Indie Bookstore Spotlight: A Novel Idea Bookshop

Our November 2025 box was themed to the state of Oklahoma, and our indie bookstore partner was A Novel Idea Bookshop. Located in the town of Guthrie—approximately thirty minutes north of Oklahoma City—A Novel Idea opened in 2023.

Who doesn’t love a bookstore animal ambassador, especially one with a literary name? Mr. Darcy is a two-year-old basset hound featured on the store’s logo sticker, which was included in the November box. Of course, Mr. Darcy isn’t alone—there’s also a basset hound named Miss Lizzy to keep him company. Make sure to visit A Novel Idea to give the dogs a pat, but if you don’t live nearby, the store’s Instagram page is filled with doggy goodness. Don’t forget to admire the photos of Mr. Darcy looking particularly dapper in his Victorian holiday finery.

If the hounds weren’t reason enough to book a trip to Guthrie, the special events might seal the deal. In the fall, A Novel Idea hosted a Gilmore Girls Stars Hollow Celebration. They collaborated with other local businesses and offered themed games and merch. I’m a huge Gilmore Girls fan, and this looked amazing. For Halloween, the store hosted a huge “Horror and Thriller Book Festival” with over a dozen authors and loads of local vendors.

The store supports their local library by sharing the Guthrie Library wishlist, books that members are hoping the library will acquire. You can purchase a book from the list for sale by A Novel Idea and they will deliver it to the library with a note of who made the purchase. This is a way to support the bookstore, authors, the library, and the community. How wonderful is that?

A Novel Idea doesn’t only promote local small businesses—they also use their platform to highlight indie bookstores in other states. They call it “Novel Neighbor Fridays,” and I love this so much. Promoting indie bookstores was the basis for starting Books Inside Boxes, and I get so excited when I see this kind of support happening among bookstores. Bookstore people truly are the first to uplift another bookstore that’s doing great things.

All of that said, A Novel Idea has also been very candid on their Instagram page about the difficulties of running an indie bookstore. They post their monthly books sold versus their monthly sales needed to stay afloat, and it has been especially tough in recent months. I come from working at an indie that was struggling through bankruptcy, and several of the indies I’ve featured on Books Inside Boxes have closed. It’s crushing. With that in mind, if possible, please support A Novel Idea and your local indies. Every single sale counts—no matter how small—and you never know how much your purchase can boost morale on a difficult day. And if you have the means, shop at the local places you love to help keep them around.

Let’s end this blog post on an upbeat note: go visit A Novel Idea Bookshop for an indie bookstore with a ton of heart—and really cute dogs!