Listen up, Emma Straub fans: If you’re ever in Brooklyn or Brooklyn Heights, stop by an independent bookstore called Books Are Magic. Look toward the bottom of one of the shelves in the fiction section, and you’ll find a row of books written by Straub. Go ahead, pick one up.
Then seek out the woman with the blond bob and glasses—she’s in charge. And tell her that she’s a wonderful author. (Not to mention a modest one. “My books are displayed but not in an impressive elbow room kind of way,” she says. “I could probably do better.”)
The bestselling author of five novels (including 2022’s acclaimed This Time Tomorrow), three picture books and a short story collection is living the childhood dream of every literary lover. Since 2017, Straub and her husband, Michael, have owned Books Are Magic in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood. Known for its vibrant atmosphere and extensive selection, the shop is a favorite among locals and has proven so popular that a second spot opened nearby in 2022. “I just knew that we could do it,” she says. “And the neighborhood wanted it, needed it and supported it.”
And though Straub works in one of the locations on most weekdays, she also stays busy with her other great passion. In fact, her delightful new novel, American Fantasy (out April 7), revolves around another childhood vision coming to life: Its heroine, a newly divorced empty nester named Annie, decides to recharge by setting sail on a ’90s-themed cruise to see her favorite childhood boy band perform on the high seas.
Straub wrote American Fantasy as a form of catharsis following the success of the more melancholic and autobiographical This Time Tomorrow, which focused on a woman coming to terms with her father’s declining health. “I needed to do something that would bring me up and keep me happy,” she says. “And what makes me happy is boy bands. It’s been true since I was 8 years old.” To research this feel-good book, she even voyaged solo on a New Kids on the Block theme cruise. (Her all-time fave: Joey McIntyre, obviously.)
Hangin’ tough from her book-filled dining/living room in Brooklyn, Straub chats with Reader’s Digest about her literary loves and why indie bookstores aren’t just nice—they’re necessary.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Reader’s Digest: Tell me about your journey to opening Books Are Magic.
Emma Straub: So when I moved to Brooklyn in my early 20s, there was a neighborhood bookstore called Book Court. Eventually, I started working there as a bookseller. It was always my fantasy with my husband that when the owner retired, we would take over.
Many years later, I found out they were closing. We couldn’t actually take over for the owners, but they were very generous with us in terms of sharing information. So we signed the lease a few months later and opened in April 2017. We were young and stupid and optimistic and fresh-faced and ready for a challenge.
Reader’s Digest: What makes indie bookstores so special?
Emma Straub: They are totally unique and idiosyncratic. If you go into a chain bookstore, it will look the same at any location in the country and have the same giant quantities of the same books. Indie bookstores are not like that. They have personalities and quirks, and sometimes the people who work there are surly or opinionated.
I mean, if you need an SAT test-prep guide or a new dictionary, a chain is perfect because there’s a much bigger selection. But if you want to walk in and have a deep conversation with someone about books that you love, there is nothing like an independent bookstore.
Reader’s Digest: What’s your tip on how to browse one? There often seems to be no rhyme or reason to the shelving system!
Emma Straub: OK, so there’s often a “staff picks” section or a “staff picks” display. Start there because that will tell you where you are and what kind of books the booksellers are into. And eventually you’ll find your bookseller soulmate and your friend.
Reader’s Digest: Did indie bookstores shape your life as a young reader?
Emma Straub: Yes! So my dad [Peter Straub] was a writer, and my mom worked in early childhood literacy. Books were in every room, just like food was in every room. My parents were reading all the time—like, my father wouldn’t even go to the dentist without a book, and my mom was in all these book clubs.
There was this bookstore called Endicott Booksellers on Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, and I went there all the time with my dad. It felt like it was part of our small town. It was a safe, happy place for me.
Reader’s Digest: Are you now the bookstore lady creating a happy place for kids?
Emma Straub: I definitely am! I live in between our two stores, so I can’t tell you how often I will be walking down the street and a parent with a child will be like, “This is the lady who owns the bookstore!”
I absolutely love being the bookstore lady. Like, I love giving dogs treats and flirting with other people’s babies and giving recommendations. It does feel like you’re imprinting on these people. My husband and I have built something that children are going to remember, and that feels so meaningful.
Reader’s Digest: You’re basically the Meg Ryan character in You’ve Got Mail.
Emma Straub: I know. And I’ve got short blond hair and a goofy face. But that story does not end great for The Shop Around the Corner.
Reader’s Digest: Do you think the indie bookstore business has since turned the corner?
Emma Straub: I do. They’re having a major, major resurgence, and new ones are opening all the time. And a lot of them are doing great.
Reader’s Digest: Why is that?
Emma Straub: People have experimented with ordering books on the internet, but it doesn’t feel as good as buying them in person. And I think everyone understands that if you want to live in a beautiful and vibrant neighborhood full of independent businesses, you have to actually walk your butt in there and support them. If we don’t have something in stock, maybe you wait a day longer because we’ll order anything you want. And remember that for every dollar you spend at an independent bookstore, so much more of that money stays in your community. It supports people and pays rent and pays for these smart people interacting with you.
Reader’s Digest: Overall, what’s it been like to experience such success now? Has it been a little bittersweet following your dad’s death?
Emma Straub: Every day, something will happen, and I’m like, “Oh, my God. I wish I could tell my dad this.” But the good news was that he got to live to read This Time Tomorrow over and over and see it published and hit the bestsellers list. It was wonderful.
You know, it’s hard to talk about your feelings. The novel gave us this beautiful way to say everything that we needed to say and when. And so when he died, I felt satisfied. And that’s what ultimately matters.
Reader’s Digest: OK, let’s do a literary lightning round: What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
Emma Straub: Anne Patchett’s Whistler. It comes out in June.
Reader’s Digest: Describe your ideal reading spot.
Emma Straub: Quiet porch, couch, cat, blanket.
Reader’s Digest: What’s the last book that made you cry?
Emma Straub: Heart the Lover by Lily King.
Reader’s Digest: Which book do you recommend more often than others?
Emma Straub: It really depends on who I’m talking to. Middlemarch by George Eliot if I feel like they’re up to it. Or Colson Whitehead’s The Noble Hustle, which is his book about poker. I recommend that one a lot because not as many people have read his nonfiction.
Reader’s Digest: Which book will get anyone out of a reading slump?
Emma Straub: I’m going to say Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here. It’s about a woman who works as a nanny for two children who occasionally burst into flames. They’re fine. They’re not harmed. They do sometimes burn down things around them. It’s really smart and funny and surprising and emotionally true. I would give that to anyone.
American Fantasy by Emma Straub
A divorced empty nester rediscovers her boy-band crush on a '90s-themed cruise and reconnects with herself.
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