November Newsletter
- Stephanie Coughlan
- Mar 24
- 4 min read
"The house was very quiet, and the fog — we are in November now — pressed against the windows like an excluded ghost."
-EM Forster, Howard's End
Octember Book Club
On Sunday, November 9th, 16 (!!) of us gathered for two hours to stuff our faces with homemade dishes and dish about our Dark Academia picks. Included in the discussion was the question: What exactly is the genre? Most of us enjoyed our reads, but there were a couple that didn't make the cut for our recommendation list: specifically, R.F. Kuang's Katabasis and R.O. Kwon's The Incendiaries.
Want to read one of the recs but can't find it in store? Check out our Libro.fm playlist where you can listen to the audiobook while still supporting our shop.
December Book Club
Third time's a charm, right?! We're trying this again after 1) I advertised the wrong date in the October newsletter (after a democratic vote, we have since rescheduled to December 6th) and 2) chaos ensued after I confused our Octember book clubbers by asking them to wrap blind dates for each other with little to no instruction or structure (ADHD much?).
But now I believe everyone has at least been set up with a blind date to read before next week's book club. I for one am loving mine and can't wait to hear about everyone else's!
2025 Book Bracket - November Edition
This month was filled with hits and misses. The hits: Three Days in June, The Most Fun We Ever Had, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (my blind date), and The Mad Wife 🎧. The misses: The Second Story Bookshop 🎧 and An Academic Affair 🎧. The classics I read (Brideshead Revisited and Dracula) were interesting from a zeitgeist perspective but underwhelmed me. As always, you can find more detailed reviews on any of the below three reading apps:
Mural Fundraising
In case you missed it, we at Läs is More are currently raising funds for a mural to be drawn by a local artist over the holiday break. To support these efforts, our artist, Elsie, and I have designed a limited edition tote bag, of which only 100 will be sold. These totes are sustainably sourced by natura.eco and use organic, cut to order material to minimize waste. Additional details about the material, sizing and pricing can be found by clicking on the below link. As an added bonus, by helping raise funds for the mural, you will get a say in the final design, the details of which can be found below.
Mural Design
If you buy a tote to help raise funds for the mural, you will get a say in how it looks! The more bags you buy, the more votes you get - think of it as having a "share" in the mural. It won't pay out dividends, however, unless you consider the joy you get from seeing the fruits of your investment come to life!
The first design is Classic Elsie (our artist, @somewhereinbetween.studio) - various readers in comfortable poses surrounded by the word "book" in a handful of languages (just like the selection we have at the shop). Readers come in all shapes and sizes, and here at Läs is More, we welcome you all!
The second design has yielded polarizing results in my focus group, but is my not-so-secret favorite (if I end up with 90 unsold tote bags, you can be pretty confident this is where my votes will go!). It's quirky and weird and larger-than-life, and represents the feeling of getting lost in thought and forgetting the world around you. The quote itself is the opening line from one of my favorite books, I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith of 101 Dalmatians fame.
To me, it screams: "Läs is More: A Sanctuary for the Weirdos and Misfits." To others, it might scream "just plain weird".
Last but not least is a representation of the shop itself: a world of books that is yours for the taking! Giant books drawn as landscapes or structures suggest that stories can become entire worlds. It captures that feeling of opening a book and entering a new place. The crescent moon, stars, and calm scene with the campfire evoke peacefulness. It feels like the kind of calm you get when you’re curled up with a book on a quiet night.
All three utilize black-line sketching against a white wall which feels handmade, like doodles born from someone lost in thought. It makes the space feel personal, not corporate.
To cast your vote, buy a tote in store or online, and receive an e-mail with a link to our poll!
Literary Cards and Accessories
Yesterday, I got in a certified WINDFALL of Christmas watercolor cards and bookmarks courtesy of @paintedbyimp, a local artist. The cards themselves range from 20-40 SEK, while the bookmarks go for 40 SEK each.
We also have metal bookmarks hand-embroidered by Courtney Ragan, another local artist who you might recognize from her time covering the shop when I'm out of town. They go for 150 SEK/each and, alongside our bookish vases, candles and totes, are available in-store only.
Last but not least, we stock bookish wallets, passport holders, and journals - perfect gifts that retail for 290 SEK/each and are available both in-store AND online. Navigate to the link on the left to see what's currently in stock!
Comments