The Story An English bookshop, built for readers who fall in love with fictional people.
The Story Society is bringing new English-language books to Prague — with a bias toward fantasy and romantasy, a standing book club, and a cat named Olivia who has already claimed the best reading chair.
Our actual shelves are still being built. Olivia has already picked her spot.
A space designed for women who love stories — romantasy lovers, dreamers, and everyone who believes books are more than just books.
Prague has plenty of cafés, bars, and bookshops — but not many that speak English, and fewer still built around fantasy and romantasy the way we are. We're bringing new English titles into the city faster, curating shelves for readers who take their tropes seriously, and giving Prague's English-reading community somewhere to actually meet.
Sometimes what we need isn't another online order, another algorithm, or another screen. Sometimes we need a place.
Fresh English titles
New releases and backlist favorites brought in regularly — not leftover stock nobody else wanted. If it's trending on your radar, we want it on our shelf.
Fantasy & romantasy first
Every genre is welcome, but our shelves are built by people who genuinely track tropes, tournaments, and fae courts. Ask us for a recommendation — we mean it.
A room, not just a register
Book club, swap nights, cover reveals over coffee. Prague's English-reading community deserves a physical place to actually meet, not just a group chat.
Hi, I'm Julia.
I moved to Prague more than a decade ago. I'm not Czech, and English isn't my first language — but somewhere along the way, reading in English stopped being practice and just became my favorite habit.
The catch: anything past the bestseller table meant importing it myself — comparing shipping costs, crossing my fingers about customs fees, waiting weeks for a paperback. So I started asking why a city full of readers didn't have a proper English shelf to browse.
Turns out it wasn't just me. Prague and the surrounding region are home to a huge international community, plus students, tourists, and plenty of Czech readers who choose English by preference. That's a lot of people without a shelf of their own — so I'm building one.
Not just a place to buy books. A place to discover your next favorite story, chat with people who love reading as much as you do, and maybe leave with three books when you only planned to buy one.
Right now it's just me — no team, no office. Every shelf, every event idea, and now our crowdfunding campaign all started at my kitchen table.
Thank you for reading along while this is still just an idea on a screen. It stopped feeling like only my project a while ago. 🤍
We don't have a storefront yet. We're working on it.
We started building The Story Society in May 2026, and we're currently scouting a home for it in Prague, with the goal of opening our doors before the year is out.
Where things stand
Currently: location-huntingOlivia will be running the place. We're just paying rent.
Every good English bookshop needs a cat, and ours is named Olivia. She'll be on shift most days, supervising deliveries, testing every armchair for nap-worthiness, and offering opinions on your book club picks whether you ask or not.
Every book gets a mark of its own.
There's something quietly nice about giving an object its own little identity — a small personification, book to person. Every copy you buy from us will carry our emblem pressed into the inside page, with a line underneath for a name: yours, or whoever you're handing the story to next.
No stickers, no stamp ink smudged across the title page — just a quiet impression that says this one was chosen, not just bought.
Book clubs, blind dates with books, and reasons to come back.
Details firm up once we have a room to put chairs in, but here's the shape of what we're planning.
Fantasy & Romantasy
Our flagship club — dragons, fae courts, and swoony rivals-to-lovers arcs, one pick a month.
Gothic & Horror
For readers who like their stories a little unsettling — moody atmospheres, haunted houses, and tea to steady your nerves.
Mysteries & Thrillers
Whodunits and slow-burn suspense, discussed with a shared tally of who guessed the ending right.
Short Fiction & Classics
Shorter reads and old favorites, for the month you don't have time for 600 pages.
New Release Nights
First-look evenings for the biggest fantasy and romantasy releases, timed with launch dates when we can manage it.
Blind Date with a Book
Wrapped up with a few cryptic clues and no cover in sight. Pick one blind, and don't peek until you've paid.
Author & Translator Talks
Conversations with authors, translators, and cover artists — in English, for Prague's English-reading crowd.
Our crowdfunding campaign is live.
We're raising €10,000 on Ulule to turn The Story Society from an idea into an actual room in Prague. The campaign is split into three goals — the more we raise, the more of the shop we can build before opening day.
Back us on UluleLet's open the first door.
- Renting the space€3,000
- Shelves€1,000
Let's fill the shelves.
- Books€2,000
- Other bookish stuff€1,000
Let's make it beautiful.
- Advertising€2,000
- Decoration€1,000
Total goal: €10,000
You don't need to fund a whole shelf by yourself. Even €5 moves us closer to the goal — 500 people giving €5 each already adds up to €2,500. Small pledges add up fast when enough of us join in.
Let's talk.
Whether you're a fellow reader or reaching out on behalf of a business, here's how to find us.
Readers & the curious
Questions, book recommendations, or just want to say hi — DM us on Instagram or email thestorysociety.prague@gmail.com.
Publishers, companies & individuals
If you're a publisher looking to place titles, a company interested in collaborating, investing, or exploring promotional opportunities with The Story Society, we'd love to hear from you. Email us at thestorysociety.prague@gmail.com with a short introduction — we read every message personally.