In early summer 2025, after school let out in the Shenandoah Valley, I packed up my daughter and an overnight bag to head to Richmond for a two-day trip. Over the last year alone, I had followed the opening of a handful of new Indie bookshops from afar, and I felt it was time I visited in person. bbgb, CarytownAfter lunch in Carytown, we made our way to bbgb, a bookshop entirely dedicated to children's books. Jill Stefanovich, the founder and owner of bbgb, instantly sat down with me and we chatted about her book curation, giving back to the community, and the Indie bookshop scene in Virginia’s capital. “You can buy Goodnight Moon at Target or Walmart,” she told me. “We want to get stories that are interesting and different into the hands of children. We focus on stories that you might not find anywhere else, that help readers look at the world differently. Our books face out so that children might see themselves in our shop and in our books.” Titles that I had indeed never seen anywhere else were a book about world-famous surfer Bethany Hamilton, Dying to Ask, and Is there anybody out there? What excited me was that books are not organized by gender. Rather, you can browse sections such as yes and know, create(ors), picture books, young adult and novels & series. Can you think of anything more magical than creating a bookshop for children? Jill started bbgb 15 years ago with a mission to get as many books as possible into the hands of as many Richmond kids as possible. Not only does bbgb sell a wide selection of children’s books, but it is also committed to donating titles to support Richmond public schools. Jill was just starting to plan the next book drive because the demand is so high. Harvey first came in as a two-year-old. He started with picture and board books. Now he is in high school, and we have watched him grow up. Personally, bbgb featured books that I wish I had had access to as a kid and teenager. From toddler book club to a book subscription and summer reading book bingo - if you have or know a child who likes reading, or might like to read but doesn’t quite know where to start, bbgb will take good care of your reader! What I bought at bbgb A Horse named Sky, Rosanne Parry Abi’s Books & Brews, VCU Campus Our next stop was only a short drive down Carytown to the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Abi’s Books and Brews made waves before they even opened. The owner took thousands of Instagram followers behind the scenes of getting the shop ready and waiting on permits until the day the doors finally opened. Being so close to VCU - even though school had already let out for summer - the place was packed with students on their laptops and discussing life's big and small mysteries. I overheard conversations that I remember all too well from my own early 20s: huddled over cups coffees, two girls talked about love and friendship, and the in betweens. Sections include history, education, nonfiction, self-help, biographies, but also rare ones such as “First Ladies”, “Women-focused”, and the type of academic course reading you might expect (“How to read poetry like a professor”). But it’s not just the selection of used books that draws students in; it’s the coffee shop vibe and the Banned Book Nook Lending Library (please return when you’re done reading so that others may also read them). The bathroom boasts wisdom in the form of quotes from Emily Henry (“You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t”) to Henry David Thoreau (“If a [person] does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps is is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”). To me, Abi's is a typical bookshop that every college campus needs: coffee, wifi and ample seating for studying for school and life. What I bought at Abi'sThe Book Thief, Markus Zusak Fountain Bookstore, Shockoe SlipThis was not my first visit to Fountain Bookstore, and it most certainly won’t be my last. There are bookshops that I peruse with a cool head and some measured emotional distance, and then there are bookshops like Fountain: My pulse quickens, my eyes dart around and before I know it, I hold a pile of five books that I’ve probably never heard about but that I feel I need to be a human in this world. It might be the layout and design of shelves and tables, it might be the excellent curation, it might be the deep commitment to bookselling that emanates from its walls. I don’t know. All I know is that I won’t leave Fountain Bookstore without a book under my arm, or four. Fountain has been around since 1978 and hosts more author programming than any other bookshop in Virginia. They also host eight (!) different book clubs and have just expanded their footprint to accommodate more books (almost doubling their inventory!) and community events. I started chatting with Grace, who, as I soon found out, was the driving force behind the Richmond Indie Bookshop Crawl, a two-week campaign that began on Indie Bookstore Day (April 28, 2025) and highlighted nine Indie bookstores in Richmond (incl. Petersburg). The results were astonishing: In 2025, all participating bookstores reported record sales numbers compared to the two years prior (one bookshop even told me later that they had higher sales in those two weeks than in the two weeks leading up to Christmas). 197 booklovers submitted their Indie bookshop passport for a chance to win a $50 gift card to EACH of the bookshops. While Fountain Books can be described as general interest, you will quickly get a feel for a great curation of small presses, translated books, and romance. Even though I rarely get the chance to visit Fountain in person, I adore their printed newsletter - a 12-page newspaper that includes a letter from the owner (Kelly) as well as staff picks and Indie book recommendations. In 2025, Fountain launched a membership program to allow the community to become even more deeply involved in the shop’s operation. With tiers ranging from $0/month to $100/month, members get exclusive invites and access, some get monthly fiction or nonfiction mailings, early admission, and private shopping. I love this community-supported model for an Indie bookshop and am a proud member of Fountain. What I bought at Fountain BookstoreRemarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby van Pelt I love you so much (ILYSM) Books, Brookland Park Following breakfast in the sculpture garden of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, we started day two at I love you so much books (ILYSM) in Brookland Park. We are a proud Filipino, LGBTQ, woman-owned bookstore in Richmond, VA. We offer a variety of genres with a focus on unique/hard-to-find titles. We walked in the moment Mariela unlocked the door, and I immediately sat down with her to hear the story about this quirky bookshop for used and new books. “I always had a great appreciation for reading and books." the owner, Mariela, told me. "I opened our actual storefront on February 14, 2025. But I had tested the model through pop-ups ahead of time. Vintage and farmers markets in the Richmond area are great, but none of them featured books, so that’s where I started. When the opportunity for a brick-and-mortar came up, I took the leap of faith. It's been a dream of mine that I'm very fortunate to live out!” I remember following the store’s opening via social media. On February 14, 2025, ILYSM posted videos of a storefront packed with book lovers. Mariela’s opening day was so busy, in fact, that she had to keep the shop closed for a few days after waiting for new inventory to restock her shelves. While the name might suggest otherwise, I love you so much books is not a romance bookshop. It offers a wide variety of used and new titles across genres: general fiction, literary fiction, progressive and radical works representing diverse stories and authors. In her curation, Mariela has a soft spot for niche books that are hard to find elsewhere. She and her trusted readers handpick most titles. My favorite thing is unpacking book orders and displaying them in the shop. I love seeing what people are excited for or looking forward to. I love you so much books is integral part of the revitalization of the Brookland Park neighborhood. The small pocket in the northern part of the city is quickly filling up with other independently owned small businesses: You can grab local kombucha, bagels and coffee within a two-minute walk. I have a feeling this is only the beginning for this quaint little neighborhood. I ask Mariela what role the location and community play for the shop. “Hosting meet-ups and book clubs has been the most fun. A lot of times, people have never been to our neighborhood, so it's great to expose them to a new place and other local businesses. I most enjoy listening to people's discussion about how they engaged with the text.", she explains. Mariela’s recommendations
What I bought at ILYSM Books
Book People, HenricoBook People has been part of Richmond’s literary fabric since the 1980s, when it first opened its doors on the corner of Patterson & Libby Avenue. Over the years, it became one of those neighborhood fixtures where you could slip in for “just a look” and walk out with an armful of books on history, fiction, or cooking. When the original owner retired in 2018 without a buyer, she passed the store on to David, a trusted bookseller who had been with her for years. David roped in his best friend, Chris Miller, and his wife to lend a hand. They quickly became more involved, and by April 2023, the shop reopened in a new location with fresh energy but the same commitment to community. Chris, whom I found myself chatting to that Sunday morning, laughed when I asked him why they decided to keep the shop alive: “I chose to do this because I believe bookstores are an essential part of any community, and I want to do my part to ensure there's one in ours. To me, they’re one of the few places where people can come together over a shared interest, no matter their background.”  Most of the used books at Book People arrive as donations (with the exception of encyclopedias and textbooks), each carefully sorted and shelved. New titles are curated by David, who keeps a close eye on what the community is ordering and requesting. Sci-fi, fantasy, and manga are perennial favorites, with romantasy and romance also holding strong. It’s a collection that reflects the readers themselves—eclectic, curious, and always evolving. But Book People is more than just its shelves. The shop hosts regular book signings and two active book clubs. I most enjoy the events we host with local authors. Its fun to see people in the community come together to hear the story of one of their own and encourage them in their journey as authors. The vast majority of our events are with authors with local ties and it's great to hear from every part of our community and see people from all parts of it come together to experience what they created. While I was browsing, I noticed two gentlemen who had taken a seat in one of the shop’s corners and were chatting away. As it turns out, they were local authors in disguise. And whenever local authors hang out at an Indie bookshop, I take that as a good sign. Walk in on a quiet afternoon and you might find them chatting with a fellow reader, adding yet another layer of connection to the store’s atmosphere What makes Book People so inviting is that it feels less like a business and more like a gathering place. Whether you’re searching for a gently loved treasure, hunting down a buzzy new release, or just eager to share conversation with other book lovers, Book People embodies what independent bookstores do best: remind us that books are not only meant to be read, but shared. David's recommendations
What I bought at Book PeopleAtmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reed Looking for more Indie bookshops in Richmond, VA?
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