The Lavender Bookshop offers queer books and community in Marietta

Sara Williford opened The Lavender Bookshop in Marietta, Georgia, in October 2024. (Photo via Instagram.) After the pandemic pushed them out of a job in tech, Sara Williford found work at a used bookstore. Williford curated popular displays of queer books for customers who didn’t want to painstakingly sift through the entire store to find the queer literature they were looking for. After experiencing “legitimate and not so legitimate” pushback from management about thee LGBTQ+ displays, Williford knew they needed to quit and open their own bookstore in Marietta. Williford opened the Lavender Bookshop in October 2024, and there’s only one qualification to be included in their shelves: have a queer main character. Of course, that means queer authors inevitably line the Lavender bookshelves, but Williford isn’t interested in policing author’s sexualities or forcing anybody to come out; if you write about queer people, your book can be for sale, regardless of your own sexuality or gender identity. Lavender Bookshop owner Sara Williford. (Photo via Instagram) In 2023, Cobb County fifth grade teacher Katie Rinderle was fired for reading her class “My Shadow is Purple,” a picture book by Scott Stuart with a non-binary protagonist. A year later, Cobb County School District removed 26 books from all schools for “sexually explicit content.” These books included titles with LGBTQ+ themes like “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins, “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, and “Juliet Takes a Breath” by Gabby Rivera. Amid this assault on LGBTQ+ books locally and nationwide, Williford says they “provide [the] service” of connecting young people and families in the area with queer books they might not be able to find at school or in mainstream bookstores. They’ve recommended books for helping an entire family understand and embrace a child’s new transgender identity and connected non-readers with queer stories that sparked a new love for reading. The Lavender Bookshop Founder Sara Williford’s LGBTQ+ Book Recommendations For connecting with queer people of the past: “The Charioteer” by Mary Renault For something fun: “The Entanglement of Rival Wizards” by Sara Raasch For sci-fi: “Volatile Memory” by Seth Haddon For horror: “You Weren’t Meant to be Human” by Andrew Joseph White Along with a vast and diverse inventory of queer literature, the Lavender Bookshop also offers multiple book clubs throughout the month – including separate clubs for sapphic romance, Achillean romance, sci-fi/fantasy, non-fiction, YA for teens, and transgender stories – as well as non-reading events like craft circles, Magic the Gathering nights, open mics, improv club, and a monthly local artist mart. “I think COVID really drove home how important those kind of community spaces are for a lot of people,” Williford told Georgia Voice. “People are always saying they want third spaces. They want queer spaces that aren’t focused on alcohol, queer spaces that aren’t adult-only.” Williford said they want the Lavender Bookshop to be a third place – one of the ever-dwindling free public spaces that aren’t home or work where people can convene – so all their events are free, and regulars often come to the store just to hang out, play games, or read together. The Lavender Bookshop is located at 1289 Roswell Rd in Marietta. To shop online, visit lavenderbookshop.com. To keep up with events, follow them on Instagram @lavenderbookshop. Related stories:• Stacey Abrams is back at DBF• ‘Dining Out’ explores gay restaurants of the past and present The post The Lavender Bookshop offers queer books and community in Marietta appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.