Dear Readers,

Netflix, move over: it was books, bookstores, and booksellers that kept us all sane in lockdown.

Even if the online world of Zoom windows and chatrooms has been dominated over the last year by vaccine chatter and hand-sanitizing tips, the conversation between readers has still thrived. Even during a pandemic, our ears perked up whenever we heard someone say “OMG, you have to read this!” Because when you can't leave your house for months at a time, the only way to travel is through stories.

Over the last year I've skipped from bustling Bombay to the remote mountains of China to the sunny islands of the Caribbean. I starred in a telenovela drama and went into outer space. I survived a killing blizzard and solved a few murders and forged false passports for Jewish refugees. I learned about French theatre and Black women heroes of WWII and the mistresses of King Edward VIII. None of that would have been possible without bookstores, who pivoted magnificently in a nation-wide crisis to keep their doors open, keep the books coming with curbside pickup and touchless delivery, and keep us all sane.

The world's starting to look a bit brighter now, but books will still be important. So will bookstores, as we go back to browsing our favorite local indies in person rather than hovering at the door to accept a sanitized package of hotly-anticipated paperbacks. So listen to me when I tell you all about some favorite titles, because OMG, you have to read these!

—Kate Quinn