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Dear Reader,

On October 12, Jarvis Square Books will celebrate our first birthday!

Over the last year, we’ve confirmed that this neighborhood is full of curious, thoughtful, justice-minded people who were ready for a small but mighty new bookstore. In that time, we’ve sold about 10,000 books—8,000ish in the store and 2000ish online, via Bookshop and Libro. We started a book club that was so instantly popular, we had to spread it over two nights. (We will likely end up holding it at Charmers in the future!) We even made Chicago magazine’s list of Favorite Used Bookstores, just ten months after opening, despite being “cramped” and in a “not-very-promising location.” Heh.

We can’t thank you enough for your support as we found our footing (and as we continue to, honestly). Please drop by on Sunday, October 12th, to celebrate with us and enjoy 25% off everything in the store.

Upcoming Hours Change and Closures

🎃 ⛄️ Fall/winter hours begin tomorrow, October 1.

The new hours are:

• Tuesday-Saturday 11-6

• Sunday 11-5

🚫 We also want to remind you of a couple of upcoming closures.

• Saturday, October 4, we’ll close early, at 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, October 14-Thursday, October 16, the store will be closed so we can attend a bookselling conference out of state.

Upcoming Events

🎬 We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve rescheduled our canceled event from July. Kevin Smokler and Maureen Ryan will be at the store on Thursday, October 21, at 7 p.m., to discuss Kevin’s new book, Break the Frame: Conversations with Women Filmmakers. Finally!

Also, a couple of dates to save:

🏳️‍⚧️ On November 13, we’ll be hosting the Chicago launch of Max Delsohn’s new short story collection from Graywolf Press, Crawl, which Carmen Maria Machado calls “a horny, hilarious, bittersweet romp through millennial transmasc malaise.” Max will be in conversation with Riley Yaxley.

⚔️ On Thursday, December 11, we’ll celebrate the paperback release of Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers that Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe, by historians Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry. Gabriele and Perry will both be here to answer all your medieval history questions. (And one of our favorite things about our customer base is that we know you have some!)

Thank you again for being the best customers ever. We’ll see you soon!

Kate & Michael