Greetings from SEMICOLON BOOKS Chicago, Illinois

LESLIE SHOGREN wanted to go to Semicolon Books in Chicago to celebrate her birthday, so she packed up her husband and four sons and came in from the suburbs.

- BY Celeste McCauley

When she checked out that day in July 2020, she asked the woman at the register if she was Danielle Moore, the bookstore's owner.

"Yeah, are you Leslie?" Moore replied, flashing her signature bright smile. She slipped Shogren a birthday card signed by each staff member, thanking her for celebrating her birthday at the store.

"Mom, that's a real birthday card," said one of her sons, looking surprised.

Shogren was surprised too. Sure, she had messaged the store on Instagram, asking its hours and casually mentioning she'd be visiting for her birthday. But still.

"Danielle didn't need to do that," she says. "When people do a hospitality touch like that above and beyond, it just sticks with you." She and her family are store regulars today.

Since 2019, Moore has been adding her personal touch to everything she does at Semicolon. Inside, shelves stretch floor to ceiling, with front-facing books displayed like art. The walls are packed with prints, paintings and quotes. Comfy couches invite visitors to read, and handmade pillows featuring literary icons like Audre Lorde and Octavia E. Butler add to the homey vibe.

"We wanted it to feel cozy, warm and full of love," she says.

Courtenay Joseph started going to Semicolon in June 2020. After George Floyd was killed, she wanted to support Black-owned businesses. Now a mom, she often brings her toddler to the store.

"What I see are people talking to one another," Joseph says about her fellow Semicolon bibliophiles. "There is a sense of connection."

It's important to Moore that customers consider the store a "third space" — not home or work, but someplace that "still feels like a place for belonging." That's something Moore didn't have growing up, when she lived with her mother in a domestic violence shelter in Florida. A Danielle Steel novel was the only book there.