The last Saturday in April is Independent Bookstore Day and for the April Literary Road Trip box, I was fortunate to connect with not one, but two indie bookstores. The owners of the two stores happened to be friends and the double collaboration was born! To give each store their own moment to shine, I will write two spotlight posts this month.
My first indie bookstore spotlight is on Pete & Freddy's Pages Aplenty located in Mentone, Indiana. Pete & Freddy's Pages Aplenty opened in 2009 and the store was initially owned and operated by two sisters, aka Pete & Freddy. Currently, Pete is the sole owner of the store.
A fun aspect of their store website is the staff book recommendations and top selling books. You can see each sister's personality shine through their own personalized picks of books that they think everyone should read. I love looking through staff picks at indie bookstores. It's a great way to discover new books, especially when you find a bookseller that has similar taste to your own and recommends a new-to-you title. The Pete & Freddy's Pages Aplenty site also lists top hand-selling books and book club picks. The store offers a wide range of new and used titles, and has a focus on promoting diverse and inclusive books. The store is a welcoming and warm place for the community.
Pete sent a lovely arrangement of store stickers and bookmarks to be included in the April box. I was also thrilled to see the inclusion of a bookmark from LibroFM. LibroFM is the indie bookstore version of Audible and recently they have made it possible for bookstores to purchase branded bookmarks with a QR code. For example, if you use the code on the Librofm bookmark that is branded with Pete & Freddy's Pages Aplenty, the store will get a portion of your audio book purchases. It's a fantastic way for audio booklovers to still support indie bookstores.
Here is a photo of the package that Pete sent to be included in our April boxes.
Pete also kindly sent me a few bonus items, including a sticker from their town, Mentone, Indiana that had a chicken on it. There was no way that Pete knew my affinity for chickens and this surprise was absolutely delightful! I also learned that Mentone is the self-proclaimed "Egg Basket of the Midwest." I definitely need to visit.
Please take a look at Pete & Freddy's Pages Aplenty website and show them some support. Make sure to visit their store if you are in the area!
Comments