Good news for bibliophiles

New independent bookstore fills a long-empty void in Dripping Springs

Update: A previous version of this story stated that Sunday Bookshop is the first bookstore in Dripping Springs. A CultureMap reader got in touch about a bookstore they remember decades ago in Dripping Springs. There is not much of a record of this particular business, but books have certainly been available on and off throughout the town's history. The article now states that it is the first book store currently operating in Dripping Springs.

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A long-awaited, women-owned independent bookshop in a building with a surprising Austin background is opening its doors in the heart of Dripping Springs in June. It is the only bookstore that currently serves the Southwest Austin suburb.

Sunday Bookshop has been in the works since the beginning of 2023, with owner and Dripping Springs native Dixie Frechette behind the wheel to make a lifelong dream a reality. She decided to open a bookstore after closing her women’s clothing and home decor boutique Fresh Native in January, she told CultureMap.

“Why am I waiting for 'one day' to do that, when the opportunity is there right now?” she had asked herself. “It was a dream I’ve always wanted to do where the timing worked out to do it now, instead of waiting for whenever that ‘one day’ was.”

Photo courtesy of Sunday Bookshop

Sunday Bookshop is owned by Dripping Springs native Dixie Frechette.

Besides the public library, the closest thing Dripping Springs has had to a bookstore in recent memory is the Hill Country Senior Citizens Thrift Shop on Highway 290. Otherwise, locals had to purchase books online, or drive into Bee Cave or South Austin to shop in person. Now, locals and visitors alike can find their next read from the comfort of their hometown while supporting a small business in a much-needed, untapped market.

The building that Sunday Bookshop occupies has a story of its own. The home is over a century old and had lived on Rainey Street in downtown Austin before ending up in the Gateway to the Hill Country.

"It was built in 1907 and then the previous owners brought it into Dripping and set it up for retail. That's when Fresh Native moved in there," she said. "It was never a bar or anything down there, it was just an old house that was on Rainey Street and then they moved it ... I think it’s pretty cool there’s a little bit of history with it.”

Considering the rapid development and gentrification of Rainey Street throughout the years, it's no surprise that the previous owners would want to preserve some of the home's history by relocating it outside of Austin. Now, Frechette is continuing its legacy.

Sunday Bookshop Dripping Springs Brightly colored titles can be seen throughout the historic building.Photo courtesy of Sunday Bookshop

Sunday Bookshop's opening day is Thursday, June 22, with a grand opening celebration on Saturday, June 24. The store will mostly be run by Frechette, offering a carefully hand-curated selection of “book club picks” across several genres. Titles on the shelves will range from romance to general fiction, to mystery, thriller, and more.

“‘Book club picks’ encapsulates it best,” she said. “That’s what I’m the most familiar with because that’s what I lean towards when I’m picking a book. So I wanted that sort of niche selection.”

Sunday Bookshop does more than just sell books; the shop also carries an array of home decor, gifts and gift wrap, games, crafts, and stationery. Frechette leaned on her previous experience running Fresh Native to help decide what to choose as the shop’s non-literary merchandise.

“I wanted everything in here to be giftable in some way, because I feel like that was missing in Dripping as well as a bookstore, so I thought I could do a little bit of both,” she said. “I wanted it to be a one-stop shop here. So if you’re looking for a gift for someone you can pick that up, pick up the wrapping paper, and you’re good to go.”

Sunday Bookshop is located at 28101 Ranch Road 12 in Dripping Springs. The shop's summer hours will be 10 am to 5 pm from Wednesday through Saturday, with plans to expand operating hours in the fall.

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Austinite who kayaked 86 miles with one arm has Texas Book Fest debut

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Avrel Seale is discussing his post-stroke kayaking expedition at the festival on November 16.

This year’s Texas Book Festival features more than 275 authors who have accomplished amazing things. But only one of them rowed nearly 90 miles down the Nueces River with one arm. (We think.)

Author of The River Nuts Avrel Seale is making his Texas Book Festival debut on November 16, and participating in the 4 pm panel "Memoirs of Adventure & Adversity Exploring Nature" in the Capitol Auditorium. He’ll talk about his feat of physical and mental endurance in a session alongside author Kevin Fadarko (A Walk in the Park) and moderated by outdoor journalist Pamela LeBlanc.

For all intents and purposes, January 19, 2018, was just another ordinary Friday for 50-year old author Seale. The writer and editor for the University of Texas' Marketing and Communications team was in his office on The Drag when he was hit with a devastating hemorrhagic stroke.

"My coworkers called an ambulance, which took me to Seton Main," says Seale. "I had emergency brain surgery that night that probably saved my life."

Avrel Seale Austin author Thankfully, Seale's story includes help from friends along the way.Photo by Daniel Cavazos

The stroke left Seale partially paralyzed on the right side of his body, with his right arm completely immobile. After two years of rehab and physical therapy — and still with just one working arm — Seale decided to undergo one of his biggest self-made challenges: attempting to kayak an 86-mile stretch of the Nueces River with lifelong friend Wade Walker in tow.

Seale's extensive journaling of the adventure would later become his 11th book, The River Nuts. The 182-page story didn’t just chronicle Seale and Walker's voyage down the South Texas river, but also covered the preparation for the journey in great detail.

"I had always wanted to. I thought it would be fun," explains Seale. "The stroke just forced me to find a different way."

Seale and Walker accomplished something that many others have in the past. Kayaking a river to the sea was not a groundbreaking idea, but few people — if any — had done it facing the same challenges as Seale did.

Avrel Seale Austin author with Wade Walker Avrel Seale and his rowing partner Wade Walker.Photo by Kirstin Seale

Someone who has had a dominant hand in a cast can understand how the immediate shift could test one’s patience. Even though most of the journey was spent cruising downstream — not to mention having someone else in the kayak doing the lion’s share of the work — there was quite a bit more to the experience than a spectator might expect.

From pulling up rudders to adjusting foot pedals that help propel the craft, using his functioning arm to man an oar, and helping set up camp each night, Seale started facing difficulties shortly after their launch. Sometimes he was his own worst enemy.

"I had mistakenly reversed the left and right pedal arms for both pedal drives when we first assembled the kayak months earlier,” he explains. “This led to us stripping the threads and losing one pedal completely."

In addition to the rigorous physical demand on the writer, he also faced mental roadblocks.

"The biggest mental challenge was the lead-up to the trip, both the painstaking planning and the very real fear of dying,” he says “By the time we got on the water, that stress and fear lifted, and it was all about making the most of a beautiful experience."

Avrel Seale Austin author Seale's stroke couldn't keep him from nature.Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Published by TCU press in the fall of 2023, The River Nuts came out after that year's submission deadline for the Texas Book Festival. Since then he’s also written The Hewetts: An American Saga in the Age of Vaudeville, Circuses, and Bands, a wild historical account spanning four generations of a family of self-made entertainers.

"I've written 12 books over the last 25 years, and this is definitely the highlight of my career so far," he points out. "Hopefully it will open even more doors for me. I'm tickled to death."

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