So, nowadays you can find “road trip” maps for just about any interest you can name - distilleries, waterfalls, brew pubs, odd world’s largest items (think baseball bat, popcorn ball, Holstein cow, ball of twine, etc), wineries, and yes! - independent bookstores.

If you swing by Canterbury Book Store, you can see a map of MIdwest Independent Bookstores right on our wall, take a look at where you might like to visit, and start planning. You can also see the map and a list of those stores at the website for this association - https://www.midwestbooksellers.org/bookstore-roadmap.html And, yes, Canterbury is ON the map!

What a cool way to plan a road trip - visiting independent bookstores (hopefully not too far from a really great cafe). I know when my husband and I go on trips, one of the things we do is look for cool little bookstores. Once we find one, we can spend a good part of the day just browsing, flipping through interesting titles, finding that one exceptional read we didn’t know we were looking for. We often follow that with a stop at the nearby cafe where we look over our finds, share titles with each other, and maybe read snippets from the books.

As we know, those independent, small businesses have struggled through this pandemic. What better way to support them than by visiting and perhaps making a purchase. I realize it may be a while before travel is an option, but once it is - keep the “little guys” in mind.

Thanks for being part of Canterbury’s story and sharing our love of books and reading!