Paperback Shack

08/29/2026

We’ll be closed today (Saturday (8/29/26) to attend to pre-wedding duties. Thank you for understanding.
Below: Joe required “proof of me-ness” yesterday. I sent him that pic.

08/28/2026

The evolution of a paper rose.

08/26/2026

30 Days… if I’m making crafts, power walking up and down the mall hallway, muttering to myself, or looking at my phone like the person on the other end has lost their mind… fear not, my book knowledge is still here for you. Please come to the store and distract me. Tell me a story, ask me all the book questions, DISTRACT ME… did I say that already? ❤️🍷💐📚👰🏻‍♀️

08/24/2026

It’s Monday - and I’m shelving books. Stop by and see me! I’ll be here until 4pm.

08/23/2026

Friends, we recommend VentiSei Wine Bar & Pizzeria so much that we’re having our wedding there. Go check out their Italian Fest. 🍷

If you share this post, we’ll leave meatballs under your pillow tonight. Win, win!

VentiSei Winery | 2026 Italian Festival: Saturday, September 12th

New Castle, PA

08/21/2026

We’ll be opening late - FRIDAY 8/21/26 - due to an appointment in Cleveland. Sorry about the inconvenience. Good news though, we’re also staying open late.

08/14/2026

It’s a perfect Friday at the bookstore- I’m putting tons of books away, taking writing breaks between, and fielding crazy phone calls (because this wouldn’t be Paperback Shack with normal questions about actual books 😂).

08/07/2026

EFF AI

Right now, a writing organization I’ve been involved in for over a decade is having a bit of drama involving a newsletter, a *now former* trustee, and opinion piece on generative AI. Let me make this clear, as I have been doing for years as a bookstore owner, creative writing instructor, and as a human being - AI HAS NO PLACE IN CREATIVE ENDEAVORS.

1. As the owner of Paperback Shack for the last 11 years, I’ve been explaining as gently as I can, if you use AI to design your cover, then your book will not be on our shelves. YOU, dear writer, are an artist, and so is, the graphic artist you bypassed by using AI. As a writer, want readers to purchase your product, so do the graphic artists (whom you are a customer).

2. Since we are close to BTS - and I have TONS of teacher and professor friends - please, I’m begging you, teach your students that using AI is cheating. It’s not a tool. It’s THEFT. And it’s not okay. The reason it’s THEFT derives from the way the AI obtains its information. If you need someone to speak in your classroom - call me.

3. The creative process IS original ideas and without them we’ll only have the same ideas regurgitated back at us over and over. Unfortunately, I believe we’ve started to see this with the reboots of everything instead of new and fresh ideas. There’s only so much value in nostalgia before they ruin the story or art.

Below are today pictures of Paperback Shack - by the way, my logo was created by my very talented cousin Derek Palladino.

08/04/2026

Writers…

07/29/2026

Fun book covers of the day: