The National Book Club is new initiative by brick and mortar bookstores in the United States to give readers an alternative to Amazon. It was developed by bookish merchandiser Litographs and four independent bookstores: Harvard Book Store of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Green Apple Books of San Francisco; The Elliot Bay Book Company of Seattle; and Left Bank Books of St. Louis, Missouri.
Indie bookstores are well known for their carefully curated collection of titles and a love of books. The National Book Club helps foster book discovery and each season the various bookstores participating in this program will select one book to promote in their stores.
The selections for the National Book Club’s inaugural season are:
- Speak by Louisa Hall, chosen by Harvard Book Store;
- Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon, chosen by Left Bank Books
- The Orenda by Joseph Boyden, chosen by The Elliot Bay Book Company
- The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead, chosen by Green Apple Books
When you buy a book Litographs will send you a free gift, such as a limited edition temporary tattoo or laptop decal inspired by the book you chose. There are no dues to fees in participating in this book club, other than the actual purchase of the book from one of the booksellers participating in the program.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
