With competition from Amazon and e-readers, big box bookstores have been hit hard. Borders closed in 2011 and Barnes & Noble has been forced to close hundreds of stores.
But independent bookstores are proving to have staying power.
The American Booksellers Association says indie bookstores have increased their numbers by 27% since 2009.
And here's a shout-out to Labyrinth Books in Princeton, NJ, an indie store that next week will host one of our favorite writers, Mark Lyons, whose recent story collection, Brief Eulogies at Roadside Shrines, was published by another indie press, Wild River Books.
It's all connected.