Long Beach's Bookstore Is a Trailer, and Its Book Clubs Meet at the Bar

"We're talking about waitlists of 100s of people," Kate Scotti told the Long Beach Herald. She was describing how long readers can wait for popular new releases, and why she thinks her box trailer, with "Title Wave Books" painted across its waves, can make books easier to get. Scotti also told the Herald that, going by Google Maps, the closest bookstore to Long Beach is at least a 15-minute drive away, in Cedarhurst.

Long Beach has no bookshop on Park Avenue to browse on a rainy Saturday, so its reading life has moved elsewhere. This winter it runs on two things. One is a trailer whose owner just won a grant she hopes to spend on indoor pop-ups and holiday markets. The other is a library calendar that sends book clubs out of the library and into a bar, a café and a civic association. If you want to find other readers in Long Beach between now and New Year's, those two are where you start.

A Trailer With a Winter Plan

Scotti opened Title Wave in May 2026 with just over $10,000. She told the Herald it became the third mobile bookstore in Nassau County. Over the summer it set up at boardwalk fairs and area events, including the boardwalk fair in late August. The trailer is small, so it carries a tight selection of popular titles. Scotti describes that as a calmer way to shop than a big bookstore.

The money matched the trailer. On Oct. 19, Scotti presented at Bright Eye Beer Co. as a finalist in the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce's Business Challenge, a contest modeled on "Shark Tank." Each finalist had 10 minutes to pitch a panel of four judges, followed by five minutes of questions. She took the $10,000 grant. According to the chamber's Business Challenge page, Long Beach Sewing Studio placed second and Shoreline Stitchery placed third. The Herald's roster of contestants gives a sense of the field Title Wave beat. It included Pink Avocado Accessories, Sanctuary by Stella, GigMapLive, Long Beach Board Rentals and Bubbly, among others.

What the grant pays for matters most in November. A trailer that does well at summer boardwalk fairs has fewer places to park once the fairs end. Scotti told the Herald she hopes to use the money for indoor pop-ups and holiday markets in the colder months. She also hopes to add author readings, book signings and children's activities. Since May, she said, her gross income has doubled through multi-day events and affiliations with Bookshop.org and Libro.fm. She also credits collaborations with coffee shops and breweries with building Title Wave's local following.

As of now, the only winter date on the Title Wave Books website is Winter Wonderland at Pal-O-Mine Equestrian, Dec. 11 to 13, with times still to come. Indoor pop-ups closer to home are still plans. The site links to the shop's Instagram, @titlewavebooksli, where new stops would most likely be announced.

The Library Already Left the Building

The trailer handles buying books. Talking about them is mostly the library's job, and much of that now happens away from the library itself.

The best example comes up on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The Long Beach Public Library calendar lists that night's Books & Brews as a celebration of four years at JJ Coopers. The group will discuss Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass from 7 to 8:30 p.m. According to its own website, JJ Coopers is at 124 West Park Avenue. Registration is open on the listing.

Four years is long enough to count as a habit, and the format has spread. Silent Book Club meets at The Fresh Beet, and it asks almost nothing of you. The listing says all you have to do is show up and read, with your own book, for an hour. It meets Wednesday, Nov. 11 and again Wednesday, Dec. 9, both at 7 p.m., and it's open to teens and adults.

A third off-site group, Books Bring Us Together / Los Libros Nos Unen, meets at the Long Beach Latino Civic Association on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Off-site clubs also take care of the waitlist Scotti talked about, at least for the people who join. For the LBNY Bestseller's Book Club, the library sets aside copies of the month's pick at the circulation desk and makes it available digitally on Libby with a library card. November's pick is Caro Claire Burke's national bestseller Yesteryear. That's exactly the kind of new title that builds a long hold queue, and the club makes copies available ahead of the discussion.

The Branches Read on Their Own Schedules

The off-site clubs get the attention, but the West End and Point Lookout branches each run their own clubs. Several of the Main Library's clubs are built around one genre. Together they mean a reader can find a group almost any week, close to home, reading something they'd choose anyway.

The calendar below starts Thursday, Nov. 5, and runs through the holidays. Off-site venues are listed by name.

Yesteryear is the Main Library's bestseller pick on Nov. 24, and the West End Book Club reads the same novel on Dec. 2. If you miss the first discussion, you get a second one eight days later on the other end of town. The Great Books group gives itself two hours per meeting, twice as long as most clubs here, and meets twice in December.

If you'd rather listen from home, the library also lists several virtual author talks in December. Helen Scheuerer discusses Kiss of the Black Flame on Dec. 3, and Ana Hebra Flaster, Robin Ha and Matthew Shindell follow on Dec. 8, 10 and 15.

Matching a Club to the Way You Read

Sorted by the kind of reader you are, the schedule looks like this:

1. You want a pint with your plot. Books & Brews at JJ Coopers on Nov. 10, with registration on the library calendar.
2. You want to read and not talk at all. Silent Book Club at The Fresh Beet, Nov. 11 or Dec. 9. Bring whatever you're already reading.
3. You want the book everyone's waiting for, minus the wait. The LBNY Bestseller's Book Club, where copies of Yesteryear are held at the circulation desk and on Libby. You can attend in person or join the hybrid session.
4. You live near the West End or Point Lookout. Your branch club meets monthly. The West End also has a romance club on Mondays.
5. Your evenings are taken. Morning Books at 10 a.m. on Nov. 12, or the weekend afternoon true crime meetings on Nov. 21 and Dec. 19.
6. You'd like to buy a book and keep it. Watch Title Wave's Instagram for indoor pop-ups. Its one listed winter date is Dec. 11 to 13 at Pal-O-Mine Equestrian.

Library listings can change, so check the November and December calendar pages before you head out.

We're always glad to see a local business win in Long Beach, and a bookstore on wheels winning a chamber grant made our fall. If you've got a book club, a pop-up or a reading series we should know about, Lucky To Live Here would love to hear about it. Contact Us and we'll help get the word out to readers in town.