This past Sunday was an amazing way to spend an afternoon—a perfect book-filled day. Down at the Jersey shore, it was the 2nd Annual Beach Book Crawl, hosted by Lucie Dickenson of StarLight Books Publishing, Thunder Road Books, The Little Point Bookshop, BookTowne, Asbury Book Cooperative, and Shore Pour Coffee.

The intent of the day was to support all these independent bookstores, small businesses, and smaller local authors. After making a purchase of any capacity, you would get your book crawl bookmark stamped or punched at each location. Once you had gone to all locations, it was collected to go into a drawing for a large prize (which has yet to be announced).

What I truly loved about this event was being introduced to so many fantastic new stores. I live relatively close to the shore and spend a lot of time there, especially during the summer, but throughout the entire year. Considering how much I love small businesses and independent bookstores, I was shocked when I realized I hadn't known about all of these locations. On top of that, I gave them my business and connected with the employees and owners at most of the stores.

Indie Bookstore Day is a popular day in April for stores like these. However, putting more emphasis on shopping small throughout the year is paramount to keeping these lovely companies in business, which is another reason why this event was so great!

I walked away with a great haul of books I can't wait to dive into, a signed copy, and a chance to talk at length with a local author. Courtney Preiss, you are a gem, and I can't wait to read Welcome Home, Caroline Kline. I loved every second of this day and am looking forward to the next one.

The entire experience was even better because my mom and I were able to spend the day together, being graciously chauffeured around and photographed by my dad as we fangirled over books, the stores, and all the readers and book lovers around us!

If it wasn't already clear, I had a great day and am so happy I had the means to drive from location to location and afford to purchase a book at every store. My TBR pile is never-ending, but I am so happy with these latest additions, as they have extra meaning to me now that they are tied to such a fun and memorable day.

Thank you to StarLights Book Publishing, Thunder Road Books, The Little Point Bookshop, BookTowne, Asbury Book Cooperative, and Shore Pour Coffee for such a fantastic day. I hope the employees at these stores like me because they will see a lot more of me going forward.

Shop small. Shop indie. And support your local businesses. You never know what gems you'll find so close to home.

As always, thanks for reading! 💜