Books & Cake to Open in Hillsdale Hamlet

Readers, rejoice!  A store for booklovers and cake connoisseurs is opening in Hillsdale Hamlet.  

Books & Cake will occupy 8 Anthony St. in the space next to Trudy’s Beauty Shop. The store will sell a wide selection of fiction and nonfiction titles for kids and adults, as well as slices of cake and coffee and tea. A Grand Opening is scheduled for Saturday, October 25^th from 10-5. 

Co-owners Eve Yohalem and Julie Sternberg met in 2008 at a New York book conference and have been friends ever since. Between them they have published 12 books for children and young teens. For three years during COVID they hosted Book Dreams, a literary podcast that interviewed guests like Roz Chast and Imani Perry, and broadcast episodes with titles like “Good Books for Bad Times” and “The Stephen King Novel that (Almost) Drove Us Apart.” Yohalem and Sternberg recently launched a new podcast, “Books and Cake,” available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Sternberg and her family have been part-time residents of Copake for 20 years, and Yohalem's family have resided in the Berkshires for decades. The bookstore was a dream they’d always shared, and they thought that Hillsdale would be a perfect spot. “The response from everyone we’ve met in Hillsdale has been magical,” said Yohalem. “Every door has been opened, everyone has been welcoming, helpful, and enthusiastic. We can’t imagine a better place to open a bookstore.”

Two things make Books & Cake unique. First, there’s the cake: two flavors will be served each day, and the owners have promised that one will always be chocolate or vanilla. Second is the inventive cataloging system. Books will be organized under three dozen different “Read if You Need” headings. Sternberg explained the system: “Read if You Need … Something Short and Mighty, Something Long and Worth It, Hope, A Laugh, To Feel Immersed in Another Family’s Dysfunction, To Consider the Highs and Lows of Friendship, and so on.”

“We’ll have a traditional section just for new fiction and nonfiction books, and another for kids and young adults,” said Sternberg. “But we’re excited about this new system because we want people to come in, linger in front of the shelves, and find the book they’re in the mood for. Of course, they can always just run in and buy something quickly, if they want. All our booksellers are excited to help.”

The Oct. 25 Grand Opening will include free Books & Cake tote bags for the first 25 customers, cupcakes in the afternoon, squishy stress balls for kids while supplies last, and celebratory prosecco. There will be a cake raffle too and, of course, book recommendations.

“For a tiny town, Hillsdale has an impressive number of places where residents can get great books – from Rodgers Book Barn to the Roe Jan Library to the Friends of the Roe Jan Library bookstore,” said Yohalem. "We’re thrilled to be a new addition to that tradition.” 

Books & Cake will be open Thursdays-Sundays 10am to 5pm. For more information, follow them on Instagram @booksandcakebookstore; their websitewww.booksandcake.com will be up soon. For questions or just to say hi, email info@bookscake.com