Valentine’s Day was great for me. The Mr. and I packed up and went for a day trip to Austin, which is about an hour from here… it was our first chance to really drive around the city and here is where we ended up:

That is Book People. It is huge and full of books and other glorious knickknacks, and lovably Indie.

This is me, taking advantage of one of their quirkier chairs. There are chairs everywhere. And nooks for chairs to be in. And books for you to browse… I could have stayed there all day. They even (believe it or not) had literary scrawlings on the bathroom wall, including a long list of various patrons’ favorite books.

I mentioned awesome knickknacks, right?

Here’s an example of their way-cool teen lit section. These cards are handwritten/drawn descriptions of the books they’re displayed with, and are EVERYWHERE. The shelves are lined with them. It is so cool.

The Mr. and I were both going to buy a book, but he couldn’t decide what he wanted, so he let me have his book choice, so I walked home with these:

I loved Tiger’s Curse, and the friend that recommended it told me I’d love Quest as well, which I don’t doubt! And I’ve heard such great things about The Mysterious Benedict Society that I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. That and, well, if I’m working on a Middle Grade novel, I might as well read some of the better ones on the market, yes? Yes.

All in all, a great day! Book People was a whole experience and everything I could have asked for in a bookstore. So much more than I was expecting, truly. It was like a college bookstore with all the fun gadgets, only none of them have acronyms on them and there were a LOT more books. I wish I didn’t live so far away, because if I didn’t, I’d probably be in that place every day.

At the very least, I think this is my new Valentine’s Day tradition. I even had amazing sushi and beef katsu for dinner. Yum.

Don’t forget to let me know what book you got if you participated in Books are for Lovers! You might win a handmade bookmark.

What did you do for V-Day? Or Singles’ Awareness, if you’d rather?