To the Stories We’re Still Writing

A Pride Month Reflection from book/shop, etc.

Your story is yours.
Your timeline is yours.
You get to decide the pace, the pauses, the plot twists.

At book/shop, etc., we believe in stories. The real ones and the imagined ones. The ones we whisper to ourselves in quiet moments and the ones we shout from rooftops. The ones we’ve buried deep for fear of being too much… or not enough. The ones we’ve only just begun to find the words for.

Because stories aren’t just entertainment. They’re lifelines. They’re how we learn to see ourselves and each other. They’re what make us brave. What make us feel seen. What remind us we belong.

This Pride Month, we’re holding space for all of it.

We’re honoring the stories that took years to write. The stories still scribbled in the margins of our hearts. The ones we’ve been told to edit, to soften, to hide. And the ones that burst out, fully formed, with glitter and grit and power.

We’re honoring the coming outs and the staying ins. The loud love and the quiet questions. The knowing and the not-yet-knowing. We’re honoring the becoming.

And we’re doing it the only way we know how:
With shelves filled with queer joy and queer grief. With soft spaces for hard truths. With books that feel like mirrors, windows, and open doors. With invitations to linger, to feel, to Be.

Whether you’ve been out for decades, just told your best friend, or are still searching for the right words - this place is for you.
Whether your identity is stitched into every part of your life, or still something tender you’re holding close - this place is for you.

You don’t have to be loud to be proud.
You don’t have to be finished to be whole.
You don’t have to explain, perform, or prove a thing.

We see you.
We celebrate you.
And we’re so glad you’re here.

Let this Pride be a season of softness and strength, of courage and color. Let it be whatever you need it to be. And if you need a place to land, quiet or bold or messy or magical, we hope you’ll find it here.

Happy Pride.
You are beautiful.
You are whole.
You are exactly who you’re meant to be.

From all of us at book/shop, etc.
A place for stories. Yours included.