Some places quietly surprise you. Others immediately announce, "Clear your schedule, you're going to be here a while." The St. Moses Bookstore at the Coptic Orthodox Monastery in Texas is firmly in the second category. First of all: the bookstore itself is beautiful and huge. And when I say huge, I don't mean "relative to expectations," I mean objectively. The variety of spiritual items available is impressive: tote bags, hoodies, keychains, jewelry, pens, stationery, Bibles, Agpeyas, even vestments for clergy. At a certain point, you stop being surprised and just start nodding respectfully. And that's before we even get to the books. Because yes, there are a lot of books. This is genuinely a book lover's dream, countless options across many different categories, to the point where browsing becomes its own activity. You could easily spend hours just looking through the selection alone, and it would feel like time well spent. One feature I especially loved is the option to engrave items on-site, which makes customizing gifts incredibly easy and very tempting if you have even one person in your life who appreciates something thoughtful and personalized. (Or if you, like me, are that person.) As if all of that weren't enough, they also sell sugar cane juice, and if you've never tried it, consider this your official encouragement. You are missing out, my friends. If you've never been here, put it on your bucket list. Hands down, this is one of my favorite bookstores to date, and I don't say that lightly. read more