At Murder by the Book, Beryl left a shredded awning. |
Indie booksellers in Houston, Tex., are still dealing with the aftereffects of Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall last Monday, July 8. Several bookstores posted updates on social media, including:
Blue Willow Bookshop (posted July 12): "Tonight, the lights came back on. Yes, we are tearing up. This week was the longest that we have ever had to close the bookshop. Longer than Ike, or even Harvey. In fact, we have been closed more days this month than we've been open. Needless to say, we miss y'all. Come by tomorrow and see us, friends. Finally, thank you for all of your kind messages, comments, and posts. We love y'all, and we can't wait to see you tomorrow!!!... Here are some moments in the bookshop from our week without power. The lights may not have been on, but our staff was firing up the fans and lanterns to keep things running behind the scenes."
Brazos Bookstore (July 8): "We have the all clear at Brazos, while Bissonnet still needs a good sweeping we have power and WiFi. We hope all of our friends and neighbors in the community are safe--you are welcome to ride out the power outage with us tomorrow once we are able to more safely move about. We have plenty of outlets and some questionable internet speeds, but we'll be here."
Katy Budget Books (July 9): "Our power came back on mid-morning, and we're so excited to be open our normal hours today so you can come pick up some new entertainment! You can also just come hang in the AC and talk books with our booksellers and neighbors if you haven't had power restored yet. We're looking forward to serving you again, Katy!"
Murder by the Book (July 9): "Well, here we are again... cleaning up after a hurricane. Remind me why we live in Houston? Beryl was something special, and we've never had so much wind damage at the bookstore as this particular lady brought our way--notice the former awning hanging in shreds. That being said, the store had minimal water damage, and most importantly, we have power and Internet, so we're opening at noon today and ready to sell some books! We're also very grateful for the minimal damage, all things considered. For those in the Houston area, if you're without power, we'll have a cool space, free refreshments and plenty of power strips for device charging from 12-4 today. Please don't hesitate to stop by!"
Basket Books & Art (July 11): "We are here, powering up and cooling down. We have an abundance of new material to peruse, power outlets all are welcome to use, and, something like a magazine rack (ref. slide 4.) Come on over and post up."
Kaboom Books (July 11): "We're open noon-6 daily now that we have electricity."