At Birdhouse Books, shelves and tables overflow with books of every genre, handmade gifts and quirky trinkets. Stepping inside, a tiny Yorkie named Mae Mae races forward while the owner, Abby Strite, offers a warm greeting to each visitor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nestled on Burnet Road, this independent, queer-owned book and gift store supports local authors and artists while hosting events that bring Austin\u2019s literary and queer communities together. The cozy shop will transform into an escape room for sapphic singles, complete with literary puzzles, lockboxes and plenty of flirtation on Aug. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In their second collaboration with Lin Cognito\u2019s Murder Mystery Parties, Birdhouse Books will host Lin Cognito\u2019s summer case, \u201cWho Killed the Love Interest?\u201d For $22 a ticket, nonbinary people, queer and trans women can solve a mystery while meeting potential matches. Attendees rotate in 10-minute rounds, working in pairs to answer themed questions and uncover clues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s essentially speed dating with no pressure,\u201d said Megan Okonsky, Lin Cognito\u2019s Murder Mystery Parties\u2019 founder and host.\u201cYou don\u2019t want to have to guess someone\u2019s sexuality. You don\u2019t have to guess someone\u2019s relationship status. The singles event makes it easy to know everyone\u2019s here for the same reason, but they\u2019re also here to just have fun, be silly and not be too intense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Okonsky met Strite at Birdhouse Books while discussing her upcoming novel and knew the shop would be the perfect venue for the event. Okonsky brings the game; Strite offers the space. With beer provided by Zilker Brewing Co., the event keeps the fun of a night out without the noise or pressure of a bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a perfect partnership because our whole thing is for people, in particular queer people, to have a place where they feel safe and able to be their full selves,\u201d Strite said. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to do a dating event that promotes that, then it\u2019s a partnership made in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even those with social anxiety find comfort in this setting. Alex Hopper, a returning guest, thanks Strite for giving her \u201ca social life\u201d and hosting a space where queer people can meet, mingle and make new connections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was this joke going around like, \u2018Where do all the sapphics go to meet people if they\u2019re introverted and just want to crochet on the weekends?\u2019\u201d Hopper said. \u201cThis (event) would be good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Birdhouse Books holds literary events every week, while Lin Cognito, Okonsky\u2019s game host alter ego, brings murder mystery parties to venues across Austin year-round. For sapphic singles searching for connection beyond the typical bar scene, this event mixes romance, puzzles and play in a cozy, welcoming space.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find that what does the best here is the stuff that I care the most about personally \u2026 like books and games and queerness,\u201d Strite said. \u201cIf I can provide that space for people, then I did it. That\u2019s the mission \u2026 Mae Mae will be there. Even if you can\u2019t come to the event, just come see the store. Come say \u2018Hi.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Birdhouse Books, shelves and tables overflow with books of every genre, handmade gifts and quirky trinkets. Stepping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[353,49,48,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-38895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}