If you are looking to deepen your political and spiritual practices in 2025, join the new community-led Sacred Anarchy Book Club to meet like-minded folks and explore the roles that magic, animism, and spirituality play in our movements for liberation.

Why are some ideas hidden, suppressed by the state? How do we harness these ideas for both personal transformation & collective liberation? Discuss these questions and more in this monthly space. No prior reading is required for this introductory session. The first book discussed will be "Occult Features of Anarchism: With Attention to the Conspiracy of Kings and the Conspiracy of the Peoples."

Pick up a copy at https://firestorm.coop/products/12487-occult-features-of-anarchism.html and use the promo code BOOKCLUB10 to save 10% at checkout.

#BookClub #OccultFeaturesOfAnarchism #QueerBookstore #CoopsNotCops #AbolitionNow #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esmé)

Last chance to get cozy at the bookstore this weekend before we close for a mini winter break next week!

Asheville is experiencing a cold front AKA ideal book browsing weather. Hang out, have a cup of tea, and disappear into the pages of your first 2025 read. We're open today and tomorrow from 3-7pm. We'll be closed January 6 - 9 to do our own hibernating. Never fear, we will be back with extended hours next weekend!

#QueerBookstore #CoopsNotCops #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esmé)

I tore through this book the way the house tears into the Maxwell family: ferociously. If you've read a book by Rivers Solomon you know how their pose has a way of getting its teeth in you, and "Model Home" is no different. Join us on January 25th to peel back the wallpaper and dissect memory, inherited trauma, and the mother archetype in horror.

Use promo code YIKES to save 10% when you purchase your copy at https://firestorm.coop/products/22042-model-home.html.

#BookClub #QueerHorror #QueerBookstore #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esmé)

We're pretty sure everything that surrounds us is queer, and so are the contributors of this breathtaking collection we just got in all the way from Switzerland

God is trans and mesmerizing monsters abound in these essays, poetry, and stunning photographs exploring the unmistakable queerness of the natural world. We have a limited number, so snag a copy for the ecology lover in your life before they get gone! "Pretty Sure This Plant Is Queer" is available from our co-op at https://firestorm.coop/products/22066-pretty-sure-this-plant-is-queer.html.

#QueerEcology #GodIsTrans #QueerBookstore #CoopsNotCops #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esmé)

Happy Birthday Firestorm! 16 never felt so sweet

While it might seem like a blink of an eye to an Ageless Immortal Being like Julius here, 16 years is a ripe old age for a radical bookstore! We've watched many incredible community fixtures come and go in Asheville over the years. We know it is thanks to the ongoing support of our readers (not to mention blood, sweat, and tears from the determined workers of Firestorm past) that we still stand to tell tales of the olden days. Did you know someone used to have to haul a bag of ice from the gas station at the beginning of every shift to keep the drinks cold? Woof!

They walked (up a hill, literally and figuratively) so we could run and Julius could tippy tap around this beautiful renovated fill station turned neighborhood bookstore. I wonder what the founding members would have said if they knew that in 16 years Firestorm would own our own building and have the infrastructure to attempt wildly ambitious projects like distributing thousands of free banned books across state lines?

In this spirit of wonderment and celebration, we'll be adding a festive flare to our banned books packaging party tomorrow! Enjoy a gluten-free (or a gluten-full) vegan cupcake from Short Street Cakes and share a favorite memory you have of Firestorm. Did you have a go-to menu item from Firestorm's cafe? Was Firestorm the venue of your first date with your sweetie? We want to know!

https://firestorm.coop/events/3214-banned-books-back-packaging-party.html

We feel proud, we feel grateful, and we feel a tad unsettled by the way our toothless collective-mate is gumming their pupcake with such gusto. Heck, if a sweet 16 party isn't a good reason for a little dietary indiscretion, we don't know what is!

#BannedBooksBack #BannedBooks #FeministBookstore #QueerBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esme)

Hi neighbor!

If you frequent our new location, you're likely becoming familiar with Firestorm’s latest quirky cast of regulars. You may have wondered, who is this striking silver fox? That is none other than Mr. Squishy No Bones!

Living up to the name, this floppy feline has sauntered onto the scene and melted our hearts in the process. While a bit unsure at first, she has grown confident supervising our bookstore like she owns the place. Squishy likes to check in with our guests to ensure they are feeling adequately welcome and voicing her thoughts about everyday decisions related to space management (door propped open or door closed?) It's a wonder we ever got anything done before!

And how is Julius reacting to this interloper? While they aren't besties quite yet, we fear that in no time we may have a cuddly coup on our hands...

#NoBonesNoWorries es #QueerBookstore #CoopsNotCops #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esmé)

In case you missed it, we're officially back from winter break!

Thanks to everyone who sent us sweet messages and placed online orders over the past few weeks. We're getting back into the swing of things and working on sending out all of the books and emails you are awaiting so patiently.

We hadn't planned to go "offline" right when our collective was receiving so much coverage for the Banned Books Back! campaign, but ain't that just the way! Welcome to the new followers who stumbled across our queer little bookstore through the Washington Post and hugs to the folks who have been here since day 1. We hope to see any and all of you this weekend! Drop by and tell us about the last good book you read!

#QueerBookstore #CoopsNotCops #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esmé)

We will be closed today for our annual inventory reconciliation! Web orders are also on pause while we finish counting up all these stacks of books. Julius wants you to know that we miss you and look forward to seeing you on Thursday! How tragic for them — to be such a perfect little baby without any teeth or their usual adoring audience of bookstore browsers. They will accept likes and comments of praise to tide them over

In the meantime, stay warm and please keep amplifying Palestinian voices this week!

#QueerBookstore #CoopsNotCops #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esmé)

Still recovering psychically from 2020? Same. On Sunday, January 14th from 3-5pm we'll be hosting a 2024 vision board party so we can all get our heads on straight for the year ahead

Whether you've never made a vision board before or you consider yourself practically clairvoyant, this low-stakes, drop-in session will be a space to set your intentions for the year alongside like-minded folks. Let's trouble the "resolution" framework and envision a year of restoration, a free Palestine, and a more just future for us all.

We will provide construction paper, writing utensils, magazines, modge podge, example vision boards, and gentle prompts if you'd like them. Please BYOScissors if you can!

Call it manifesting, call it arts & crafts, call it a cute date night — whatever the phrase "vision board" means to you, we hope to see you there!

#QueerBookstore #CoopsNotCops #FeministBookstore #FirestormCoop (-Esmé)
https://firestorm.coop/events/3137-2024-vision-boards.html

Image description: An event graphic reads "2024 Vision Boards/ In-person event/ Jan. 14th, 3:00pm ET" The background is a pile of magazine pages. A pair of blue and white scissors looks to be cutting into the text.