Fan Mail Christopher Finan is NCAC’s executive director. He previously served as president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFE), the bookseller’s voice in the fight against censorship. He has been an advocate for free expression since 1982. Prior to joining ABFE, he was executive director of Media Coalition, a trade association that defends the First Amendment...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I chat with Arsen Kashkashian, head buyer and general manager at the Boulder Book Store in Boulder, Colorado. I asked him about the plethora of local authors, such as Jon Krakauer and Stephen Graham Jones, hiking, books in translation, and Allen Ginsberg’s time in the Boulder community. Arsen received the 2006 Gordon Saull Award for outstanding bookseller from the...

Send us Fan Mail Ruthie Marlenée is a Mexican-American novelist, screenwriter, and poet born and raised in Orange County, California. She earned a Writers’ Certificate in Fiction from UCLA and is the author of Isabela’s Island , Curse of the Ninth , nominated for a James Kirkwood Literary Prize and Agave Blues from which an excerpt A Good Tabernero Listens is nominated for the Pushcart Prize .  Ru...

Send us Fan Mail Fiona Dutrayn is the owner of Damn fine Bookstore in Lyon, France. The bookshop offers an international selection of books in English, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, along with a cafe. You can find the bookshop online at damnfinebookstore.com.    Damn Fine Bookstore A Stopover In Lyon: The Adventures Of The Three Storks , Alexandra Horvath & Stephane Perraud   Plain...

Send us Fan Mail After reading James Nestor's book, Breath, I had plenty of questions. James and I chat about his approach to research and writing, what it's like to swim with sperm whales, breathing through your nose, and his upcoming breath retreat in Costa Rica. James Nestor is an author and journalist who has written for Scientific American, Outside, The New York Times, and more. His...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is about children's books, from picture books to YA readers. We've got you covered! In October of 2016, Melissa Music & Stephanie Cannon created The Story Shop, an independent children's bookstore, in Monroe, Georgia. The Story Shop is a place where reading, imagination, and celebration are experienced and appreciated daily.  The Story Shop is co-ma...

Send us Fan Mail Books and TV series have kept me sane during the past few years. Two series that pop into mind are The Durrells in Corfu and, more recently, Around the World in 80 Days . As the credits rolled by, I smiled when I saw Steve Barron's name pop up as episode director multiple times.  My mind drifted back to the 80s when I’d been lucky enough to work on a few music videos Steve di...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wanted to know what makes a first edition book valuable, apart from the obvious?! Let me introduce you to Harvey and Louis Jason, the father and son team behind Mystery Pier Books. Turn through an unexpected entryway on the famed Sunset Strip, proceed down a few stone steps, then just a bit further through a slim, magical passage tight out of old Europe, and be met w...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm chatting with author and short story writer Nadia L. King about her decision to open up about her past, her love of indie bookshops, and her interesting path from a finished manuscript to a publishing deal. Nadia L King is an Australian author of Indian and Irish descent. She is a children’s author and award-winning short story writer who believes passion...

Send us Fan Mail Today I'm chatting with sister and brother, Hannah Harlow and Sam Pfeifle, co-owners of The Book Shop of Beverly Farms about how publishers can better support indie bookshop owners, writing, the perils of driving in Massachusetts, and of course, books! The Book Shop of Beverly Farms Small Things Like These , Claire Keegan   What Strange Paradise , Omar El Akkad   Powder Days...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I chat with Jeff Hoffman about his new book Other People’s Children , adoption, and writing.  Jeff Hoffman attended Bradley University and then earned an MFA in fiction from Columbia College Chicago. His writing has appeared in Barely South Review , The Sun , Harpur Palate , The Roanoke Review , Booth , and Lunch Ticket . Hoffman is the winner of the Madison Re...

Send us Fan Mail Today I'm chatting with picture book author and owner of The Flying Pig Bookstore, Elizabeth Bluemle, about writing and the magic of solo writing retreats, the diversity database she has developed, and of course, BOOKS! The Flying Pig Bookstore    Elizabeth Bluemle, books   Brown Girl Dreaming , Jacqueline Woodson Their eyes Were Watching God: A Novel , Zora Neale Hurston   O...

Send us Fan Mail Sheila Darcey is the author of Sketch by Sketch: The Creative Path to Emotional Healing and Transformation During a difficult time in her life, Sheila found that the act of sketching and freestyle drawing―of giving a physical form to her thoughts, emotions, and ideas―was an impactful way to process what she was feeling. One simple sketch became a daily practice and developed into...

Send us Fan Mail Dear Listeners, You are getting a twofer this week—an indie bookshop co-owner and an author— Emma Straub. Emma is the New York Times -bestselling author of four novels— All Adults Here , The Vacationers , Modern Lovers , Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures —and the short story collection Other People We Married . Her books have been published in more than 20 languages, and All Ad...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the first special monthly edition of The Bookshop Podcast! In these editions, I chat with specialists at the Library of Congress, Stephanie Stillo, Curator, Rare Book and Special Collections Division,  and Emily Moore, the Librarian-in-Residence in the Rare Books and Special Collections Division. We discuss  exhibits, what’s going on behind the scenes, From the Vaults!...

Send us Fan Mail Mitchell Kaplan opened the first Books & Books bookshop in 1982 in Coral Gables, Florida. Since then, Books & Books has grown to seven bookshops, two of which include restaurants. Mitchell served as president of the American Booksellers Association and received the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation. As co-founder of the Miami Book Fair in 1985, Mitchell ha...

Send us Fan Mail Karen Hayes, together with novelist Ann Patchett, co-owns Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee. Karen found her way to the owner’s desk after a career that included 12 years at Ingram Content Group, the nation’s largest book distributor, plus 18 years as a traveling sales rep for Random House.  During her time at Random House, she came to love and respect the vibrant community...

Send us Fan Mail Hi, and welcome to episode #104 with Gin Stephens! Gin Stephens , the New York Times bestselling author of Fast. Feast. Repeat. and Delay, Don't Deny, has been living the intermittent fasting (IF) lifestyle since 2014. Since then, she's lost over eighty pounds and launched her IF website, four online support groups, four self-published books, and two top-ranked podcasts—...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I chat with Liza Gozashti, co-owner and manager of Brookline Booksmith, a family-owned and locally run independent bookshop in New England.   Since opening in 1961, they have played a vital role in shaping the world of independent bookselling and nurturing connection with their community’s curious minds through books and social discourse.  Their mission is to foste...

Send us Fan Mail Sarah High is a former bookseller and manager at Book Culture in NYC, an intern at Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull Press, before becoming Senior Partnerships Manager at Bookshop.org. Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores, and was founded by Andy Hunter, CEO at Bookshop.org. The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Yout...