Hello Reader,

When I turned 39 in December 2024, I decided I would spend the next 12 months visiting 40 independent bookshops before I turned 40.

What started out as a passion project - out of pure joy and appreciation for independent bookstores - has, unbeknownst to me, become an ecosystem project.

At first, I visited booksellers here in the Shenandoah Valley to learn about their stores, curation, community engagement, etc.

Then, I started introducing them to each other.

Next, we started hosting events together.

I remember the first time booksellers from four neighboring towns were all in the room. Evan Friss was launching his book "The Bookshop" at Staunton Books & Tea and after 90 minutes of swapping stories about running an independent bookshop in rural America, one of them said, "We should do this more often!". The other three nodded in agreement.

That was the moment I realized we had something we could build on.

From conversation to collaboration

Less than two years later, we are organizing our inaugural Shenandoah Valley Independent Bookshop Crawl, which starts this Friday!

I didn't set out to build the local ecosystem of booksellers. I merely followed my instinct that these unique brick-and-mortar businesses should be better connected.

I had a hunch that we could do something together that none of them could do on their own: Turn our region into a mecca for lovers of books and independent bookstores.

I never set out to help nurture this nascent ecosystem, but apparently, that's the occupational hazard of being an ecosystem builder: We see the world through different eyes - eyes that see the whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

What's the best independent bookshop you've ever walked into? And what made it feel that way? Hit reply, I read every one.

Field Notes: What 54 Indie bookshops have taught me

In December 2024, I set out to visit 40 independent bookshops before my 40th birthday.

In the end, I visited 54 across two continents, four countries, and 18 cities.

Along the way, I learned that great bookshops are not defined by square footage or bestseller tables, but are shaped by curation, community, and an enormous amount of invisible labor that most customers never see.

In this three-part series, I share my reflections on what makes a great independent bookshop, how it changed me as a reader and bookshop supporter, and, of course, my favorite shops and insights from my grand tour de bookshops! 100 % subjective and personal.

If you know someone who gets misty-eyed in bookshops, this series is for them!

Curated Resource: 30 Days of Growth with Chenell Basilio

Running the bookshop crawl forced me to think hard about community building online, too, which is why this resource feels timely:

Chenell Basilio has taught me more about newsletters than anyone else and she is launching a free 30-day challenge to help you grow an engaged newsletter audience.

Whether you're new to newsletters or have been at it for a while, I participated in this challenge last year and saw great results!

What I enjoyed most, perhaps, was the accountability and making space to focus on writing better newsletters.

Here's what you can expect:

• 30 daily tips on how to grow your newsletter
• A free archive of all published posts to review at any time during the challenge (you can also opt-out if it becomes overwhelming).
• Group accountability to actually implement what you learn.

Bookish

This quote has guided my book choices recently, and The Girls Who Grew Big (see below) allowed me to do exactly that: This coming-of-age story (of teenage mothers in Padua Beach, Florida) is so wildly different from my own upbringing, but it allowed me to experience something that I otherwise would know NOTHING about. It's given me a new appreciation for all the ways in which we are different and rooted in our circumstances.

• ​Booklovers, Emily Henry: I had it on good authority that this would be the perfect beach read (thanks, Ashley!). Was it a witty rom-com set just outside of Asheville, NC? Yes. But did it also expand the genre and touch on themes such as family and success? Also yes. If you need a romance novel that goes beyond the cliche, read this one!
• ​The Girls Who Grew Big, Leila Mottley. Holy smokes y'all! This title does not do the book justice! If Emily Henry is a delightful, light beach read that makes you chuckle and warms your heart, this book rips it right out and makes you whimper. Since we were on vacation in Florida, I wanted a Florida-based story, and it certainly is what I got.

Read more books, friends!

Shen-Anika-ns: The U is silent; we aren't

The town I call home, Staunton (yes, the "u" is indeed silent), hosts a weekly podcast talking to locals who make a difference in our community, and yours truly was interviewed for season 2!

If you want to hear me swoon about my chosen hometown in the US, about bookshops, ecosystem building and life in the Shenandoah Valley, tune in here:

I've lived in a lot of places over the last twenty years and consider myself lucky to have landed in a town full of potential: Staunton is not only pretty (think Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls, but in the mountains); it's full of creatives, entrepreneurs and other people who want to make it a great place to live, work and play.

I feel fortunate to be one of them, and even more so to be surrounded by them.

In this conversation, you'll hear (and see!) why!

I'll be back in two weeks!

In camaraderie,

Anika

P.S. Missed my last newsletter? Check out the previous issues of Impact Curator.