The Book Nook

Stefani Snead Kelley started selling books at Waldenbooks in 1989 as an after-school job.  A few years and a few jumps in the management food chain later, she ended up on the management team in a Waldenbooks in Colorado Springs.  Here she met John Kelley, who was one of her employees.

Friendship blossomed into something more, and they were married in 1996.  Shortly thereafter, John lured her away from Waldenbooks to the independent bookstore he had started working at (Waldenbooks frowns on employee dating, don't you know).

Working in an independent bookstore gave them funny ideas, so they decided to try to run their own in Brenham, TX, where John's parents had moved to after retiring from the air force. 

Avalon Books was a full-service bookstore that lasted from 1997 to 2006.  As more and more people were buying books online, sales were starting to drop and a steady income was becoming unreliable.  Avalon Books' used inventory was sold to Phil, John's dad, who re-opened as The Book Nook.  Stefani and John moved to her hometown in Southern California so that she could try to finish up her English Lit degree (didn't make it- had another baby instead).

Two years later Stefani bought back the store from Phil to run on her own (with Phil as a major helper).  Now she's there at least three days a week with her kids, Kennit and Cassandra.

Stefani hates writing about herself in the third person.

Beka Ainsworth

Beka Ainsworth has been fascinated with reading her whole life, even before she could actually read. In elementary school her books of choice involved UFOs, ghosts, and Bigfoot, and as she got older her selection broadened to include novel and comic book versions of pretty much the same stuff.

Working with Stefani at the Book Nook has been a tremendous learning experience for Beka. By working there she rediscovered her love of books and came to realize that the amazing jewelry made by her newfound boss was just her style.

Beka's hobbies include collecting random things, wearing funny hats, and harrassing her boss about redecorating the store.

Phil Kelley

I'm sure Phil will write something spellbinding here later.