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<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/recklessreader/loyalty-books-washington-dc-silver-spring-md/"></div>“Bookselling is the combination of everything I’ve ever loved.”
Throughout my conversation with Hannah Oliver Depp, the owner of <a href="https://www.loyaltybookstores.com/">Loyalty Books</a>, a store with locations in Washington, DC and Silver Spring, MD, this is what she kept returning to. Even as COVID hit and she was faced with an overnight transition to an entirely online business model, talking about and selling books is what continued to get her up in the morning.
Depp made the switch to bookselling after being an academic for many years. “I love teaching, I love research, but I was very frustrated with academia [and its emphasis on] publishing over helping students. Plus, I was a Medieval Modernist, which is not a field rife with brown people, and yet I was expected to the expert on all things brown.” After a pause, she added, “Which I still am.” Depp has been working her whole life, starting in retail and moving through customer service jobs as well as working as a set and costume designer. During her time in academia, she found that none of her past work experiences were seen as assets. “That’s definitely changing, but they weren’t things to be bragging about. There was no room for them on a CV. But I felt they made me a better academic.”
While finishing her thesis, Depp started selling books and quickly fell in love with it. “Every aspect of me found something productive and satisfying in bookselling.” She loves the give-and-take educational experience with the community, how bookseller and reader teach each other, and how much both her wide breadth of book knowledge and retail experience are valued. “I love the way you can read a person as if you’re Sherlock Holmes to find the right book for them. I fell head over heels,” Depp said.
In 2010, Depp began working at <a href="https://www.politics-prose.com/">Politics and Prose</a>, a store in DC she frequented as a child. There, she began to see how much publishers value the opinion of the independent bookseller. “The community deeply trusted us, and so we had an outsized impact on the books that were being printed, the way they were sold to other retailers, and what we’d all be reading every holiday season,” she found.
Despite her eager start, Depp became quickly disheartened. She attended American Bookselling Association events during her first year at Politics and Prose, saying, “I would walk into rooms of hundreds of people and I’d be the only person of color. Maybe one of three or five. And no one seemed to notice that was weird,” she remarked. Even during NEBA meetings — the sales association including New York through North Virginia, where some of the largest Black and brown communities in the US are located — Depp would still be alone. Having grown up in the District of Columbia and Baltimore, Depp and her family had had many Black-owned bookstores in their radius. This shock of loneliness stayed with her. “It quickly became apparent to me that mainstream bookselling, which had the greatest connection to the powerful publishers, the independent presses, and the authors — everyone had an extremely narrow understanding of who readers were, where communities of readers were, and, frankly, a potential pool of money that was being left on the table.” Tired of this, tired of being alone, Depp started working on diversity efforts in the American Booksellers Association.
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While working for <a href="https://www.wordbookstores.com/">Word Bookstore</a> in New York City, Depp learned a lot from owner Christine Onorati. “She taught me how to build something bigger than myself,” Depp mused. “One of the things she was extremely invested in is what the next generation of booksellers will look like. The economy has changed so much from when bookselling first boomed in the 70s and 80s. A lot of booksellers are retiring.” Depp became interested in what the faces of independent bookstores could look like, thinking about her own experience: “Everything that you think is hard for a young bookseller, add being a person of color. Add being gay. Add being disabled. All of these things that are part of my identity that I know made it more difficult for me, because I was sending money back to my family; I was dealing with a neurological disorder and a pain disorder; I was dealing with huge student debt — all the blockages that come from being at all my different intersections.”
As Depp watched Washington, DC become more and more gentrified, she saw there was a lot of local support for a safe, comfortable bookstore where customers could walk in and see faces that looked like theirs. She took business classes, created a plan, and did everything she could to prepare to own her own store. In 2018, Depp became aware that a bookstore was on the verge of closing in Washington’s Petworth neighborhood, and she took it over. Loyalty Books has been open ever since.
When asked about the name, Depp joked that it is because of Kendrick Lamar’s song “Loyalty.” and the encapsulating theme of all of C.S. Lewis’ work. “That’s the Venn Diagram of my soul right there,” she said, laughing. “But it’s really how I conceive of a store belonging to the neighborhood that it’s in. It’s a two-way street of loyalty. I watch out for you; you watch out for me. This is community through communication.”
And indeed, their customers have been very enthusiastic. The Loyalty staff have personal ties to a wide variety of DC communities: families with children, queer communities, immigrants, artists and writers, and more. Depp partners with groups big and small, working to cement Loyalty Books as a supportive fixture in the community. She loves how a small business can be intimate and flexible, and is always looking for ways to give back. “We inherited the customers from the bookstore that was here previously, and we’ve added a whole new customer base: those who thought they were being left behind. By having Black, brown, and queer faces behind the register, you let people know that this is their space too.”
Pre-pandemic, Loyalty had filled 500 online orders. Now, one year on, they have filled over 40,000. This extreme adjustment was difficult for everyone, and Depp recalls not sleeping at all during the beginning of the lockdowns. They had to fight for federal PPP and EIDL loans, feeling the additional blow as they saw most of the businesses that got turned down for EIDL loans were Black-owned. Nonetheless, they pivoted and adapted, rearranging the store six different times and creating personalized book bundles, contactless pickup, and other creative ways to remain engaged with their customers. Depp thanked the post office worker who had to carry hundreds of Ikea bags worth of books to be mailed out.
This tenacity and creative problem-solving, though successful, was harrowing for Depp. “It’s really hard to verbalize the amount of fear I had,” she told me. “We had just finished our first full year of business: the holidays were over, we were trying to get the attention of publishers, we had good events lined up for the summer, we had a subscription box getting started… and everything slipped.” Depp had to tell her staff she didn’t know if they’d have jobs in two months. But in the end, the same skills that initially made her so excited about bookselling — customer service, business skills, and passion for community — served her well once again, enabling her to make the necessary changes. “My team and I didn’t think bookselling was one thing looking one way; we felt it was creative. We definitely made messes, but if someone asked to try something, we just said okay.”
As Loyalty’s online orders ramped up to an intense level, Depp had to put things in perspective. “Most of my staff is at the most vulnerable intersections of the world right now. I refuse to put them at risk to sell books. We will always close before risking their lives for retail.” A brief hiatus after the holiday season gave the Loyalty staff some much-needed rest, but now they’re back at it. As lockdowns begin to lift, they are partnering with a local café and record store called <a href="https://bumpngrind.co/">Bump ‘n’ Grind</a> to host storytime on the café’s outdoor patio and looking to bring in-person events back in 2022. One thing Depp emphasized was how much they learned from remote events about accessibility: virtual readings are a far easier option for those who cannot attend physically due to disability, caregiving needs, or any other reason.
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Looking forward, Depp is excited to no longer spend all day staring at a screen. “None of us became booksellers for that!” she exclaimed. “I can’t wait to talk to people about books again. That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.” She’s taking a lot of lessons from the pandemic into the next phase of bookselling: “All the things we learned under pressure — now we have to make sure we turn that into a diamond and keep it going. We have to create our way out of these problems. That creativity isn’t going anywhere, but we have to learn to stay creative when it isn’t the only way to survive. Because the truth is, it still is the only way we’re going to survive, because the margins in bookselling didn’t change during the pandemic. Rent is still astronomically high for small businesses. Compared to corporations, our taxes are still so high. Publishers still won’t give us the discount we need to survive. Unless that changes, bookselling will not survive.”
Loyalty customers are reading a lot of poetry and short stories these days. Depp enthusiastically recommended some memoirs, including Ashley C. Ford’s forthcoming Somebody’s Daughter and Nicole Chung’s All You Can Ever Know. In addition, she’s going back to her academic roots and is loving Sword Stone Table, a gender-bending, trans-racial collection of Arthurian retellings edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington. “I’m a little mad I’m at work today, because I want to keep reading it,” Depp said.
“I hope we come out of this with more kindness towards ourselves and other people,” she concluded. “Zoom calls into each other’s bedrooms and living rooms have shown us we didn’t really know each other and what we deal with each day. And as we urgently send that email for the hundredth time, we need to have an understanding that the people on the other sides of our screens are humans, and they’ll still be humans when they come back into our neighborhoods and parks. Empathy is so important.”
As the world opens back up again, Loyalty Books will continue to do what they do best: support their community through the magic of reading.
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All images courtesy of Christine Bollow.
Not a member and want to receive special benefits and discounts at Loyalty Books and other participating stores? <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/join/">Become a member</a> and you’ll receive a Reckless Reader card and all the perks!
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Loyalty Books in Washington, DC and Silver Spring, MD

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<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/recklessreader/bel-canto-books-long-beach-ca/"></div>Jhoanna Belfer worked for 15 years in the hospitality industry before shifting gears to bookselling. With an educational background in literature and writing, she’s been a lifelong reader, but after attending a writing conference in Washington, DC in 2017, she realized she wanted to be more engaged with her passion. “It was right after the election, and everyone was looking for ways to do something to help our communities and feel better,” Jhoanna remembered. “I was lucky enough to hear author and bookstore owner Ann Patchett in conversation with Emma Straub, the owner of <a href="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/recklessreader/books-magic-brooklyn-ny/">Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, NY</a>. Ann said that in the run-up to and aftermath of the election, having a bookstore became so valuable as a place to come together, find solace, and build community.” Then, in the Q&amp;A, someone asked what people could do to actively change their communities, to which Ann responded: “If you can, open a bookstore.”
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Located in Long Beach, CA, <a href="https://belcantobooks.net/">Bel Canto Books</a> was born after Jhoanna attended a “bookstore bootcamp” and immersed herself in research. Before she had a brick-and-mortar store, she started with a unique and personalized book club model. “All the complaints I hear about book clubs are that someone didn’t like the chosen book, or that half the group never actually read it,” Jhoanna said. “But I knew I was good at picking out books for my friends.” She curated reading material for participants on an individual basis, and then hosted a wine and cheese night at a local bar, remarking, “To me, that’s a perfect day.”
Book clubs led to pop-up tables at street fairs and farmer’s markets, and during the summer of 2019, Jhoanna decided to quit her job and join a woman-owned shop collective called <a href="https://shopthehangout.com/">The Hangout</a>. She pitched her idea of having a curated selection of books, focusing on stories by and about women and people of color, and filling the space with book clubs and author events. In November of 2019, she moved in, and what started as just a 10-foot wall of books in the back turned into a flourishing literary hub. “It was so much fun,” Jhoanna said. “We really started to connect with the community — but it was right before the pandemic happened.”
To keep her dream alive, Jhoanna had to get creative. She took her concept of book curation and turned it into a book concierge delivery service. Customers could fill out a survey of their reading preferences and budget, and Jhoanna would personally drive around Long Beach to deliver the local orders. By the time Bel Canto could reopen in July of 2020, she had grown her customer base and made new connections. “My favorite thing is to watch people come into the store and discover something new and exciting,” she said.
Bel Canto’s book clubs have flourished as well. Now, she hosts four different ones at a time, each with a different focus. Jhoanna highlighted one called the Burning Issues Book Club, co-hosted by a local environmental scientist. The group reads about climate change and other environmental issues, and is a space to discuss these weighty topics. “Most people don’t think, ‘Oh, I’d really love to read about the climate crisis on my Sunday afternoon,’ you know? But since there’s a group of us, we’ve created a way that encourages us all to engage with these really serious topics.” Another book club Bel Canto offers focuses on Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) authors. “I’m Filipina-American, and one of the most exciting things about the bookstore is connecting with other Filipino and Asian readers,” said Jhoanna. “Many people come into the store and say they’ve never seen this many books by Asian Americans. I’m really glad I can create that space for them.”
Jhoanna’s work within the AAPI community doesn’t stop with books. Just after the murders of six Asian American women in Atlanta, she was approached by Michelle Jocson, whom she had met through the “Bookstagram” community, who wanted to organize and raise awareness about the issue of hate crimes against Asian and Asian American people. They kicked off a five-day campaign to advocate for people to take action through donations, social media awareness, volunteering, and more. Jhoanna emphasized the importance of representation in literature, encouraging people to write to publishers and libraries to carry more AAPI books. “We discussed the question why are you standing up for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders? What does it mean to you? I’ve always believed that literature is one of the best tools for creating empathy. By introducing people to more books by AAPI authors, you can understand someone’s experience in a way that I think is small but profound.” Their activism was written about in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelkramerbussel/2021/03/25/asian-american-authors-instagram-users-and-bookseller-launch-stand-up-for-aapi-campaign/?sh=274e88b03e20">Forbes</a>, and Jhoanna remains very passionate about the role that books can play in fostering empathy and eliminating prejudice. “You see people not as strangers or as foreigners or others that you have to be afraid of. You learn we’re all so similar.”
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First on Jhoanna&#8217;s list are author events, which she aims to launch in the fall. She’s excited to bring back readings, Q&amp;As, and author dinners, a unique offering that will pair a good book with good food. Bel Canto will collaborate with local restaurants to create a themed meal that will go hand-in hand with the books. One of the first installments of this series will be a dinner and panel composed of entire Filipino-American authors.
Each month, Jhoanna chooses a theme, often following the American Library Association’s calendar. During March, she curated selections of books by and about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and donated 10% of Bel Canto’s sales to local and national AAPI organizations. “I’m always amazed when I meet people who said they drove in from far away because they heard there was a Filipino bookstore here,” she said, laughing. “Is there some secret Filipino network I don’t know about?”
Besides the themed curations, customers enjoy books on social justice, cookbooks, and graphic novels. Jhoanna feels graphic novels are coming into their own, musing that the shift towards image-heavy books is beneficial not just for those who may struggle to read large blocks of text but also for anyone who simply wants to enjoy a story accompanied by beautiful art. She recommends In Waves by A. J. Dungo, a Filipino artist and writer local to Long Beach. Jhoanna says the novel does an amazing job at giving equal space to both story and imagery, each medium building on each other to create a beautiful book. When thinking about traditional novels, she recommends Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong. “My highlighter was useless to me, because I was highlighting the entire book,” Jhoanna said. Lastly, she praises Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi, calling it a perfect book for those who want to escape into a world of travel and good food.
Having weathered a year’s worth of lockdowns, Jhoanna is optimistic about Bel Canto’s future. Her partners at The Hangout plan to open a cafe space, and she can&#8217;t wait to invite readers over for a glass of wine and a good book.
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Not a member and want to receive special benefits and discounts at Bel Canto Books and other participating stores? <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/membership/">Become a member</a> and you’ll receive a Reckless Reader card and all the perks!
All images courtesy of Jhoanna Belfer.
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Bel Canto Books in Long Beach, CA

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<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/recklessreader/collective-oakland-oakland-ca/"></div>Michelle Walton and Wesley Dawan believe reading can be a social activity. The Oakland-based couple are both lifelong readers for whom books have been an integral part of their relationship. Michelle used to visit the library every Tuesday, and pre-pandemic date nights nearly always culminated in a visit to a bookstore. Michelle recalls heading home from a night out, thinking that if the library had wings and drinks in addition to books, she’d be in heaven. Wesley’s response? “We should create that.”
A few months later, that conversation came to fruition in the form of their store, The Collective Oakland. The store aims to change the narrative around reading. “When I was younger, I didn’t walk up to my friends and say, ‘What’re you reading?’ because they didn’t read,” Michelle told me in a Zoom conversation. “I loved Sweet Valley High and Judy Blume books. But no one in those books looked like me, so I would have to insert myself. We don’t have to do that anymore. But kids growing up now have video games and phones. Representation is one of the main reasons why we have The Collective — to create another culture of reading.”
This culture is one of community, relaxation, and, most importantly, fun. The Collective’s motto of “Read, Drink, Chill” epitomizes this aim: patrons can come for a book and stay for a latte or a glass of wine, cozy and content with a good story. “We love to read, but we’re also social,” Michelle said. She has been reading with people for years and loves the unique connection that comes from discussing a good book. “We feel that great conversations come about from reading. You can learn someone’s ‘why’ from reading. You read the same line, but based on your past and upbringing, you can have a really different perspective. You really get to know someone when you read a book with them.”
She can already see her efforts paying off. Now, Michelle’s friends ask her to recommend books for themselves and others. When her daughter’s friends come over, she ensures they leave with a book in their hands. She especially enjoys opening up the world of reading to kids and young adults. “There are some really good books about our current world that can resonate with them, and we can talk. We can connect,” said Michelle. The Collective Oakland’s position as an independent bookstore gives them even more leverage to reach any and all kinds of readers: they stock all sorts of authors, not just those in the mainstream. Michelle firmly believes that everyone can have fun reading, regardless of their interests. Through passing her love along, Michelle gets to help young readers see themselves in stories, an experience she didn’t have as a child.
Despite the welcoming community, Michelle has felt somewhat out of place in the bookselling world. A lot of people felt their concept wouldn’t work. The combination of books and cocktails didn’t immediately click, pushback that Michelle attributed to a lingering “old-school” concept of reading culture. She attended the American Booksellers Association&#8217;s Winter Institute and didn’t see anyone else who look like her, an experience similar to how she felt as a child while searching for literary role models. “I grew up reading everything. I always had a library book in my hand, and the bookmobile was my favorite thing. But I drive a sports car. I go to fashion week. We’re from the hood — most people here think that if you love to read, you’re a nerd. I love to travel. I love hip-hop. I love concerts. We’re trying to change the narrative that book-lovers look different. We’re trying to get young people to see that anyone can be a reader.”
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Nonetheless, as the Oakland community got to know Michelle and Wesley, the store started to garner some buzz. The energy shifted favorably, and customers got excited about the home book delivery and beautifully curated subscription boxes that The Collective offers. Each box plays to a theme and usually contains a signed book alongside artisan gifts like mugs and candles. Through these remote-friendly methods, Michelle and Wesley have been able to remain connected to their customers even during the pandemic.
Michelle and Wesley wanted their business model to be “click to brick.” Originally an entirely online retailer, the store has morphed and grown. Currently, customers are able to pick up books from their brick-and-mortar location in addition to having them delivered to their front doors. The “Read, Drink, Chill” tagline has made an impression — when customers come by the store, many of them ask when the drinking and chilling components will begin. The pandemic has, of course, delayed the launch of The Collective’s events, but their browsing and lounging space is ready as soon as it is safe. Michelle aims for an old-school prohibition vibe, with hand-crafted cocktails, a barista, and curated titles for all type of readers. She is especially excited for the launch of their event series “A Seat at the Table,” during which guests will enjoy a delicious brunch with an author, get their books signed, and chat with like-minded readers. “When you meet different authors and you hear their insight on why they wrote the book and what they were thinking, that’s one of the best experiences,” Michelle said. “You get the author’s perspective. You can have breakthroughs with people.”
Customers are most enthusiastic about science fiction, children’s books, and cookbooks these days. In the early days of the lockdown, Michelle saw a push for heavier, denser reading. “Now, I think they want something lighter,” she said, laughing. “We have a huge inventory. We sell a bit of everything.” The Collective has incorporated “book bingo” into their social media presence, where readers can play along as they read, checking off boxes such as “has a supernatural element” or “has a Black leading lady.” Through games and challenges such as these, they’ve watched their customer base grow.
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Michelle remembers the days not too long ago when they fulfilled orders from their home, their apartment so full of inventory that she could barely reach the fridge. Now, with a beautiful storefront and a steadily growing fan base, Michelle and Wesley are able to do what they set out to do: empower young readers and create a truly fun culture around books. “We want everyone to feel like they are in the story; like they can relate,” she said. The Collective has come a long way, and they are very excited for the future.
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You can learn more about The Collective Oakland <a href="https://www.thecollectiveoakland.com/">here</a> and check out their Instagram Book Bingo <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thecollectiveoakland/">here</a>.
Not a member and want to receive special benefits and discounts at The Collective Oakland and other participating stores? <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/membership/">Become a member</a> and you’ll receive a Reckless Reader card and all the perks! 
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The Collective Oakland in Oakland, CA

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<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/recklessreader/15277/"></div>When Isis Asare read Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood for the first time two years ago, she loved it and wanted to discuss it immediately. Her friends recommended other authors whose names and work she didn’t know, despite the writers and narratives speaking to identities and experiences Isis personally resonated with. “How was this not in my life?” she mused in our conversation over Zoom. “I thought I was well-versed in Black literature.”
Isis threw herself into Butler’s corpus. What started as an organic system of joining book clubs and surrounding herself with like-minded readers sparked a desire to create a community of her own, which she called Sistah Scifi. She dove into science fiction and Afro-futurism, participating in events such as the Octavia E. Butler Slow Read, organized by BookTubers Njeri Damali Sojourner-Campbell and Musical Tati. Appropriately, “it was like discovering a whole new galaxy,” Isis told me.
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Having cultivated this connection and appreciation for the community, the next step was to start her own bookstore. Founded on February 2, 2019, the Oakland-based Sistah Scifi barely had a year under their belt before the pandemic hit. Isis recalls attending a performance of the opera of Butler’s Parable of the Sower in Los Angeles just days before lockdown rules were instated. As a lover of e-commerce, she had always intended for the store to be online, and the COVID-induced shift to a remote world actually resulted in business flourishing. Many customers were searching for Black-owned bookstores during the summer of 2020, and, after being included in lists of stores to shop from published by Buzzfeed, Scifi.com, Shop Black, and more, Sistah Scifi had a huge influx of orders. Following on the heels of their partnership with Libro.fm to add e-books and audiobooks to their offerings, their customer base grew immensely.
Since its founding, the Oakland community has rallied around them. Sistah Scifi organizes very well-attended book clubs and movie watch parties as well as selling books. Their reach extends beyond Northern California: Isis said there are usually even a few event participants from London, Germany, and South Africa. “We have a very engaged community,” Isis said. “What I love most about it is that these people want to take the tenants of these books and literally change the world.” This ethos sits at the very heart of Sistah Scifi’s model: the events and partnerships Isis creates are all in the spirit of expanding minds and challenging dominant narratives.
In addition to the titles gracing their extensive online bookshelves, Sistah Scifi also offers special merchandise. One particularly popular item is a shirt listing Black female science fiction authors. “Even when you narrow it down [with these parameters], there are hundreds of names that could be on the shirt,” Isis remarked. For every sale, Sistah Scifi donates $5 to Black Girls Code.
Sistah Scifi’s merch and messages have reached far and wide. In February of 2021, the President of Bennett College posted a photo on Instagram wearing a Sistah Scifi sweatshirt with images and text reading “Sista from another planet.” This was particularly special to Isis: “She was the person we made the shirt for. Someone who loves Afro-futurism, someone who sometimes in social situations feels like she’s literally from a different planet. She got the aesthetic and messaging behind the shirt.”
Butler’s Parable of the Sower continues to hold the bestseller slot at Sistah Scifi. According to Isis, “2020 was the time to read and reread and discuss and read Parable again.” She participated in three different book club circles dedicated to it alone. Aside from the ever-brilliant Butler, Isis’s personal recommendations include An Unkindness of Ghosts by River Solomon and A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow. She recommends the former due to its representation of neurodivergent and gender-nonconforming characters and depiction of the protagonist tapping into science and philosophy in order to create a new way of existing in the world Solomon created. “What I like about this is there is a successful revolt. The main character is able to change the society that she’s in,” Isis told me. A Song Below Water gets her stamp of approval as a Young Adult book that effectively centralizes the Black Lives Matter movement in the setting and plot. She’s also excited about the upcoming HBO adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death.
Looking ahead, Isis has big plans for Sistah Scifi’s future. She has aspirations to partner with the Black-woman-owned company Pop.com to create an offering just as futuristic and exciting as the books she sells: automated Sistah Scifi book kiosks in Black-owned cafes. “We are reimagining what it is to be a Black-owned bookstore; what it is to be a local bookstore. What is it to be in a different city and still getting a specific book from my favorite Black-owned bookstore in my favorite Black-owned coffee shop? How does that change how we think about what is local?”
Isis’s emphasis on community permeates every aspect of her business. “I want to be a shining example of ujamaa (collective economics). For everything I do, I think: how can I do this in partnership with folks already doing the work so it’s collaborative and lifts up as many people as possible?”
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As COVID restrictions lift, Sistah Scifi is looking forward to once again participating in events and creating new partnerships. With any luck, Isis will once again be able to attend the Parable of the Sower opera, participate in the Bushwick Book Club, an organization dedicated to creating original music based on books, and partner with the Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP) in Seattle. The museum is hosting an Afro-futurism exhibit of which Sistah Scifi looks to be a part.
“We’re really excited about 2021. Really excited about the community,” Isis told me. “It’s very exciting to bring to life the science fiction we’re reading about. Our brand and ideas are connecting where they need to connect. Our ideas are not new by any stretch of the imagination, but we’re connecting with folks who are super knowledgeable about Afro-futurism and the books and authors and are looking for another [way] to connect.” Sistah Scifi’s future certainly looks bright.
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If you’d like to learn more and connect with Sistah Scifi, you can find their website <a href="https://sistahscifi.com/">here</a>.
Not a member and want to receive special benefits and discounts at Sistah Scifi and other participating stores? <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/membership/">Become a member</a> and you’ll receive a Reckless Reader card and all the perks!
All images are courtesy of Isis Asare.
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Sistah Scifi in Oakland, CA

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<div class="at-above-post-homepage addthis_tool" data-url="https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/recklessreader/good-books-atlanta-ga/"></div>One morning, Katie Mitchell and her mother Katherine were sitting at breakfast. During a lull in conversation, Katherine looked up and asked, “What if we started a bookstore?”
Three weeks later, Good Books was born.
Their lightning-speed launch can be partially attributed to social media. Katie and Katherine knew from the start that their store would be online and mobile, so they easily bypassed the hurdles of setting up a brick-and-mortar location. The Atlanta-based mother-daughter duo created an Instagram page, which proved an immediately successful avenue through which Good Books could connect with customers. The community soon showed support. “We expected our friends and family to engage, but we very quickly began hearing from strangers,” said Katie over the phone. “They seemed to love it as well.” Initially, their customer base consisted primarily of Atlantans, but that, too, expanded rapidly. Now, Good Books ships more orders to customers in California and New York than to those in Georgia, with loyal fans as far as Alaska and Hawaii.
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From the beginning, Katie and Katherine knew their store would be centered around Black books and Black community. As Good Books gained traction, they began hosting pop-ups while networking and partnering with the Black book scene in Atlanta. Katharine raised Katie on reading and celebrating Black stories, so it was intuitive that Good Books would pass that love along.
Since there is no physical store to browse in, many customers place orders via Instagram DM. Katie and Katherine started by stocking books they themselves loved, but quickly expanded their offerings. Genres like young adult, science fiction, and fantasy weren’t initially offered, but as the requests flowed in, Good Books’ virtual shelves developed a wider range.
If you want a specific book, all you have to do is ask. One of the most unique services Good Books offers is custom curations. If you don’t know what your next read should be, you can visit their website and share titles you’ve recently enjoyed, genres you generally like, or authors you’d love to read more of. The form also includes a place to designate your budget, ensuring everyone has access to books regardless of their financial situation. From there, you’re in the very capable hands of Katie and Katherine, who will compile and ship you a bundle of books they’re confident you’ll love.
Though the pandemic threw a wrench in most things, Good Books has continued to thrive. After the death of George Floyd, readers across the country rallied around Black bookstores, and Good Books found themselves inundated with orders. Between new partnerships, social media promotion, and their ever-loyal customers, Katie and Katherine were unexpectedly receiving more attention than ever. They still fulfill orders through Instagram DM as well as their website and are grateful for the continuing support.
These days, Good Books customers are loving Black radical authors and nonfiction most of all, Katie mentioned. Books by authors like James Baldwin are flying off the shelves, as are vintage titles and classics. Katie speculated that while everyone is stuck at home, they’re finding more time for the books they’ve always wanted to read but never quite got around to. Katie and Katharine are veterans of recommending books. When friends walk into Katie’s apartment, their mouths drop open. She has entire walls of books in her personal library, many of which her friends haven’t even heard of. “We’re a book-centric family,” she said. “If we hadn’t started the store, we’d still be reading together and handing out books we love.” When I asked Katie for a personal recommendation, she suggested Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer, mentioning that essays and short stories are her current genres of choice.
With their immense initial success, Good Books has a lot to look forward to. Katie and Katherine are excited to host more pop-ups and in-person book clubs once the pandemic is over. “We want to nurture our local community, but we want to make sure we do it at the right time,” said Katie. “We don’t want to push anything, pandemic-wise.” They even have plans in the works to start a bookmobile and partner with literacy groups for kids and incarcerated individuals, all with the aim of making reading more accessible and sharing Black books with their Atlanta community.
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Katie wants to continue to grow Good Books as an Atlanta staple. “When people ask their friends, ‘Hey, what should we do while we’re here?’ I want us to be on that list,” she said. Right now, Katie and Katherine are just taking things as they come and continuing to build and bolster their current online community.
“In the end, we want reading to be fun, not stuffy,” Katie concluded. “We want there to be a communal culture around it; for people to be having fun. I think a lot of us got stuck thinking that reading was a school assignment, so we want to show people that reading isn’t a chore. We’re grown up now; we get to pick what we read. It’s literally never too late to get into books. There is a book for everyone.”
You can find Good Books’ website <a href="https://www.goodbooksatl.com/">here</a>, or follow their <a href="https://www.instagram.com/goodbooksatl/">Instagram</a>.
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Images courtesy of Katie Mitchell.
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Good Books in Atlanta, GA

Reckless Reader: El Taller Bookstore and Café in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Natasha Vhugen is a LARB Marketing Associate and an English student at Scripps College. She is a writer and editor for Agave Review, the Claremont Colleges’ literature and art magazine. Originally from Seattle, she plays ultimate frisbee and is always in search of the best eggs benedict around.