For ever book she's ever read, Nikki High is now writing her own story and this tale comes in the form of her very own bookstore.
"We are at my store, Octavia's Bookshelf," High said, the owner of Octavia's Bookshelf.
Soon, you can find Octavia's Bookshelf at Hill and Washington in Pasadena.
The store is names after Octavia Butler, the late Pasadena author whose stories gave High one of her first chances as a kid to read about someone who looked like her.
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"I always like to sort of fantasize that maybe we were on the same bus at one point or maybe I walked by her at the library, but her stories are just amazing," High said. "I was fortunate enough to read 'Kindred' when I was about 16 or 17 and it was the first time I read a Sci-Fi book that included Black people."
Octavia's Bookshelf is still coming along but soon these empty shelves will be filled with books from authors you won't always find in the big bookstores. Black, Indigenous, People of Color are who High says still have a difficult time getting published.
"Once they're published, they just have to sit in the sea of Amazon or maybe hope that big box bookstore will give them a table," High said. "SO I though with this bookstore, prioritizing writers of color and Black writers, we can celebrate that everyday."
Virtually everyday for the next couple of weeks, High and her friends and family will be in the store putting the finishing touches on a longtime dream.
High quit her steady 9-to-5 job a few months ago to make it all come true and she says it was a reading that allowed her dream in the first place.
"To dream and to fantasize about things that were bigger than me in this big giant world we live in," High said.
After privately raising nearly $20,000, come Feb. 18 High says she's ready to let the world into Octavia's Bookshelf, a space she hopes will be much more than a bookstore.
Nikki High/Owner, Octavia’s Bookshelf 121930 "I’ve heard from people in Rwanda. I’ve heard from people in Ireland, people in Britain, people who just ran across a tweet and thought, ‘Wow. This is an exciting idea,'" high said. "This bookstore is going to connect with everybody who loves to read."
