Located in Brookings, South Dakota, The Nook is our January 2026 Literary Road Trip indie bookstore partner. From the moment you step inside, The Nook feels like more than a bookstore—it’s a warm, welcoming space designed for readers to linger, connect, and feel at home. Owner Laci Thompson opened The Nook in February 2023 with a vision of creating a community hub where stories and people come together. At the end of 2024, the store was forced to temporarily close due to dam

There’s no better way to start a new year than with a good book and a little sense of adventure—and our January box delivered both. This month, we packed our bags (and boxes!) and headed to the 40th state in the Union: South Dakota. South Dakota is full of fascinating surprises. It’s where Sue, the most complete T-Rex fossil ever discovered, was found. It’s home to the wonderfully quirky Corn Palace, and it played a role in innovations like the Cyclotron particle accelerator

Our December state has the only state flag that’s double-sided. Fun fact number two: 99% of the hazelnuts grown in the United States come from this state. Authors Beverly Cleary and Raymond Carver were born here. It’s home to the deepest lake in the country, and—perhaps most importantly—tater tots were invented here. You’ll also find the world’s largest independent bookstore within its borders. For December, we’re exploring “The Beaver State” — Oregon! Our December book pick

My plan was for the November box to be mailed at the end of October, perhaps the first day or two of November at the latest. I like the Literary road trip boxes to arrive to subscribers within the first week of the month. Of course, sometimes things do not go according to plan. I had a delay major delay with the books at the publishers and I could not mail the boxes until November 8th. Thank you to everyone for your patience. Luckily (knock-on-wood) delays don't happen very o

When I worked as a bookseller at Tattered Cover one of my favorite parts of my job was helping customers select books for gift. I enjoyed learning about the recipient and helping them find the perfect book for their loved ones. One step more, I loved wrapping the books in our beautiful store wrapping paper, completing the purchase with the confidence that they not only had a thoughtful present, but one that was wrapped and ready to give. When thinking about ideas for this upc