Walled with handsome oak bookshelves and arranged with comfortable reading chairs, Atticus Books & Music has nestled itself into a quiet corner suite of the Plaza Fountainside shops. Family-run and accepting local poets and authors, Atticus will provide this bookshop-hungry community with new, reissued and lightly used books and vinyl.

Sept. 17 marks the opening of the independent bookstore in Fountain Hills. With any book or record purchase comes a complimentary membership in the Atticus Reading Club, along with a free book and bag. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a live jazz trio dropping the downbeat at 5 p.m.

With only 700 sq. feet of space, Dan and Marjean Cafaro have found a way to fill their shop with a wealth of books and music while still delivering that alluring charm of an independent bookstore.

“I remember a bookstore in Hackensack, New Jersey, it was like a paradise to me,” Dan Cafaro said. “A bookstore just made me come alive. It made me feel like something that I wanted to do eventually.”

“Eventually” finally came for Cafaro, who opened his own shop in 1995 in the borough of Doylestown, tucked neatly within the rolling hills of Bucks County, Pa. His bookstore, Chapters Revisited, was his first venture into the book trade.

“I learned from the best of the trade,” Cafaro said. “I used to attend book fairs and just chew these guys’ ears off trying to learn.”

The internet was a new but growing trend before the turn of the century, making it common for bibliophiles to request an internet search at the downtown bookstore.

“Some people would charge for an internet search,” Dan recalled. “We [offered] free internet search, but, if you buy the book, you buy it off us.”

In ‘99, Cafaro decided to pivot to a career in human resource publishing, a path that he pursued for the better part of 20 years.

Cafaro is also the founder and publisher of Atticus Books, an award-winning multimedia press that produces novels, poetry, memoirs and wildly creative fiction, of which many titles can be found at Atticus Books & Music.

Atticus Books is the parent to Atticus Review, a triannual publication whose mission is “To provoke and encourage conversation through the publishing of art and literature from under-represented artists and writers.”

Atticus Review, the eponym of Cafaro’s new bookstore, has been publishing for 11 years where every member of his dedicated staff is either a creative writer or a creative writing professor.

Cafaro’s wife, Marjean, a retired retail information systems corporate soldier, serves as the designated “spreadsheet queen,” AKA chief operations officer for the family-run shop. She had beginnings in the creative industry when her father ran a radio station.

“I worked there and learned the radio trade and some of the TV pieces of it, too,” Marjean said.

Atticus Books & Music is a labor of love for Dan and Marjean Cafaro, along with their son, Shawn, who works alongside his parents.

“It’s helpful because he’s strong,” Marjean says, referring to the overflowing boxes of books that encapsulate their new journey together.

Throughout his career, Cafaro has become a master book curator. His greatest challenge now is appealing to the sea of interests within a limited physical space, including arcane literature like poetry.

“It’s not usually a popular selling item, but it’s critical to any bookshop to have a strong poetry section,” Cafaro explained. “It speaks to a different side of the brain, and I really think that’s where the creativity gets sparked.”

In his second iteration as a bookstore owner with a fresh emphasis on music, Cafaro is beginning to learn the peculiarities of the record trade which has seen a comeback in recent years.

“I like the touch and feel of an album. Everything jumps at you more, like the cover art, the liner notes, the packaging,” Cafaro said, who offers a selection of new and used records. He plans to install a turntable listening station for the local hi-fi enthusiasts, eager to sample their vinyl records.

Despite keeping a few Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and #1 New York Times bestsellers in rotation, Cafaro is dedicated to redefining the role of literature one distinct voice at a time.

Cafaro says his dream would be to host writing workshops and author readings to engage and promote local artists. For now, he looks forward to engaging with the community.

“In my mind, I think readers who appreciate different, who appreciate off the beaten path, are gonna find us,” Cafaro said. “We’re certainly part of the downtown scene now, which I think is cool.”

Stop in on Sept. 17 for the opening of Atticus Books & Music at 12625 N. Saguaro Blvd, Suite 111, with live music at 5 p.m. For more information, visit atticusbooks.net or call 480-687-7314.