What Makes a Book a “Kentucky Book”?
When I first started The Kentucky Bookstore, I thought I had a pretty simple idea. I wanted a bookstore filled with Kentucky books. That sounds easy enough until you actually start deciding what belongs on the shelves. Does the author have to be from Kentucky? Does the story have to take place here? Does Kentucky have to be in the title? What about a novel written by a Kentucky author but set somewhere else? And then there are books about bourbon, horses, true crime, ghosts, local history, Appalachian stories and all the other things that are tied to Kentucky in one way or another.
The longer I have owned The Kentucky Bookstore, the more I have realized that there really isn’t just one way for a book to be a Kentucky book. Sometimes the Kentucky connection is obvious. Other times you have to look a little closer.
Sometimes, it’s the person who wrote it.
One of the things I have enjoyed most about owning the bookstore is discovering just how many wonderful authors we have right here in Kentucky. Before opening the store, I don’t think I realized how many Kentucky authors were out there writing romance, mysteries, historical fiction, fantasy, suspense, true crime and contemporary novels. There are so many of them, and I am constantly finding more.
That is why you will see little “Kentucky Author” labels all over our shelves. A book does not need to have a horse on the cover or be set in a Kentucky town to belong in The Kentucky Bookstore. If it was written by a Kentucky author, that connection matters to me. Supporting Kentucky books and authors has become a very important part of what I want the bookstore to do.
Our Saturday Kentucky author events and book signings have made that even more special. I love being able to introduce readers to writers from around the state, and there is something very different about buying a book after you have actually met the person who wrote it.
Sometimes, Kentucky itself is part of the story.
Then there are the books where Kentucky is more than just where the author happens to live. Kentucky is part of the story itself. These are some of the books I really enjoy finding because the setting becomes part of the experience. Maybe the story takes place in a small Kentucky town, in Louisville or Lexington, somewhere in the Bluegrass, or in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.
There is something fun about reading a story and recognizing the places, the way people talk, or even the kind of characters you have known your whole life. You catch yourself thinking, “I know that place,” or “I know somebody exactly like that.”
For visitors, books set in Kentucky can also be a way to experience a little more of the state than they might see from the highway or on a distillery tour. I especially love when someone traveling through Kentucky comes into the bookstore and discovers a book connected to a place they have just visited. It becomes a little piece of Kentucky they can take home with them.
And then there’s Kentucky true crime.
Kentucky true crime deserves its own section because it has become such a big part of our store. Kentucky true crime books are some of our strongest sellers, and people are fascinated by the cases, mysteries and stories that happened right here in the Commonwealth.
Some of these are famous cases, while others are stories that many people have never heard before. We have books about murders, disappearances, courtroom drama, corruption, organized crime and unsolved mysteries. Every time I think I have found most of the Kentucky true crime books out there, another one seems to appear. Apparently Kentucky has been very busy.
Of course, these are real stories involving real people, and some of them are difficult. But they are part of Kentucky history too, and there is no question that readers are interested in learning more about them.
You can’t talk about Kentucky without talking about bourbon.
Bourbon is another huge part of Kentucky’s story, especially here in Lawrenceburg. We are right in the heart of Kentucky bourbon country, so it makes perfect sense that bourbon books are an important part of the store.
We carry Kentucky bourbon books about bourbon history, famous distilleries, whiskey-making traditions, cocktails, bourbon families and the people who helped build one of Kentucky’s best-known industries. I especially like these books for visitors because a distillery tour gives you one kind of experience, but a good book can take you deeper into the history and the people behind what is in the glass.
For people looking for things to do in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, bourbon is often what brings them here in the first place. But I hope visitors also take some time to explore downtown Lawrenceburg, visit our local businesses and see a little more of the community while they are here. We love meeting people who have come to town for the bourbon experience and then discover our little independent bookstore along the way.
A Kentucky bourbon book also makes a pretty good souvenir. It lasts considerably longer than what’s in the bottle.
Of course, there are the horses.
I don’t think I could possibly open a Kentucky bookstore and leave out the horses. That might get me kicked out of the state.
Kentucky’s connection to horses runs deep, from the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs to Thoroughbred racing, horse farms, breeding and the beautiful Bluegrass horse country that so many people come here to see. So yes, horse books absolutely belong in The Kentucky Bookstore. We carry books about Derby history, famous horses, racetracks, horse racing and the people behind it all.
For visitors, those books may become part of the memories they take home from a Kentucky trip. For those of us who live here, they are simply part of home.
History, hauntings and some wonderfully strange Kentucky stories
This may be one of my favorite parts of the whole store because Kentucky has so many stories. We have local history, Civil War history, Appalachian history, small-town stories, ghost stories, folklore, legends, haunted places, famous Kentuckians and plenty of people most of us have never heard of.
I love finding books that make me stop and think, “How did I not know this happened here?” Those are the books that make browsing fun. I want The Kentucky Bookstore to be the kind of place where someone can walk in looking for one thing and leave with a book about some completely different piece of Kentucky they knew nothing about.
That is also what makes Kentucky books so interesting to me. The state is much bigger than bourbon and horses, even though we love those too. There are strange stories, funny stories, dark stories, family stories and pieces of history tucked into communities all over Kentucky.
So what makes a book a Kentucky book?
At this point, my answer is pretty broad. A Kentucky book might be written by a Kentucky author. It might be set in Kentucky. It might tell a piece of Kentucky history or explore Kentucky bourbon, horses, true crime, folklore, Appalachia, local communities or traditions. Sometimes the Kentucky connection is obvious from across the room, and sometimes you only discover it after you pick up the book and start reading.
When I started The Kentucky Bookstore in downtown Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, I did not want every shelf to look the same. I wanted the store to show just how many different kinds of stories can come from one state. Romance belongs here. Mysteries belong here. True crime belongs here. History belongs here. Ghosts definitely seem to have invited themselves. Bourbon and horses were never going to take no for an answer.
And tucked in among all of those are authors and stories I probably never would have discovered if I had not opened this bookstore. That has been one of the best parts of the whole experience.
So whether you are a local reader, spending the day in Lawrenceburg, traveling through Kentucky bourbon country, or even searching for an independent bookstore near Lexington, Kentucky, I hope you will come in and wander around for a while. Take a closer look at those little shelf tags. You may see “Kentucky Author,” “Kentucky Story,” or another connection you were not expecting.
You never know which Kentucky story is going home with you.
Now I’d love to know: What makes a book feel “Kentucky” to you?
The Kentucky Bookstore is an independent bookstore in downtown Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, featuring Kentucky books, Kentucky authors, local history, Kentucky true crime, bourbon books, horse books, fiction, mysteries and stories connected to the Bluegrass State.