It feels like the only thing on the internet right now is someone trying to convince you to optimize something. I don't want to think that much about my morning routine, my jawline, or my investment portfolio. It's exhausting.

So I decided to open a bookstore.

I'm building Real Men Read Fiction around a radical premise: maybe spending a few hours pretending you're a 19th-century detective or a dragon-taming librarian isn't a waste of time. Stories make us more curious, more empathetic, and infinitely more interesting to be around. What if the coolest thing you can do in the age of AI is sit quietly with a physical book and disappear into someone else's imagination for a while?

That's what I'm doing here. I hunt for rare and collectible books and make videos about everything from literary classics to whatever BookTok has decided I'm emotionally obligated to read this week. I'll share my favorite finds, my latest reads, and we'll even workshop a few original stories together. If reading, writing, or collecting is your thing, join the mailing list and be the first to know when the doors officially open.

Here's where this gets bigger than books. Stories have a funny way of helping us survive real life. Every signed book sold helps fund access to mental health care for people who couldn't otherwise afford it. Every other book helps this little bookstore grow so we can help even more people over time. So yes, buying a beautiful signed book is technically retail therapy…except this time it's helping pay for actual therapy. I'll be announcing those partnerships and exactly where your money is going very soon!

The world has enough people telling you to hustle harder. I'm just over here suggesting you build a home library instead.

- Cody Cheshier, Founder