Along with libraries, neighborhood bookshops keep Richmond reading.

Although what and how we read varies, for the time being, we still do. If you’re anything like me, what I pick up can depend on whatever’s in arm’s reach, what devices are adequately charged, or crucially, what’s available and free of a paywall.

In my world, as the child of two librarians, books maintain the advantage of holding a lasting value and place—to be received and shared, over and over again. But books are in jeopardy; not only do book bans still happen, they’re on the rise. Considering there were over 10,000 instances of books banned in schools recorded by PEN America last year, independent bookstores remain essential [Also dangerous are multiple recent studies finding that nearly half of Americans aren’t reading a single book in a year, with nearly a quarter of Americans qualifying as illiterate and 54% with a literacy below a sixth grade level, according to the National Literacy Institute].

Richmond is fortunate to have many eclectic and committed independent booksellers. From the Black-owned RVA Book Bar, which can be supported online until their new location opens, to the small, but expertly curated selection at Small Friend Records & Books, whose Books Through Bars Program is indispensable; as well as Aquarian’s two locations for all things metaphysical—any need to further line Bezos and company’s bozo pockets is nil.

Style surveyed four of our favorite area shops, each of which is filling its own niche in the city (and none, you’ll be glad to know, are banning books). Fountain Bookstore was the longest running, since 1978, and it will soon be expanding to a larger space across the street from the current location in Shockoe Slip [while keeping the former location for events and classes]. Book People, offering new and used titles, was the second longest running shop, having sold books since 1980. Shelf Life in Carytown is carrying on the torch of former staple Chop Suey, with its own spin and new pair of shop cats, Page and Mylar (R.I.P Wonton). And finally, everything starts with bbgb, Richmond’s premiere children’s bookstore covering infants through young adults, which can stand for “Bring Back Great Books,” “Buy Book Give a Book,” or whatever you want it to be, we’re told. 

Read on for shop talk, recommended local reads and upcoming events.

Style Weekly: Which local authors have books coming out this year that readers can expect to find on your shelves?

Chris McDaniel (owner, Shelf Life): We look forward to releases from local authors Sean Cosby and Brian Castleberry. Richmond and Virginia are spoiled for talent, so I’m sure there will be many more.

Jill Stefanovich (owner, bbgb): There’s four that we’re really excited about. Two books actually just came out on Jan. 14. The first is Angela Dominguez’ “Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers.” Angela has written a terrific graphic book for those ages 7 to 10. It’s funny and sweet, so I’m really excited about that. Nashae Jones’ debut book came out last year, and she’s got a second book, “As You Wish.” It’s a really sweet romance for middle schoolers. This is a genre that is really picking up some steam. A little bit later in the spring we have a debut author Kris Coronado, and she has written a book called “Lighthouse Ladies.” It’s a nonfiction picture book about four women lighthouse keepers, one of which was in Virginia. It’s really fun, great female power. Really well written and beautifully illustrated. And then Meg Medina has got a new fantasy novel, also for middle schoolers, that comes out July 1, “Graciela in the Abyss.” It’s wonderful and sucks you right in from the first page.

David Shuman (owner, Book People): “The Moonlight Healers” by Elizabeth Becker, “The Californians: A Novel” by Brian Castleberry, “Felons’ Ball” by Polly Stewart, “I Was Told There’d Be a Village” by Melissa Wirt, “How to Spot a Mermaid” by Sarah Glenn Marsh. Really, the list is endless as our main focus is local authors and vendors.

Kelly Justice (head caretaker, Fountain Bookstore): Though he recently moved, we still consider D. Randall “Randy” Blythe a hometown favorite. We will be doing the launch of his new memoir “Just Beyond the Light: Making Peace with the Wars Inside Our Head” at Ashland Theatre on Feb. 20. Nashae Johnson launched her new book with us on Jan. 13, “As You Wish,” a delightful tween romance with magical highlights. Virginia author and personal favorite Sara Raasch will be joining us for St. Patrick’s Day week with her latest hilarious queer rom-com “Go Luck Yourself.” That will be on March 12. Can’t wait!

Were there any trends among your bestselling books in 2024? What was hot and what was … not-so-hot?

Chris McDaniel (Shelf Life): Shelf Life customers showed a lot of love for books about Richmond and by local authors. “A Small Apocalypse,” “The House Is on Fire,” “Murals of Richmond,” “Really Richmond: A City Guide,” “The Crack at the Heart of Everything, Desolation: A Heavy Metal Memoir.” Titles that made many “best books of 2024” lists were predictably big sellers at Shelf Life, too. “James: A Novel,” “Intermezzo: A Novel,” “Martyr!: A Novel,” “All Fours: A Novel”— I hadn’t noticed how many of our best sellers qualified themselves with “A Novel.” Shelf Life customers trust our staff, too, as many of their picks, both new and old, were top sellers. People love all kinds of stuff, but we have noticed the enthusiasm for books by and about old white men is pretty flat.

Jill Stefanovich (bbgb): For us, the bestselling trends were anything in the graphic novel genre, whether it was fiction or nonfiction. And truly now at all ages, not just elementary school — third, fourth, fifth grade, but moving down into the beginning readers. If it was a well written graphic novel, we were selling it. The other thing that’s great is they’re many genres: fantasy, realistic, sci-fi, romance, and always lots of great nonfiction, so that’s probably our greatest trend. What has slowed down for us is some of the fantasy for middle grades. There is a glut of fantasy for that age group, and so we definitely saw a slow down there. Overall, our sales were up for the year with the exception of that particular area. Some of our bestselling books are nonfiction and the diversity of the history books and history graphic books has certainly improved.

David Shuman (Book People): The biggest trend we’ve seen is in what we call “the pretty books.” Books featuring gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, as well as exclusive special design features. Even when customers own the e-book or audiobook editions, they still come wanting to buy these special editions. Romance was huge for us this year. The only not-so-hot for us was there wasn’t really a big nonfiction book this year.

Kelly Justice (Lighthouse keeper, Fountain): Romantasy made up a third of all fiction sales in 2023. There are not numbers yet for 2024, but I’d say that that number probably got larger. We are still finding people reading for escape as a general trend. People find comfort in all kinds of books. Horror sales are way up. I think people like reading something scary and being able to close it and put it down, rather than looking at their phones and seeing a barrage of horror they can’t do anything about. Cozy mystery, cozy romance, cozy fantasy, cozy horror—yes, that is a thing—are all experiencing booms.

Are there any broader publishing trends you anticipate in the coming year?

Chris McDaniel (Shelf Life): When people read, they’re often seeking escape from the digital world and the overwhelming amount of just plain content that is out there. As such, we’re seeing publishers adding sensory delights such as sprayed edges, paper that feels nice, and beautiful covers and illustrations. With tariffs likely on the horizon, we expect to see the prices of new books continue to rise. We will be responding with increasingly careful curation of new books customers most want to read, and by making the browsing experience of our used books easier and more enjoyable.

Jill Stefanovich (bbgb): It’s been very interesting to watch the impact that technology has had for children—on kids’ attention spans. What we’re seeing in the book industry is the request by educators—teachers, parents, and reading specialists—for shorter books. Novels that are more in the 200, 225-page range as opposed to the 300. The thing that’s interesting there is the prices are the same. There’s also a lot more dyslexic-friendly books coming out. Dyslexic-friendly means the type of font. There’s a particular font that’s easier. Also the amount of white space on the page. This used to be more of a niche piece but now we’re seeing more and more. It’s fantastic. Also those books tend to be shorter and more approachable, so that regardless of whether it’s dyslexia or it’s just somebody who hasn’t found the right book and needs something a little bit shorter to get them engaged, this type of book is filling a terrific void. There’s one that we keep selling out of about the Titanic.

David Shuman (Book People): Expanding diversity in literature. Impact of social media on publishing. Bookstagram. Rise of influencers.

Kelly Justice (Check writer, Fountain Bookstore): My friends in publishing are concerned about paper costs and shortages and possible changes in import regulations. This could decrease the number of beautifully produced, special stained-edge and limited editions we’ve been enjoying the last few years. They may hold those budgets for cookbooks and other high-cost books. I have really enjoyed the creativity in book design that has exploded in the past two years. I would like to see it continue.

Do you have any upcoming and exciting guests or events?

Jill Stefanovich (bbgb): Astronaut Leland Melvin has already written his story, but now he’s written a fictional graphic novel for kids and it is fantastic. He’s going to be making two school visits in Richmond on Feb. 3, and then he is doing a public event we’re holding at St. Christopher’s auditorium. He is just the nicest man, so we’re super excited about that. [On March 5] we have Kwame Alexander and Olivia Cole, they’ll be doing an event at the shop. Kwame is really unbelievable; a Newbery-winning author, and children’s poet laureate, really dynamic. And then March 25 we have a huge fan favorite, Tom Engelberger, who kids have grown up reading. We’ll have events all through the spring and into the summer and encourage people to follow us on Instagram or check out our website where all of the events are listed.

Kelly Justice (CVO/President, Fountain): We are incredibly excited to welcome back Cory Doctorow on March 5. Tickets will be up soon. We are also having back on March 11, Ada Calhoun, with her new novel “Crush,” a New Yorker, Time, Bustle, Lit Hub, AARP, Bloomberg, The Seattle Times and Vulture Most Anticipated Book of 2025. Truly an amazing book and one of our favorite guests. We have Lauren Francis-Sharma in conversation with local favorite Rachel Beanland about her highly-anticipated novel “Casualties of Truth” which takes place between D.C. and South Africa, on Feb 13. Our programming featuring behind-the-scenes of the bookstore events is also very popular. We talk about how the bookstore runs and how we make daily decisions about inventory, events and things like that.

Chris McDaniel (Shelf Life): We are already starting to plan our two signature annual events: the Pride Book Fair in summer and the BrewHoHo in December. We plan to spend the first quarter making our space more amenable to in-store events and hope to make our events schedule more robust in the second half of the year.

David Shuman (Book People): We used to do an annual Halloween in Diagon Alley event every October in our old location. We tried a scaled-down trial version this year at our new location and it went even better than we hoped, so next year will see the return of the real thing. We are very excited about this one. And of course, perennial favorites such as Independent Bookstore Day, where we collaborate with all of the other independent bookstores in the area; Bookstore Romance Day, and Small Business Saturday. Independent Bookstore Day is always the last Saturday in April. Bookstore Romance Day is always in August. This year it is Aug. 9. Small Business Saturday is always the Saturday after Thanksgiving.