Throughout American history, the books we read have shaped our culture, politics, and collective imagination. This book gives a broad overview of the history of bookstores in the USA, as well as anecdotes and close looks at the rise and fall of different types of bookstores. We meet the individual booksellers, and learn what inspired them to start their book business. We get a snapshot of the interior of a bookshop and the general mood and ambience of the place. We learn what purpose each bookstore has, whether focused on revenue, politics, personal expression, or community values. And we follow the dramatic stories of bookstores struggling to stay afloat, fighting against bureaucracy and unfair laws, and serving as meeting places for people of many varied creeds. Every bookstore has a place in history and maybe... in our hearts.

All the way from Benjamin Franklin to Jeff Bezos, this book is kind of a wild ride! There are chapters about tiny indie bookstores, big chain bookstores, LGBTQ+ bookstores, online bookstores, African American bookstores, feminist bookstores, mobile book vans, and street book vendors. There is even a chapter about Communist bookstores and Nazi bookstores that housed dangerous Nazi radicals before WWII. History is kind of insane sometimes, and some of that drama happened in bookstores.

The writing is engaging and interesting. I liked that each chapter is told like a story, instead of just a bunch of boring facts. Each chapter is like walking into the actual bookstore and meeting the owner and getting to hear a little bit of their life story. Sometimes it felt like watching a movie and seeing the history unfold day by day in the average life of the bookstore as employees come and go, and business deals are made, and lawsuits are filed, and buildings are sold to open in a new location; and in the middle is a person who just loves books.

I really appreciated that the author gave the bare events of history and quotes from the people involved without passing any moral judgement in the narrative. It is left for the reader to decide if any action or value or belief or creed is moral or amoral or just a weird thing from history. That is exactly how history should be presented, without any bias or opinion from the author. However, the inclusion of some types of bookstores to the exclusion of others revealed a lot too. But I appreciate that the reader isn't preached at or fed a lot of propaganda promoting one type of belief.

There are only a few curse words in this book, all of them in quoted material. It didn't bother me too much because they were few and far between.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.