Yes, I’m Hooked

Tucked in an odd little area of Michigan where it can’t decide if it’s Lansing or East Lansing is a bookstore, coffee shop, wine bar, and community center… It’s Hooked. A warm and inviting place that sits across from a local famed shopping center, it serves as a true community hub. This is one of my favorite places to visit, and I go often.

I watched the building Hooked is housed in being built. The excitement grew when I learned it was going to be a bookstore, then a coffee shop, and a wine bar?!?! I am in! I have been to Hooked many times. It is always busy—sometimes packed to the point where you just are not going to be able to park.

This visit, the inaugural "start" to The Itinerary, highlights my most recent trip in March. This is a true community space and exactly what an independent bookstore embodies. Is it books? Well, yeah, The Itinerary. But it is also game tournaments, book clubs, author discussions, and visits (which I missed by just one day). And it features what I deem Scholastic for adults. Yes, I mean a book fair. Hooked hosts a boozy book fair about monthly with different themes. I had the opportunity to win a book, got a discount on my purchases (because I wore green), and my travel buddy and I tasted some excellent adult beverages.

The store itself is not large, but it feels cozy rather than crowded or cramped. There are sections of fiction, self-help, and the usual other suspects. There is also a shelf devoted entirely to Michigan authors and books about Michigan. You can find handmade items by small cottage industries and everything you need to settle in with a good book: highlighters, bookmarks (quitter strips), lights, stickers, and candles for ambiance. There is a shelf of games to play while drinking your beverage of choice and visiting with friends. There are also plenty of outlets and tables to provide a workspace if you need it.

This is a place to lose yourself in books, immerse yourself in community, and sate the thirsty soul that entered through the gateway of peace.

Mental Awareness or Acceptance? Why not both?

It’s May. That means suddenly everyone cares about mental health. After all, it’s Mental Health Awareness Month.

Don’t get me wrong. Awareness is great. Please, talk about it, write about it, post, research, and learn about mental health. But can we do the same during, say, August? Or maybe the other 11 months? How about we take it a step further, and say we even GASP accept mental health is real and needs to be addressed. Mental health is more than just suicide, but we will address that too, in September for Suicide Awareness Month (really, give me a minute and we will touch on it).

Mental health is the young mother who is wondering what is wrong with her because she is feeling overwhelmed and worried all the time. It is not the hormones, trust me.

It is the teenager who desperately wants to fit in and wonders why they feel different, why they aren’t good enough, popular enough, or just a waste of space. Ahh, teenage angst? No, it’s not.

It’s the young person who feels fat because they don’t look like the models and develops an unhealthy attitude about food. We are all different shapes and sizes-airbrush that!

It’s the young person who cuts themselves because the feelings are just too big to process. It is the parent who has done a suicide assessment every single day since their child was 10 (they’re now 20) because they are terrified.

It’s the elderly in a nursing home or at home, who do not have visitors, who feel forgotten, alone, and unwanted.

It is the soldier and veteran who have seen and done what no one should ever have to experience. It is the first responders who have experienced everyone else’s trauma for the umpteenth time; sorting through the broken bodies, broken spirits, burned homes, and horrific scenes that would have most people upchucking their breakfast and lunch, and developing a serious need for adult beverages.

Now let’s talk a little about that suicide topic (I warned you we would come back to it).

First, we are changing the narrative. NO ONE COMMITS SUICIDE. It is not a crime; it’s a cry for help. Just a few thoughts here: men complete the act of suicide more than women, but women attempt the act of suicide more than men. Why? Well, it’s because women are more apt to use poison or drug overdose as a way to attempt suicide. These methods are not immediately fatal and allow for intervention. Men are more apt to use more immediately fatal methods, such as hanging or a gun.

When it comes to the numbers, there is a very important one to remember if you are feeling like ending it all is the only way out: 988 is the National Suicide Hotline. Talk to someone, please.

And IF you think someone is thinking of suicide, don’t be gentle about asking about it. Be direct. Be blunt. Ask the hard question. This is not the time to tiptoe around the topic.

One last example of someone who struggles with mental health issues: It’s me.

The person who was emotionally abused as a child and adolescent. Who battles anxiety every single day, starting with a mandatory "You can do this" before even getting out of bed. The person with an almost obsessive need (I checked, it’s not OCD) to control my entire day with four color-coded calendars. It is the overwhelming sense that I have to be responsible for everything, and a pathological need to control all the decisions in my life. It is exhausting, overwhelming, and there are days when I stand in my closet and actively struggle to choose socks.

So, Happy Mental Health Awareness Month. Better yet, let’s make it Mental Health Acceptance Year.

Mistie

Therapist, mom, barely holding it together some days.

The Itinerary

It started as kind of a vague, "someday, maybe I will" type of idea. It was born from Facebook scrolling, sharing pictures, and saving posts of different libraries, bookstores, and random places that house books; constantly tagging my friend Jennifer with thoughts of, "Adding this to the tour!"

It bloomed from "We need to check this out" and "Oh, that looks awesome!" to breaking down the future visits by continents, then geographical areas. While it was still just a "someday" idea in my head, it was shifting into a concrete goal. A "We will make this happen" move. Starting first with "the local tour" (aka anything in the United States while I work on getting my passport) The Itinerary was officially born, and it is growing. (I really need to write all of these places down.)

I started officially crossing visits off The Itinerary in March 2026. But in actuality, Jennifer and I started much earlier. Back in October 2024, I traveled to Kansas in a pursuit of clarity and to figure out who I am in this phase of my life. During that trip, we visited a small library in a town near Jen, which turned into an adventure to find a Carnegie library in Wichita. We located the building, but alas, it was now a bank. Later, a weekend trip to Chicago brought another library and bookstore into the mix. I already have plans for a return quest to that Chicago second-hand store... That 1906 copy of Shakespeare will be mine!

Sorry about that. Got a little bit of Gollum eyeing his precious on that last line.

So, today we officially start the written record of The Itinerary. This is a journey to share the love of books, showcase the meccas of the written word, highlight true community spaces, and admire the sublime architecture that houses wonders of historical reference.

Enjoy the ride!