Dear Reader,

It’s sheeting rain as we write this, but never mind that. Summer in the Square means markets, festivals, Pride and, this year—finally—books.* Books you can buy to read with a beverage on a nearby patio! Or by the lake, or in a park! We strongly support getting outside when it’s bearable, but that doesn’t mean anybody has to be an extrovert about it.

That said, here’s what’s coming up at and around the store this month:

• 6/12 Closed for Restocking

• 6/14 Jarvis Square Artisan Market

• 6/14 Book Talk with Kevin Smokler & Maureen Ryan

• 6/21 Jarvis Square Rummage Sale

• 6/29 Jarvis Square Family Pride

• All month: 20% off select LGBTQIA+ authors and/or subjects

We’re so excited to welcome Kevin Smokler and Maureen Ryan to the store and the Square! Kevin’s a friend of the store, and Maureen is someone we’ve always wanted to meet, so we’re thrilled to have them both for our very first event.

Weather permitting, we’ll have an outdoor presence during our opening hours at all the Jarvis Square events this summer. To celebrate Family Pride, we’ll even stock up on kids’ books a bit more than we ordinarily would! (If you have children’s books to trade, now would be a great time.) For more information, visit the Jarvis Square and Howard Street events calendar. 

More info on everything else below.

See you soon,

Kate & Michael

*Kate wants it on record that she’s been abusing em-dashes since the ‘80s, and she will never use AI to write one of these.

Jarvis Square Books Presents

Kevin Smokler & Maureen Ryan: Break the Frame

Saturday, June 14, 3-4 p.m.

Writer, filmmaker, and "hustler of culture" Kevin Smokler is bringing his new book, BREAK THE FRAME: CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN FILMMAKERS, to Chicago. He'll be joined by former Trib critic Maureen Ryan, author of BURN IT DOWN: POWER, COMPLICITY, AND A CALL FOR CHANGE IN HOLLYWOOD.

This sure-to-be-brilliant conversation will take place outdoors in the Jarvis Square Alfresco Area on Jarvis between Greenview and the red line tracks. Books will be available at Jarvis Square Books, 1522 W. Jarvis, or can be preordered via Bookshop. Kevin and Maureen will do a signing after the event.

More info and free tickets available here. 

Monthly Discount

20% off Select Titles for Pride

Our front table display will have a rotating selection of new titles for 20% off all month. When we sell a book from the display, we’ll replace it with another LGBTQIA+ author and/or subject from our shelves, so keep coming in to see what’s new on the table!

You can also cheat by looking at our Pride list on Bookshop, where we’ll be adding titles as they hit the table. Please note that the discount only applies in store, because we can’t control pricing on Bookshop. But we really do love it when you shop there!

Announcement

Closed for Restocking

Thursday, June 12

Because we love you, we’re going to get up at an ungodly hour to go scouting for more cool books you can’t find at every other store. Tragically, this means we can’t be here to sell you some at the same time.

We’ve been getting great trades from customers lately, but maintaining both stock levels and our idiosyncratic curation standards means we still need to go shopping from time to time. We’ll be back on Friday the 13th (eek) to get as much of it as we possibly can on the shelves before the Saturday rush.