“I always thought I didn’t like reading, because in school, I would just read what they made me read, the bare minimum to just do what I had to do.”

From the Vault opened in June of 2025. I really got into reading around COVID and I just jumped full force into all of that. Both of my kids are at school full-time this year, so I was thinking [of] something fun for me to do. On social media, I would see other mobile bookstores in bigger cities, so I did a little research and thought that might be fun. So I just went for it.

I try to carry a little bit of everything except nonfiction. I don’t have any nonfiction currently. Not to say that I won’t in the future. But the main ones would be romance, fantasy, mysteries and thrillers. And then usually I have some children’s and young adult books and then some general contemporaries or literary fiction or historical fictions.

We bought the enclosed trailer and it was just empty. It’s 7-foot-by-16-foot. We did all the flooring, put in all the bookshelves, all the other extra shelving and painted it. It didn’t take too long, about a month.

I like to read, but I don’t know a whole lot of readers in my own personal circles, so it’s nice to meet other readers. I’ve gone to DFW and Austin. I get to meet a lot of people and talk about books all the time. Lately, I’ve had some local businesses actually reach out to me to partner. If they’re having a special event like customer appreciation or something like that, we’ll partner together. In Austin, I was at the Texas Book Festival. And then in DFW, they have different vendor events that are book-based. One of them is the book fair Get Lit. I’ve been with them a couple of times.

My favorites? It’s hard, especially because I’ve only been reading a few years, so I really haven’t read any classics, so this could change. The first one that comes to mind as a favorite is the ‘Zodiac Academy’ series by Susanne Valenti and Caroline Peckham. There are nine books in the series, but then there are other worlds that are interconnected, so it’s a huge series.

I remember picking up ‘Verity’ by Colleen Hoover. We were going on vacation somewhere. I randomly went to the library one day and got it. And then I read it in two days. I couldn’t put it down. Then I read several thrillers back-to-back because that was what pulled me in. Then I read ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses,’ which is a really popular fantasy series.

I always thought I didn’t like reading, because in school, I would just read what they made me read, the bare minimum to just do what I had to do. As far as extra reading, I always thought I just wasn’t a reader. It’s what I always thought about myself, but it turns out actually I am a reader.

Jennifer Smith is the owner of From the Vault, Waco’s first and only mobile bookshop. It’s a whole trailer decorated with blue images from some of her favorite genres of literature. She pulls the trailer with a 2001 Ford Excursion that she’s planning to have wrapped to match the exterior of her store. In addition to books, she also sells “bookish merch” such as t-shirts and bookmarks, all from other women-owned businesses in Central Texas.

Smith grew up in Coleman, Texas, and has been married to her husband Dillon for 12 years. They have two daughters — Ellie, 11, and Evin, 6 — who are students at Live Oak Classical School.