13 Feb Standard B&B ♥ From Outer Space

From Outer Space is an independent bookshop located at Corso Umberto I 178, which has become a real point of reference for me: a place where I not only go to buy books but where I have found a kindred spirit—Agnese—and where I like to stop by even just to say hello and have a chat.

I am not exaggerating when I say that it is a point of reference because local shops—created, curated, and managed with love—just as Agnese knows how to do, add value to a place and are much more than places where you go “just” to buy something.

From Outer Space is an independent, feminist bookshop and a place where culture is truly created and practiced in the most vivid and participatory sense of the term.

Since it opened, From Outer Space has brought new life and a new perspective.

I speak for myself personally, but what Agnese does with FoS through book presentations and Silent Reading Parties is to give me new eyes to read contemporary life, the times we live in.

From Outer Space is a bookshop that you might find in a cosmopolitan capital like London or Paris, but we are lucky enough to have it not only in Civitanova but literally a stone’s throw from Standard B&B 🙂

Here’s a little personal story to give you an idea of how magical From Outer Space is.

On July 4, 2024, I remember the date perfectly because it was just a couple of days before the 10th anniversary of the opening of our Standard B&B, before a party we had organized with friends and relatives—still unaware that they would also be at my and Angelo’s wedding—as I was racing from one part of Civitanova to another on my little bike, I whizzed past Agnese’s bookshop, I looked inside and waved to her.

I widened my eyes and stopped dead in my tracks.

As I said goodbye to Agnese, I noticed that Carolyn Carlson, or the doppelganger of one of the choreographers who literally made contemporary dance history, was inside. I knew that there was a show with her choreography for the CivitanovaDanza Festival during those days, but I never imagined that she would be in Civitanova, and not just in the city, but in my favorite bookstore.

I get off my bike, go into FoS, approach that living legend, and ask her, “Are you really Carolyn Carlson?”

She is magnificent, as kind as only immense souls can be, and we start chatting and take a photo together.

It wasn’t her first time visiting Agnese. She had been in town for a few days and had fallen in love with From Outer Space. She had come back to buy some socks for Tero Saarinen, the dancer for whom she had choreographed the solo, which I went to see that evening at the Teatro Rossini.

What a thrill, what magic…

I still can’t believe it!

When you’re traveling, do you like to look for a nice bookstore where you can lose yourself and find inspiration?
For me, they are always points of reference, and even if I’m in a country where I don’t know the language and therefore can’t read the books, they are places of inspiration that I always love to visit, where I like to spend time, browse…

Books are a great love of mine and also one of my favorite ways to travel. Books are so many things that I could write pages about my love for them, but I know that if you also love books, bookstores, and libraries, you know exactly how we feel.

If you feel like writing to me and telling me about your favorite bookstore, I’d be delighted because there is an ever-increasing need for these magical places, these nests that transport you to other worlds.

If you’re in Civitanova, From Outer Space is a must-visit, but you can also follow all the bookstore’s activities on social media.

Agnese, Carolyn Carlson and me

Agnese

From Outer Space – Corso Umberto I – Civitanova Marche

From Outer Space from another angle – a little corner of heaven