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Vol. XI · No. 38 · Week of March 11 Open today · 10am – 7pm · (860) 555-0119
Shoreline Bookshop
An independent shop on Water Street · Mystic, Connecticut · Est. 2014
Shoreline Bookshop storefront on Water Street
A bookshop with opinions

We've read every book we sell.

Eli and Margaux opened Shoreline in 2014 with two thousand titles, an inherited Olivetti, and a strict rule that nothing gets onto the front table unless one of them has finished it. Ten years later the rule still holds. The cat hasn't budged either.

— a small shop at 11 Water Street, three blocks from the drawbridge

See this week's table Upcoming events →
This week's table · refreshed every Tuesday

Five books on the front table right now.

Not a bestseller list. Not what the algorithm picked. These are the five we cannot stop pressing into customers' hands this week — with a note from whichever of us read it first.

No. 01
The Bee Sting
Paul Murray
New Fiction · 656pp

"I put off the last 80 pages for three nights because I didn't want it to end. Just go."

Margaux says
$32.00 · hardcover
No. 02
Sailing Alone Around the Room
Billy Collins
Poetry · 192pp

"For the customer who says they don't 'get' poetry. Start here. You'll get it."

Eli says
$17.00 · paperback
No. 03
Two Years Before the Mast
Richard Henry Dana Jr.
Maritime · 1840

"Read this and then walk to the Seaport. Different museum afterward, I promise."

Eli says
$14.95 · Penguin Classics
No. 04
How to Say Babylon
Safiya Sinclair
New Nonfiction · memoir

"The most beautifully written memoir we've stocked in two years. Bought a second copy for my sister."

Margaux says
$29.00 · hardcover
No. 05
The Ocean in Your Bathtub
Seth Fishman
Kids · ages 4–8

"Five kids in a row sat with this on the rug last Saturday. That's basically a Newbery in here."

Eli says
$18.99 · picture book
Upcoming · spring 2025

Author nights at the shop.

We host eight to ten readings a year. Small rooms, real conversations, wine after. RSVP at the register or call (860) 555-0119.

Thu · Mar20
Anne Enright — in conversation with Margaux
The Booker winner reads from her new collection. Q&A and signing after.
7:00pm – 8:30pm
$8 · wine incl.
Sat · Apr05
Eric Jay Dolin — Left for Dead
A new maritime history of the 1812 Falklands disaster. Mystic-relevant. Expect chairs to be full.
5:30pm – 7:00pm
Free · RSVP
Wed · Apr23
Mary Ruefle reads from Dunce
A rare reading from one of the finest poets working. Forty seats, no exceptions.
7:30pm – 9:00pm
$12 · ticketed
Sun · May11
Kids' Mother's Day Storytime — Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Picture books, drawing demo, free cocoa from Sift across the street.
10:30am – 11:30am
Free · all ages
The Last-Thursday Book Club · since 2015

In March we're reading The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff.

A small group — usually fourteen, never more than twenty — that meets in the back room the last Thursday of every month. Eli moderates, badly. Margaux pours the wine, generously. Newcomers are welcome any month; you don't have to commit, and you don't have to have finished the book (though it's more fun if you have).

April's pick: James by Percival Everett · May: The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden.

RSVP for March 27
When
Last Thursday of the month · March 27, 7:00pm
Where
Back room, ground floor
Cost
Free · wine & cheese included
Group size
14–20 people
Book discount
20% off the month's pick at the register
How to join
Walk in, email, or call (860) 555-0119
A small map of a small shop

What you'll find where.

The store is one narrow nineteenth-century storefront, twenty-two feet wide, with a basement. Here's the lay of it so you don't have to ask (though we love when you ask).

Shoreline Bookshop · 11 Water Street · floor plan
A short walk through the shop
front door to back wall · about forty paces
Front roomby the bay window
§
New Fiction. The front table, staff picks, recent releases we vouch for, signed copies under the register.
"the loud room"
Middle aislespast the green column
§
New Nonfiction. History, biography, nature, essays, food writing, the New York Review shelf.
"the thinking aisle"
Back roomthrough the arch
§
Maritime & Kids. Our Mystic specialty: ship histories, whaling, Long Island Sound. Kids' nook with the window seat.
"where the cat naps"
Stairs downmind your head
§
Used & Out-of-Print. Roughly 3,400 secondhand titles. Modern firsts, regional New England, paperbacks at $4.
"the basement of joy"
From the owners

We are not trying to be the biggest bookshop. We are trying to be the one where the staff actually knows what you should read next, and where you actually trust them when they tell you.

— Eli & Margaux
Castellano · owners since 2014
Visit us
Monday – Sunday10am – 7pm
Address11 Water Street, Mystic CT
Phone(860) 555-0119
Email[email protected]
ParkingCottrell lot, two blocks

Open seven days. We close early (5pm) on Christmas Eve and the Friday of the Outdoor Art Festival.