ICYMI: 'Books Are Magic,' Brooklyn's New Independent Book Store, Will Open Monday

COBBLE HILL, BROOKLYN — "Books Are Magic," the new independent book store from best-selling Brooklyn author Emma Straub, will open Monday, May 1 on Smith Street in Cobble Hill.

Straub announced her plans for the new bookstore after the closings of BookCourt and the Community Bookstore, two Cobble Hill institutions.

That got Straub plenty of hype in the neighborhood and beyond — including a glowing profile this week on CNN's website.

"We live in the neighborhood and when [local indie bookseller] BookCourt closed [at the end of 2016], we needed a bookstore to walk to—and we knew everyone else here did, too," Straub said about she and her husband, Michael Fusco-Straub.

"We had talked about it as a sort of distant fantasy," she told CNN. "So when they told us they were closing, we said, 'Oh, okay! I guess we're doing it now.'"

Straub said last month that she was shooting for an opening date "on (or around) May 1st." It appears they'll hit that target.

The store has signs in the window advertising the May 1 opening, and social media accounts are touting that date as well:

When Patch stopped by the store on a sunny Friday afternoon, Straub and a small group of people were putting the finishing touches on the store.

She let Patch come inside for a sneak peak:

Te Books Are Magic website also has a calendar up and running with a schedule of author events at the site.

Image via Shutterstock

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Friday, April 28.