Wendy Welch’s memoir, The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap, is a delight. Starting a used bookstore in a small Appalachian town during the decline-of-the-book era may seem like rank folly, but the project—and the book—turn out to be anything but foolish. With warmth and humor, Welch details the small successes and large missteps along the path to finding a place in a community. She shows that, even in the age of the e-reader, there is hope for books and those who love them, and that reading and bookstores still perform an important function in civic life. Her clear prose sparkles with personality in this heartening tale of the perils and rewards of following one’s dream. –Thomas C. Foster, bestselling author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor

Wendy Welch’s memoir is entertaining, informative, and – best of all – big-hearted and wise. A perfect pick-me-up for people discouraged by talk of the death of the book. –Sam Savage, international bestselling author of Firmin and Glass

“Charming, lively, bubbling with anecdote, incident and insight, Wendy Welch’s animated memoir is any reader’s perfect companion. You read this book and feel you’ve made a friend. By turns comic, and thoughtful, The Little Bookstore at Big Stone Gap brims with joie de livre.” --Laura Kalpakian, author of American Cookery and The Memoir Club