Field Day Books & Bottles, a new and used bookstore serving a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, opened this month in Portland, Ore., the Oregonian reported.
The bookstore, located at 6836 N.E. Sandy Blvd., in Portland's Roseway neighborhood, emphasizes LGBTQ, BIPOC, and neurodiverse perspectives and carries books that encourage new experiences, co-owner Kitty McLeod-Martinez told the Oregonian. In addition to books, there is a fridge featuring beer, wine, and cider, along with non-alcoholic options like kombucha.
McLeod-Martinez and co-owner Alec Ballweg first met roughly 10 years ago while working at Powell's Books in Portland. They kept in touch while taking different career paths, until Ballweg reached out to McLeod-Martinez about a year ago to ask if they had ever thought about opening a bookstore. McLeod-Martinez recalled answering: "Only all the time."
The bookstore's name comes from Casey McQuiston's romance novel The Pairing, in which the main characters open a combined bakery and cocktail bar called Field Day. Both Ballweg and McLeod-Martinez loved the book and felt the fictional Field Day had "exactly the vibe that we want to curate." They got McQuiston's blessing when the author was in town for the Portland Book Festival, and the owners hope McQuiston can one day visit the bookstore.
"There're very few spaces that encourage people to spend time together and foster the sense of community that they'd been missing," McLeod-Martinez told the Oregonian. "It's not about drinking and getting drunk.... It's about the experience of sharing something."