During the pandemic, we relied on technology more than ever. Being able to work from home, participate in virtual school, and Zoom call our families proved invaluable in keeping us connected. Ironically, this time of being hyper-reliant on technology has left many of us yearning for what we can’t get from technology; namely the physical, tangible, experiential stuff of life. Stuff like browsing a bookstore with a cup of coffee in hand, listening to live music (or putting on an LP), and simply gathering together.

Bobby Minelli felt this in his core. The former social media director of Cincinnati's Friends of the Public Library Used Bookstore at the Warehouse had had great success with The Garage, his impromptu pop-up bookshop-meets-arthouse created as the result of an ill-timed fire at the Warehouse (an event that only added insult to injury with the snowballing pandemic-related shutdowns).

The Garage provided a much-needed space for book lovers to safely convene, but it was never meant to be permanent. Once the Warehouse was restored and the world began to open back up, The Garage quietly closed its doors, leaving Minelli full of hope and ideas for the future. And so, in 2023, Minelli opened Household Books, a "new" kind of bookstore in Cincinnati, Ohio, for people who yearn for the "old" kind of bookstore. And its story is just beginning...

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Bobby Minelli, who had helped design and populate spaces for pop-up dining events in Chicago and LA, always dreamed of opening his own space in Cincinnati; some sort of books-meets-music space where folks could gather and enjoy a shared experience consuming media -- real, tangible, feel-it-in-your-hands media.

"The Household Books origin story is something I’ve been delighted to look back on," muses Minelli. "They say good fiction is always totally surprising and completely inevitable… maybe in this case it’s true of non-fiction as well."

So Minelli took what he’d learned with The Garage and began work on Household Books, a wholly unique concept that’s both old-fashioned and postmodern; the kind of space could really only exist now, in this post-pandemic world of 2023.

"I had worked in the arts in many ways during 16 years in Chicago and a couple in LA. I had been in rock bands, written for music blogs, written plays and ghost stories for local scene and lit mags, tutored and taught creative writing, and helped start Pipeworks Brewing Company," says Bobby. The common thread, or theme, to this unraveling story? Bookstores.

"The entire time, path winding though it did, myself, mentors, friends, collaborators, all used bookstores as headquarters. Bookstores were centers of gravity for creative thought," Minelli says.

Brick-and-mortar bookstores are an endangered species, but Minelli did his homework. "I did deep dive research on bookstore models, I interviewed booksellers new and old, I explored any angle of book culture that was available to me, and even was able to test my ideas while working with local bookish non profits," he says.

Location was important, too. "After meeting and volunteering with the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, it led me to connect with community members from the neighborhood of Walnut Hills, and eventually Household Books found its home on Gilbert Ave." And in April 2023, after a lengthy preface, Household Books opened in Cincinnati, Ohio.

So what is Household Books? It's a bookstore. It's an events venue. It's a community gathering space. It's a "literary venue" all its own.

In addition to browsing for books or enjoying a live show, you can become a member (curated paperbacks to read each month? Yes.), donate your old books, attend an in-person event, or come get coffee and just hang out.

"I feel like Household Books serves the community in a few ways, and plans to do so in several others," explains Minelli. "We are building community by sharing the joy of the culture of the book, by offering our space as a gathering space, and by creating meaningful partnerships."

"We are emphasizing the importance of taking time to appreciate creativity, and the micro-luxuries that support creative mindsets. We are giving people a physical space to connect and something physical to connect with, which in the wake of a public health crisis, means a great deal -- and in the future, we hope to more fully develop an outreach program that involves free book fairs," he explains.

Because more than merely a tactile experience, books don’t just teach us to walk in another person’s shoes, "they teach us we are not bound by the limits of our own circumstance," says Minelli, "and that lesson taught me to chase my own type of freedom. I am grateful for the chance to pass that lesson along."

Household Books is a new type of bookstore for people who love the old type of bookstore. It's a tactile response to the digital age, and it’s a space for everyone. It's an Ohio iconoclast; the creative and special space you’d expect to find in a major metropolis, but that we absolutely need here in Ohio.

Household Books is a place worth supporting and experiencing; a place both inspired and inspiring -- just like the pages of a book.

Many thanks to Bobby Minelli for sharing the story of this wonderful new Ohio bookstore. Learn more about Household Books at its website, Facebook, and Instagram pages... and on YouTube!

Of course, Household Books is just one of the many small businesses affecting positive change in Ohio; please nominate your favorite attractions and businesses for a chance to be featured in an upcoming Only In Ohio article. And be sure to follow Only In Ohio on Facebook and Instagram to learn about this region of the Buckeye State’s most incredible places, attractions, and events.