Jessica Stockton Bagnulo wants to open a bookstore, and the NY Times is on the story.
I knew Jessica — aka Booknerd — as a colleague in the LitBlog Coop. When I finally met her in person, I thought, wow! She’s got all this energy and excitement! She’s awesome!
Which is what everybody thinks. Working as a bookseller after college, she took one business class, entered a contest, and was a finalist — then won with her bookstore business plan. This, when bookstores have been closing like crazy — the NY Times says 75 in the NYC-area since 2000. The neigborhood of Fort Greene in Brooklyn wants a bookstore. And they want Jessica.
When Jessica opens her bookstore in Fort Greene, I hope she’s open to nepotism, and carries all the LBC members’ books: Mark Sarvas’ novel “Harry, Revised”; Leila Lalami’s upcoming “Secret Son” and her short story collection “Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits”; Lizzie Skurnick’s upcoming book based on her column Fine Lines at Jezebel; the collections featuring stories by Matt Cheney; and whatever else comes along.
While Jessica has been working hard to become a bookseller, I pedaled to Silverlake to watch ANTM. The biking was hard, too.
