You can’t go anywhere on the internet without running into something owned by Amazon: Twitch, Goodreads, MGM, Audible, IMDb, Whole Foods–the list goes on. Amazon started out as a book business and every day it gets harder and harder to buy books from sources that aren’t related to Amazon. They’ve pushed out other competitors because they can sell these books below typical selling prices of every other retailer, selling them at a loss, which undercuts sales for their competitors: big box bookstores like Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, and indies alike.

Today monopolies are everywhere, and spreading wealth around our communities is a great way to fight back against the corporate machine trying to wring out our every last cent by limiting our options until they’re the only ones left. This type of competition is used to lower prices but the new game is, “How expensive can we make this until someone won’t pay?”

In order to combat paying a big corporation, people are trying to shop small and local, starting with indie bookstores in our communities. If you search “indie bookstores” in your area, a few should pop up. Thrifting for books is always an option too. There are plenty of second hand stores that resell donated books for a fraction of the cost, but with Goodwill and other donation stations raising costs, this is quickly becoming a pricier option. If you’re down to take a cross-country trip around the US, cover every state and visit these many indie bookstores that have unique architecture, new and used books, and all the right atmosphere to cuddle up with a good book at the end of a long adventure, here are over 200 choices:

Alabama

1. Thank You Bookshop in Birmingham

2. Ernest & Hadley Booksellers in Tuscaloosa

3. The Haunted Bookshop in Mobile

Alaska

1. Title Wave Books in Anchorage

Arizona

1. Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe

Arkansas

1. Bookish in Fort Smith

2. Dickson Street Bookshop in Fayetteville

California

1. Laguna Beach Books in Laguna Beach

2. Other Books in Los Angeles

3. The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles

4. The Ripped Bodice in Los Angeles

5. Skylight Books + Art Annex in Los Angeles

6. Book Soup in Los Angeles

7. East Bay Book Sellers in Oakland

8. Marcus Books in Oakland

9. Point Reyes Books in Point Reyes

10. Cellar Door Bookstore in Riverside

11. Medicine for Nightmares in San Francisco

12. City Lights Booksellers in San Francisco

13. Green Apple Books in San Francisco

14. Verbatim Books in San Diego

15. Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz

16. Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara

17. Page Against the Machine, Long Beach

18. Linden Tree Children’s Books in Los Altos

19. Main Street Books in Saint Helena

20. Maxwell’s House of Books in La Mesa

21. The Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood

Colorado

1. Lithic Bookstore and Gallery in Fruita

2. Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver

3. Boulder Book Store in Boulder 

4. Off the Beaten Path in Steamboat

Connecticut

1. River Bend Bookshop in Glastonbury

Delaware

1. Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach

2. Huxley & Hiro in Wilmington

Florida

1. Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg

2. Writer’s Block Bookstore in Winter Park

3. Old Tampa Book Company in Tampa

4. Books & Books in Miami

5. Books and Books in Coral Gables

6. Chamblin Book Mine in Jacksonville

Georgia

1. A Cappella Books in Atlanta

2. Chatis Books in Decatur

3. Pretty Good Books in LaGrange

4. The Sweet Read in Woodstock

5. Avid Bookshop in Athens

Hawaii

1. Vintage Books in Honolulu

Idaho

1. Bonner’s Books in Bonner’s Ferry

Illinois

1. The Book Cellar in Chicago

2. Madison Street Books in Chicago

3. The Seminary Co-op in Chicago

4. Unabridged Bookstore in Chicago

5. Women and Children First Bookstore in Chicago

6. Myopic Books in Chicago

Indiana

1. The Whispering Shelf in Indianapolis

2. Loudmouth Books in Indianapolis

Iowa

1. Dog Eared Books in Ames

2. Next Page Books in Cedar Rapids

3. Prairie Lights in Iowa City

4. Haunted Bookshop in Iowa City

Kansas

1. The Raven Bookstore in Lawrence

2. Watermark Books and Cafe in Wichita

Kentucky

1. Carmichael’s In Louisville

Louisiana

1. Faulkner House Books in New Orleans

Maine

1. Briar Patch Books in Bangor

2. Longfellow Books in Portland

3. Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops in Bar Harbor

4. Hello Hello Books in Rockland

5. Stone Soup Books in Camden

Maryland

1. The Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore

2. The Children’s Bookstore in Baltimore

Massachusetts

1. Amherst Books in Amherst

2. Brookline Booksmith in Brookline

3. Book Moon in Easthampton

4. The Bookstore in Lenox

5. Broadside Bookshop in Northampton

6. East End Books in Provincetown

7. Porter Square Books in Cambridge

8. The Montague Bookmill in Montague

Michigan

1. Horizon Books in Traverse City

2. John K. King Used & Rare Books in Detroit

3. Source Booksellers in Detroit

4. Literati in Ann Arbor

5. Book Beat in Oak Park

Minnesota

1. Magers & Quinn in Minneapolis

2. Birchbark Books & Native Arts in Minneapolis

3. Wild Rumpus Books in Minneapolis

4. Next Chapter Booksellers in St. Paul

Mississippi

1. Square Books in Oxford

Missouri

1. Left Bank Books in St. Louis

2. Subterranean Books in St. Louis

3. Skylark Bookshop in Columbia

4. Prospero’s Bookstore in Kansas City

Montana

1. Fact & Fiction in Missoula

2. Shakespeare & Co in Missoula

Nebraska

1. A Novel Idea Bookstore in Lincoln

Nevada

1. The Writer’s Block in Las Vegas

New Hampshire

1. Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord

2. Water Street Bookstore in Exeter

3. The Toadstool Bookshops in Keene

4. Bookery Manchester in Manchester

5. MainStreet BookEnds in Warner

New Jersey

1. [words] Bookstore in Maplewood

2. watchung booksellers in Montclair

3. Little City Books in Hoboken

New Mexico

1. Collected Works in Santa Fe

New York

1. Books Are Matic in Brooklyn

2. Cafe con Libros in Brooklyn

3. Community Bookstore in Brooklyn

4. Greenlight Books in Brooklyn

5. Unnamable Books in Brooklyn

6. Book Thug Nation in Brooklyn

7. 192 Books in New York City

8. Three Lives & Company in New York City

9. Word Up Community Bookshop in New York City

10. The Strand in New York City

11. Argosy Book Store in New York City

12. Bluestockings in New York City

13. McNally Jackson in New York City

14. Rizzoli Bookstore in New York City

15. Book Culture in New York City

16. Westsider Rare and Used Books Inc. in New York City

17. Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York City

18. Inquiring Minds Bookstore in New York City

19. Life Bridge Book Shop in Brockport

20. Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo

21. Battenkill Books in Cambridge

22. Sulfur Books in Clifton Springs

23. Split Rock Books in Cold Spring

24. Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca

25. Ampersand Books in Rochester

26. Hipocampo Children’s Books in Rochester

27. Rough Draft Books in Kingston

28. The Next Chapter in Huntington

North Carolina

1. Malaprop’s in Asheville

2. Epilogue Books in Chapel Hill

3. Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill

4. Main Street Books in Davidson

5. The Regulator Bookshop in Durham

6. Scuppernong Books in Greensboro

7. Buxton Village Books in Buxton

8. Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh

9. So and So Books in Raleigh

10. 2nd Edition Books in Raleigh-Durham

11. The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines

12. Page 158 in Wake Forest

13. Papercut in Wilmington

14. Pomegranate Books in Wilmington

15. Bookmarks in Winston-Salem

North Dakota

1. Silver Dawn Books in Grand Forks

Ohio

1. Downbound Books in Cincinnati

2. Book Loft in ColumbusOklahoma

3. Bliss Books & Bindery in Stillwater

4. Best of Books in Edmond

5. Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City

Oregon

1. Annie Bloom’s Books in Portland

2. Literary Arts Bookstore in Portland

3. Mother Foucault’s Bookshop in Portland

4. Powell’s City of Books in Portland

5. J. Michaels Books in Eugene

Pennsylvania

1. Big Blue Marble Bookstore in Philadelphia

2. Brickbat Books in Philadelphia

3. Harriett’s Bookshop in Philadelphia

4. Philly Aids Thrift in Philadelphia

5. A Novel idea in Philadelphia

6. City of Asylum in Pittsburg

7. White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburg

8. Classic Lines Bookstore in Pittsburgh

9. Baldwin’s Book Barn in West Chester

10. Farley’s Bookshop in New Hope

11. Books Galore in Erie

Rhode Island

1. Riffraff in Providence

2. Books on the Square in Providence

South Carolina

1. Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg

South Dakota

1. Mitzi’s Books in Rapid City

Tennessee

1. Parnassus Books in Nashville

Texas

1. Black Pearl Books in Austin

2. BookPeople in Austin

3. The Little Gay Shop in Austin

4. Book Woman in Austin

5. Deep Vellum Books in Dallas

6. Interabang Books in Dallas

7. The Wild Detectives in Dallas

8. Half Price Books in Dallas

9. Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston

10. Brazos Bookstore in Houston

11. Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston

12. Literarity Book Shop in El Paso

Utah

1. The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City

Vermont

1. Phoenix Bookstore in Burlington

2. Bear Pond Books in Montpelier

3. Norwich Bookstore in Norwich

4. Bartleby’s Books in Wilmington

5. Northshire Bookstore in Manchester

Virginia

1. Riverby Books in Fredericksburg

2. Shelf Life in Richmond

Washington

1. Eagle Harbor Books in Bainbridge Island

2. Village Books & Paper Dreams in Bellingham

3. Open Books in Seattle

4. Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle

5. University Book Store in Seattle

Washington, D.C.

1. Loyalty Bookstores

2. Politics & Prose

3. Kramer Books and Afterwords

4. Busboys and Poets

5. Lost City Books

West Virginia

1. Taylor Books in Charleston

Wisconsin

1. Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee

2. Lion’s Tooth in Milwaukee

3. Niche Book Bar in Milwaukee

4. Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee

5. William Caxton Ltd Books in Ellison Bay

Wyoming

1. Legends Bookstore in Cody

Here is a place to look up indies based in your area. You can search by zip code, city, or address here: https://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder or search by state here: https://www.newpages.com/independent-bookstores/.

If you don’t have an indie bookstore in your area, here are some bigger indies that will ship to you:

https://bookshop.org/

https://www.indiebound.org/

https://www.alibris.com/

And that’s it! Over 200 independent bookstores to beat out Amazon so we can put our money where our mouth is and stick it to the man–this time, Jeff Bezos. If you have any bookstores you want to add to this list, please comment them down below and we will add them to the list! Happy reading!