Looking for some R & R?
Round Trip Readers is a bookstore crawl, but instead of you worrying about driving all over, we’ll take the wheel. You check in, grab coffee, and hop on the bus with us to visit bookstores. We’ll spend about 30 minutes at each bookstore, before heading back to wind down with a bookish craft and optional food and drink.
Each crawl will be a little different and make different stops to let readers visit as many indie bookstores as possible. And we’ll always end back where we started—thus, Round Trip Readers. All you need to do is show up, and probably bring a tote bag.
The Bookish Besties
Jennifer Gibson
Jennifer (of @spillingbookishtea) is a romance reader of every sub-genre, but you can almost always find a monster romance on her “Currently Reading.” She spends most of her time engaged with the book community, whether as a reader and reviewer, or as a designer of bookish goods for authors and readers over at @spiced.blooms! She can’t resist a new machine to make cute book goodies, and if you see her posting about another new one, no you didn’t. She also designs invitation suites and more for weddings through @jenbloom.studio, and lives in Brooklyn Center with her husband, the sassiest daughter around, and two dogs.
Favorite Book of 2025: Behooved by M. Stevenson
Favorite Bookmark Style: I am guilty of the dog-ear as well!
Favorite Local Bookstore: Tropes & Trifles
Ande Motz
Ande’s (@bookmarks_and_backbeats) first love will always be horror, but she’ll never say no to a good book, no matter the genre! Friday nights aren’t the only night you can catch her reading - every night is a good night to open a book and read. Ande hopes to make her bookish besties feel more connected to the story by mixing song recommendations with her book reviews. Want to get a taste of her style? Join her at Uncorked Book Club for a specially curated playlist to match the book. You can find Ande, her partner, and their tuxedo cat reside in Minneapolis.
Favorite Book of 2025: We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
Favorite Bookmark Style: free? Can I say free? Free. Favorite Local Book Store: Comma, A Bookshop
Allie Nelson
Allie (of @Alliesannotation) is a lifelong Fantasy reader. While she technically has a full-time job in software consulting, her primary calling is over-filling her schedule with book events and reading fantasy, romance, and everything in between. She first started engaging in online book spaces in 2022, and dove in with her own accounts in 2023 because she’s terrible at making friends as an adult, and this community helps her manage it! She also serves on the board of a Women in Tech nonprofit, and coaches high school speech and theater. She lives just North of the Twin Cities with her husband and two dogs.
Favorite Book of 2025: Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen
Favorite Bookmark Style: A Dog-Ear (don’t tell anybody, it’s embarrassing)
Favorite Local Bookstore: Birchbark Books