Book Pickings Novels & Stories

Chey picks up once again and she turns to eye him. "Don't be obvious..." I whisper. "Well, he's obviously creeping so I might be." She shrugs. We grab the shirts and move along, and the man remains staring off into space by the men's shirts. We make our way over to the bookshelves, still guarded, but enthralled at the mark downs on the paper backs. Chey and I have similar tastes so we each take a couple that we both were eyeing, knowing that we will switch off after we've read them. A particular vampire thriller catches my eye, and I grab it last second.

I don’t try touching it again. Closing the box, I approach the shelves. I take out the book closest to me. Brushing off the dust, I realize it’s a strategy book, written in delicate penmanship. The paper is fragile, but the tome is bound with great care. The other side of the shelf seems to have hard-bound journals. It’s like an entire couple’s life secured in one small room. I hear a scraping sound, and I turn my head to see Robert picking up a stack of small portraits from one of the iron boxes in the corner.

“Like I’m choosing for myself. Not just taking what’s given.” After the mall, they hit a cozy independent bookstore tucked between a coffee shop and a laundromat. The bell above the door jingled as they entered, and the scent of old paper and fresh ink wrapped around them. Ella gravitated immediately to the fiction section—mysteries with intricate plots and fantasies filled with magic and second chances. “Maybe reading will jog something,” she said hopefully, stacking three books in Marcus’s arms. One was about a woman rediscovering her past through dreams; another followed unlikely heroes on a road trip. Marcus added a sturdy notebook with thick, unlined pages. “For when the pieces come bac

I won’t try touching it again. Closing the box, I approached the shelves. I take out the book closest to me. Brushing off the dust, I realize it’s a strategy book, written in delicate penmanship. The paper is fragile, but the tome is bound with great care. The other side of the shelf seems to have hard-bound journals. It’s like an entire couple’s life secured in one small room. I heard a scraping sound, and I turned my head to see Robert picking up a stack of small portraits from one of the iron boxes in the corner.

Or they sold them when they moved to new cities or towns when books became burdensome for them. Old booksellers knew where and how they could find those books, and they were very good at hunting and stalking them. Even they knew that at which part of the country had the most reading rate. Some book hunters rushed to the shops in the quarters where they could obtain books. Those shops were meant for buying old stuff like tin pots, broken radios or TVs, or outdated newspaper.

Yet here I was, in this room full of people who had chosen me, not because they had to, but because they wanted to. I smiled, a real one this time, and sat at the center of the circle. April clapped her hands together, bubbling in excitement. “Okay, enough of the emotional display. Let’s get to work. Book Club is officially back in session!” Laughter filled the room. We started tossing around ideas for the next reading list, but the discussion quickly turned into a chaotic mess of inside jokes and playful teasing. Maya insisted we include something “dark and brooding,” while Sammy argued for something “funny, because God knows we all need to laugh more.” April rolled her eyes and wrote both

Those were good times. Pushing open the library door, I was enveloped by the familiar scents of paper and ink. The sleek, modern shelves, packed with books of every genre, rose majestically to the ceiling, creating a sea of literary treasures. Every book had been handpicked by me, each one a reflection of my eclectic tastes. I navigated the narrow aisles, my fingers trailing over the spines of the books until they paused in front of a shelf filled with classic novels. With a practiced motion, I pulled a row of books off a shelf, revealing a small, discreet panel. I pressed my thumb against the cool surface, and the panel slid open with a soft click releasing a whisper of secrets.

We need to learn anything we can that will help. ‘Okay, well, we better get reading then.’ I take a book from one end of the bookshelf while Pipsqueak starts at the other end. I unlock the steel clasp and carefully flick through. Each page has a symbol and a description of what each represents and does. Nothing helpful. I put it back and took the next book. I can’t read it though it appears to be in Latin. ‘Found anything yet?’ I ask. ‘No, this one seems to be about the history of witches from Salem. I’ll keep looking.’