As natural devotees of the written word, our editors have long watched for signs of life in Southwest Florida’s indie bookstore landscape. While MacIntosh Books + Paper has anchored Sanibel since the 1960s and Sunshine Booksellers has held a steady presence on Marco Island, the scene across the region has been thin. Now, that picture is shifting. MacIntosh, which was flooded during Hurricane Ian, has reopened at a new location on the island. In Fort Myers, Blinking Owl Books—first opened in 2021 in Arcadia—has rebuilt after multiple storms and now operates out of a charming location off Colonial Boulevard. And in Naples, Books on Third debuted in October, a polished new arrival in a prime retail corridor.
Each shop offers its own reason to linger, while proving the enduring allure of the local bookstore. These are places where titles are chosen by someone you can talk to, shelves mix national bestsellers with local voices and the calendar turns reading into something more communal. “We love being a place where people can find each other,” says Blinking Owl owner Lucile Perkins-Wagel. Here, our team shares what they love about these new and returned literary outposts.
Books on Third
Upstairs from Ridgway Bar & Grill on Third Street South, Books on Third feels considered from the moment you walk in—emerald bookcases line the walls, tables stack with a mix of new releases and local titles. Best friends Lindsay Smith and Shan O’Fee-Byrom opened the shop last fall, bringing in Tennessee design firm Franklin Fixtures, the team behind the bookstore set in 1998 rom-com You’ve Got Mail, for custom shelving.
The Naples Press arts and entertainment columnist Harriet Heithaus points to the children’s section as a standout for finding gifts for littles. Kids walk through a door under a thatched roof to find their dedicated corner, where sky blue shelves frame recurring story times and signings.
Photography by Anastasia Walborn
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Best friends Lindsay Smith and Shan O’Fee-Byrom’s Books on Third brings a thoughtful, design-forward touch to Third Street South, with custom shelving, coastal design nods and a curated mix of new and local titles.
“We wanted it to be a special place where there were surprises around every corner,” Shan says. They worked with Bonita Springs-based Freestyle Interiors to incorporate subtle coastal details—painted shell assemblages from local artist Dora Knuteson and seashell sconces evoke the shore.
MacIntosh Books + Paper
In 2017, longtime Sanibel resident Rebecca Binkowski became the fifth owner of the island’s 66-year-old MacIntosh Books + Paper. After Hurricane Ian flooded the store, she temporarily operated out of Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers until reopening about a year later.
MacIntosh functions as a community archive. Alongside bestsellers, the shelves lean into Sanibel’s history, environmental writing, and authors like Randy Wayne White and early conservationist Griffing Bancroft. The store’s book club, run with the island’s library, centers on regional titles, including Charles LeBuff’s Sanybel Light. “It’s a great opportunity to meet people and introduce them to the Sanibel way of life,” Rebecca says.
Gulfshore Life editor in chief Stephanie Granada points to Rebecca as the draw. “One of the best parts of going to a local bookstore is being able to ask for recommendations,” she says. Last summer, she went in looking for the kind of novel you cancel plans for. Rebecca handed her Jess Walter’s So Far Gone. “I finished it in three sittings,” Stephanie says.
Photography by Omar Cruz
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Regional titles fill the reading lists of MacIntosh Books + Paper’s library-run book club.
Blinking Owl Books
After serving in the Air Force for seven years, Lucile ‘Lucy’ Perkins-Wagel realized her oath to protect the country includes her community. She’s shaped Blinking Owl Books to combat rising book bans and censorship. “I very strongly believe that [it’s] everybody’s right to decide for themselves what they read,” she says.
Forced to shutter twice due to storm damage—first with Ian and then Helene and Milton—Lucy moved to a yellow bungalow, off Colonial Boulevard, in 2024. Arts editor Emma Witmer loves the shop’s bohemian atmosphere. “The whole space feels inviting—cozy chairs and book nooks in every corner, a slight smell of incense in the air, music crackling through an old-school phonograph,” she says.
Lucy fills the shelves with new and used fantasy romance, historical fiction and LGBTQ+ titles. Poetry and journaling workshops, artist talks and ‘vibes’-based book clubs (themes like “sparkling historical romance” and “spooky ’90s mystery”) round out the offerings. “It’s about having a safe space in your community where you can see yourself on our shelves,” Lucy says.
In a community of intellectuals, independent bookstores like these mark a meaningful movement in which people—not computer-formatted algorithms—determine what we are going to read next.
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Photography by Anastasia Walborn
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At Fort Myers’ Blinking Owl Books, cozy corners, handmade crafts and the crackle of an old-school phonograph set the stage for literary discoveries.
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Photography by Anastasia Walborn
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