Just off South Main Street in the Near Southside area of Fort Worth sits a tiny bookstore doing what it can to bring back third spaces.
Recluse Books is an indie bookstore that opened in April 2025 and is owned by a young couple who met while working at the same bookshop.
“We love bookstores,” said co-owner James Webster. “We believe in the continued existence of bookstores in a world where it’s super easy to shop online. And so, we knew this was something we wanted to do.”
His wife and co-owner Josie Webster is originally from Texas so when they were choosing a place to settle down and have their baby, they chose to be close to her family.
When going to a chain bookstore like Barnes & Noble, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the trending and best-selling books always being on the main display. While Recluse still has some of those popular books hidden within their shelves, the staff of four love to highlight books people might not have heard of.
“The line we like to use is we want to be the store where you can come in and find the thing you’re looking for, but we really want to be the store where you can come in and find the thing you didn’t know you were looking for and maybe leave with a new favorite that you’d never heard of,” James Webster said.
Visiting from Lubbock, Noemi Martinez said she enjoys going to indie bookstores because she likes to find books that she probably wouldn’t find at a large corporation. find at a large corporation.
“I like the curation that small bookstores have, and I think that opens up a lot of opportunities for me to pick up a different book that I might not have picked otherwise,” Martinez said.
Every week, Recluse hosts a variety of free events from open mic nights to a zine club run by a middle school art teacher and, of course, a book club. Creating a space for people to come together that is both creative and free has been a mission of the Websters from the start.
“I have long hated the fact that you have to pay money just to exist in public,” James Webster said. “It bothers me. It’s bothered me since I was a teenager and didn’t have any money. And so, now that we had this space, we were like, we should have things. People deserve to have things to do.”
Logan Walley, aside from the owners, is the only other full-time employee, and he said these events are a core value of Recluse.
“You know, all the talk of third spaces. There’s not many of those spots where you feel like you can go somewhere and not have to spend any money,” Walley said. “It’s all super open to anyone who wants to come. It’s always free. Super easygoing style.”
At Recluse, they believe that there is a book out there for everyone.
“Even if you don’t consider yourself a reader, we can start your journey to change that,” James Webster said. “We love this sort of speed dating challenge of trying to figure somebody out in as little time as possible. and then recommend them a book. We’re better than the algorithms. Let us handpick something for you.”
