Choose community today.
Hi friends,
We always get a little thrill every Tuesday morning when we open the bookstore for each new week. There's magic in the flip of the sign on the door and Scarlet the dog's feet tippy-tapping when a friendly face walks in. It's an incredible reward to develop each personal connection over a good book and a shared story.
In a world where you can get pretty much anything you want without any human interaction, it's brave to choose community. What luck we have that so many of you choose to see us and call us at Friendly City Books.
Here's the deal: Stuff on the internet is intentionally priced to chip away at our communities. Books on certain websites are often advertised for less than what our vendors charge us for the same dang thing. I wish I could say it's because they agree with us that books should be affordable for all, but really, it's to make us go away.
Every day that you choose us instead, you do us the honor of showing us that we matter to you.
And you matter to us. Which is why we do everything we can to bring you the best possible experience, from obsessing over the quality of each book we unpack to getting to know your kids by name. We've been known to physically run around the store with the phone to make sure we have the book you're calling about, and we excitedly celebrate when we snag an author appearance that we know y'all will really love.
But hey, we're just like everybody – we love a sale, too!
Right now, you can get free shipping at bookshop.org AND a totes adorbs “I Heart Bookstores” canvas bag when you spend $100.
We're also doing our famous “fill a tote bag" sale in store during Let's Flamingle Downtown on July 22 from 5-8 pm. Our new seasonal tote will be just $5 at the door and gets you 15% off your entire purchase.
Plus, we're going to give away books Oprah-style at our upcoming book events. Yes, you get a book, and you get a book, and YOU get a book just for coming to one of these gatherings!
Saturday, July 15 at 3 pm: Live podcast taping with Exodus Oktavia Brownlow in conversation with C. T. Salazar at Friendly City Books
Thursday, July 27 at 10 am: Story time with Mother Goose and Emily (and Scarlet!) at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library Main Branch
Friday, July 28 at 3 pm: National listening tour with Sr. Simone Campbell at Friendly City Books
And last but not least, we're holding a grand prize drawing for over $150 worth of Where's Waldo books on the last Saturday in July. Bring in a completed Find Waldo Local passport with 20 spots for your chance to win!
Happy reading,
Emily
P.S. Need some reading recs to snag that sweet tote bag at bookshop.org? Check out our bestseller gallery, and hear us gush about their wonderful authors as we count down the Top 10 on our latest podcast.