A new online-only bookstore, 5 to 9 Books, is designed to help burned-out professionals and recent retirees deal with life’s stresses. Categories in the store include burnout treatment and self-care, recipes for kitchen enthusiasts, tons of crafts and family fun.
Founder Olivia McCoy, who lives in Philadelphia, said they “founded (the store), which runs entirely virtually through Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, to encourage other burnout professionals and new retirees to find passion, meaning and community outside of work and careers.” McCoy has worked in a variety of roles in publishing, including marketing at Greenleaf Book Group and Smith Publicity, and co-planned this year’s Romantasy Festival in Chicago.
It was a part-time job at Bookends & Beginnings in Evanston, Illinois, that inspired her move into bookstores, McCoy says: “I briefly worked as a bookseller in Chicago during the COVID pandemic while pursuing my master’s in creative leadership, and I fell in love with curating and personal book recommendations.”
In the future, McCoy says they plan to collaborate with authors to offer workshops to readers who want to delve deeper into a topic.
“When my therapist recommended that I ‘touch grass’ more often and seek out overstimulation less, I started reading more nonfiction and finding a hobby,” they said. “When you’re passionate about what you do, it’s easy to get lost in it and consumed by it all day long. Reading about new projects and activities helped me explore some options without investing time, energy and money, and I discovered a number of new things about myself.”
