It’s time once again for our monthly roundup of store news and events! Here’s what you can look forward to from Griffeys’ in the month of July:

What’s New in Store

-New bookish goodies! We are very pleased to be offering two new locally made goodies/gift items here in store! First, we have adorable book earrings by love grows clay co. They are just darling, and are handmade right here in Delaware, Ohio!

Second, we have these delightful genre candles from Carl & Kitten Candle Co. Each one has a unique, appealing scent meant to remind you of your favorite genre! Stop in and snap some up today before they sell out.

-New local authors. We have several new local authors in stock, and more on the way! Right now, you can find Steve Basford’s Buckeye Trivia books, Michael S. Moore’s novel Crumpled Paper, a restock of Amy Butcher’s memoir Mothertrucker, and more on our local and indie shelf. Stay tuned for more local authors!

-Organization update. In an effort to make the store easier to navigate, we are slowly rolling out updates to the layout and shelf organization. Probably the biggest update is the row of short shelves on the right side of the store, which have been emptied of unpriced books and filled with mass market paperback fiction on the front, and more niche nonfiction on the back. We have also expanded our Young Adult section to fill two shelves, further pushing back the unsorted, unpriced back stock that previously filled these shelves. For those of you who enjoy looking through the unsorted books, never fear! There are still quite a few shelves of unsorted titles to search through at your leisure. In the coming months, we are hoping to continue minimizing our back stock and maximizing the priced and sorted titles on our sales floor. We’ll keep you updated!

Upcoming Events

-GBE @ First Friday. July 7th, 6pm-9pm. We’re coming back to First Friday in Downtown Delaware! You will find our booth on Sandusky Street, in front of Fresh Start Bakery and Café. We’ll be bringing a selection of our best books, plus bookish goodies, store coupons, and more!

–July Gathering Market. July 8th, 11am-5pm. The Gathering Market is back in full swing for July! Plus, a very special guest will be stopping by to visit the market. We are so excited for this market, and we’d love to see you there!

–Book Signing with Taryn Paige. July 14th, 5pm-6pm. Local poet Taryn Paige will be joining us to share some of her poetry, discuss her work, and sign copies of her collections Extremities and To The Afterlife.

–Open Mic Night. July 21st, 6pm. We’re so excited to be hosting a second open mic night this month! Please arrive at or before 6pm if you wish to participate, and sign up for a slot here beforehand if possible! This time, there is no set end time for the event; we will start at 6:00 and go for as long as folks still have things to share.

–Game Night. July 28th, 4pm-8pm. You know the drill! Join us for an evening of board gaming fun, bring a friend, and bring your favorite game or borrow one of ours.

–Children’s Author Event with Julie Dinges. July 29th, 1pm-2pm. Award-winning children’s author Julie Dinges is coming back to Griffeys’! Join us for a reading, scavenger hunt activity, and book signing with the author of the delightful fantasy picture book The Search for the Scepter.

Other Announcements

-Calling all writers! In case you missed it, we are hosting a very special distraction-free writer’s retreat here at the bookstore in mid August. The retreat is intended for writers of all sorts, not just novelists, but bloggers, students, journalers, etc. We’re super excited about this retreat, and we hope that you’ll join us in cultivating an intentional writing practice away from the distraction of your smartphone and surrounded by books. You can learn more about it and get tickets here.