I’ve got a lot to write about but I’m still in a depression and it’s made me into a small damp rag. If I had a normal amount of energy I would have written about my first ketamine session for treatment resistant depression on Friday and about how it was weird as hell but may have given me a few hours of lightness (or was just coincidental) and how this afternoon I’m doing my second session and feel hopeful that maybe it will help. So feeling not great, but still cautiously optimistic.
And if I were more myself I definitely would have written earlier about this bit of amazing news:
NOWHERE BOOKSHOP IS OPENING TODAY!
Seriously, y’all. Established 2019. Finally fucking opening our doors for good (knock on wood) 2021.
We’ve had a few sneak peek Saturdays before but as of two minutes ago we’re oficially open to the public 10-6 Monday – Saturday. This would never have happened without your support. Your emotion support, the support of the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club, the amazing work of Elizabeth Jordan and the fantastic team at Nowhere who I adore and a ton of amazing indie bookshops who have helped in countless ways. Thank you forever.
Technically today should be a grand opening but I’ve always said that I would never go to a grand opening myself because that sounds too peopley so instead we’re going to have a series of bland openings throughout the year and that way you don’t have to worry about missing out and can come whenever you want.
Can’t make it to San Antonio but want to be part of the fun?
WE HAVE YOU COVERED.
Limited edition Bland Opening shirts and hoodies are available now and will ship next month. There are a ton of colors and types and I’ve personally ordered one of each.
And to celebrate I’m giving away Nowhere Bookshop gift cards in the comments. Just leave a comment telling me why you love bookstores or what your favorite book is or anything at all and I’ll randomly select a bunch of you to get $25 gift cards you can use at the store or online. Whoop!
PS. Want to meet the team?
They’re not wearing masks here because we’re all vaccinated but we’ll all be in masks when the doors are open. Better safe than sorry. 🙂 We’re not opening the bar yet but if vaccinations keep going up and cases keep going down that will be the final part of the equation and then I will toast you all with a glass of red wine with ice in it because that’s how I roll.
Come when you can and experience all the amazing surprises we have waiting for you at the store. We’ll be here.
I love bookstores because it is the only store I will willingly be lost in for HOURS. And I’m so happy for you Jenny!!!! Love and boooooooks!!!
I’m so happy it’s finally open! And if I ever travel again, it’s on my must visit list.
If I travel again, because travel was scary before covid. Now? Yeah ….
Also: fave book is currently everything by T. Kingfisher because Ursula is amazing and it’s the perfect escape in trying times 🙂
I love bookstores because books are where I always go to dream. Stories are my happiness and I love the places that house them.
Bookstores are awesome because they are full of books. Books I didn’t know I needed but I did. And bonus…they contain other people who love books.
Best luck for treatment 2.
My favorite book remains To Kill a Mockingbird.
When I was a kid in Sonoma, CA we had an independent bookstore that we would go to called Reader’s Books. I’ve gone back any time I go back and visit and it is just as magical now as it was when I was little. I used to save my allowance and they would order books I couldn’t get enough of at the library. There’s something about discovering new books at the store!
My all time favorite book is The Blue Castle!
I love that the tag is “Can’t Wait To Me You”! I’m excited to me you, too.
Bookstores are my paradise! Seriously, all I ask from life is bookstores, books, and coffee. I love them!
Bookshops make me feel seen. 🙂
I love all bookstores, but especially indie bookstores, because they just have a certain vibe that resonates with me. I can’t even imagine how amazing Nowhere will be! Road trip to San Antonio definitely in my future. And Congrats – what an accomplishment!
My favorite book remains To Kill a Mockingbird. Always.
I’m so excited for you all, congratulations! I love bookstores because I love stories, and it’s very satisfying to be in close proximity to so many different stories at once.
SO HAPPY FOR YOU! My favorite book, which everyone should read DESPITE that stupid “Middlemarch kills book clubs” thing from a few years back, is, obviously, “Middlemarch”. Seriously, people, lose yourself in this terrific book!
I wish nothing but great sucess for you! Bookstores are my favorite place to be. You can escape from the world outside and find a new world to dive into.
Yay! This is so exciting!! I love bookstores because some of my happiest childhood memories are of getting lost in our local indie bookstore. ❤️
I love bookshops for the wonderful smell, for cozy little corners where I sneak peeks at books I might want to buy, for the possibilities. I would LOVE, LOVE a gift card to Nowhere Books! Please and thank you!
Aww Congratulations!!! So glad this is finally happening. Hope the Ketamine treatments help also! <3
Wish I lived closer so I could visit your store. Will you be in the store on a daily basis Jenny?
I love bookstores and getting lost in a story. I wish I could get a shirt, but I’m in the middle of moving and don’t have a new place to live/address yet.
I want a shirt! Yay!
My hometown needs a cool indie bookstore! Huzzah for SATX and Nowhere! Next time I’m in town, you’ll be my second stop, after Taco Cabana!
Yay! I can’t wait to visit. Ordering my new bland shirt now. 🤩
The best part of book stores is the fragrance of books when you walk in. Then walking around and seeing endless worlds I can dive inside. It’s see o hard to choose but so worth the journey.
Hoping you feel better soon Jenny
CONGRATULATIONS on the actual, real, final, true, and this-is-really-it opening.
And I hope you are feeling better soon.
I LOVE BOOKSTORES BECAUSE I love actual BOOKS, not virtual digital stuff. And in bookstores they let me stay as long as I like and browse all I want and sit down on a chair or even the floor and read all I want before I buy a book. Bookstores are necessary and wonderful.
I love bookstores because I forget how to exist efficiently in public when I’m inside one. I can waste so much time, or at least I could in the pre-pandemic era. I’m learning how to do it again now that I’m vaccinated. Congrats on the bland opening!
I can’t wait to take a trip from Houston to visit!
I love bookstores, because being in them is the only time I can forget a little bit about being depressed! LOVE AND BOOKS!
I love bookstores because they feel so calm and peaceful. The new book smell is a comfort as well!
Love that bookstore book SMELL. Theres nothing else quite like it! 😍
There is just something about the smell of books. I love it. Wondering bookstores is just so magical. You can find yourself anywhere at anytime. My favorite escape.
Congrats on the bland opening!
Congratulations Jenny! I’m so excited for you! My favourite books are many, but the one I’m currently re-reading for the 20th time is Jane Eyre <3 Be safe, and I hope you feel more like yourself soon!
I am very excited!!! We drove by Nowhere on my birthday, but you weren’t open yet. Bookstores are my favorite stores. I love the smell of books, and the feel of books in my hands. Plus, in a bookstore you can browse through as many worlds as you want, and have the time to choose just the right one.
I love bookstores because I can escape from the real world every time I walk through the front door. There’s so much to look at, and find new treasures to bring home.
And that new book smell is addicting.
I love bookstores because of the intoxicating smell of all the fresh, new books. Nothing like it. So happy for you as you finally get to open your doors!
I’m unreasonably excited on your behalf for this! Congratulations to you and the whole team.
I listen to the Outlander books over and over again so I suppose they’re my favorites. I also love the older Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs books. This year I’ve loved The Midnight Library and Addie LaRue.
Thank for sharing your struggles and laughs with us. Until I found your writing, I thought I was the only one and it was somehow my fault. I want to be you when I grow up, the fact that you are younger is irrelevant. I know you still struggle, but you inspire so many of us.
I so wish I were closer!! I’d come check out your Bland Opening. Going to check out & order a shirt. Pretty sure my favorite book “store” is the library because it’s free. I love the smells. Yeah, I’m weird like that.
Congratulations on your first Bland Opening!!!
I love bookstores because I love discovering something new to read. 😊
I love bookstores because they’re my happy place. There’s one near me in northern Wisconsin, and no matter how my day is going, it’s always made exponentially better when I walk in that used bookstores and peruse the shelves. I always find some weird treasure that I never knew I wanted, whether it’s an old Joyce Carol Oates book or a book on Kansas folklore.
I love bookstores because books are everything good. And sometimes they have cats.
Congratulations on the bland opening!! Can’t wait to see it in person someday. ❤️
Bookstores are actually where you buy portals to other places and times, and the only things better are libraries!
Congratulations to you and the entire staff! It has to have to been a ton of work to get to this point, but I know that having Nowhere to go to (one day) has never sounded better. Books need people to love them in order to make them live and I can’t think of a better place.
As for depression, I lost one of my beloved cats last week and that has combined with the ongoing pandemic struggles and uncertainty I was already trying to manage. This announcement is a bright spot where I haven’t had many in the last few days and as always, the needed reminder that depression lies. I hope some of these comments provide you with a bright spot of two.
I wish you the best of luck with your treatment this afternoon. Thank you for being you and sharing with us.
I love independent bookstores because they allow me to get books I borrowed from the library and must have – and I am not supporting Jeff Bezos by using the independent folks. Too many books that I love, but I’m enjoying Station Eleven right now, and after reading the Southern Book Club Guide to Slaying Vampires recommended by Strangelings, I have gone on to love Grady Hendrix and Horrorstor and Final Girls Support Group, with My Best Friend’s Exorcism next.
My favorite authors are Anne Tyler, Edith Wharton – and Shirley Jackson. An odd combo but it sums me up. Hope your depression goes soon. Love your posts! – Rusty
I currently have 14 books in a “to read” pile. They’re my emotional support books. Congratulations Jenny!
Bookstores are my happy place. So many stories just waiting for me to read and get lost in, I can’t decide and can spend hours and hours in there. So glad you are finally opening the store. Someday when I’m in town I hope to visit. Do take care of yourself and I hope the ketamine works well for you!
Books are magic and you are a hero. 🙂 My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to San Antonio specifically so I can visit Nowhere this fall!
I love bookstores because they sell books. I quite like books. Possibly more than I should, considering that we have had to move to bigger apartments twice now, because we ran out of space for the bookshelves.
No, we never give books away. Don‘t ask, I get upset.
I would really love to visit Nowhere bookshop, but unfortunately there are a few things in the way. The Atlantic Ocean, for example, and a lot of continent, and also the travel restrictions…
I love bookstores because its like walking into a story and feeling all the magical potential wrap you up in a hopeful hug!
I love the smell of bookstores. But I also love that they are safe spaces. The first time I read a Leonard Cohen poem was in a bookstore with chairs spread about. I sat in a chair and cried. Then bought the book.
Yay!!! I love bookstores! And libraries! And books! And coffee! And … I may be too caffeinated right now for internetting.
Well, I HAVE to get one of those shirts. 😉 — I love bookstores because they are my happy place; a quiet oasis in a sea of craziness. Also, they smell nice. 🙂
I used to run the cooperative, community independent bookstore here in Ithaca, NY and am so glad you all survived the pandemic and are re-opening TODAY for regular hours. What a triumph! Now, like you, I stay home and write because… people. But, yay! Bookstores!
I love the atmosphere of a book store, you know your next adventure is in one of those books just waiting for you to find it. I live a few hours away from SA, I can’t wait to visit.
Bookstores are my happy place, even if it’s just wandering around for a few minutes before I have to be somewhere else. Congrats on opening! I ordered my shirt – can’t wait to wear it to my local bookstore.
My favorite bookstores are the independent shops piled high with old favorites, new finds, and treasures you never knew you needed until you spot them…shops with comfy chairs and coffee and wandering felines, even a cobweb or two. If I ever get back to San Antonio (I was there once, a hundred years ago), it will be to visit Nowhere.
I am so excited for this!! Already planning a road trip to SA in August 💖 Keeping my fingers crossed your session today goes well!
I love bookstores because it was my way of getting out of my house, when feeling particularly depressed or “lumpy”, to socialize without necessarily having to actually socialize. It was also where my husband and I had our first date. We went on a tour of small bookstores. I have two favorite books: “Alice in Wonderland” and “Letters to a Young Poet.”
Bookstores are like crack to me! If I loved crack, that is. Glad you’re finally opening!
Congrats!!! This is amazing and I am so very happy for you! I can’t wait to visit one day. ❤️
I’m in a terrible wave of depression right now too.
But I do love the way bookstores smell and all the possibilities to learn, that are right in front of me.
I love bookstores because they are filled with possibilities, all these awesome things to read and learn from. It’s also a place where I can be genuinely passionate about the books I love without judgement.
My husband actually proposed to me in the romance section of a bookstore. He said he wanted to go to the bookstore with me for the rest of his life. I will always love bookstores.
I wanted to be a writer because I love books and bookstores and libraries SO MUCH. There’s an independent bookstore in Columbus, OH called “Cover to Cover” that focuses on kids’ books and the first time I went in the store I wept with joy. Some of my favorites: For MG: The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg. The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt; ALL of Rebecca Stead’s books. Most of Kate DiCamilla’s books. YA – Rainbow Rowell! Meg Medina! SO MANY MORE.
I love independent bookstores because it’s the only kind of store that wants to know me better in order to get me
I love bookstores but sadly haven’t visited one in ages because funds don’t allow for the purchase of books (oh and that covid thing). Loyal library patron these days. I’ve LOVE a gift card to actually purchase a book or two for a change!
I love old bookstores because you never know what you’ll find!
Congratulations!!!!
oH OH OH what a treat for Austin!! bookstores are my favorite place to wander and shop and shop!! Have fun, your new staff looks GREAT. Love, me
I would love a gift card! Books are literally my favorite thing and I have not been without one since I learned how to read. Favorite book of all time is Little Women.
I love the smell of bookstores! I can’t wait to visit when I’m in San Antonio in November!
We’re coming down from Austin today! We try to find independent bookstores whenever we travel somewhere, because I have a book problem, and also, bookstores are better than other stores. So happy we’re finally to this day!
I love wandering through a bookstore, picking things up and flipping through. It’s just not the same ordering books online. You have to vaguely know ahead of time what you’re looking for online.
I’m so excited for you! If I ever decide to visit my relatives in Texas, I will make them come to your store. Is it anywhere near them? I have exactly zero idea. But we will be going.
My favorite book, right now, is The Invisible Life of Addie Larue. However, this changes almost constantly.
I’m so excited for you! I can’t wait to be able to be there in person! 💜💜💜
I cannot wait to come visit! My hubs and I are trying to plan a long weekend to San Antonio this fall. We had intended to come visit last April but well…
I adore book stores and would love to work in one (ESPECIALLY Nowhere) but the point of working is to bring home a paycheck and all I’d bring home is books!!! So happy for you Jenny and sending good vibes that you feel yourself again. Thanks for letting us in on your life and thanks for the Fantastic Strangelings book club! Looking forward to seeing how the bland opening goes!
I walked into my mall’s book store when I was 11 years old. Without realizing it a couple of hours had passed and a most serene and peaceful feeling came over me. I found myself missing that feeling and that mall bookstore. Especially during the Plague Times when my local used bookstore closed and the peace and comfort it brought. Im so glad to read about Nowhere Bookstore and one day buying a book there. Thank You Jenny and your team.
💖📖💛
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! I am *so damn happy for you* I could just cry. But I won’t because that seems oppositional to the theme. I love bookshops because books are the best way to get lost, and working in bookshops was my fave job (but that was practically a lifetime ago, before Amazon, when bookstores were a bit more common). [giant long-distance vaccinated introvert hugs]
I love bookstores partly because they remind me of the tiny neighborhood library where I spent many happy hours as a child. I look forward to visiting NOWHERE!
I love bookstores because that’s where the books are. (My library tossed half their supply to make way for computer banks. BAH!)
And hang in there, J, you’ll feel better soon.
Omg someone else drinks red wine with ice. I knew I liked you!
Bookstores are a safe haven and a playground for my brain. They are my happy place. Even though I live in Ohio, I love your bookstore and the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club for giving me a bright spot in these dark times. Hopefully someday in the future I will get to travel to your amazing store in person.
Bookstores. My favorite store. Where I can lose myself in possibilities, new worlds, new experiences, and learn about anything. And the best part? The smell of books.
I can’t pick a favorite book. That’a like asking me to pick my favorite movie or song or child.
Congrats! Been loving the book club books throughout this pandemic. Our girls trip was interrupted first by 9/11 and then the redo was supposed to be end of 2019. Thanks to covid, cancelled again. Next trip to San Antonio this fall. Guess which bookstore is on the list to visit?? 🙂
Congratulations! Book stores and Libraries are my happiest of happy places. How wonderful that you get to own one!!! I will definitely visit when I’m in that area of the world.
My favorite books are the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, especially Night Watch.
I love bookstores, and my favorite book is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Oh shit bookshops comment.. I love there is a place in the world where there is literally something for everyone (even if they don’t realize it).
I love bookstores because they open infinite worlds to lose myself in!
Plus they smell good.
I’m sorry about your depression yet excited to hear about your store opening. While my son is at “Fish Camp” for TAMU, I’m driving over to see your store NO MATTER WHAT. If “my baby” is going to go 13 hours away from home for college, I can be brave and go 3 more hours to see your store windows.
I love bookstores the most! Since I live on Panama and we don’t have a book store in Boquete I can pretend I’m at Powells book store in Portland Oregon again or I can go to our biblioteca in town and dream. Care for yourself and be well, baby girl!
I love bookstores because books have always felt like old friends waiting to take me somewhere better. More hopeful. Lenore egalitarian.
Also, we have loved ordering the House Cat Kits for our friends kids. It’s been our go to birthday present. We’ve ordered three for very different kids ranging from reluctant to voracious readers…and they have all been perfect and magical. Our reluctant reader is begging for an entire series after one of his house cat books introduced him and he put down his video games to read for the first time ever.
I love bookstores even more than libraries because, duh, you get to keep the books forever. It’s like being surrounded by great friends at all times with the bonus that they never get in your face… 🤣📖
I live in the vast desert of Palm Springs. We have ONE bookstore in the entire Coachella valley! All the others have closed over the years and I wonder what that says about “us”. Thank gawd the PS Public Library created a borrowing program over the past year. Very cool your store will be blandly opening. I have to say my favorite book might be “I Know This Much is True” by Wally Lamb. Might be time for a reread. Books have kept me (mostly) sane this last year and a half. Books and wine…
I love bookstores and during the pandemic it was the only place I felt comfortable going out to. There’s something magical about roaming the shelves and stumbling on a new read.
One of my favorite books I’ve read recently is the Midnight Library
Bookstores are amazing places to find an adventure. My personal favorite books is By the River Piedra, I sat down and Wept from Paulo Coelho.
Jenny, So happy for you and the Nowhere staff to FINALLY be opening the store for REAL!
As a bookstore owner myself, I favor bland openings and re-opened my bookstore on July 1, after 470 days of being closed due to COVID.
Wishing you all the best in sales and success, that customers find the way to your doors, and that you are able to celebrate it all with a free spirit without depression weighing you down.
I think of a bookstore as palace of treasures. Congratulations on the store opening up. I hope y’all do very well.
I don’t know why it anonymized my reply (#78) – I logged in? ANYway…
Bookstores are the best stores. I used to work at B.Dalton Bookseller during high school. It was the best job I ever had. I love bookstores because they are filled with treasures.
Best book store ever is The Provincetown Book Store. If all the kids behaved while camping, you got to pick out a new book for the 5 hr ride home.”The Long Secret”, The Teddy Bear Habit”, “Narnia” or “In Spite Of Terror”, Dover coloring books came from there. All still read and treasured. And now by the next generation!
Now we use The Book Barn or R.J. Julia’s in CT. Not much better than a book store to wander and find new friends.
I love bookstores because they are so much more than places to buy books. They are communities. They are gateways to other worlds. They are a refuge. They are all the things.
You say the FSBC helped, but the books you chose for the Strangelings helped me make it through this weird-ass past year. As well as a drinking, make-your-own-pegasus Zoom party. And just you and the shop in general. And the friends I made in line at your last book tour, with whom I want to actually physically come to Nowhere. And the “bland opening” which gave me a much-needed laugh.
Love independent bookstores and a favorite one exists in what is probably my favorite novel—The Shadow of The Wind.
I live just outside of SA and can’t wait to visit the store! I love bookstores, the smell of books is so unique and somehow comforting, to me. And it’s so reassuring to know there are still people out there like me, who like to see, feel and touch the warm pages of a real book.
Congrats to you!!!
My favorite book is The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.
it’s shopping, but it’s also quiet, and never rushed. I’ve never just popped into a bookstore to just pick up one thing. It’s a take your time look around experience. it’s a memory. Here’s your old favorite, and look here’s something new by the same author! Remember that book you loved as a kid, here it is for your nieces birthday! maybe you should buy one for yourself too…..
I love bookstores because they’re comforting and exciting at the same time. They’re probably the only kind of stores that don’t give me anxiety because making decisions about whether you need a new book is always simple. Also the people are quiet and keep to themselves. Bookstores are windows to your next adventure:)
Oh wow this is exciting! Maybe one day I’ll actually make it to Texas to visit!
I’ve never met an indie bookstore that I haven’t liked. Any time I travel, I find out if there are any bookstores in the area and I visit. I have accumulated bookstore paraphernalia from all over the US and some other countries. I like to collect local ghost stories and folklore from the places I visit. I have yet to visit the Nowhere Bookshop, but I did order books from you earlier this year. I hope to visit San Antonio and the Nowhere Bookshop in the near future.
Congratulations!!! I’m near Houston, so I will be making a pilgrimage to see you soon. Invite Caitlin Moran, too, so we can all become foul-mouthed instant best friends!!!
I love bookstores for many reasons, but a big one is the smell. I love the smell of new books!
I love bookstores because only sociopaths hate bookstores and my favorite local hangout is Changing Hands in Tempe, AZ – where I saw you just a few years ago! Congrats, Jenny. xo
I am so excited that your doors are now open! Can’t wait to read your latest book!
Yay congrats Jenny! I recently went to my local bookstore with some friends, and the chill hanging out was so lovely! Glad for reopening bookstores 🙂
Yay! Can’t wait to visit in October!
CONGRATS!!!! Your dream is truly now a reality! See what happens when you dream big. I cannot possibly choose just one book, but one of all time favorites is A Prayer for Owen Meany.
Hooray for Nowhere! I’m a Strangeling and I want to thank you and Elizabeth and anyone else who helped for all the fun I’ve had (and will keep having) with the book club! I keep thinking about The Bone Shard Daughter and I just can’t wait until there are more books in that series. Congrats! You’ve done an amazing thing here.
I love bookstores because I walk in and smell the books and I can just feel my entire body relax. All of the books on the shelves are possibilities of finding new favorite stories!
I LOVE bookstores because they are the ultimate train station, airport, gateway to traveling this world and beyond. How else can you live multitudes of lives in one lifetime? Bookstores and libraries have always felt like home to me. That’s probably why I seek them out whenever I travel.
Right now I am watching a rainbow in the Matanuska Valley of Alaska and drinking coffee, I have already stunned any of my daughter’s neighbors and been outside with my camera oooohing and aaahing and dancing in my bright yellow M&M pj pants and Stewart tartan shirt…I love that your store is finally open and I have a visit on my bucket list. When I return to Iowa and reality, I will continue to hope I can be there one day! Thanks for helping me to remember just how amazing life can be! You rock, Jenny! Hugs to the entire gang!
There is the coolest bookstore in Columbus, Ohio called the Book Loft. It has 32 rooms! It’s cozy and cool and honestly just a cool place to check out if you love books and make it to Ohio. Bookstores are great because they are a place for dreamers and readers to get lost and found again.
https://www.bookloft.com/tour-store
I love bookstores, and I especially love bookstores with a bar! Any chance you can open a branch in Pittsburgh‽
I love the way bookstores smell. It’s relaxing and exciting at the same time. Choosing one favorite book is very hard for me, so I’ll default to my favorite authors: Austen, Wodehouse, TR Pearson.
Congratulations on the bland opening!!! My favorite book is The Stand by Stephen King but most any of his make my top 100 list!
I’m so happy for you!! Congratulations, and may all your “bland openings” go well. I tell everyone I know who asks for book recommendations about you and your books, especially Broken. That one is very close to my heart ❤️.
A lifetime ago I used to run a bookstore. My most fav time was just before opening. Before the lights were switched on and the cool quiet filled with shadows and smells of books that people would love. It’s showtime, best of luck Nowhere bookshop, we are rooting for you!
My husband is planning on attending the American Library Association’s midwinter conference next year (we’re both librarians). When he found out that it would be held in San Antonio, he started plotting out a visit to your shop. I’m glad that you’re finally open and that he’ll hopefully have the chance to visit in person. I’ll try to get out there eventually.
Yasss, Queen!
ah all sounds good. I am also v depressed.. Mainly work related. You have a lot going for you so chin up.. I am reading a charming book by Doris Lessing called on cats. A real magnificent author and with depth.
Best wishes
jc
As I was growing up libraries and book stores were my safe place. Walking into a small bookstore hits differently than B&N. The smells, the people and whispering of sounds. I love San Antonio and the opening of the book store puts it at the top of my travel list. I love your writing and am excited for all that’s on the horizon for you. ❤
Why do I love bookstores? BOOKS! More than I can ever possibly read but endless possibilities!
I love Indy bookstores because they are full of my people. I love talking books & recommendations with complete strangers. You are one of my favorite people. Best of luck with treatment and the bland openings!
Bookstores are far superior to sliced bread, or any food stuff with the exception of coffee, which without a book bought at a bookstore, is not that great anyway.
Bookstores make me happy because they have so many doorways to new places. My current favorite book is The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune
I love bookstores because they’re calm, quiet, and make me feel like I can do absolutely any and everything. They give me hope, empathy, and help me sympathize with others. More importantly it’s the only place where I feel invisible and truly seen at the same time.
Way back on 2019 our company conference was supposed to be in San Antonio. I was only going to go so I could go to Nowhere. Hoping it gets rescheduled someday or I’ll have to get on a plane and come to San Antonio myself. Thank you for sharing your bookstore with and for the book club. It’s been a luxury and a lifesaver.
I’ve never met an indie bookstore that I haven’t liked. When I travel, I always look for an indie bookstore to visit. I have accumulated bookstore paraphernalia from all over the US and other countries. I love to find local ghost stories or folklore books as “souvenirs” of the places I visit. I have quite a collection. I look forward to visiting San Antonio, with my first stop being the Nowhere Bookshop. I ordered books from Nowhere earlier this year, and I was a kid in a candy shop when they arrived. Congratulations on your Bland Openings!!
This is amazing, congratulations!!!
I am so happy for you and the team to finally get to these bland openings! It’s been great to watch the whole journey. So so proud ❤️
Bookstores are my favorite because there’s something for everyone. No matter what you’re into, there’s a book about it!
Congrats! This is so exciting! My favorite book has been Pride and Prejudice since I was 15, reading it for the second time between sessions at cheer camp while daydreaming about Colin Firth.
My first favorite book was Charlotte’s Web. There have been hundreds of other “favorites” since, but that one will always be on the top 10 list. And I agree that bookstores are the bomb.
I love independent bookstores because my mom, sister and I run one! We don’t have a storefront though, we do popup events and web sales. And I don’t need a gift card, I just wanted to say welcome to the indie bookstore family. <3 I can't wait to shop in your store the next time I visit my TX friends!
Bookstores (and libraries) are my safe place. ❤
Congratulations on your opening! Ride the wave, Jenny.
I had planned to come to my birthplace of San Antonio for a milestone birthday, but that effing virus decided I wouldn’t have that pleasure. I hope to visit your store when I finally get down there.
I love bookstores because unless you’ve read ALL the books (which, to be fair IS the goal), then every time you go it’s like having the chance to walk through a million doorways to some great new place. Books are life. 🙂
I’m so happy you are opening! Just read Project Hail Mary and I highly recommend!
Bookstores and libraries are my absolute favorite places to be. If I were one of the kids from “The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler” I would have totally hidden out in a library, rather than the Met.
Rooting for your victory over depression.My all time favorite read is Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove. But I will also crawl through the mud for anything by Stephen King.
Bookstore are far superior to any food stuff with the exception of coffee, which without a book From a bookstore, is not all that great anyway.
Your bookstore WITH A BAR ?!?!? That can entice me to brave a peopley scene, as that’s kinda how I envision heaven 🤗
There is no one else I would want to support more, because I know after following you for years how you pay it forward. Also I know you would never shame me for falling so far behind in book reading,
Can’t wait to visit! I love indies specifically because they reflect the towns they’re in! Can’t wait to see what your SA indie is like!
Bookstores and Libraries have always been my safe place! I could travel as a kid, and now as an adult, to mysterious lands! I love the smell of books, and the feel of the books weight in my hand. So happy your bookstore is opening; we need more small bookstores and lovers of books in the world.
I’m hoping to come visit one day! I’ve never been to Texas and I’m terrified of planes…but I’m going to try!!
I so happy it’s finally opened! Bookstores and books are my favorite escape from reality. (Besides wine of course)
I’m current for reading Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff, it’s truly an amazing read.
I love bookstores because it’s just so much possibility. I love touching the books, I love browsing sections for a title I may not have otherwise found, I love the smell of books… it’s been over a year since I’ve been in a bookstore and I miss it so much!
This is all such a wonderful news! It’s so exciting to see your dream becoming a reality. I love bookstores because they are usually full of people who love to read and think and talk about things that matter to them. They are full of new worlds and familiar ones. I am wishing you all every success.
I Love Bookstores, here in my town we have Village Books. If I ever visit Austin I would be sure to visit your store because it looks amazing! I adore the idea of a bland opening, I am not so much a people person anymore. I’m hoping that your new treatment works so you will feel more you.
Traveling to Texas in the fall and you can bet I will show up at Nowhere with bells on!! can’t wait – congratulations on persevering and getting to open your doors!! <3
The best book I have read in a really long time was The Starless Sea. It is living in my mind all the dang time. & my favorite thing about bookstores is staff recommendations with notes that let you see who the staff truly are at heart. ❤️
I love the bland openings idea because anything too peopley makes me run (or walk quickly) in the opposite direction! Bookstores: I love the smell of books and I can spend hours reading book descriptions. It is always very tough to choose what to buy.
Don’t make me pick a favorite book because I find that impossible! 😂
Congratulations! I am so excited to see your dream come to full fruition. Hope the ketamine treatments kick in and that your brain stops fighting and lying to you you so you can enjoy finally reaching this goal. You are so inspiring! I have lots and lots and lots of books I adore but my favorite book was the first book I remember receiving as a child “The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles” which was written by Julie Andrews. 🙂
I love bookstores because they provide a silent, warm, comfortable please to be alone. I love pursuing the shelves looking for the perfect book to cuddle up with. No kindles here, I want the real thing!
Congrats!!! I hope one day I can step foot in the door and stay a few million hours. My favorite thing about bookstores is the possibility of new adventures. You never know which one will come home with you. Also, the smell. I love the smell and feel of used books so I hope you have a used book section.
I moved here during the pandemic and your book club and the promise of this bookstore saved my soul and sanity. Thank you!
I’ve been wanting to go back to San Antonio for years. Now I have a compelling reason. Has now been added to my bucket list.
I liked the video getting to meet the team and seeing everyone pop out with their book pics 🙂 Made me smile.
I moved here at the beginning of the pandemic and your bookstore/book club saved me! Thank you.
Congratulations, Jenny! I’m so jealous of everyone who will get to be “in-person”! There are few places that I love more than bookstores, and I’m pretty sure Nowhere would top the list.
I love books and I love Jenny. I’m currently reading Harry Potter out loud to my son for the first time and it’s all the feels.
Bookstores are so quiet and cozy. They give me the feeling of peace and contentness (yes I have invented a word). I love the smell of new books too..and large numbers of them together in a store!
Bookstores allow you to travel (for a fraction of the cost of booking a trip) to real and fictional places with real and fictional characters that have the ability to change your outlook, perhaps even change your life within the space of your mind. The possibilities are endless.
The book I often recommend to people is Mitch Albom’s work “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” to show that one life impacts so many others and we rarely realize the little stuff can be big stuff to others along the way.
Best wishes! Hope to get to Nowhere and see your space.
This brought me so much joy!!!! And now a very very very good reason for a road trip!!!
Congratulations! Bookstores are THE BEST!! The smell of paper, the promise of a new book, the excitement of discovering a new author. Love me some bookstores!
So exciting! We’ll be excited for you until you can properly feel it! Love bookstores, but my first love has always been libraries. Still, there’s nothing like wandering through a bookstore, finding old friends, meeting new ones– sometimes even meeting people! 🙂
Congratulations! Book stores are awesome! I have been a librarian for 20 years and will always love and encourage reading.
I love bookstores because I love books. Simple as that.
This is so exciting!! Congratulations on your bland opening!! I love the smell of book stores and libraries!! I read primarily vampire porn, but really anything that has a great title or interesting artwork on the front!!
Congratulations on opening! Your blog has been a light in the dark for me for years and I hope your own light gets jiggled back on soon. I love bookstores because of the good kind of overwhelming feeling of being surrounded by an infinity of ideas and thoughts and stories. xx
I love bookstores because time stands still there and I get lost in them (in a good way). Also, unlike other retail stores, there’s ALWAYS something worthwhile to buy!
I love bookstores the way I love thrift stores. I can hunt for hours and touch everything and I often find a deeply personal treasure. My favorite book right now is The Handmaid’s Tale. I just started the TVseries after reading the book years ago and I am a bit obsessed.
Books provide an alternate reality when I need an escape- it’s that simple. Bookstores for the win! Congratulations!
So….stinking….excited!!! And it’s ok if you’re not because we all are on your behalf. Promise.
Tucked away in a corner of old town Eureka is a small slightly dusty old bookstore. It’s one room filled to all of its nooks and corners, contains everything you could ever want. I love that store. I love the excitement I feel poking my head in, wondering what I’m going to find. I love the cup of coffee I’m carrying so carefully. And I really love touching the spinners of all those books. I don’t have favorite shelves, there are just too many places to go filled with too many new mysterious lives.
Every trip we take includes a visit to a bookstore. It’s a wonderful way to get a feel for the place. Some favorites: The Book Lady in Savannah, The Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino, Jackson St. Booksellers in Omaha and – I have no doubt – Nowhere Books. Favorite book? That depends on the time of year. Re-reading the All Creatures Great and Small series is like wearing a pair of my favorite jeans. The Harry Potter books will forever remind me of midnight book launches and reading aloud to our boys until the wee hours of the morning. Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin is the ultimate comfort book – funny, introspective and includes delicious recipes. (Hang in there, Jenny. We love you!)
I so wish I could come to San Antonio to visit the store. Until then, I wear my Nowhere Bookshop tee shirts proudly and am awaiting my Bland Opening tee shirt, too. My favorite book still remains “The Count of Monte Cristo” because I got hooked on it in the eighth grade and have re-read it so many times I’ve practically memorized it.
I love bookstores because it’s a chance to meet other book worms and find recommendations! I also love supporting indie bookstores because they are such a staple of the community and I want them to exist forever.
I loved watching your meet the nowhere staff video! Jenny’s most recent audiobook was also delightful. Next time I’m in Texas I will stop by your bookstore and buy some books.
I definitely want a baseball tee and am so happy to see this dream come true for you!
My current favorite book is The Comfort Book by Matt Haig. It’s exactly what I needed when I couldn’t see through the trees of sadness. Sometimes you just need a little bit of light to shine through. I’m so proud of each and every one of us for continuing on even when we truly question whether or not we can. Sending love and vibes.
Bookstores are my happy place. I wander in and before I know it, I see old friends and quickly find a few new ones I just have to buy….Congrats on your opening.
I love bookstores because they are the best places to wander and get gifts my family will love, and the “staff recommends” table is always where I’ll end up. Or telling a staff member what my family member I’m shopping for likes and looking for something similar. Also one of our local bookstores has an amazing frozen hot chocolate, highly recommend if you’re ever in Chapel Hill, NC and stop by Epilogue Books.
I love bookstores because it is the only place where me and my three kids feel like we are cool, other than libraries!🛍📚💙
Nothing makes me happier than an INDEPENDENT bookstore. Well, beer is a close second. Oh, and the grandson. He’s pretty awesome. I’m THRILLED for you and that NOWHERE is NOW HERE. Yes, I’m punny like that.
Bookstores are where my best friends are and I can visit them again and again. Plus, I don have to talk…just read 🙂
I’m so glad your bland opening has come at last. Now I have to rustle up enough spoons to come down to SA to visit in person.
I love bookstores because they’ve always been a safe space for me… a quiet place to sit, dive into a new world, and know that I would be among friends.
Yay for Nowhere!
Love bookstores and have really missed the thrill of finding something new. Have done some online orders through Nowhere and Elizabeth was super helpful when I had questions about shipping dates.
Wish I could be there!
I’m so excited to see the doors officially open! Congratulations! I love bookstores for the sense of community they create among readers. My all-time favorite book is the Count of Monte Cristo.
I can’t wait! Have to schedule an in person trip soon!
I love bookstores because it’s where my daughter can find some peace and joy while living with an ADD bipolar brain. We are planning a road trip to see you soon! Favorite book of my daughter: too many but it all started with Dr Seuss’ ABC book. 😉 My favorite: Canterbury Tales bc I’m super nerd. I collect every copy I find.
I love bookstores because they are like being in a room full of doorways, and you get to choose which door to open.
Congratulations on opening YOUR doors! Honestly, I don’t know how ya’ll are doing anything in TX.
Bookstores are the one place where time stands still and my jittery brain can simply relax.
I put ice in my wine too because nobody tells me what to do. Love you Jenny. We are all wishing you wellness and happiness.
Congratulations on the bland opening!
I’m so excited to see the doors officially open! Congratulations! I love bookstores for the sense of community they create among readers. My all-time favorite book is the Count of Monte Cristo.
I just love being surrounded by books
I like audiobooks because i can be busy physically active as well as mentally active when I consume them. I don’t know how this relates to bookstores because I get all my audiobooks through the library but whatever.
Congratulations!! I’m so excited for you!!
I’m so excited! I’m going to San Antonio for a trail race with my best friends later this year and I have already informed them that we have to visit Nowhere Book Shop!
We plan new bookstores into our trips. One thing I always check is if there is an independent bookstore near our location, if so we always add in time to see it.
So exciting!! Congrats on surviving and thriving during covid and I can not wait to see how well you’ll do in a more normal time!! If I ever get to San Antonio you will be my first stop!!
Can’t wait to visit in person. Bookstores are my favorite home away from home!
I love the smell of a bookshop- and to browse the displays at indie shops that were set up by actual readers and discover new favorite books that I never knew I needed.
Congratulations on the Bland Opening- it’s marvelous!
I can’t wait to travel and sit and read and just watch people read
Bookstores are my oasis, where my favorite characters and stories live in perpetuity. I can find all of my friends, and their pages, there. It’s where I first found you (after a referral from a great friend), and where I meet new friends on every visit! Looking forward to my first visit to Nowhere! ❤️
I love bookstores because when you don’t know where else to go you can go there. Nobody bothers you and nobody cares if you sit on the floor to read the first pages of a pile of books you absolutely chose because of their covers.
There’s nothing like a bookstore to get lost for hours in. I used to love wandering the aisles waiting for a book to call out to me. Congratulations on your bland opening! May you continue to grow your dreams.
I’m so glad you finally got to open the store Jenny. It looks absolutely fantastic! Bookstores are great, especially small shops. They are one of my favorite places to go.
I am a librarian and I love books! 🙂
I enjoy begin part of your book club and happy for your bookstore opening!
I had a flashback the other day to being in a bookstore with my dad and remembering how amazing it was. Places with books are my happy place.
I’m so excited to have a new favorite place to get lost! And to be able to say I’m “Nowhere” to make it even more fun for them to find me 😉 books give company and adventure in a world of mundane and bookstores are a real life pick your own adventure story!
Ummmm…is there such a thing as red wine without ice? Asking for a friend.
I love everything about small bookstores, but my favorite thing is getting to find new authors I would never have found in another environment. Congratulations Jenny and team!
CONGRATULATIONS!!
My favorite bookstore wouldn’t probably be all of them due to the smell of the books. I don’t have a specific favorite book, but i do love zombie books, and of course your books. My birthday is in September so im definitely dragging my friends here to come see the bookstore!
I keep trying to hard to get a work trip to Texas so I can visit some day! Book stores are really incredible in so many ways. You just feel a way in there that you don’t feel anywhere else! But, my favorite thing is the smell!!
Bookstores are like instant anxiety meds for me. A controlled calm rushes over me and I feel at home and at peace.
EEEEEEKKK! I’m so excited and happy for you, can’t believe it’s *finally* open for real!! My goodness I wish I lived closer (it’s literally on my ‘bucket list’ though, to someday actually go to Nowhere in-person). This must feel like one of those amazing accomplishments you weren’t sure would ever really happen. Hugs!
Admittedly I’m not as much of a reader as I used to be, but libraries are still a source of comfort for me. When I was a kid my very favorite place was a theater-turned-bookstore that still had certain theater-type elements that made the place feel simply magical. Though I’m 34 now and haven’t been in that bookstore since I was around 13 (moved states), I can still picture it perfectly in my mind, including where all my favorites were located. I would spend hours literally sitting on the floor with a dozen books around me looking through them and trying to figure out which I wanted most. I feel like there are just so many possibilities when you are in a bookstore, there are hundreds or thousands of stories of all different types just waiting for you.
I love a good Bland Opening – that’s just my style! I wish I lived close enough to visit. I once worked at a bookstore where our Grand Opening was so well-attended that we had to move part of the fun out into the plaza in front of the store and nearly got a citation from the police for not having a permit. I suspect the police report says something like, “Shell-shocked employee stated she had no idea so many people felt so strongly about Clifford the Big Red Dog.” (I get a little sweaty just thinking about it almost 30 years later.)
Congratulations, Jenny! And good luck with the ketamine treatments!
I’m so excited and happy! I love bookstores because they’re my happy place. And, I love THIS bookstore because of the awesome books that I’ve gotten to read as a (former & future) member of the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club. Good luck!!!!
Happy Bland Opening! I love the book CInder, perfect blend of fantasy and sci-fi.
When I was younger I basically lived in libraries and our local bookstore. My little teenaged heart was all aflutter when I got a job at that bookstore, The Bookshelf. I worked there (when I was home) through college and grad school. Then I started my career as a children’s librarian (best job in the entire fucking world) before Multiple Sclerosis started to really win. Now I sit at home (often in a huge depression ball), wishing The Bookshelf were still open. But, I am (self-declared) Library Royalty and can often be found at my local library branch. I can’t name just one favorite book, but I love yours . . . and everyone I know who has read them said that reading them was like talking to me. My BFF said that she understood me better after reading them. I think I understood me better, too. Thank you for living outloud.
Congratulations on your grand and bland openings and congratulations on your first k treatment. I hope both adventures will be successful and rewarding for you.
I love books because books are my friends. When I was a child my mother would sit on one of her kids beds and read to us with drama and changing voices for each character and we kids would cuddle up and enjoy a good reading before bed. For nap time I didn’t have to sleep, but I had to stay in bed and I could read whatever I wanted to. My mother and my aunt would take me to the library and let me take as many books as I was allowed to take out each week. We used to vacation in Cape Cod every year and we would go to the local bookstore first thing and buy a ton of books. Books made me who I am. Book people are the best kind of stranglings. I met my husband working in a bookstore. Being a book lover is a sign of kinship. Books are an escape. Books are teachers. Books smell terrific and feel even better in your hands. Books make great sounds when plopped down somewhere on a hard surface. Books make great beach companions. They make good travel companions. They make excellent presents.
My favorite vacation was the one where my mother wouldn’t stop reading the paperback book Shogun by James Clavell to do anything else and I was pestering her about what was so interesting, so she ripped the portion she had already read off the spine and gave it to me. Then I wouldn’t do anything fun, so when I finished I handed my portion to one of my brothers, and my mother ripped off the next section and gave it to me. By the end, two grownups and four children had six sections of book, sitting totally absorbed in the story scattered around our camp site.
Bookstores feed my obsession of books. Bookstores are like Christmas morning filled with presents waiting to be unwrapped.
Bookstores, especially independent and used bookstores have the best books.
Bookstores have their own personalities.
My favorite bookstores are the Book Barn store buildings (multiple buildings with cats, dogs, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, coffee, tea, and so many books,) in multiple locations in Niantic, CT, and The Strand in NYC.
Although I can no longer travel and won’t be able to see Nowhere bookstore in person, I can tell by your video postings, your email suggestions of new books, and your wonderful online shop that your store is definitely one of my favorites.
Congrats!! I love bookstores as there is a hushed peace in them that you can’t find anywhere else.
I feel like this calls for a field trip!! So much do see, do and read in Nowhere!! Congratulations!!
I love bookstores (and libraries) because they always have THE BEST employees! And one of my favorite books (other than yours) is “Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson.
I can’t wait to browse bookstores with abandon again! Congrats on everything!
I love bookstores (and libraries), mainly for the books, but also because of the smell! Ooooooo, to crack open a book, stick in your nose, and breathe in. I love that. My kindle doesn’t smell.
My #1 all time favorite book store is in Denton TX on the square called “Recycled Books, Records, & CD’s”. It’s got both second hand and new stuff. I haven’t “officially” been to Texas since 1997, but I had to go back to Denton unofficially for my father’s death (fun), and was happy to see that place was still there.
I love bookstores and books because they’ve been my companions during lonely times and good times. It’s where I’m accepted as just me. Please take care jenny. You are special and have made a difference in the world. Can’t wait to visit your shop. Congratulations!
I don’t like bookstores. Because whenever i finally hunt down the section and shelf I’m looking for, There’s Someone Else Standing There!
I did search through six rooms at Powell’s (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell's_Books) to find Broken in The Best Possible Way by my favorite Blogess though.
I’m in Austin and how to make a road trip to your store very soon! Bookstores are my churches 🙏
I love books, ergo I love bookstores. (Although for some reason, I have to poop every time I go into the Barnes & Noble in College Station. TMI?)
Congratulations! I hope to make a trek out there though I’m still worried about covid and have anxiety Soo it’ll be a bit. I like that it’s a place you can be an introvert and that’s ok and the world doesn’t force being an extrovert on you. I really love Oliver Sacks and Anthony Bourdain books.
I love bookstores, because books are friends, and book people are clearly the best people. Can’t wait to visit Nowhere some day!
Love that you are open now. Been following for a long time. I love all books❤️🦋
I loved bookstores because they feel like home
This is great news!
I love bookstores and the instant excited feeling you get when stepping into one. Growing up it was my dream to open one of my own. And it would have a guard cat that basically co owned the place with me. One day. One day 🙂
Books are so special. We grew up without much so libraries were my best friends. Books were my escape. Congratulations on your bland opening and sending positive vibes that treatments continue to work for you.
Bookstores are magic places where I DARE you not to find something you’ll fall in love with! Libraries are bookstores where someone else pays for the books!
Hooray on finally being open! I can’t wait to make trip to Texas so I can visit the store. Bookstores are my escape to reality and are just so comforting, especially small indie bookstores, they feel like home.
Congratulations on your opening, from me personally and from the rest of the crew at the late great Seattle Mystery Bookshop. Having worked at this indie, you have my total respect and support and admiration.
And a certain amount of envy. I miss working in the book world, and I know you’ll find it as addicting (and frustrating and joy-inducing and tear-making and deliciously passionately compelling) as I did.
Can’t wait to visit Nowhere in person! So very excited for y’all! I love bookstores because I’ve always loved to read and they’re the best escape around.
I love bookstores because they are full of one of my favorite things…BOOKS. One of my most favs is an hysterically funny book by Jenny Lawson called “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.” You might have heard of it? If not I’d like to say that the authoress is a smart, witty, gifted writer and I ♥️ her!!!
Congrats to all of you!
Congrats on your bland opening. Bookstores are my favorite because no matter where I travel to the minute I cross the threshold of one I am home again. 🙂
My husband always tries to pull me away from bookstores because he knows how dangerous it can be to let me in one with a checkbook. Then he comes in too and finds a bunch of books he just has to have, as long as we’re in there. P.S. I have been known to drink red wine with ice, too.
I love books because my entire goal in life was to do what YOU have done – opening up a bookstore where I could roam among new stories and worlds and help introduce them to others.
Way to GO.
Congratulations Jenny and the whole Nowhere team! If I won a gift card, I would immediately be ordering The Last Graduate (the follow-up to A Deadly Education). If I don’t win the gift card, I will lstill be ordering it.
I hope the ketamine treatment works and you feel like yourself again soon.
Yay! Finally opening for real for real! My friend and I want to check it out together.
Congratulations!!! Bookstores are amazing!
Congrats on officially opening! If I lived anywhere nearby I would visit but 2,000 miles is kinda far!
Congratulations! Long time coming. I’ll be dropping by next time I’m in SA!
There is so much comfort in the smell of a new book. So there is definitely something magical about a building filled with new books! When I’m feeling overwhelmed and need to reset, I reach for [in no particular order and depending completely on which way the wind blows 🙂 ] The Secret Life of Bees, The Night Circus, The Green Mile, one of the Harry Potter books, Furiously Happy or a coloring book. Congrats on the bland opening, it sounds like my kind of event!! Cannot wait to make my way out there and sit quietly among the books.
So happy you’re officially open! Bookstores always make me feel safe, like there’s a little extra to learn about in the world and you get to choose what you add next to your collection! That possibility is really encouraging when there’s so much doubt and worry in the world.
Sometimes I wish I did not have to live in the real world, so I could live in a bookstore and browse every book there is to read in my own time. Have a trip planned to SA, so I will try to go Nowhere 🤣
My favorite book these days is The Elderly Prince, by Ricardo Martí Ruiz. It’s a “second” part to Le Pettit Prince.
Many blessings in this project. 🥰
I can’t wait to visit! I love bookstores because I find books I never would have otherwise and can get “lost” for hours.
I can’t wait to visit!!! My favorite book changes all the time, but right now it’s Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Calculating Stars.
Ohh, this is hard! My favorite book is American Gods. No, it’s Neverwhere. See the theme? Or maybe it’s Atlas Shrugged because it’s horrifying how my feelings about it change each time I read it. Can your favorite book be one you kinda hate too?
Love bookstores because you can just spend an entire day in there, browsing around, finding books/ authors you didn’t know existed! I used to love going to barned and nobles before the pandemic.
My favorite bookstore is called The Book Barn in Niantic, CT. I love it because it’s literally in a barn (several actually), has many cats, a graveyard, a miniature model of the Shire right next to parking for the toddler cars, there’s a swing for littles, and a live goat. It’s all used books and it’s wonderful.
Congratulations on the bland openings. Ordering my hoodie now!
Congrats on finally being able to open!! I’m not in Texas, but your bookstore is on my list of placed to go!!
My dream is to one day open my own bookstore and have an in-house cat that can greet and snuggle customers. My fear though is that physical books are a dying commodity. Your bookstore’s success and popularity gives me a little bit of hope though! If I had the following you do and knew I could succeed, I’d do it in a heartbeat
Congratulation! Have always loved bookstores and libraries. Love to browse and discover new worlds!
I’m so happy for you Jenny. I suffer from depression and going to bookstores has always been a haven for me. I’m surrounded by love and other lovers of books while in the store. I’ve stayed for hours in bookstores just walking the aisles and looking at all the gorgeous books. My favorite books are Furiously Happy by you because it has saved my life many times and also Simon Vs The Homosapien Agenda because of its beautiful message. Congratulations on the Grand Opening!
Congratulations! You all do good work. I’m hopeful on your behalf for success with the ketamine therapy.
I love the smell of books. The sound of a bookstore is like nothing else. A hushed quite waiting, like the books are holding their breaths waiting to see what you will choose. They are their own little worlds.
San Antonio is one of my favorite cities in the world! I’m in Houston, so visiting is easy. I will visit Nowhere next visit and look forward to exploring the shelves. Books are each a little world that I get to live in for a time. And book stores are a world of worlds to me. Congratulations on your opening.
Congratulations on the opening and I’m actually planning a future trip to San Antonio because of your bookshop!
I love the quietness of bookstores. After all the noise of the world it feels like a hug to be welcomed into the hush of a bookstore.
Yay for bland openings! Love exploring bookstores in places I visit. Especially when they have local ghost story books. 👻
Congatulations!!!! I rejoice! Bookstores are the best medicine. Thank you Jenny. Your crew looks like fun!!!!💛🌷💛
Congratulations on the official opening!
I love bookstores because something might catch your eye that hadn’t been on your radar and open up a whole new world/genre/author for you. I’d not read any Helen Oyeyemi before, but saw Peaces on display in a bookstore and now I have a new favorite author!
Bookstores are my church, and indie bookstores are even more sacred. They are my safe places and my jumping-off places and my warm safe blanket.
I am coming to SA in October, from Colorado, to go to Nowhere!!!
Wine slushies and Nowhere Bookstore…the world is now complete!
I love bookstores, they are where dreams come true. I love the king killer chronicals. I can’t wait to be able to visit in the future.
I love Neil Gaiman’s quote “A town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not foolin’ a soul.” My husband hopes to make that true for our small town someday (but we just don’t have the cash right now). Our basement is full of books in plastic bins just waiting for the day to open his used bookshop. Congratulations to you and all the Nowhere staff! 🙂
Haven’t set foot in a bookstore in … well … you know. Wish I could be there in yours.
Bookstores are an endless wonder. Full of possibilities, something for everyone. Knowledge and imagination.
Congrats!! I can’t wait to visit the physical store someday. But not in the Summer. I want to visit San Antonio when it isn’t so Texas-y and try to kill me with your heat & humidity. I am a delicate Oregon flower. 🙂
I love independently owned bookstores. They have heart and each has its own personality. And I can get lost in them! My favorite two books which travel with me everywhere: The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells (so damn delicious!) and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. One day I’ll be walking into Nowhere Book Store and it’ll be a fine, fine day. Love to you Jenny! x
Congratulations! I hope someday to travel down to Texas to see the store. My favorite book is The Old Man and the Sea… I read it at least once a year.
Bookstores are the best because they are full of books and nerds and booksellers with great recommendations!
Bookstores are the only stores I am comfortable in. They make me feel at home. My favorite book is In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall.
I’m so happy for you! Now you should submit your store sign as a PokeStop!
I love bookstores because stepping into one feels like coming home and being surrounded by all your favorite people.
Indie bookstore fan here, too. Just finished The Barbizon by Paulina Bren.
How can you not love bookstores?! I mean seriously, they are basically the best! If I ever get to take a trip down your way (I’m in Canada), I’m absolutely going to come visit your store! <3
Also, if you need help with the PokeStop submission lmk! Pokemon, books, and eventually drinks. Of spend hours there!
Bookstores are nexuses of portals to other worlds where I can buy these portals and bring them with me and have them forever. What’s not to love about that?
CONGRATS!!!!!!!! Nothing better than browsing a bookstore. Yay for you – and hoping that the ketamine or anything really helps super soon.
I love bookstores and libraries. As a kid in podunk backwoods north alabama, they were my only escape. I’d like to bottle that wonderful smell too. Incredibly soothing! I loved getting lost in the stacks for hours. So much so that I’d have a sore neck from tilting my head for so long reading spines. My fav books are Interview With the Vampire, Bleak House, and anything by Agatha Christie. And so many more. Good luck to you on this endeavor! I also love free shit!
I’ve always loved books, starting with the book mobile when I was a kid. They allow you to escape to another world. You usually learn something too. A win all the way around. I’m currently reading Kitchen Confidential – really engrossing. I’m savoring every page. So sad that he’s no longer with us and wondering why. You just never know what others are struggling with
I miss bookstores! There aren’t a lot where I live. When I was younger, our B. Dalton bookstore in our now defunct mall had their kids’ section up an open set of stairs to a loft above the rest of the shop and it was the best thing ever. That and the Bookmobile we used to visit when I was little. Ahhh. Books. Congratulations!
I love bookstores but since covid I’ve been stuck with digital books and sniffing my book shelf books as needed!🤨
I love bookstores because books are the one place where I can completely lose myself in the experience. My mind takes the words that are written and places me in there and it’s just such a richer experience for me than movies.
I can’t wait to visit San Antonio just to pop into this space you’ve created for book lovers!
Congrats on the Bland Opening!! One of my favorite books is Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I remember sitting outside and laughing out loud whilst reading it. 🙂
Bookstores are my happy place! I love employee recommendations and being introduced to books I might not pick up otherwise. Feeling lucky that I live close enough to visit Nowhere regularly!
CONGRATS!! Small business ownership is no joke and I can’t imagine opening a new store in the midst of 2020. So glad you got to open finally! I live in the middle of nowhere Indiana so indie bookstores are hard to come by 🙁
I love bookstores and libraries due to all the different worlds/universes and the heaps of knowledge contained within them. Congratulations on the Bland Opening! This is super exciting and probably my only reason for wanting to visit Texas. (No offense, just stressed about Covid). Love you!!!
I love bookstores because of the sense of wonder they make me feel. Not knowing what the next book might hold is so exciting.
My current favorite books are basically everything by Mary Roach.
I love bookstores because they remind me of my dad. He died in August 2010, and bookstores were a place he and I loved going together. And…they were generally a place I could convince him to buy me something.
I love bookstores because its always a great place to find your next great escape. I miss spending hours sitting and reading and shopping in a local bookstore! Congratulations!!!
Congratulations! I love bookstores because of BOOKS! Where else to find my favorite drug, and so much better to be able to pick them up and feel them before I buy!
Bookstores are one of my favorite things. That said, I used to prefer used bookstores, both because of the price and because they’re not overrun by Hot This Minute celebrity books; used bookstores have an automatically-curated selection, usually (but your bookstore has an individually-curated selection instead of just “we think these will sell best to the general public” selection; hi, I am not a good representative of the general public, thanks). But now I have a whole fleet of allergies and new books are a good way to avoid mold and mildew and 100-year-old potpourri, sigh.
(favorite books include Jane of Lantern Hill [she gets to be realistically *competent* for most of the book!]; Galusha the Magnificent [who is… a mix… of competent and incompetent but it is delightful]; and… the list gets too long. Sorry.)
My favorite book is American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
I love the smell of the paper when I walk into book stores! My current read, which I have been slowly chipping away at, is “Last Call”. I started it during Pride to learn more about LGBTQIA+ history and one chapter at a time, I’m becoming more thankful for all the progress my community has made.
Ps. A trip to Nowhere is certainly in my future!
Bookstores allow you to smell that “new book smell”, take in the atmosphere that you can’t online, and get recommendations from humans that you know are real. I love bookstores! Sadly, I am in IL and have no travel budget. I am so happy for you though! 🎉Congrats!
Can’t wait to come visit my family in Texas and make an extra stop in Nowhere! Bookstores are my favorite place to spend hours and my daughters all have inherited my love!
Never trust someone who doesn’t love bookstores! Just picked up The Final Girls Support Group from Nowhere bookshop and excited to read it! Can’t wait to share my new favorite bookshop with my toddler, the kid section is great!!
Omg I can’t wait to visit I see a road trip in my future but not till it’s less covidy out. I had a new coworker going through depression and feeling horrible a week ago so I suggested your book. She bought it that day and said it was helping. You make a huge difference in the world Jenny sending spoons.
Ps your books are my favorite books duh :0)
Such exciting news! We are hopeful to make it out soon! We’re only 2 hours out, so an adventure to nowhere is in order!
We love bookshops because each is unique, and feature different books. I love seeing the different tastes of the various staff suggestions.
I started thinking of why I love bookstores and started crying because some of the best times of my life happened in one. I’ve made friends in bookstores. Many first dates would start in bookstores and I fell in love more than a few times because they loved the books I loved. I met my favorite authors in them. The best memories of my sister happened when I would take her to buy books. Bookstores are my Narnia, my door to be worlds.
I was fortunate enough to work for The Book Cache at the time when it was the ONLY bookstore(s) in Anchorage, Alaska, (1972). It was a dream job for me and 5 months later I was manager of their small, tucked away airport store. I have so many wonderful memories of that time. There were magical things that happened there!
Native Alaskans coming into Anchorage from small villages, usually for medical reasons, passed through the gates beside the store. They were met by Bertha, an employee of Alaska Native Services, who helped them get where they needed. Many spoke no English though there were often younger, English speaking family members with them.
Occasionally someone would arrive with their handmade craft hoping to sell it to help finance their trip. I was able to purchase a parka from a woman Bertha knew. Bertha assured me this woman was ‘the best parka marker in Barrow’. I am sorry I don’t know her name or Bertha’s last name but I still have this parka with it’s beautiful wolverine trim. It has been all around the lower states, including a stint in Texas where it was never worn.
The most amazing event that I witnessed was when an elder man and his grandson came in. The Elder was a maker of traditional carved masks. He had brought one to sell and carried it, disassembled, safely wrapped in a blanket. The mask had a central face with holes drilled around the side edges. For each of these holes there was a dowel like rod with a smaller carved piece at the end. When put together it looked like rays around the sun.
Bertha spread word of the mask for sale through the airport and it was purchased. Now, it needed to be assembled. This is when worlds shifted and those of us watching had the opportunity to enter another realm. The Elder spread the blanket on the floor behind the gate seating area next to the bookstore. He carefully placed the main mask in the center laying the ‘arms’ close to their proper holes. He began to sing in his native language, dancing around the circle first one way then the other. He slid a rod into place and continued on his dance. There was no discernible order to their placement. The grandson told us that only the carver knew the song and order of assembling the mask. He also said that it should never be taking apart because that, too, had its own order and its own song. If disassembled without the correct ceremony it would bring dire consequences upon the person who did so.
I had wanted to buy this mask but it was out of my price range. I gradually accepted that it was just as well because I moved so much. Out, in and back out of Alaska, Western states, Midwestern states, Texas. The mask would not have remained intact through all those moves. I came to realize the vivid impact and memories of the event were what was important and valuable for me.
A few years ago, I was in an art gallery that had quite a few of these masks. I noticed a small wolf head carving of this style that hung alone. The gallery owner told me the seller of this piece was someone who tried to sell the mask intact but had no buyers. She decided to dismantle it and sell the pieces. I was told the owner was having an awful run of bad luck and events making her life difficult. I was attracted to this little wolf head with its tufts of fur and human face carved alongside the snout. But I was really leery of buying it. That night I dreamt of a wolf searching for its pack that came to sit beside me. The wolf continued to appear when I meditated and during more dreams. After much thought I went back and purchased it. When I took it home, I held my own ceremony with the mask. I apologized for not knowing its song or being able to restore it to wholeness, but I was willing to do my best to end its suffering and provide a welcome and peaceful environment. This little wolf continues to hang on my bedroom wall. We get along well, even happily. Sometimes we run together in dreams.
I am so happy that Nowhere is open!
I love books because I didn’t have the greatest childhood and so they helped me find a way to escape to a different world, even if just for a little while. Congrats Jenny!
I love the bookish smell of bookstores, and being surrounded by infinite possibilities!
I love bookstores because they’re quiet, welcoming, and filled with endless possibilities. My kids and I were the second people in Nowhere today. We spent over an hour browsing, reading, and having a wonderful time. I am beyond excited that the doors are finally open and you get to see your vision come to life ❤
I love bookstores, especially independent ones. My husband and I love books, although different kinds. I especially love art books and poetry collections. I’ve read my own poetry in bookstores over the years.
Congratulations! We’ve enjoyed following your journey.
One of my favorite books has always been Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume. I first read it years ago in grade school and it has always stuck with me. Such a sad and touching story.
I can still hear and smell my childhood bookstore: The Vermont Book Shop, in Middlebury, VT. The floor creaked in a very…accusatory way, I feel. It alerted the cashier that someone was about to make a choice–right for local memoirs and maps, left for Sweet Valley High. Literature was toward the back.
The library was larger and at the other end of Main Street, if you wanted quieter floors and less scrutiny, and there was, for a time, a used bookshop where the old shoestore used to be. You could disappear in there for hours.
I love bookstores for the experience of discovering something new that you never would have seen otherwise. Can’t wait to visit Nowhere in person instead of picking up outside!
I will be there! …next week. Sunday if I’m not gross from hiking, sometime during the week for sure because I’ll be in the office for the first time in over a year. I’m so excited y’all are open!!!
I’m so happy for you!!! Congrats on the first of many bland openings!! Happy for your family and your staff as well!!
I love bookstores because the possibilities of escape are endless, and because they remind me of my Mom who rarely met a book she didn’t finish once started.
The River Why is on my list if favorites, but there are so many more💜
My favorite right now is Camino Wandering by Tara Marlow. I’m in Round Rock so I don’t know exactly when but I will get to Nowhere soon!
I love bookstore because they are doorways into other worlds. You walk in and there are so many places you can go, so many options to fall into and lose yourself. I used to spend all my time in my local book store just picking random books, finding a hidden place in the store and reading the day away. Book stores are magic.
I hope to visit someday! I like bookstores because they’ve always felt like spaces for me, if that makes any sense. I could spend hours in them 🙂
Congratulations on the Bland opening! I love bookstores because there are so many possibilities!
The smell. Among the many obvious things, I go for the smell of All The Books.
I don’t know if I’ll get to the bookstore anytime soon as I live in Western NY. But I really like the t-shirt and best of luck in the new venture!
Bookstores are a testament to creation! I love walking around and reading titles, opening a book for the first time and smelling the pages, and just being a part of the peace and quiet.
This is where I say….there’s Nowhere I’d rather be.
Congratulations on the opening! I’ll definitely make the trip from Dallas. I hope your depression subsides, she can be an evil bitch. You are not alone. You are loved.
Well done, you! I hope your ketamine treatment does wonders for you, and I am so proud of you for getting your bookshop up and running during the most challenging months on the planet. Congratulations!
I don’t have a favorite book at the moment. I am, though, reading “A Promised Land” through audiobook, and it has been AMAZING to listen to Obama narrate his work. I highly recommend!
I love bookstores because, well, BOOKS, but they make me happy like no other place. I’m so excited for your opening, Jenny! Hope to one day visit.
My husband says my books are my treasures, which is SO accurate. Walking into a bookstore is like walking into a world of infinite possibilities…a bit overwhelming, but exciting as heck! Also, bookstores SMELL like happiness.
I’m so excited! We’re going to Port Aransas next week and tbh, we picked that over Galveston because the GPS routes us through San Antonio and I was going to lay against the window and peek inside if you weren’t open but now maybe I can come inside and lay against something else and actually buy something. 🥳 That’s totally normal behavior right? The laying on something, not the buying things. Buying things is absolutely normal in a store. I haven’t been in many actual stores in a while. 😬 I’ll try to behave.
I went to one of your soft openings a couple months ago and loved the store! I especially loved the kids’ section – what a great variety of classics + books I’d never heard of before! I especially loved the rack of Little Golden Books and the Llama Llama book display. So excited to visit this store again 🙂
Congratulations Jenny! I love the idea of bland openings! Wish I were in the area but I just know you’ll be a huger success than ever!
Gosh, my favorite bookstore is Towne Book Center and Wine Bar in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, because that’s where I met all of my writer friends. Also, wine.
So many things to say! Congratulations on finally opening your physical doors. The fomo is real for me today in Phx, Az, I wish I could be there in person but I’ll be shopping your site today to celebrate.
I think my favorite thing about books is how different they can be depending on where you’re at in your own life. The book changes as your perspective does so you can read the story at different times in your life and see it completely differently. I also love the way that books affirm how similar we are to each other. No matter how different I am from a character in a book, there’s always a link between me and them. And it’s never too far off the mark. It turns out I am wonderfully, boringly, incredibly average. And books make me feel less alone in that way.
Yay for bookstores! I need a bookstore road trip. Would l ve to see JA Jance there.
I’ve been a fan/following you since 2008 and I am so happy for you! I live in Idaho and a road trip to San Antonio just to come to Nowhere is on my list. Hopefully I can come when the bar is open so that I can be pleasantly buzzed while I browse the books and ultimately buy too many. <3
So many congratulations on finally being able to open! I have too many favorite books to be able to list just one. As for bookstores, how I miss them! I really like my Kindle, but it takes away the joy of browsing on shelves, the serendipitous discovery of an amazing author, the solid heft of a new hardback. I don’t live near San Antonio, but if I did, I’d be in your store almost every week, browsing to my heart’s content. Good luck!
I am so happy that your book store is opening! Wish I lived closer to TX! I love bookstores and in fact was just at a cool one today called Last Exit Books in Kent, Ohio. I was so thrilled to see they’ve expanded since I last visited and are thriving 😊
I cannot pick one favorite book but two that have really stayed with me are The Road and The Secret Life of Bees. I wish you much happiness and success with both your store and your next treatment. You deserve all the best! ❤️
I’m coming there to visit my sister and we won’t make it to the shop this time because I’m just holing up at her house with my two girls who are too young to be vaccinated, but I’m hoping next summer that my sister and I will be sitting at the bar with our newly purchased books (having left the kids with the dads at home.) In the meantime, I’m pretty sure a bland opening shirt is headed to my house in Maryland.
Hearty congratulations!
My favorite thing about independent bookstores is that there’s a much more personal feeling in them–books chosen by human beings with tastes and opinions and enthusiasms. (If you go to Minneapolis, don’t miss Louise Erdrich’s Birchbark Books, with notes posted around the store with tiny reviews and recommendations.)
Wishing you great good luck with welcoming humans into the space, and that everyone stays safe. And that your illness is responsive to the new treatment. 💕
Would you consider adding tote bags to the Nowhere swag? I have trouble with t-shirts, but have possibly a world-record collection of tote bags.
So happy that you are opening! I have an OG tshirt and your shop is on my list of several independent stores that I adore and order from online all the time. I have a hard time picking a favorite book ever, that is impossible.
This is such wonderful news, for you and for the book lovers of SA and South Texas! I am someone whose “favorite book” evolves, depending on what I happen to be reading (really, I just have many, many favorites), but at the moment it is “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson–I teach history at a university, and have read it both with students and colleagues and we are all gobsmacked by it. I can’t recommend it enough. And I have a fantasy of you hosting a book signing at Nowhere for Julie Jackson when her new Subversive Cross Stitch book comes out this fall–she is how I first found you and your books, and that would be a personal life highlight for me!
Bookstores: where I dream! Any book…ANY book…can take me to another place! 🥰
Congratulations for fighting the good fight on all levels! What a wonderful achievement. Bookstores have always felt like reverential places to me. I get the feeling going to a bookstore that I imagine many of the pious feel when going to church.
My favorite thing about bookstores is the endless possibilities! It’s like getting a book is a passport to a different time/life/world. You can be anything, do anything, go anywhere in a story and who wouldn’t love that?!
You rock. Seriously – you inspire me so much! I wish I lived closer so I could visit the store in person, but for now I’ll settle for t-shirts 🙂
Best book of all time….”Miss Rumphius” ❤️❤️
Good luck with the new treatment. Sorry you have been so depressed lately. You bring joy to so many and have spread awareness about depression.
I love books and bookstores. Books helped me survive during the pandemic. I hope I get to San Antonio someday to see Nowhere! It’s on my bucket list!
This is so far down here in the comments, so I doubt you’ll see it, but I just started my treatments for chronic pain with IV Ketamine.
I agree, they are completely weird as fuck. But in regards to pain, they had been super helpful. The provider I am using was hopeful that they would be helpful for my mental health as well, but so far, it’s just hightened my PTSD, which sucks cause my therapist is on a summer break. Hopefully though, when she’s back I’ll be able to start working through the PTSD, instead of wallowing in it.
On the point of the ketamine though, I know my provider uses at home troches, which she recently had me try. It’s a little waxy cube that dissolves under the tongue and tastes like crap. Working on figuring out dosage and how many times a week. Not as intense as the infusions, but still weird.
She’s had success with other patients using it for mental health purposes for other patients, so might be something to look into and ask about if you find the infusions are helping, as it can extend the time between infusions for less money.
So far, the infusions for chronic pain have been completelt life altering. Expensive, but completely worth it.
I hope you find some relief and I’m happy to answer questions. I’m still working on writing up my experiences so far.
My earliest childhood memories are of my mom and I going from used bookshop to used bookshop, all down the Main Street, to stock up on our books for the next few weeks. We both kept and still keep our own big libraries.
The smell, the old wood, finding a hidden treasure (like my first copy of The Princess Bride when I was 8)…it’s my favourite kind of place! Bookstores are magic 🖤
Congratulations on your perma-opening! Wish I lived a bit closer. I hope your second treatment works so that you can enjoy all of your hard work! The only way I can imagine a bookstore being any better is with the addition of alcohol. It’s like you read my mind! 🙂
I’m so happy that the store is finally opened! What an accomplishment!
My favorite book of all time is To Kill a Mockingbird. I saw it in a bookstore when I was 13 and decided to give it a try. I instantly fell in love and read it three times that first year (twice for pleasure, then a third time as a school assignment). Since then, I’ve read it more than 30 times. I always find something new to appreciate in it and I’m continually awed by Harper Lee’s vivid descriptions throughout.
Woo-hoo!! My earliest memories of a bookshop is a small bookshop in the old market district in Omaha. They had a window you could sit in and read. I loved going and just walking down the aisles, smelling all the books, and dreaming of buying them all.
The Book Nook was our local indie bookstore in my hometown, and next to the library, my favorite place to go. I loved the smell of the used book room. They closed this year, in part due to the pandemic and in part due to a previous fire in the same building. Between them, it was simply too difficult to recover, and the town no longer has a book store. But nowadays, when I smell the scent of old books in a room, it brings me back to my childhood because of this store.
Omg! Congratulations on officially opening the doors! It has been a long road but you got there!
I don’t know that I have any one favourite book store. I do love visiting used book stores…there is something about old books and the journeys they have been on…
Favourite book….? A Wrinkle in Time. 🙂
So exciting!
I got my first Fantastic Strangelings delivery today and I am happy it’s your store opening day.
Bland opening is perfect!!!
I love that we can go to REAL Bookstores again! Easily the hardest part of 2020 for me. 📚📚📚
So happy you’re finally open. Books stores are the best, especially if they have comfy chairs and maybe a hassock (or, as my husband insists, “footstool”) and you can sit in happy obscurity while reading a book or maybe one chapter out of five books as you try figure out how to best spend your book budget. Which you will likely blow all to hell and back and decide rice and peanut butter are actually yummy enough for a few extra meals. “No, dear, of course I didn’t sit all afternoon in the bookstore on the HASSOCK and spend all the money on books. Nope, not me.”
I love bookstores, their smell and the feeling of pages made from varying types of paper. Finding that book you needed along with others you now want. Even the atmosphere of bookstores; it has the sensation of finally being home.
I love bookstores because they’re full of other people who love books! It’s always a happy day when another one opens. I read lots of books from several genres but when I’m most stressed and need escape I grab a mystery.
Bookstores are my second favorite place to get books, libraries being the first. If I didn’t work at a library, I’d work at a bookstore!
I don’t leave the house much, but I have worked at numerous book stores over the years, so of course I love them! Hopefully someday I’ll be Nowhere.
I need to plan a vacation to your store!
Absolutely love your books. So glad you’re finally open
can’t wait to hear about your second session!
I cannot wait to be there (eventually) for a bland opening celebration with your team. Already ordered a shirt.
I grew up in South Texas and still remember the smell and warmth of the bookmobile that would visit our elementary school monthly. My love of books started then and propelled me to a career in medicine while remaining a devourer of fiction.
Best wishes on your ketamine treatment.
Bookstores… they just feel right. Deep down in my soul. One day I’ll pluck up the courage to travel from PA to visit yours (my best friend lives within walking distance now) but for now I will enjoy you from afar.
Also my favorite book is Good Omens.
Happy opening day 🖤
So the absolute best thing about bookstores (other than the part where they are filled with books) is the way they smell. “Bookstore Air” needs to be a candle
Always said this will be my first stop post-covid. Whenever I feel post-covid I’m thrilled to drop in. BookPeople is hard competition but I know Nowhere will become my new fav bookstore!
I love bookstores because, as a kid I found it a place where I could escape my hum-drum life and the bs my mom put me through. Even today I find them fascinating, a wonderland of stories, ideas, imaginary places I can go to pick up a book. Where I can dwell in peace and lose myself amongst the thousands of words at my fingertips by just opening a book cover. The smell of a new book or even an old book…books are my friends, my escape and sometimes even my salvation.
Congrats Jenny on the “Bland Opening” of the Nowhere Bookstore!! I can’t wait to make my way down to SA to visit!!
I love books (and thus bookstores) because they can transport you out of your current reality and some books 🙂 provide a little humor, even in a dark place.
Massive congratulations !! Glad there’s positive motion for you both personally & professionally—sincere hope that both continue !
One of my fave books has always been Watership Down 🐇— used to reread almost yearly
I love a good book store. From the smell of the pages to the little nooks and crannies that you can tuck yourself away in to read a bit to see if you like a book. Unfortunately, my favorite local shops have closed. I’ve always liked Book People, but they’re way to downtown for me and they’ve gotten quite large. I can’t wait for the opportunity to find myself in the middle of Nowhere someday when we make our way to San Antonio.
Jenny, your writing reminds me of these lines from Rumi:
“We are the mirror, as well as the face in it.
We are tasting the taste of eternity this minute.
We are pain and what cures pain.
We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.”
Thank you for being a balm and a haven for so many of us. Sending you much love.
Oh, and books are the absolute best. Besides animals.
My Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge is 156 of 100 books today. It’s 99.99% audiobooks.congratulations on your bland opening.