Owners at The Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor and Bay Books in Suttons Bay are keeping Leelanau Peninsula residents stocked with reading material during social distancing. While the shops are closed to foot traffic, both offer shipping, plus free curbside pickup and in-area delivery of book orders.

“During these troubling times I think we all want to stay in and read a book to escape — at least I do,” says The Cottage Book Shop owner Sue Boucher. Call 231-334-4223 for pickup or delivery during regular business hours (Wednesday through Saturday 11am to 4pm and Sunday noon to 4pm) or order books anytime from the shop’s website. Also visit the Facebook page, where Boucher posts times for FaceTime book consultations and virtual shelf-browsing.

Bay Books is receiving orders via phone (231-944-6809), email (baybooksmi@gmail.com), online, through Instagram “and, yes, even on a written piece of paper held up to the door,” says owner Tina Greene-Bevington. Delivery is available within 20 miles of downtown Suttons Bay. “We are delivering every day, since I’ve had some community members step up and offer to help. That’s been a blessing,” says Greene-Bevington.

Both booksellers say they are heartened to have their summer clientele also supporting them right now from afar.

Says Greene-Bevington, “People are calling here from outside the state who have visited the bookstore. It's really quite wonderful that they want to continue to invest in our small community.”

In need of a book recommendation?

From Tina Greene-Bevington of Bay Books:
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. "A mystery thriller that kept me guessing," she says.

The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah Harris. "I learned more about autism and an autistic perception, in this case a child who draws what he senses is happening."

Naamah by Sarah Blake is written and from the perspective of Noah's wife, who continuously questions God.

From Sue Boucher of The Cottage Book Shop:
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel is a creative novel about the economic slump and a Bernie Madoff-type character.

The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel is the third in the historical fiction series about Thomas Cromwell, beginning with the death of Anne Boleyn

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Ann Fowler is a page-turner about a neighborhood that has a racial incident when a new family moves in.

Writers & Lovers by Lilly King, follows a young woman as she tries to support herself and become the published writer she has always dreamed of being