Indie Bookstore Crawl

We just returned from a relaxing (and much needed) family vacation in Grand Haven, Michigan. 

We visited Grand Haven last year and loved the area so much that we decided to head back again as soon as school was out.

Grand Haven is a beautiful area with gorgeous river and lake views. Their downtown area features a pedestrian-friendly (and dog-friendly!) strip of shops, a park with outdoor amphitheater-style seating, a boardwalk and pier leading to the lighthouse, a beautiful beach, and a nightly fountain light and music show. 

On our last trip to Grand Haven, we stuck pretty close to the downtown area and didn’t venture out much. 

This time, I wanted to visit the local books shops in Grand Haven, but also branch out for a full indie bookstore crawl, so we decided to visit some neighboring towns.

We stayed within about a 30 minute drive of Grand Haven and were able to visit 6 different unique indie bookshops. I left with WAY too many books to add to my TBR stack, but it was totally worth it!

First up, we stopped by The Book Cellar 2 in downtown Grand Haven, a spot featuring “gently used” books. 

This shop is a new location and basically consists of one wall of shelves within another storefront. However, The Book Cellar’s other location had been my favorite shop from our trip last year, so we definitely wanted to give this one a shot.

Even though it only consisted of one wall of books, the selection was great and the prices were even better!

The next day, we went to The Book Cellar’s main location, just a few blocks away. 

This store is a must visit if you are ever in the area! They have a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) selection of used books in great condition, and their prices are very reasonable.

The staff was super friendly, answering our questions, making suggestions, and helping us find what we were looking for.

Best of all, The Book Cellar is home to Brady and Cujo, very friendly (and very big!) Bernese Mountain Dog mascots. We met Cujo last year when we stopped by.

This year, we met Brady, who is just as adorable and friendly.

Both dogs are calm and sweet as can be, despite their overwhelming size. There’s just something about a big, fluffy dog surrounded by books that makes my heart happy! ❤

Just around the corner and a few doors down, we visited The Bookman, a lovely shop with a gorgeous pressed tin ceiling.

This shop is home to a shop cat, which we unfortunately didn’t see on our visit. 

The Bookman is a very cute shop with several nods to music and art, as well as some unique gifts for book lovers. They cater to book clubs (which I love), and feature an extensive children’s and YA section. They also have a great selection of cookbooks and home decor books.

Their used section was mainly just one wall in the back, but they also had a great selection of new books, including best sellers and the most popular new titles. I especially liked their staff recommendations and “if you liked this, try this…” displays.

Next, we ventured to Saugatuck to visit The Book Nook of Saugatuck. 

This cozy little shop has everything you’d want in a book shop – new and used best-sellers, antique books, a cozy aesthetic, and the best collection of bookish gifts you can imagine. 

Our next stop was the quaint town of Holland, just 20 minutes south of Grand Haven.

First, we stopped at Reader’s World in downtown Holland. This shop has an extensive selection of print magazines, in addition to a wide variety of books.

They had several best-sellers on sale for 20% off, plus some unique gifts and a well-stocked children’s section.

The last bookshop on our tour was the Bluestocking Bookshop in Holland.

This little shop’s owner was very friendly, and the shop boasts a variety of gently used books at great prices.

They also had some very cool bookish decor and space for sitting to take a break while browsing or for book club meetings. In fact, this book store is so book club friendly that they even offer special bundles of books, allowing book club members to purchase multiple copies of the same book at discounted prices. This is such a great idea, and not one I had seen at any of the other bookstores we visited. Yay for supporting book clubs!

My friend joked that I’d need to rent a U-Haul to bring back all of my new books after this adventure. I’ll admit I did come home with quite a collection, but thanks to the great prices on used books available at many of the stores, I’m happy to say I didn’t totally bust my budget! 

I’m looking forward to mapping out more indie bookstores here in Kentucky or the surrounding area that I can mark off my list next time. If you have any recommendations, feel free to drop them in the comments!