Neighbors Celebrating Neighbor's

And, what do bananas, baseball, and a bright yellow tuxedo have to do with anything, much less, books?

Downtown McKinney

Hi friends,

Like many towns in the south, especially if the town is the “county seat,” you will find a town square that looks like it belongs to the past, with an old courthouse building in the center of the town square. Many of these “town squares” have shops and restaurants around the center of the square and are bustling places for locals and tourists alike, especially on the weekend. The town I live in, McKinney, is one of those towns, and the city has taken great strides to make this area a “destination.” The city can only do so much—it takes business owners with thriving businesses to make it the destination my town square has become over the last twenty years.

A new business had its grand opening in downtown McKinney last Saturday, and I’m super excited because it’s an independent bookstore called Neighbor Books. When I got to the “square” area, finding a place to park was difficult as the local Saturday farmer’s market was packed, too. I arrived at the front of the store, but across the street from it, and it was obvious there was a party going on inside; there was a balloon arch at the front, and so many people inside you could hear all the voices and fun everyone was having. I went inside, walked around a bit, and took some pictures for this story. I’ll go back sometime this week and meet the owners. The bottom floor is full of books and a children’s storytime area, along with some seating, and the top story is filled with seats, couches, and bean bag chairs for people to sit and read, people watch, or even work, if they want to. I hope they will host a couple of book clubs and will eventually be a destination for author events. Independent bookstores are few and far between in North Texas, and I’m so happy they are here!

Bananas, Baseball, and a Bright Yellow Tuxedo

I don’t remember who/what put this on my radar, but I think it might have been one of the many bookish newsletters I read. I’m so sorry I can’t attribute this to you, but thank you for the immense joy this has brought me and let me know if it was you.

I’m not into sports, either playing or watching, but I’ve been to a few baseball games in the distant past. I thought they were pretty boring; they took too long, and all the time wasted trying to prevent base stealing was just that, a waste of time. I remember when I was eight or nine years old, my dad took me to see the Harlem Globetrotters, and it was the best time I had ever had in my short life thus far. It was so fun to see Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal do all those tricks with the basketball, and it made the game fun and exciting to watch. I was young enough that I didn’t realize it was all choreographed, but if I had, I wouldn’t have cared. It was entertaining for kids and adults alike. I had thought in the past that if someone could come up with something like the Globetrotters, but for baseball, that might make baseball exciting for those of us who thought it was boring and were looking for a show.

Courtesy of The Savannah Bananas

Well, someone heard my thoughts, and the Savannah Bananas were born. Their improbable story began as a collegiate team in the Coastal Plain League, and based on their motto of “Fans First,” they have become the team that sells out every game at every stadium they play at across the country. There is a waitlist in the thousands for game tickets, they sell merchandise across the globe, and ESPN calls the Bananas, “the greatest show in baseball.”

Courtesy of The Savannah Bananas

The Savannah Bananas is the brainchild of Jesse Cole that began from his days of playing legitimate baseball in the Coastal Plain League. Jesse (and later, with his wife) created the spectacle of Banana Ball and the sideshow of the players and acts the fans love to see, such as the Banana Nanas, the senior citizen dancing team, the Man-Nanas, the Dad-Bod cheerleading team, the world’s only dancing umpire along with so much other fun, you may never want to see a regular baseball game again.

Cole has written two books, Fans First and Banana Ball, and I can’t tell you how much enjoyment I had reading the story of how this all came to be when I read Banana Ball. I won’t spoil it for you, but if you like reading a heartwarming story of how Cole bought the team and took it from a team that couldn’t draw 300 fans at a game to what it is today, Banana Ball is the book for you. You can check out their Instagram and YouTube channel to see what fun attending a game can be. All the 2024 tickets are sold out, but you can join the waitlist for 2025 tickets here. I hope to see them in person in 2025, and I don’t mind at all traveling to see them. Banana Ball, here I come!

These two topics had nothing to do with each other, but they both put a smile on my face. I hope they did the same for you, too. I’ve got a busy week of volunteering ahead, and I’m determined to finish an ARC of Carlos Whittaker’s book, Reconnected, so I can discover what he learned by being screen-free for seven weeks. I also want to finish Elin Hilderbrand’s book, The Perfect Couple, in time for the limited series on Netflix, releasing September 5th. Have a great week and happy reading!

Some of the links in this newsletter may be affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase anything, I may earn a small commission. This costs you nothing and helps me feed my voracious reading habit, and for that, I thank you.