My Secret Shelves opened February 14 in Pineville, La., the Town Talk reported. Located at 1315 Military Hwy. and owned by Tanja and Brad Lunney, My Secret Shelves carries general-interest titles primarily for adults, with a small section for children's books and YA. Highlighted genres include fantasy, mystery, and horror, along with some Christian books and Bibles. The store also plans to carry local and self-published authors as well as manga and graphic novels.
The store's name alludes to the fact that it has multiple secret spaces, with one hidden behind a door looking like a wardrobe, and another behind a bookshelf that opens at the pull of a lever. The room behind the wardrobe will function as a reading space and contain journals that visitors can write in.
"The secret part is you don't expect that to be something you can just walk through, but it's absolutely open to the public," Tanja Lunney explained to the Town Talk.
Lunney plans to host plenty of community events, including writing workshops for aspiring authors and date nights in partnership with other businesses. The store's grand opening on Valentine's Day included specialty coffee and other drinks made by a local coffee shop.
Lunney is the owner of the arts and crafts store Let Love Be My Motive Studio in Glenmora, La., where she has held events such as a book fair for adults. She has always wanted to open a bookstore, and at her Glenmora store she often had customers coming from Pineville and other communities who wanted "to have the experience of coming into a bookstore."
"It's really about community for me, if I could sum it up," said Lunney. "I very much want this to be a central hub where people can come as they are. They're loved and able to heal through books. To experience new worlds through books."