Your local bookstore in Downtown Crystal Lake!

Brink Street Market
Located on the parking lot side of the shopping center.

Upcoming Events

Tuesdays with George!

November 26 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

“Santa’s Twin” Children’s Book Reading

November 30 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

@abalabixbooks21
  • NEW ITEM ALERT! These very witty signs will have you LOLing right in the middle of the bookstore! And they make a perfect gift!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#laughteristhebestmedicine
  • NEW ITEM ALERT!!! Check out these awesome candles we just got in the store! So fun and original. You have to see them!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#toomuchfun
  • Just a reminder that our last meeting of the year for the No Book Book Club is tomorrow night at 5pm at the bookstore. Hope to see you here!
  • NEW ITEM ALERT!!🚨 Advent calendars for everyone on your list! Bluey! Rubber Duckies! And more! Come grab yours before they are gone. #Georgeisfamous #Georgeisacutiepie #Bluey
  • NEW STUFFIE ALERT!!! Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and Pinkalicious!

#abalabixbooks
#welovestuffies
  • Finally! All evidence of Waldo is gone - until next July that is! Lol

#abalabixbooks
#georgeisfamous 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeiswaldo
  • Happy Halloween! We'll be handing out candy and fun toys this afternoon from 3pm to 5pm! We can't wait to see all the fun costumes!

#abalabixbooks
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#halloween 
#halloweenfun
  • Grab your spooky season read today! Buy a book from this table and get a free tote bag.
  • What a great time we had at the David Sedaris event at the Raue on Wednesday! We sold a lot of books, said "Hi!" to a lot of people and laughed at Mr. Sedaris' humor. 

All that right in our own hometown! Thank you Raue Center for the Arts!

#abalabixbooks
#rauecenterforthearts 
#hometownpride
NEW ITEM ALERT! These very witty signs will have you LOLing right in the middle of the bookstore! And they make a perfect gift!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#laughteristhebestmedicine
NEW ITEM ALERT! These very witty signs will have you LOLing right in the middle of the bookstore! And they make a perfect gift! #abalabixbooks #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous #laughteristhebestmedicine
6 hours ago
View on Instagram |
1/9
NEW ITEM ALERT!!! Check out these awesome candles we just got in the store! So fun and original. You have to see them! #abalabixbooks #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous #toomuchfun
5 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/9
Just a reminder that our last meeting of the year for the No Book Book Club is tomorrow night at 5pm at the bookstore. Hope to see you here!
Just a reminder that our last meeting of the year for the No Book Book Club is tomorrow night at 5pm at the bookstore. Hope to see you here!
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
NEW ITEM ALERT!!🚨 Advent calendars for everyone on your list! Bluey! Rubber Duckies! And more! Come grab yours before they are gone. #Georgeisfamous #Georgeisacutiepie #Bluey
NEW ITEM ALERT!!🚨 Advent calendars for everyone on your list! Bluey! Rubber Duckies! And more! Come grab yours before they are gone. #Georgeisfamous #Georgeisacutiepie #Bluey
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
4/9
NEW STUFFIE ALERT!!! Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and Pinkalicious!

#abalabixbooks
#welovestuffies
NEW STUFFIE ALERT!!! Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and Pinkalicious!

#abalabixbooks
#welovestuffies
NEW STUFFIE ALERT!!! Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and Pinkalicious! #abalabixbooks #welovestuffies
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
5/9
Finally! All evidence of Waldo is gone - until next July that is! Lol

#abalabixbooks
#georgeisfamous 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeiswaldo
Finally! All evidence of Waldo is gone - until next July that is! Lol #abalabixbooks #georgeisfamous #georgeisthecutest #georgeiswaldo
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
6/9
Happy Halloween! We'll be handing out candy and fun toys this afternoon from 3pm to 5pm! We can't wait to see all the fun costumes!

#abalabixbooks
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#halloween 
#halloweenfun
Happy Halloween! We'll be handing out candy and fun toys this afternoon from 3pm to 5pm! We can't wait to see all the fun costumes! #abalabixbooks #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous #halloween #halloweenfun
3 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
7/9
Grab your spooky season read today! Buy a book from this table and get a free tote bag.
Grab your spooky season read today! Buy a book from this table and get a free tote bag.
Grab your spooky season read today! Buy a book from this table and get a free tote bag.
3 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
8/9
What a great time we had at the David Sedaris event at the Raue on Wednesday! We sold a lot of books, said "Hi!" to a lot of people and laughed at Mr. Sedaris' humor. 

All that right in our own hometown! Thank you Raue Center for the Arts!

#abalabixbooks
#rauecenterforthearts 
#hometownpride
What a great time we had at the David Sedaris event at the Raue on Wednesday! We sold a lot of books, said "Hi!" to a lot of people and laughed at Mr. Sedaris' humor. All that right in our own hometown! Thank you Raue Center for the Arts! #abalabixbooks #rauecenterforthearts #hometownpride
4 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
9/9

We can’t thank you enough!

Our Grand Opening was a huge success and we can’t thank our Crystal Lake community enough! Your kind words of gratitude and encouragement for our little bookstore were, and continue to be, amazing and uplifting. As they say, we hope this is the start of a beautiful relationship.

In order to serve you in as many ways as we can, please know that we offer curbside delivery. Whether you placed an order in the store or on the phone with us, we can take payment over the phone and then bring your books out to your car.

And if for some reason you can’t make it into the store, like, idk, you live in Florida or something, you can continue to support us by shopping through our page on bookshop.org.

We truly appreciate and value your business and hope that we can be of service for many, many years to come!

Happy reading!
Diane (and George)

It’s a Local Thing. It’s a Community Thing.

You probably never think about it but when you support a local business you are not just supporting that business, you are also supporting all of the small, local, independent businesses that they support. Small businesses make up over 99% of the businesses in this country and when you support a small business, on average 67 cents of every dollar stays in your community.

Abalabix Books is proud to support the following merchants:

  • Baldwin Web Design
  • DowntownCL.org
  • Ed’s Rental
  • Fastsigns (independently owned and operated)
  • George Roach & Associates, CPAs
  • Mason Wasz Foundation
  • McGrath Printing
  • Howell’s Flooring and More
  • Men in Paint
  • Today’s Uniforms
  • Waggoner Law Firm

We look forward to seeing this list grow and grow as we become an integral part of the Crystal Lake business community.

Abalaba who?

So, no, you’re not crazy. “Abalabix” is not a real word. But it is a word that resonates with my family and makes us smile every time we think about it or say it.

When trying to decide what to name my bookstore, I, of course, began by Googling every literary or reading type name that I could think of. One that I almost used, were it not for the copyright of the great Mr. Ray Bradbury, was “Stuff Your Eyes” in reference to a passage in Fahrenheit 451, “Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world.”

…Read More

Interested in working at Abalabix Books?

Please fill out the Employment Application and we’ll be in touch!

Employment Application

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