A new bookstore intends to cast a spell on Brooklyn come May 1. What sets Books Are Magic a special draw for travelers is that this indie bookstore is also owned by novelist Emma Straub.
The "Modern Lovers" author will launch the Books Are Magic with her graphic designer husband Michael Fusco-Straub and investors Eddie and Martin Joyce. Straub realized that the soon-to-open bookstore can be an added tourist destination for Brooklyn. "I certainly know that's how I like to travel-by visiting bookstores," she told CNN. "If you're in Nashville and you don't go to see Parnassus, you're a crazy person." She also added Skylight and Book Soup in Los Angeles as well as Elliot Bay Bookstore in Seattle.
When Straub made a recent visit to Portland, Oregon with her two sons, they made a point to drop by Powell's Books and purchased books "every single day" they were there. The novelist and her husband used to dream about taking over the beloved indie bookseller BookCourt one day but when its owners finally retired and closed shop, the Fusco-Straubs decided to open their own bookstore in Brooklyn. She admits the idea to run a bookstore in the digital age was "a little crazy." Even the name Books Are Magic may sound "silly," but they embraced both choices.
The owners of Books Are Magic don't have fancy ideas about the décor of the new bookstore. It will be "pretty minimal" with only "a whole lot of bookshelves" and "a couple of places to sit, tables with books on them." Straub wants Books Are Magic to be a localism movement that celebrates homegrown talents. "We don't want a writer who lives around the corner to come in and feel sad because they're not on the shelf." As data by the American Booksellers Association and the U.S. Census Bureau reveals, bookstores still thrive. It can be a personal touch or the desire to support a local shop, according to Forbes.
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