Edmonds’ Neverending Bookshop’s last chapter is anything but sad

(This article originally appeared in the Seattle Times, published December 6, 2023. Photos from 2019.)The Neverending Bookshop was first founded more than eight years ago in Bothell before moving to Perrinville Village in Edmonds in 2018, where it blossomed into the self-described “feminist, activist genre indie bookshop” that it is today.

It’s a cozy, dragon-themed haven stocked with a deep selection of fantasy, science fiction and children’s books. Though she’s just on the cusp of turning 40, Annie Carl, the shop’s owner, has more than 25 years of bookselling experience, and Carl’s little shop that could quickly became an essential resource for the region’s bookselling community.

So it was a big deal when, earlier this fall, Carl announced that The Neverending Bookshop would be closing its doors forever on Dec. 17.

It’s always sad when a bookstore closes, but Carl is anything but heartbroken by the decision to write The Neverending Bookstore’s final chapter. “When I moved to the space in Edmonds and rebranded as a feminist, activist genre bookstore, it really took on a life of its own.

Customers were excited, I was excited, and I just kept riding that wave of joy,” she says. “I still have a lot of joy about being in my store and running it.”

A decade ago, when she wrote the business plan for what would become The Neverending Bookshop, Carl decided that “I would shut down the store after 20 or 30 years when I was ready to retire or when the stress started outweighing the fun.

And earlier this year, that’s kind of what started happening,” she says. “It started impacting my relationships with my family, with my husband and my son, with my parents, my friends.”

Over a year ago, Carl was diagnosed with vasculitis, an autoimmune disorder that inflames blood vessels, causing exhaustion and chronic pain.

Carl is no stranger to health issues: She was born with a spinal birth defect and went through six years of successful treatment for stage four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“Books have been a coping mechanism for me and my medical trauma and PTSD,” she says.

“They’ve been an escape.” After a certain point, she thinks bookselling “was another way to continue being immersed in books, but also an avoidance tactic” to come to terms with
her journey.

But because “the store launched with such a joyful note, I want to do a joyful send off for it because it’s been an immense and amazing and incredible part of my life,” Carl says.

On Dec. 17 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Carl will host a celebration with cupcakes and a hot chocolate bar provided by Mel & Mia’s, “which is the bakery in the same building as mine.”The bookselling community was rocked by the news. Brian Juenemann, the Executive Director and Marketing Director at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, recalls that he adored Carl from the moment they met.

Juenemann remembers Carl, who has fought for disability rights her whole life, approaching him at an author event at a PNBA trade show to talk about improving access for disabled attendees.

“We had all these autographing lines but we didn’t have pullout seating, and of course, there are some people who are going to be worn out and need a break from standing in line,” he says.

It was the way that Carl advocated for access that struck Juenemann — through conversation and kindness. “She was this immediate quiet presence,” he says, “and she has a ton of grace. I’ve admired her on so many levels ever since. And now, every time we lay out an event we’ve got pullout space.”

That grace and passion came through immediately in The Neverending Bookshop, Juenemann says. When Carl announced that her store was going to focus on feminism, advocacy and genre fiction, he admits now that his first thought was, “It’s already so tough to make a bookshop sustainable, so I always worry when someone really narrows down their selection like that.”

Those fears dissipated the moment that Juenemann stepped into the shop. “I don’t think that anybody would walk into that store and say, ‘This isn’t for me,’” he says. ”They’re going to get deep into the place before they recognize that she has a very specific vision, and by then she’s already won them over.”

Edmonds author Kizzie Jones agrees that Carl’s generous spirit transformed her store into a community hub. When she approached Carl to support the Edmonds writing association Every Person Is Creative, she immediately supplied Neverending Bookshop gift certificates for the organization to use as a prize for a writing contest.

And Carl hosted events for the release of Jones’ dachshund-themed children’s books before, during (on Zoom) and after the pandemic.

“We had one of the nicest, largest turnouts in her space there,” Jones says.

Carl has recently found a new way of making sense of the world, in the form of writing and publishing books. Last year, she published her debut novella, “Nebula Vibrations,” which deftly combines a deep-space, sci-fi setting with thoughtful examinations of ableism and privilege. This year, she edited an anthology titled “Soul Jar,” in which 31 disabled authors explore disability representation through short stories in genres including horror, sci-fi and fantasy.

“I am a writer. My degree is in journalism and I love immersing myself in the written word,” Carl says.

Starting in January of 2025, she’s going to pursue that writing career full-time. She also hopes to work with local organizations to advocate for improved disability access.

For his part, Juenemann says, “I’m really hoping that we find a way to keep her in the fold” at PNBA. He doesn’t want the organization and its members to lose Carl’s unique perspective and decades of bookselling experience.

All this adds up to one message that Carl would like to impart to readers: “Come buy books from me.” She has begun deeply discounting her stock — every item in the store dropped to 50% off on Black Friday, with more discounts to come — and pricing fixtures to sell to other bookstores. She’s hoping that by the end of the day on the 17th, the store will be more or less empty.

Carl, Juenemann and Jones all separately insist that The Neverending Bookshop’s closure is not a tragic story.“The fact is that Annie has two publishing credits in the last year and a half to her name,” Juenemann says. “She is still in this game. She’s still going to be making an impact in the industry.”

Jones is sad for the closure of a bookshop in Edmonds, but she points out that the venerable Edmonds Bookshop, which hosted the launch party for Carl’s “Soul Jar,” is still selling books downtown, and longtime Seattle bookseller East West Books & Gifts just opened their doors in a new Edmonds location on Nov. 19, “so even as Annie is leaving, a new bookstore is keeping a broad selection available to people who live close by.”

As for Carl, she’s thrilled to close The Neverending Bookshop on her own terms, and prepare for a new writing career.
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“I’m ready to take ownership of my life in a way that I haven’t before,” she says.
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By Paul Constant
Special to The Seattle Times