Our December Literary Road Trip Box takes us to Oregon, where we’ve partnered with Spoke & Word Books. Located in Milwaukie, just over six miles from Portland, Spoke & Word Books opened its brick-and-mortar location in 2023. Before settling into its current spot, the store began as a pop-up. The name "Spoke & Word" is a blend of two passions: store owner Cierra Cook’s love of books and their husband’s enthusiasm for mountain biking. Cierra’s husband owns a mountain bike rep

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

Our October 2025 box is themed to the state of Iowa and we collaborated with indie bookstore Beaverdale Books . Located in Des Moines, Beaverdale Books opened in 2006. Most indie bookstores proudly support local authors, but Beaverdale Books takes it to a whole new level. They have a local authors section with over five hundred Iowan authors represented. I'm not aware of another indie bookstore that supports such a large number of local authors. It's incredible! In addition

It's time for our popular "Spooky Season" box. This is always one of the most fun boxes to plan, as it contains seasonal treats and...

Located in Providence, Rhode Island, Heartleaf Books is our indie bookstore partner for our September 2025 Literary Road Trip Box . As...

September takes us to the smallest state and last of the original thirteen colonies to adopt statehood. It is the birthplace of authors...

In August of 2023, I mailed my first Literary Road Trip Box. The state was New Jersey, the featured book was Florence Adler Swims Forever...

Our July indie bookstore parter is The Booktenders . Located in York, Maine, The Booktenders opened in spring of 2022. The owners are a...

Our June indie bookstore partner is Paper Hearts Bookstore. Located in Little Rock, Arkansas, Paper Hearts Bookstore has a sweet...

Our June box takes us to the "Natural State,"nick- named for its beautiful mountains, hot springs, and rivers. This is the only place in...

Our May 2025 box is themed to the state of Tennessee and we collaborated with Landmark Booksellers . Located in Franklin, Landmark...

Last Saturday, I spent the day at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books with Julie, one of my childhood friends. We have not seen each...

One of my favorite holidays is coming soon: Independent Bookstore Day! Independent Bookstore Day falls on the last Saturday in April....

Our April 2025 indie bookstore partner is Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe located in Asheville, North Carolina. Malaprop's, founded by...

Our April 2025 Literary Road Trip box takes us to the state that's "First in Flight" and the home of the invention of Pepsi. Famous...

Our indie bookstore partner for March is Moon Palace Books located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Owners Angela and Jamie Schwesnedl opened...

Our March 2025 Literary Road Trip Box takes us to the "Land of 10,000 Lakes"and place where, not surprising, the sport of waterskiing was...

Our February indie bookstore partner is Northshire Bookstore. The original Northshire Bookstore location opened in 1976 in Manchester...

I bring you a long overdue blog post about our January indie bookstore partner, Shakespeare & CO. I apologize for this massive time gap...