Our Golden Age of Reading (Online)

The AAPI- and woman-owned Cupid’s Bookshop, an independent bookstore located in the vibrant Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, specializes in the romance genre, and it brims with feminine aesthetics, bookish merchandise, new romance novels—and, of course, passionate readers. When I tell people about Cupid’s—either fellow literary scholars or amateur book lovers—I get two responses: absolute astonishment mixed with confusion and dismissal; or, a loving, knowing nod and smile followed by a waterfall of questions about their shelving, displays, and events.