Our totes were sweating but our hearts? Full.
Welcome back, Lit Squad!
If you’ve been following along, you already know that Stop #1 of the 5 Boro Book Tour was Brooklyn — the land of indie bookstores, chai lattes, street murals, and us pretending we “won’t buy too many books today.”
Spoiler:
We lied.
Brooklyn humbled us in the best way.
This post is dedicated to every single book we picked up, plus the ones we brought with us for our mini-reading sessions. Every title below will have an affiliate link so you can shop directly, support indie bookstores, and keep the tour rolling.
📍 Stop 1 — Café con Libros
Tropes we shopped for: feminist lit, contemporary romance, lit fiction, cozy Black-girl lit
Vibe: sunlight, soft chatter, plant magic, and cinnamon in the air
✨ Books We Picked Up Here:
- Coloring with Coco: Rest and Reflect: Relaxing Bold and Easy Coloring Book for Adults and Teens – My younger self would have loved this type of coloring book. I purchased for her!
- The Partner Plot – I added to my TBR but didn’t buy. It’s book #2 of a series. I didn’t read 1 yet.
- Black Girls Must Have it All – I read this already but my friend didn’t. She added to her TBR.
📍 Stop 2 — Adanne Bookshop (DUMBO)
Tropes to shop for: Black authors, memoir, diaspora stories, soft romance, womanhood
Vibe: cozy, curated, warm, community-first energy
We couldn’t find this book store and later realized we had the wrong address!
Ugh will have to visit this one another time.
📍 Lunch at Time Out Market – Rooftop Reads
Tropes we leaned into: modern romance, memoir, spicy novels
Vibe: breeze, bridge views, brussel sprouts, and reading like we’re on a deadline (timers set)
📚 Books We Read During Lunch:
- Losing Sight – High heat and hilarious rom com, I read while sipping
- King of Greed – My friend read: high heat – about a husband who refuses to let his wife go
- Pride & Protest – My friend read: a new imagining of pride and prejudice while sipping
📍 Stop 3 — Books Are Magic
Tropes we shopped for: coming of age, quirky characters, new releases, millennial fiction
Vibe: bright walls, Instagrammable murals, the main character energy jumped out
✨ What We Bought:
- It’s Me They Follow – Added to my TBR but didn’t buy. Romance about a bookseller and matchmaker.
📍 Final Stop — Greenlight Bookstore
Tropes: literary fiction, Black authors, poetry, “add to TBR even though it’s already too long”
Vibe: calm, curated shelves, the perfect way to end the day
✨ Books We Bought:
- Butcher and Blackbird – Dark, Spicy Romantic Comedy Full of Murder.
- Honey & Spice – My friend purchased – enemies to lovers and fake relationship
✨ Why We’re Sharing Our Haul
We want you to be able to:
✔ Discover new reads
✔ Support Black-owned and indie bookstores
✔ Shop directly through our links
✔ Prep your own borough book tour
✔ Join us live for our TikTok Book Haul/Review Chat
We purchased everything ourselves because we genuinely love these shops — but if you buy through our Bookshop links, we earn a small commission that helps us keep the 5 Boro Book Tour running.
