💘 Cupid comes to Manayunk | Morning Newsletter

Welcome to a new month, Philly. This may be our last day of sun for the next week, so be sure to get out and enjoy it.

The city’s newest hotspot is a romance bookstore in Manayunk. Step inside Cupid’s Bookshop to see why readers are feeling the love.

And obedience, chastity, and poverty are a hard sell these days. Read on to learn about the case of the vanishing nuns of Delaware County.

— Julie Zeglen ([email protected])

P.S. A slew of May Day protests are expected to happen today in Philadelphia and throughout the region, including a City Hall rally headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Find live coverage throughout the day on Inquirer.com.

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Hot reads, pink walls, no shame: Philly’s first romance bookstore is officially open in Manayunk.

💘 Cupid’s Bookshop is the latest in a recent string of U.S. booksellers (think: The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn or Kiss & Tale in Collingswood) dedicated entirely to a genre in the midst of a BookTok-fueled popularity surge.

🌹 That hype was evident in Cupid’s first few days, when “friends to lovers” and romantasy enthusiasts cleared out much of the small store‘s merchandise, starting with a line-out-the-door grand opening.

❤️‍🔥 What’s the lure of this type of space? Supporters say they’re pleased to see books featuring a diversity of characters, including queer and plus-sized protagonists, and to shop in “judgment-free zones,” as Cupid’s owner Tina Long put it.

Reporter Hira Qureshi visited the Manayunk shop on opening day to capture the lovey-dovey mood.

Aston’s Sisters of St. Francis now has just 270 members, with an average age of 84.

The congregation has withstood a lot of change in its 170 years — you won’t see many habits worn in the convent — as has the church to which its sisters have dedicated their lives. But its future is unclear as fewer young women seek to become nuns, both in the heavily Catholic Philly region and across the country.

Still, their work continues, as shown in a new documentary with a title reminiscent of a sports mantra: “No Risk, No Gain: The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.”

Reporter Zoe Greenberg spoke to the sisters about their resolve to stay in service.

The red-tailed hawk who was downed at City Hall by falcons in March has returned to the wild — with a new name. What did staff at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education call him?

A) The Mayor

B) Gritty

C) Dilworth

D) Billy Penn

Think you know? Check your answer.

🐝 Relating to: Former Eagle Darius Slay Jr.’s reason for not attending the team’s White House ceremony this week.

🏛️ Impressed by: The father-daughter duo planning to run a marathon on the Art Museum steps.

🗺️ Mapping: The best cheesesteaks in the Philly region.

⚾ A fan of: The 12-year-old Phillies spectator who went viral for imitating José Alvarado.

🌇 Coveting: This penthouse at Two Liberty, on the market for $1.7 million.

Hint: Philadelphia’s recent royal visitor

CARPED WINDER

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Enrique Viveros, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: Commonwealth. The president of the university, who earlier this year drew a vote of no confidence by faculty, will step down in July.

Thanks, as always, for starting your day with The Inquirer. See you back here tomorrow.

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