I have two confessions. My first confession is that I rather like stealing both Philip and Erin‘s blogs in the same week.

My second confession is one I just made on Erin’s blog and I explained it a little there so I’m sorry to be repetitive but here goes. I hate shopping. Most blog thieves do. We usually like to tuck into shadows and stick to ourselves so, in turn, busy stores with lots of people overwhelm us. Unless – and this is a big unless – we are shopping at bookstores. The nice thing about bookstores is all of the bookshelves we can hide behind and the hardcover books we can use to shield our faces as we roam from shelf to shelf. So we get pretty excited about shopping when it comes to books. Which is why I’m happy to tell you about a wonderful idea Sherman Alexie, winner of the National Book Award and one of Philip and Erin‘s favorites, had to celebrate independent bookstores.

Here’s the deal. It’s called “Indies First” and the gist of the plan is that “book nerds become booksellers”. (Now, I’m not calling Philip a nerd but let’s be honest. He might be getting pretty close to being a book nerd, no?) What this really means is authors and illustrators go to their local independent bookstore and talk to customers about their favorite books, make recommendations, maybe sign a book or two and just generally spend a day sharing books which, I think, makes everyone involved a little happier. You can read Sherman Alexie’s whole letter here.

The date set for Indies First coincides with Small Business Saturday, which is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses throughout the country. It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving so mark your calendars! Philip and Erin will be selling books at at Nicola’s Books (2513 Jackson Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI) on Saturday, November 30 from 2 p.m. until they drop. (And I’ll be the one in the corner with the book in front of my face.)

Yours in peaceful blog theivery,
nicole