The Book & Nook, a Latina and woman-owned indie bookstore in Warwick, hosted its one-year anniversary with a celebration on August 24. The day featured book signings from local authors Amy S. Culter for A Shadow of Love, poet (and regular Chronogram contributor) J.R. Solonche, Nicole Allegretti for The Little Bird Who Learned Her Faith, Julia Lora for A Town Called Iris, romance novelist Mike Geraghty, and Ray Boswell for The Music in the Bread. Customers steadily flowed in and out of the shop, cozy with hardwood flooring and book-lined brick walls.
“I was on the brink of tears all day—tears of happiness,” says owner Candace Rivera. “It was a nice opportunity to thank Warwick for all of their support and their love for us, and also to be able to reach out to those that didn’t know we were here.”
Before opening the store in 2023, Rivera spent a decade working a corporate job in communications and event management with Fortune 500 companies including Expedia Group, KPMG, the Estée Lauder Companies, and Google. Her focus in these roles—whether in the events she programmed or communications she oversaw—was on representation, inclusion, and helping folks to feel seen. When Google laid her off in January 2023, along with 12,000 other employees, rather than feel defeated, Rivera saw it as an opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of owning an independent bookstore.
“It was a terrible thing. That was one of the lowest points in my life, but it ended up being the biggest blessing,” she says. “I realized I have everything at this point in my life, and I want to make my dream come true.” So, she took her corporate background thinking about diversity and inclusion and ran with it in the retail realm.
Before the Book & Nook opened in August 2023, Warwick had been without a bookstore since early 2020, leaving a huge literary gap in town. Living in Orange County for over two decades, Rivera said she was always drawn to Warwick as a place to escape. It was the place for her to go to enjoy cafes, farms, and the arts, so she thought it would be the perfect place to start her own bookstore.
“This town really appreciates books and literature. Every day people say how much they love the library and appreciate all they do,” she says. “I wanted to be part of this community that was already a community of book lovers, and I wanted to be able to offer something everyone would be able to relate to.”
The store has hosted more than 20 events in the last year, including book signings, panel discussions, workshops, storytimes, and small business pop-ups, and has over 2,000 new and used books from authors of all walks of life, ethnicities, orientations, and other identities. That is very intentional, Rivera says. She wants the shelves to represent the community–New York, Orange County, and Warwick.
She gives several recommendations: Funny Story by Emily Henry (adult romance), Merci Suárez Plays It Cool by Meg Medina (children’s book), The Queens’ English, the young readers’ LGBTQIA+ dictionary of lingo and colloquial phrases by Chloe O. Davis, and The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory (adult romance).
Indie Bookstores’ Comeback
Rivera sees herself as a larger resurgence of indie bookstores. According to the Hudson Valley Book Trail, there are over 40 indie bookstores currently in the Hudson Valley, with more popping up yearly. Indie bookstores are bouncing back. This is a responsibility that Rivera doesn’t take lightly. “I’m very intentional when it comes to the events we put on, the books we carry, even the way our social media looks,” she says. “Everything is really intentional because I’m proud to be part of this resurgence of indie bookstores.”
“Indie bookstores are places for the community,” she says. They are places where people can find indie exclusives—versions of books that can’t be found through larger corporations. They offer employment. They’re places where people can get away—they can read, and gather for book clubs. They bring in local published authors, so people don’t have to go far to meet their favorite authors or discover new reads, and as in the case of Book & Nook, bookstores that sell used copies save books from being thrown out and offer them back to the community, Rivera explains.
“Support your indie bookstores,” Rivera urges. “The only reason why we’re still here is because of all of you. We feel so fortunate to be here. I feel excited about the Book & Nook’s future. We’ve accomplished so much in our first year. We’re excited for year two.”
