St. Augustine has a deep literary tradition, rooted in the town’s rich history and inspiring environment, that has continued to foster a lively environment for local authors today. Naturally, from this, a larger reading community has flourished, beckoning the need for bookstores filled with new and gently used books. As days lengthen, the warm summer air becomes the perfect backdrop to grab a new read from a local bookstore to enjoy on the beach or poolside.
All summer, four locally owned bookstores – Book in Hand, Midnight Moon Books, No Shelf Control, and Needful Books and Things – located throughout town are partnering together to invite the community to pass through their shops for a summer-long Book Crawl. From June 4th – July 31st, participants can start the crawl by going to any of the four bookstores to purchase a $10 tote bag. From there, take a day, a week, or the entire summer to journey through each of the unique stores in whatever order your heart desires. Show your tote bag and purchase your next summer read, or a trinket if your shelves are a little too full, to collect different koozies from three locations and a bottle opener keychain from Book in Hand.
Starting south and moving northward, we begin at Book in Hand on Anastasia Island. This warm and cozy store sells used books of all genres alongside new copies of books by local authors. Moving into downtown, Midnight Moon Books and Boutique, located on King Street, offers a wide variety of books, highlighting tons of local women’s authors, alongside fun book-inspired trinkets, clothes, and more to browse. The store also features cute, cozy areas that are perfect for settling into and beginning to jump into the book you just pulled off the shelf. About 15 minutes north of there, No Shelf Control can be found in the Palencia neighborhood, selling new and used books featuring a section dedicated to local authors. If you have any books you are ready to part ways with to make room for more, they offer store credit for gently used books. Finally, located in World Golf Village, Needful Books and Things carries a wide variety of books, including a selection by local authors, and book-related ‘things’ to peruse.
Stay up to date with each store’s social media to see what other fun events they will be hosting throughout these months. Needful Books and Things has announced they that every Saturday afternoon in June and July they will be hosting one or two authors for a book signing every.
Summer book signing Schedule
June 6th: Lourise Everett – YA Fantasy
June 13th: Tracy Tripp – Multi-genre & Nora Blank – YA Mystery
June 20th: J.A. Johnson – Fantasy/Romance
June 27th: Amber Selene – Romantasy/Dystopian & Loru Olsen – Romance YA Fantasy
July 4th: Cindy Villanueva – Romance
July 11th: Kim Bradley Historical – Fiction/ Nonfiction & R.C. Perry – Romantasy
July 18th: Paris Marie – Dark Romantasy
June 25th: Loryn Moore – Romantasy & Lucy Lee – Romance
