The retreat was only the beginning for the Wilkersons, however. "We thought, one day we'll find the perfect space, and then we drove past this space. We were like, this is going to be good."

With the location secured, they still felt like the space was missing something before the store would be ready to open. With a background in interior design, Wilkerson set to work making sure the store could be as cute and cozy as possible.

"It is pretty homey in here. I mean, that is how it was designed. There was stuff in here that we couldn't do much with... these office ceilings and things that needed to stay, so it was just about making it a great comfortable space," she said.

Looking back on the last few years, from opening the store to stocking the shelves with books and other trinkets, she thinks it's all been worth the effort. "I think it's a good balance. There are tough parts, but it's all is worth it, because we have great customers. ...This is their second home, so it's all worth it in the end."

"It's home"
What sets Paper Boat Booksellers apart from other stores in the neighborhood is the quaint and cozy atmosphere that draws readers of all ages.

"It's home. It's warm in here. It's walking distance from a lot of neighborhoods, so we get a lot of families..." Wilkerson said. "The [downside] is there's no parking, but still, it's not as cramped down here as it is in the main junction. Yeah, it is just comfy, and that's what we hear from people, that they feel relaxed in here and that it's like a library. If their kids are having a fit or something like that, it's just okay."

Because Paper Boat is a general-interest bookstore, it carries a wide variety of titles, but nothing has been as in such demand as this summer's Queer hit graphic novel series Heartstopper. "Heartstopper is by far [the hottest book of the summer]. Where did that come from?" Wilkerson said, laughing.

"I know the show came out. Our daughter is 11, and she doesn't like to read, and she was like, 'You have to get me the Heartstopper books — all of them.' ...They've been on back order: we've been waiting for them, and they're just out the door. So that has been very popular this year."

For readers looking to find Heartstopper or another Queer YA equivalent, Paper Boat has the titles, just not in any specific LGBTQ+ section. "We don't have a specific section," Wilkerson said, "but because we're a general-interest bookstore, we try to make every section as diverse as we possibly can. There's always a mix of something in there. That was important to us, since we're not a specialty store and don't have a special niche or anything like that. It's just general interest, just really trying to diversify each section and ...make sure that we have something for everyone."

Local authors at Paper Boat
Paper Boat Booksellers loves to promote all kinds of authors, but the favorites are local ones. Before the pandemic, the store hosted many author readings and book signings. Now, as things slowly return to how they were, it is preparing to do more events.

"Because...we're tucked away over [in West Seattle], a lot of our events are local authors. People want to come and see their neighbors or someone who has written a book that's from here. We'll slowly start doing things again, but mostly it's just coming up with space for us since it's so tiny here. ...When we've had events, we have to push everything out of the way, so we've been doing more off-site events."

The next author event will be held down the street from Paper Boat, at C&P Coffee. "We have an event coming up on September 13, Wilkenson said. "[It's] a local author, [Madeline Ostrander]... from West Seattle, [who] wrote a book called At Home in an Unruly Planet... It's a really interesting book about how we live in our homes as we're navigating through this climate change that we're going through."

For anyone looking to explore West Seattle, hoping to learn a little bit more about climate change, or trying to find a place that might just have a copy of Heartstopper, Paper Boat Booksellers is the place to be.