Parisian Phoenix Publishing

When I’m not at my desk, and I’m not in a bookstore, I spend the bulk of my professional time in one of two places. You might find me at the Panera at the Southmont Shopping Center in Bethlehem Township, Pa, sipping iced coffee and often writing for hours with my accountability buddy, Laurel Wenson, who should have a poetry book and journaling guide for the caregiving community in the Parisian Phoenix line-up for 2027.

But if I’m not at my desk, and I’m not at Panera, then I’m at Plants and Coffee, 1458 Northampton Street in Easton, Pa. I’ve been there more than usual lately, to meet with clients (and editors) and to sign new authors. It’s a vibrant place with good food, beverage and pastry, and it’s within walking distance of my house– even if it is technically the next town.

Plants & Coffee has been very organic since it opened. They’ve already done a remodel since they opened, and now another change… and folks, I don’t take well to change. They had a reading area in the back corner, where people could leave a book or take a book. A recent sign emerged saying that this corner was about to become “Jojo’s Book Nook.”

Now, if you’ve been here a while, you’ll know that I have a background in journalism and so I wanted the scoop. What I found was even more delicious than my iced matcha latte.

It turns out that a young barista, Jocelyn Schienholz, has worked at Plants & Coffee more or less since it opened. She’s a Nazareth native who still lives in the Lehigh Valley. When she came home from college during the pandemic, she and her sister starting reading together. After struggling with reading during her school career, how much she enjoyed reading for pleasure surprised her, and she toyed with the idea of opening a traveling book truck. She mentioned the idea to her bosses, Brandt and Jenny, and they offered her the space at Plants & Coffee. They helped her launch the business stuff and the rest has been a dream come true.

Let’s talk with Jojo about her Book Nook. The grand opening is scheduled for Friday, June 26.

Angel: How did the Book Nook come into fruition?

Jocelyn: My idea for the Book Nook came about in a somewhat odd way. I ended up leaving Plants and Coffee for about a year, to work at a school, and during that time I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to do something in the book realm, but wasn’t sure what that would look like. I ended up leaving the school at the end of the year and wanted to open my own mobile book truck. I decided to come back to Plants and Coffee to save money and come up with a plan. After speaking with Jenny (the owner) and hearing her thoughts and ideas, she graciously offered to turn the back corner of her shop into my Book Nook.

A: Tell me about your relationship with books.

J: My passion for books came about in 2020. I had just come home from college during the Pandemic and was very bored. My younger sister, Bryanna, thought it would be fun if we read To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before together. Prior to reading that book together, I didn’t read at all, only if it was assigned for school.

Growing up I actually hated reading and thought it was really hard. I struggled in school with reading comprehension and had an IEP for all of grade school. I genuinely thought that reading just wasn’t for me and that I was not smart enough to enjoy reading. I was very shocked after we read that book together to find out that I really enjoyed reading it, and it wasn’t that difficult to get through. I ended up finishing the series without her, much to her disappointment, and started branching out to find other books I might like.

A: What are your plans for supporting local authors and hosting events?

J: Currently, I don’t have any books on consignment, but would be willing to look into that for the future. I think it’s important to support local authors so I’d definitely be interested in doing that. I am very excited to start hosting events through the Book Nook. I have lots of fun ideas for events in the future that I will share on my Book Nook Instagram account when the time comes. I am also starting a book club. It’s in the works, so hopefully once the Book Nook is open to the public, I can finalize things and announce that as well.