Here’s what’s making us happy this week.

As summer comes to a close, we at Lit Hub are celebrating milestones and jumping into the deep end. What’s making us happy? Climbing mountains. We’re looking autumn square in the face and saying: bring it on. 

Molly Odintz, for instance, is moving in with her other half. The happy couple is making designs on a fire pit. And last week, Drew Broussard cracked an especially tricky part of his novel-in-progress, to much rejoicing. A section that’s been bedeviling our podcasts editor for “no joke, over two years.” You might say growth is in the air.

Also riding that back-to-school high is staffer James Folta, who fell for a new bookstore this week on a wedding jaunt to Hudson. A Tiny Literature Shop is exactly what it sounds like. “The gimmick is everything is a little book,” says James. (Italics mine.)

This shop specializes in mini-lit—essays, novellas, etc. (“And almost every selection had a note,” James adds, “so browsing felt like getting a curated look at a cool friend’s bookshelf.”) The new shop offers bespoke gifts, for the Virgos in the house. A tiny book box and a tiny tote are almost too cute to handle.

Editor Jonny Diamond was also inspired by a new bookstore. He and the family recently made the acquaintance of Better Days Bookshop in Cairo, NY. At this Mecca, one can load up on new titles and sip, respectively, “a beer, an NA beer, a coke, and an apple juice” on the back porch. I’m told this was another delightful way to kick off fall.

I, Brittany Allen, have also had paper on the brain as we slide into Virgo season. This week, I was thrilled to discover this cool zine library in Texas, apparently the largest of its kind.

The Sherwood Forest Zine Library occupies an Austin living room, and includes dozens and dozens of print missives on everything from capitalism to magick. Check out their virtual library if you’re in the mood for some analog inspiration.

Speaking of old media, Oliver Scialdone has been collecting OVAs (Original Video Animations) on VHS as part of a lengthy archiving project. (Spreadsheets are involved.) Our community editor recently picked up a few volumes of Record of Lodoss War, a Japanese fantasy franchise that’s plotted like an RPG.

“The visual style of 90s fantasy anime scratches this really specific aesthetic itch, and VHS is 100% the most correct format to watch it in,” says Oliver. “Most of the companies that distributed these movies and series in the US are defunct, and it’s such an interesting era in the history of the medium, so it feels kind of special to find copies in the wild.” The biggest joy is apparently in the hunt.

One more for the road, from me, Brittany again. Because there’s no re-generation without kissing off the old, I’ve also been closing summer with some nostalgia. For sweet, sweet indie sleaze.

It all started last week when I asked a friend for a binge-able book recommendation. I got back Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts, a novel that chronicles a music-fueled situationship from its Y2K beginnings through the mid-aughts.

Laced with fan energy and a discography that will be resonant to anyone who was duped by LCD Soundsystem’s “last” concert, this one’s an heir apparent to High Fidelity, a book it name-checks. And friend was right! The novel’s extremely fun to read, especially with playlist accompaniment. Brickley perfectly recreates the feeling of falling in love—with that first good music, and that first dubious musician.

My rabbit hole ended, happily, in this serendipitous Hell Gate profile of the Williamsburg tailor who kept Interpol in fine threads. The past isn’t even past, people. That’s the moral. Autumn reminds us—it’s always out with the old, then in again.

Wishing you a weekend of fresh pages, warm hearths, and analog rejoicing.