‘We’re all little weirdos’: Jupiter’s Eye adds ‘flavor’ to book community with focus on mystery, sci-fi, fantasy

Morgan Lynch, owner of Jupiter’s Eye, the new downtown bookstore cafe, gave her establishment a name with two meanings. Lynch’s favorite book series is the “Three Investigators” by Robert Arthur Jr., which she described as “kind of like the ‘Hardy Boys’ but a little bit older, a little bit cooler.” One of the main characters is Jupiter Jones.

“I was chatting with my husband, I had a whole list of name suggestions, and one of them was just Jupiter’s,” Lynch said. “And he was like, it needs something to tie into what it is. And he was thinking, looking through the magnifying glass, his eye looking through it.”

Jupiter’s Eye, located on First Avenue between Stevens and Washington streets, opened Jan. 17, and Lynch envisioned the bookstore cafe specializing in mystery, sci-fi and fantasy as a place of peace for her customers.

“If you think about Jupiter, it’s got that big storm on it,” Lynch said. “And so this kind of idea of the eye being this calm amongst chaos of so many things … the city or the universe, the world at large, and being a little bit of an escape … this little eye of the storm.”

Lynch chose her niche based on her taste, and the desire to carve out a space for her shop in a market that has multiple bookstores.

“Obviously, we’re just a couple blocks away from Auntie’s, a Spokane institution, my favorite bookstore in town, right?” Lynch said. “They have so many genres: kids, YA, cookbooks and gardening books and stuff that they do really well. So we definitely wanted to kind of carve our niche and kind of find the way that we could add our flavor to the Spokane bookish community.”

The bookstore community has been welcoming of Jupiter’s Eye, which specializes in mystery, sci-fi and fantasy, Lynch said.

“We’re all kind of nerds. We’re all little weirdos,” Lynch said. “There is a joy in finding another one, that everyone has been so welcoming. Oh my gosh, cool. Another little weirdo gets to join our weirdo table.”

Lynch described the Jupiter’s Eye aesthetic as dark academia meets ’70s kitsch; the cafe sports dark green walls, wicker lamps and items of curiosity, including a “Lord of the Rings” wall calendar from the ’70s. Another thing that sets the bookstore apart? The cafe, which focuses on being local as possible – Roast House coffee, Revival Tea Company, pastries from Made with Love, bread and coffee cake from Twenty-Seventh Heaven Scratch Bake Shop – also sets the vibe for Jupiter’s Eye.

“We always knew from the start we wanted the menu to feel like things you might get at a hobbit tavern or something,” Lynch said. “So we have warm bread with herbed butter. We’ve got a cheese and meat snack plate, we’ve got brie with honey and nuts … We wanted it to feel warm and welcoming.”

Prior to opening Jupiter’s Eye, Lynch worked in marketing for years as a graphic designer. Lynch’s mindset toward her business involves a great deal of play. She set the price for the bookmarks based on the date of Spring Equinox, because why not? The tattoo on her arm says “Makes you want to try,” a lyric from the song “Head On” by the he Jesus and Mary Chain.

“It’s about giving a care, wanting, trying, striving, attempting,” Lynch said. “I think it’s easy to get stuck, especially I’m what? I’m turning 35 this year. I had a great career. Could have sat there forever and been kind of sad, right? So I think it’s sort of like, you go for it, whatever it is. You want to learn to roller skate? Try, just try.”

If you go Jupiter’s Eye Book Cafe Where: 411 W. First Ave. Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday Info: (509) 816-3942 or jupiterseyebookcafe.com