Twenty Stories
PROVIDENCE Business and life partners Alexa Trembly and Emory Harkins first got the wheels turning on their career venture with a bookmobile in Los Angeles . The lovebirds met at Pratt Institute in New York and , once they graduated and flew to the City of Angels , launched a Kickstarter to get the Twenty Stories bookmobile running in 2017 . The next chapter brought them home to Rhode Island — Harkins is a Providence native — where they opened a brick-and-mortar shop , first in Hope Artiste Village and then on Ives Street . The bookstore rotates twenty new books onto the shelves on the first of every month , after which the old picks move to the larger tables to make room for the new . “ We like to highlight queer , BIPOC and women authors and translated books , those that might get tucked away in other bookstores ,” says Trembly .
OWNER ’ S PICK : A fan of magic realism , Trembly ’ s go-to book suggestion is Get in Trouble by Kelly Link . DON ’ T MISS : Find the bookmobile throughout the warmer months at the Hope Street Farmers Market and the Providence Flea . Twenty Stories also hosts a book club on the last Sunday of each month at Glou , the couple ’ s nearby cocktail bar . 107 Ives St ., Providence , 216-7380 , twentystoriesla . com
Alexa Trembly , above left , and Emory Harkins ’ first business venture was a Kickstarter-funded bookmobile .
38 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JANUARY 2024