Riding and reading: Popular Nova Scotian YouTuber launches mobile bookstore
CTV
A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.
On any given day, Ariel Bissett could be driving her Japanese mini-truck across Nova Scotia with Margaret Atwood, Tove Jansson, or Stephen King riding shotgun, along with literal armfuls of other notable authors stuffed in the back. Her list of passengers changes depending on her destination, but the goal is always the same: Putting a good book in someone’s hands.
“I have sports books that aren’t really about sports, they’re about camaraderie and teamwork,” Bissett said. “I have books that will make you want to go outside. I have the best books for bingeing, really exciting plots. I have books about women losing their minds, women who have had it and are starting to rebel.
“I also have books my brother thinks you should read and books my best friend thinks you should read.”
Bissett, who runs a popular YouTube channel with more than 340,000 subscribers, is a voracious reader, a habit she picked up from her parents when she was young. Over the years she has amassed a collection of page-turners that would make any self-professed bookworm proud.
“I read online that if you have over 1,000 books you technically count as a library and I have passed that number,” she said. “I keep adding more shelves to more walls.
“My house is becoming better insulated by all these books.”
Like most lovers of literature, Bissett, who also hosts the Books Unbound podcast, often fantasized about opening her own bookshop. In late 2023 she made a new year’s resolution to turn that dream into a reality and she got to work laying out a plan.
