Shop7Stories

06/04/2026

Seven Stories here... sharing seven stories!

These are a few books we think people should know about right now.

Some just arrived.
Some are new releases.
Some are old favorites.
All are books we've been loving lately.

Also, a little heads up: things may look a bit chaotic in the store right now. Between Old Shawnee Days street closures and our beginning-of-summer cleaning/reorganizing, we're deep in the very glamorous process of sorting mountains of books.

We may be a little messy right now... but we all know a good stack of books (or several stacks 📚) never hurt anyone. No matter what, we are OPEN!

Hours for the rest of the week:
📖 Thursday–Saturday: 10am–6pm
📖 Sunday: 9am–3pm

There are so many great books waiting on the shelves, and we’re always happy to help you find your next read. Stop in to browse, ask for recommendations, or just say hi and tell us your summer plans. ☀️

06/04/2026

THIS SUNDAY our cozy mystery Audiobook Club RECONVENES at 8am to FRESHLY BEGIN A NEW BOOK.

IN THIS BOOK... Vera Wong investigates the mysterious death of a social media influencer found in Mission Bay while snooping through her future daughter-in-law's police files. Think Thursday Night Murder Club, but with an Asian tea shop vibe.

If you have been meaning to try out our Audiobook Club, this is the easiest group to slide right into.

Yes, this is book 2 in what will eventually be a four book series... But enjoying book 2 does NOT require you to have already read or completed book 1.

The benefits of our Audiobook Club are threefold:

1) This specific Club is on a Sunday morning when you might normally prefer to lay around the house. But getting out by 8:00 a.m. (even if you're still in your pajamas) means by the time we finish at 9:00 you have your whole day in front of you. It's the kind of pride you might have once felt leaving the gym, only in this case you're not leaving the bookstore sweaty.

2) Audiobook Club gives you unnecessary dose of medicine that your bones, brain, and spirit need but that we often talk ourselves out of in Modern Life where everything is a phone call endorsed up delivery away. Get your body up and moving! Get out of the house! Don't worry about having to be super social. This Audiobook Club session takes place in the air conditioned comfort of the store before we've even open for the day. You interact as much or as little as you need for the morning, but little by little you will notice that you are scratching that necessary itch. The one where we relate to other human beings and don't just haul up inside of a cave at home.

3) THIS is that moment you've been looking for where you can crack open that needlework kit or pull back out the crochet project you wanted to finish by last Christmas! Cozy Mysteries are easy to listen to as you roll out a yoga mat and do some basic stretching in a faraway corner of the store. And Vera's personality will keep you smiling even if the only thing you bring to work on is cleaning out your purse or doodling and giving your brain a creative break.

Have we convinced you??

Can we expect to see you this coming Sunday?

Audiobook Club functions with a punch card system. Each punch card is $20 and has 10 hour-long slots. Your first card with us is 50% off, making it $1 per hour!!

** IN CASE YOU WERE SILENTLY WONDERING...**
Yes, the public library and Libby are free, but this is also the cheapest deal we can give you to support our locally owned, Indie Bookshop which is not supported by public tax dollars but also needs your direct and regular support. This is a deal and a half, in our opinion. And as a bookmobile turned bookstore that also strongly supports our local libraries, we (more than anyone) would plead with you to recognize the FULLNESS of the community-supported ecosystem that makes the Johnson County that you know and love. Johnson County relies on public and private participation to keep diversity, accessibility, and innovation on the menu. We don't need one literacy supporting program. We need many!

Thank you for supporting audiobook club, our traditional book clubs, and every other creative program we find the time to deliver to you. Your support, and in some cases even your volunteer efforts really keep us going!!

🥰 See you Sunday???

06/04/2026

Just in case you don't get the memo.... IT'S A DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL SUMMER! 🥰💥📚💣

And it's not just all about the audiobook or the physical novels themselves ... VOLUME 1 OF THE DCC GRAPHIC NOVEL adaptation of the Webtoon is available and in-store. Actually, this is our second restock!

This is a no-brainer gift for yourself or somebody in your life.

And now might be a good time to remind you that you have ONE MORE WEEK until Father's Day!
《《Hint hint Wink wink》》

GET ON IT.
BEFORE THE NEXT LEVEL COLLAPSE. ...

06/04/2026

We're a whole 4 days into Summer and here I am Spring cleaning!!

Accordingly... I have run across several things that at one point or another were misplaced, misfiled, or just generally ended up in the wrong spot iIn one of our various moves. If any of these are items you loaned or shared with me, I have probably already sent you a message this morning or I am about to. Please feel free to take these items off my hand as soon as you can because it will be a load off my mind and it will help me clean up our storage space.

We are open 10am to 6pm everyday except Monday and Sunday. We are closed on Mondays and open 9am to 3pm on Sunday. If you're coming to pick up something that I have sent you a message about and it is outside of these times, just go ahead and send me a text back with a time that would work better for you. We literally live in the neighborhood and I am happy to accomplish this task and meet you back at the store.

Old Shawnee Days starts tonight and Johnson Drive will have some closures. Just remember that we are no longer in front of City Hall (and haven't been for well over a year). We are located at 12115 Johnson Drive, just west of the QuikTrip on Quivira. Look for the big sign on the roof for Smoke N Go and find parking. I am the center tenant in the same building, next to the smoke shop.

ALSO... this cleanup has unearthed an enormous number of COOKBOOKS which I am assembling onto a *pay what you can* cookbook cart today. If you or someone you know is a cookbook collector, please stop by and look through our selections. You're going to find some interesting /oddball things... plus your fair price donation goes towards our nonprofit, enabling us to buy books in less commonly donated categories which we distribute through our bookmobile. You get to find something unusual while skipping the eBay shipping fees, and we get to support community literacy! 🤷🏻‍♀️🤩

LASTLY.... all of this cleaning, sorting, and organizing means my horizontal surfaces are filled and my clutter is just HANGING OUT for all to see. Please excuse the mess!!! And.... Thank you for your flexibility and understanding. The store is definitely not *Instagram beautiful* today but my goal is to try to have things tidied up before Saturday. Cross your fingers with me!!

P.s.... I'm looking for an affordable and competent electrician familiar with how to extend the cord on my small refrigerator case. 🔌

Can you recommend one?

❤️
Halley

06/03/2026

Soooo.... THIS was the May book pick for our NIGHT OWLS BOOK CLUB.... And SOMEONEEEE just finished the book finally, and because she listened to the audiobook version we got to hear her periodic gasps and outrage as the book wrapped up.

Let this post serve as a reminder that you do not always have to finish a book in order to come to book club. In fact, CHECK THE COMMENTS of this post for a play-by-play of what we really come together for in our last Tuesday of every month meetings at 7:00 p.m.

Set the reminder in your phone now. Make the commitment to just show up regardless of how much or how little you've read. June book pics have a summer camp theme/vibe.

Get your book. Start thinking of potluck ideas. And we will see you the last Tuesday of June!

06/03/2026

Ohhhh my..... Look how tiny I was!!! So I just saw that Meredith with U-Wash Puppy shared this pic. THIS is why I've been pushing myself to take even more photos with people... I've had A JOURNEY, for sure! And I'm so glad that this photo exists. I totally remember this day with my dog,Tank. So much has changed, but also an awful lot of things that I care about have stayed the same and just grown and gotten bigger and better. 🥰🤩

Remember this Shop7Stories! 6 years ago you stopped by to wash your precious pup and I am so glad I got to meet you! You are making waves and a huge difference in the Shawnee community! Now you have a storefront of your own and I couldn’t be more proud of you and to know you! Keep making waves! 👏🏻🥰🎉

05/31/2026

Saturday was so much fun, guys!! Thank you for stopping in to shop with us, to support our local author guest, and to participate in whatever given activity we had going on at the moment centered around our dinosaur theme.

THANK YOU especially to author Tim Doane and sidekick Kade.... as well as Miss Tracey, who got into things with her tambourine!!

On a planning level as a store this one was also fun because we took it comfortable and easy. There were no entry fees. There was no elaborate setup. We didn't lose our minds with planning. We let things organically just kind of come together, and it was perfect.

We will see you again soon for other summertime themed days.

Local authors can reach out via shop7stories AT gmail.com

05/30/2026

Join us this Saturday at Seven Stories for a Dino Party with Tim Doane, local author of Dinosaur ABC Tongue Twisters. Tim will be in the shop from 11AM–4PM, with read-alouds (by our good friend Tracey!) at noon and 2PM.

Starting at 1PM, kids can take part in balloon word-building activities, plus enjoy large-format coloring and cupcakes. We’ll be offering an additional 20% off all picture books all day (excluding Little Golden Books and board books).

This is a great opportunity to meet an author who has put thought and care into creating books that make reading engaging and fun for children.

If you’re building a home library, encouraging a love of books, or looking for a gift for a child, grandchild, niece, nephew, classroom, or another young reader in your life, it’s a chance to discover a local author and pick up a signed copy to take home! 🦖 📖

05/29/2026

Our Night Owls Bookclub picks for June have a theme. WE'RE HEADED TO SUMMER CAMP!!.... and we're recognizing Pride month through horror fiction.

Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning is our June reading choice, and we will be meeting at 7pm on the last Tuesday in the store for our monthly potluck meeting to discuss this book.

We have the paperback in stock NOW and waiting for you, but if buying a new book is not in your budget... Yes, it is totally fine for you to hit up the library and still be part of book club.

If you'd like to JOIN THE NIGHT OWLS for our monthly meeting, you really just need to show up! Better yet, bring a food or beverage that is on theme. And this is going to be yet another fun one because "camp food" can go in soooo many directions!

We would love for you to have read the book choice by our last Tuesday of the month meeting in the store. But if you've only read part way or if you haven't even gotten to the book at all, that's okay. Just understand we will talk about the book and there will be spoilers and you will be fine. This is real life and we don't always meet our personal reading goals and that's okay.... KEEP COMING to the group and you will notice by the end of the year thart just actively holding yourself accountable to a fun group of people really does improve your reading speed, comprehension, and personal enjoyment.

As a bonus this June.... Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle continues to be our Audiobook Club sister choice and we are happy to cue that up for you in the store. Come on your own or bring a friend. You will need to get an Audiobook Club Card, which we punch once for each hour-long listening session. Your first Audiobook Club Card is 50% off, making it just $10. A bargain way to support our store, listen to an audiobook in a comfortable setting, AND to knock out a little more of that needlework or crochet project you've been trying to get to... or whatever other creative thing you choose to bring to keep your hands busy as you listen.

Happy horror reading.... if that's your cup of tea. And thank you for supporting independent and locally owned!

05/29/2026

I understand you are busy.
I know exclusive in-store promotions are alluring.

But if you recognize how important it is to support small businesses... Then I'm going to need you to take at least 2 minutes out of your day to click on this link and understand WHO exactly owns that gorgeous Barnes and Noble down the street from the indie bookstores you know and love.

Private Equity is the same thing that unceremoniously closed Painted Tree, Joann's, and a dozen other well- performing stores you loved this past few years.

Information is power... And B&N is not just owned by Private Equity, it's owned by "the world's largest private equity and activist firm". Ask AI what the "activist" portion of that is pertaining to. Understand what your money is voting for and supporting.

When you take a minute to look at the facts that have been there this whole time.... You will come to understand that no matter how many new B&N locations they open up, ALL of that belies paying their private equity overlords and assuming more and more debt including dangled tax incentives by local cities and counties that feel *honored* to have a B&N open up near them. When you look at their 15,000 ft stores, they are admittedly gorgeous. But they are also Leverage to the max. It's like looking at a neighbor down the street that has two brand new luxury cars sitting in their driveway. It's smoke and mirrors. You are looking at beautiful debt, not true ownership.

PLUS.... I get tired of sugar coating this so I'm just going to state it like it is... continuing to support these giant corporate Private Equity funded monoliths IS stabbing a hole in the side of every Indie bookstore trying to pay NON-discounted rent and utility fees because our system generally expects small businesses to just do everything the long and the hard way. I find this particularly interesting and painful because in spite of my young age, I've already had to move my store twice now and I've been repeatedly told on both occasions by various city staff that they cannot suggest even second party companies or property owners that I should meet with or speak to because that is considered "preferential treatment". Meanwhile those tax incentives giant debt-burdened corporations like Barnes & Noble receive... I've never heard anyone describe those deal as preferential treatment. Nationwide that is just "business as usual". The big guys get local assistance and the little guys don't.

Supporting true Indie booksellers is more important now than ever.

We know you can get a better discount at Amazon.

We know Barnes & Noble will have everything in stock.

But the small bookshops, we are offering you a business model that gives back to the local community in which we live and in which our generated profit continues to circulate!!!

is not just something we say because it's a trend. We are doing the Shop Small and Shop Indie thing year-round! It is a lifestyle choice to support businesses POWERED BY PEOPLE, not by pump and dump corporations.

Thank you for asking us to place those special orders. Thank you for purchasing gift cards for your friends through our store and not through that big chain. And thank you for supporting our other neighboring small businesses and small book shops in town.

❤️💚💛💙🧡💜🩷

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