Anne Bogel’s 5 Must-Visit Southern Bookshops

Anne Bogel's 5 Must-Visit Southern Bookshops
(Left) Photo of Anne Bogel courtesy of Modern Mrs. Darcy; (right) Photo of The Story Shop by Doyle Wallace Photography.

It’s the book you weren’t looking for that makes the trip to a local independent bookstore so very worthwhile. The latest down-home cookbook poised in the cheerful display that stops you as you search for a fall planting guide. Or the enticing scented candle and aromatic cup of java that slows you down to browse and linger a bit longer than intended. We love celebrating female entrepreneurs at Southern Lady, so when we decided to explore a smattering of the wonderful women-owned booksellers throughout the South, we enlisted help from none other than Anne Bogel of the popular podcast What Should I Read Next?

Read on for Anne Bogel’s thoughts about bookshops and some of the fabulous ones around the South she recommends.


Photo courtesy of Blue Willow Bookshop.

“The great thing about independent bookstores is just the discoverability,” says Anne, an author and avid reader whose popular blog Modern Mrs. Darcy is like your favorite librarian and talk-show host rolled into one (and armed with an extraordinary reading list). “Online options are abundant these days. But the thing about online shopping is that you find exactly what you’re looking for. You can’t find the book you don’t know you are looking for.

“I like to visit independent bookstores to see what booklovers love and what they are reading—the book I don’t know about yet but really want to find out about, something that catches your eye, or a display on a niche subject that makes you go, ‘Ooh, that sounds fascinating,’” says Anne, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband, Will, and their four children.

     Photos courtesy of M. Judson Booksellers.

Through her webpage, blog, and podcasts, Anne and her staff help people figure out what they like to read and what they might want to read next. In each podcast, she does what she calls “literary matchmaking” with one guest, exploring books they enjoy and ones they don’t. As an author, Anne travels and visits booksellers throughout the South, and says friendly staff add greatly to the experience. “People working in bookstores are trained in putting books in the hands of readers, whether they are looking for something specific or don’t know what they are looking for,” she says.

Read on for Anne Bogel’s list of top Southern bookshops!