Here’s what’s making us happy this week.
As summer comes to a close, we at Lit Hub are celebrating milestones and jumping into the deep end. What’s making us happy? Climbing mountains.
The article highlights personal and professional achievements within the Lit Hub team as summer transitions to autumn. Molly Odintz is moving in with her partner and planning to build a fire pit, symbolizing a new chapter in their relationship. Drew Broussard, the podcasts editor, completed a challenging section of his novel-in-progress after struggling with it for over two years. These milestones reflect growth and progress, both personally and creatively, as the team embraces the change of seasons.
James Folta, a staff member at Lit Hub, discovered a unique bookstore called A Tiny Literature Shop during a wedding trip to Hudson. The shop specializes in miniature literature, including essays and novellas, with every item being a small-sized book. James noted that the store offers curated selections, often with handwritten notes, making browsing feel like exploring a friend’s personal bookshelf. The shop also sells bespoke gifts, such as a tiny book box and a tiny tote, appealing to those who appreciate small, thoughtful items.
Jonny Diamond, an editor at Lit Hub, visited Better Days Bookshop in Cairo, New York, with his family. The bookstore serves as a community space where visitors can purchase new books and enjoy drinks on the back porch, including beer, non-alcoholic beer, soda, or apple juice. This visit marked the beginning of autumn for Diamond, highlighting the role of bookstores as social hubs that blend literature with leisure activities.
Brittany Allen, another Lit Hub staff member, shared her excitement about discovering the Sherwood Forest Zine Library in Austin, Texas. This library is reportedly the largest of its kind, housing thousands of zines—small, self-published magazines or booklets—covering diverse topics such as capitalism and magick (a term often used in modern pagan or occult practices). The library offers a virtual collection for those unable to visit in person, providing access to analog inspiration and niche literary works.
Oliver Scialdone, the community editor at Lit Hub, has been collecting OVAs (Original Video Animations) on VHS as part of a long-term archiving project. OVAs are standalone anime episodes or movies released directly to home video. Scialdone specifically focuses on the Japanese fantasy franchise Record of Lodoss War, which is structured like a role-playing game (RPG). He emphasizes the nostalgic appeal of 90s fantasy anime and the importance of preserving these works, as many original distributors in the U.S. are no longer active.
Brittany Allen also reflects on the end of summer by revisiting the cultural movement known as *indie sleaze*, which peaked in the early 2000s. This term refers to a gritty, unpolished aesthetic associated with indie rock and underground music scenes. Allen discovered the novel *Deep Cuts* by Holly Brickley, which captures the spirit of this era through a story about a music-fueled relationship. The book includes references to bands like LCD Soundsystem and aligns with the themes of *High Fidelity*, a well-known novel by Nick Hornby. Allen’s exploration culminated in a profile of a Williamsburg tailor who dressed the band Interpol, further tying the past to the present.
