S07.12: Romance Novels About Bookstores and Booksellers
It's Thanksgiving week in the United States, which means capitalism! We're skipping (mainly) the talk of the midnight electronics runs, and heading straight to Small Business Saturday, when your local independent bookseller is doing their very best to put great books in your hands. Ever been in your local bookstore and thought -- I wish this place was the setting of a romance novel? We've got you, friends.
We talk about the magic of bookstores, about the importance of small businesses, about bookshops as sites for revolution, and about the appeal of running your own little shop around the corner. And we recommend a bunch of books that are...honestly? Charming AF.
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Our next read along is Judith Ivory's The Proposition, a terrific Pygmalion retelling and one of Sarah's favorites. Find it at your local independent bookseller, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or Amazon.
The Notes
A guide to upcoming shopping holidays, because America: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday.
Some more info about the best time to buy a TV. Returning a perfectly good item after you’ve used it for a holiday (do we call the Super Bowl a holiday? Probably, if Taylor Swift is in attendance.) is called “wardrobing.” Back in 2018, LL Bean changed their famous lifetime return policy.
I guess if you need some Chicago stuff, you should check out The Silver Room, and you can use Bookshop.Org to find a local indie bookstore to support.
It’s not called Library Thing (that’s an app to catalog your own library), what Jen was talking about is the Library Extension.
WTF, You’ve Got Mail, the 90s what an innocent time. You've Got Mail is a retelling of the 1940s Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullivan film The Shop Around the Corner which, incidentally, is a perfect movie for a lazy holiday weekend with several generations in attendance.
Books Mentioned This Episode
The Sponsors
Book of the Month, bringing the best new fiction to your door. Go to bookofthemonth.com to pick a book and join. For a limited time, you can get your first book for just $5 with code STUFFED before December 2nd, and TINSEL anytime in December! Remember to tell them Fated Mates sent you!
Sara Cate, author of Keep Me, available in print, ebook or audiobook from your local independent bookstore, Kobo, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble or Amazon.
Blue Box Press, publishers of Darynda Jones's Graveyard Dog, available in print, ebook, and audiobook from Amazon.
Melissa Dymond, author of Holiday Wedding, available in print or ebook from your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble or Amazon.
