The afternoon sun leaks through the windows, illuminating books littered on shelves. The sound of flipping pages and friendly chatter echoes through the bookstore as customers file in. The air fills with the promise of intriguing stories sprawled across crisp pages.

Named after this wonderous feeling of reading, Wonderland Books hopes to bring joy to the Bethesda area. Set to open Nov. 2024, the independent bookstore is the product of the shared love of reading between co-owners Amy Joyce and Gayle Weiswasser.

Before founding Wonderland Books, the pair started a book club to spread their joint interest, though it wasn’t until a few years ago that the possibility of starting a bookstore entered their minds.

After a long career in law and communications, Weiswasser wanted to pursue a more meaningful profession, she said. Despite having a full-time job, she has spent the last 18 years running the book review blog “Everyday I Write the Book” and co-hosting “The Readerly Report” podcast since 2017.

Before Wonderland Books, Joyce worked as a writer and editor at The Washington Post. At first, she was hesitant about owning a bookstore, but after some time, she felt she couldn’t refuse the opportunity.

“Growing up, I always had a book in hand, I was always reading, I was always trying to get myself to a bookstore,” Joyce said. “I was a writer and editor as a profession, so I just love other people’s stories.”

The process of founding Wonderland Books was heavy, including a year-long search for the ideal location and a thorough understanding of the finances of running a business in Bethesda. In preparation for the store’s opening, Joyce and Weiswasser collaborated with other independent bookstores to learn how to appeal to Bethesda customers. To learn more about daily life as a bookseller, Weiswasser spent time shadowing a bookseller in Boston.

They said that despite the long journey to opening, the opportunity to bring Wonderland Books to the Bethesda community excites Weiswasser and Joyce.

“It’s a well-educated, curious, engaged community, who, as we’ve learned, believes very strongly in the value of independent bookstores,” Weiswasser said. “It’s a huge community of diverse but enthusiastic readers, and there has not been an independent bookstore in Bethesda in recent memory.”

Aside from the short-lived Amazon Books, which closed in 2022, Bethesda hasn’t had a bookstore since the 20-year-old Barnes & Noble closed in 2018.

Junior Grace Lazarous has enjoyed reading from a young age, a passion that stems from frequent trips to bookstores with her mother. She expressed the importance of bookstores in a community and feels the lack of one prevents others from appreciating reading.

“Since we don’t have a lot of bookstores around us, I think people just see it as a thing for school, which is kind of sad,” Lazarous said. “It’s a really fun thing and it helps you learn. It’s just good for people and it would be nice to have it more normalized.”

The owners of Wonderland Books said they hope to create a joyful community space where people will want to spend their time. They plan on inviting authors to speak and designing a space that feels uplifting to customers.

Weiswasser expressed how impactful the many teens looking to become involved with Wonderland Books have been.

“We’ve been really heartened by the people who’ve reached out that just want to work in the store who are high school students,” Weiswasser said. “It’s very encouraging to see how many kids are still reading in paper and exploring and discovering the great benefits of reading.”

English teacher Christopher Williams hopes customer engagement will make Wonderland Books a community-building environment and resource center. In the age of digital marketing, Williams voiced that consumers should support small businesses in particular to promote a love of reading.

Although long, the journey of connecting community members to new and impactful books has been gratifying. As first-time business owners, Joyce stated that the experience has taught them how much they are capable of and how to step out of their comfort zones.

“I learned that I need to believe, and it’s just been an amazing experience learning that I can do more than I think I can do,” Joyce said. “I always used to write about brave people, but suddenly I feel like I’m the brave person and maybe it’s worth it to do things that scare you.”

This story was originally published on The Black & White on October 27, 2024.