This new feature on the KAXE Morning Show, Where We’re Reading adds to our staff librarian Tammy Bobrowsky’s longtime program, What We’re Reading. We'll learn about the business of books in rural places and what the community is reading.
GRAND RAPIDS — On Valentine’s Day in 2023, Abby Daigle opened a new bookstore in Grand Rapids. Wildflower Bookshop is her love letter to her community of readers.
Wildflower Bookshop now boasts about 5,000 books on the shelf, book clubs for adults and youth, and author events.
Holly Singer is the events manager at Wildflower Bookshop. She has created book clubs, book-related activities like painting a tote bag, and author events, like the most recent with bestselling mystery author William Kent Krueger from Minnesota.
An avid reader, Singer said, “I usually have three or four going at the same time — I'm preparing for spooky season so I have a mystery coming up!” She described spooky season as books that have those fall, rainy vibes.
Singer is listening to Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio through Libro FM, an audio book source that benefits independent booksellers. She’s also still firmly planted in summer reading, “I’m in my cowgirl romance era.”
Independent bookstores are back
“I think with COVID, people are getting back into, you know, making sure they spend time on themselves and making sure they connect with each other on things,” Singer explained. “On top of that there’s also TikTok,” describing the video app as a huge influence on what gets into Wildflower Bookshop.
They are also seeing a resurgence in kids' reading. What was once perceived as "nerdy booklovers" has morphed into interest and demand for books for kids and young adults. “It’s now okay to be a reader. It’s okay to take time and just read books for fun versus, 'I have to read this textbook for chemistry class,'" Singer said.
Lately, some books people have asked for include The Women by Kristin Hannah and God of the Woods by Liz Moore.
With author events, Wildflower Bookshop works with other area booksellers to create author tours in the small towns of Northern Minnesota. This includes Four Pines Bookstore in Bemidji, Beagle and Wolf Books and Bindery in Park Rapids and Turtle Town Books in Nisswa.
“Because we kind of are out in the middle of nowhere, a lot of authors who are based in the Cities, they don’t want to come for three hours for an hour signing.” Creating a partnership with other bookstores attracts more authors for in-store visits.
As always, we want to know what you are reading! And we want to know about your favorite bookstore or library!
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Have a favorite independent bookstore? Let us know!