Greetings, readers! 

This is our first official post on the blog since we lost our eagle-eyed blog editor, Shannon, to her new marketing gig. Thank you, Shannon, for growing our bookstore blog and keeping it typo free for an entire year! 

But alas, Shannon’s reign has ended. Now, the return of the Typo Queen. Apologies in advance for my terrible spelling, missing punctuation, and general lack of copy-editing skills. It’s not for lack of effort, I just really have a blind spot for that sort of thing. Which reminds me: We’re hiring a marketing intern for the semester, so if you know of anyone great at creating content and catching typos, send them my way! 

-Ally

Summer just won’t quit around here, huh? It was in the high eighties today and I heard someone say: “It’s just so nice out today!” At least I think that’s what they said, I’m really not sure because I was distracted BY MY FACE MELTING OFF. 

It’s been very hot. Our AC units at the new store have been trying their best, they really have. I whisper a little  “goodbye, my love” to the cold air every time it wooshes out into the swampy heat of Royal Street. And every time that swampy heat seeps in? I just think about sweater weather, and everything is alright for a minute. 

First, a definition: What is sweater weather? The official cut off for what temperature counts as “sweater weather” is 70 degrees. I just made that up, but look just give me this one thing. It’s been a long year and if 70 degrees can’t be the official start of fall cozy vibes then I quit. I need a granny sweater, a cafe au lait, and a new novel like yesterday. This whole August in Virgina thing has just gone a step too far! I’m an authority on the matter because I grew up here and as a child went to an evil soccer camp where they made us scrimmage under the blazing afternoon sun. I survived that, but dear god I am not going to survive this current heat wave without cranking up the AC in my house and huffing some PSL, stat. 

There are many more important things to complain about. I know this because complaining is my favorite hobby. However, this miserable weather has inspired ~more~ than complaining, which brings me to the actual point of this blog post: 

We’re doing a cozy reading challenge! 

Our Sweater Weather Reading Challenge is meant to get you reading and cozy this fall. We’ve designed a cute little challenge card you can fill out with your current reads. It’s like bingo, but not really at all because you do it alone and you have to read a bunch instead of waiting for a number to be called. But it’s CUTE! It’s a bingo card! For reading prompts! 

Next time you’re in the shop, grab one of the cards and get cozy. I’d also suggest a new book and a fall vibes candle as well. Check out the prompts on the card, fill it out, and return it for a chance to win some big prizes. Everyone who completes a line of prompts on their  not-really-like-bingo-at-all card gets a voucher for a free coffee or hot coco to Fontaine Caffe across the street. 

So snuggle up, book nerds, and let’s get ready to read - here are some new staff picks we think make the perfect match for cozy time reading.