The Lost Story Bookshop, an all-genre bookstore with a mission to center women's voices, will host its grand opening celebration tomorrow, August 29, at 1001 Avenue B in Katy, Tex., CultureMap Houston reported. Owner and author Afton Seeser said, "I just love listening to women's stories... I'm really interested in women overall, just getting together, sharing their stories."
The spotlight on various genres is highlighted by the store's location in a house, as well as its layout, which features areas separated and color-coded by genre. The combination fantasy and thriller room is purple, the general fiction room is a deep green, and the romance room is pink, Seeser noted, adding that the space is primarily yellow with a few reading areas and writing tables.
This bookstore's welcoming atmosphere is emphasized by couches in the reading areas and bistro-style tables throughout the store. The Lost Story will host events such as book clubs, literary themed nights, astrology-inspired events, holiday parties, and midnight release parties, CultureMap noted.
"I feel like you can't ever have enough spaces for women to gather. I want it to be... more than a bookshop and [a place] for lots of different groups of women to meet," Seeser said, adding: "I'm going to have bookish vendors come in and then sell their products. I want to work with local artists too, local vendors, everybody, just because it really helps, you know, build community."
Seeser said the store's mission to center women's voices includes empowering them generally: "If you're talking, you're meeting with different people... maybe you can be inspired by these other women on how they live their life and you're... more ready to center yourself and just your life to overall I feel like get better just being around more women, and you just step into really, a more powerful version of yourself."