Your local bookstore in Downtown Crystal Lake!

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

Upcoming Events

Have a Heart Food Drive!

February 10 @ 10:00 am - February 24 @ 5:00 pm

Tuesdays with George!

February 25 @ 11:30 am - 12:00 pm

Tuesdays with George!

March 4 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Tuesdays with George!

March 11 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

@abalabixbooks21
Abalabix Books

@abalabixbooks21

Abalabix Books is NOW OPEN! Come in to find your next great reading adventure and meet George! 🐶
  • It's been a little slow because of the weather and George is really missing everyone. Come on in and visit him and, if you can, please bring some food for the Have a Heart Food Drive going on until Sunday!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#haveaheart
#crystallakefoodpantry
  • Great news! We have one copy of the deluxe limited edition of "Onyx Storm" available in the bookstore! Hurry in!

#abalabixbooks
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#onyxstorm
  • We're so excited about these great new stickers from Anthem Sticker Company! 

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisfamous 
#georgeisthecutest 
#downtowncrystallake 
#stickerwisdom
  • From all of us at Abalabix Books to all of you, we wish you a very happy Valentine's Day! ❤❤❤
  • Please don't forget to have a heart and donate items to Downtown Crystal Lake's food drive. You can drop your items in our bin until this Sunday!
  • A humble plea to ALL publishers. While conducting our first ever inventory we noticed how infinitely easier it was to scan books with the bar code in the bottom right corner and how much more time consuming it was to scan books with the bar code in the lower left. Food for thought? Just sayin'. 

@hachetteus
@harpercollins
@macmillanusa
@penguinrandomhouse
@scholastic
@simonandschuster
@sourcebooks

#abalabixbooks 
#wedidit
#firstinventory
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
  • Our Zen Zone is complete!
For your peace and serenity we've added:
-- overhead accent lighting,
-- a dimmer switch for a more relaxing vibe,
-- a calming water feature,
-- and a large ottoman to relax on.

Please visit us anytime to relax and chill. 

#abalabixbooks 
#wearezen
#thezenzone
  • We did it!!! We survived our first inventory and even came away with only a .09% difference from what we already had in inventory. Thank you Mitch and Amy for everything!

The winner of our "How Many Books" contest, and a $35 gift card, is Alisa G with a guess only 48 books away from our total of 5,952 books.
  • We'll be open regular hours this weekend so please come grab a book so we don't have to count it!

Also, enter our "How Many Books" contest! The closest guess wins a $35.00 gift card!!!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisfamous 
#georgeisthecutest
It's been a little slow because of the weather and George is really missing everyone. Come on in and visit him and, if you can, please bring some food for the Have a Heart Food Drive going on until Sunday!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#haveaheart
#crystallakefoodpantry
It's been a little slow because of the weather and George is really missing everyone. Come on in and visit him and, if you can, please bring some food for the Have a Heart Food Drive going on until Sunday!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#haveaheart
#crystallakefoodpantry
It's been a little slow because of the weather and George is really missing everyone. Come on in and visit him and, if you can, please bring some food for the Have a Heart Food Drive going on until Sunday! #abalabixbooks #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous #haveaheart #crystallakefoodpantry
1 day ago
View on Instagram |
1/9
Great news! We have one copy of the deluxe limited edition of "Onyx Storm" available in the bookstore! Hurry in!

#abalabixbooks
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#onyxstorm
Great news! We have one copy of the deluxe limited edition of "Onyx Storm" available in the bookstore! Hurry in! #abalabixbooks #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous #onyxstorm
4 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/9
We're so excited about these great new stickers from Anthem Sticker Company! #abalabixbooks #georgeisfamous #georgeisthecutest #downtowncrystallake #stickerwisdom
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
From all of us at Abalabix Books to all of you, we wish you a very happy Valentine's Day! ❤❤❤
From all of us at Abalabix Books to all of you, we wish you a very happy Valentine's Day! ❤❤❤
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
4/9
Please don't forget to have a heart and donate items to Downtown Crystal Lake's food drive. You can drop your items in our bin until this Sunday!
Please don't forget to have a heart and donate items to Downtown Crystal Lake's food drive. You can drop your items in our bin until this Sunday!
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
5/9
A humble plea to ALL publishers. While conducting our first ever inventory we noticed how infinitely easier it was to scan books with the bar code in the bottom right corner and how much more time consuming it was to scan books with the bar code in the lower left. Food for thought? Just sayin'. 

@hachetteus
@harpercollins
@macmillanusa
@penguinrandomhouse
@scholastic
@simonandschuster
@sourcebooks

#abalabixbooks 
#wedidit
#firstinventory
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
A humble plea to ALL publishers. While conducting our first ever inventory we noticed how infinitely easier it was to scan books with the bar code in the bottom right corner and how much more time consuming it was to scan books with the bar code in the lower left. Food for thought? Just sayin'. 

@hachetteus
@harpercollins
@macmillanusa
@penguinrandomhouse
@scholastic
@simonandschuster
@sourcebooks

#abalabixbooks 
#wedidit
#firstinventory
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
A humble plea to ALL publishers. While conducting our first ever inventory we noticed how infinitely easier it was to scan books with the bar code in the bottom right corner and how much more time consuming it was to scan books with the bar code in the lower left. Food for thought? Just sayin'. @hachetteus @harpercollins @macmillanusa @penguinrandomhouse @scholastic @simonandschuster @sourcebooks #abalabixbooks #wedidit #firstinventory #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
6/9
Our Zen Zone is complete! For your peace and serenity we've added: -- overhead accent lighting, -- a dimmer switch for a more relaxing vibe, -- a calming water feature, -- and a large ottoman to relax on. Please visit us anytime to relax and chill. #abalabixbooks #wearezen #thezenzone
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
7/9
We did it!!! We survived our first inventory and even came away with only a .09% difference from what we already had in inventory. Thank you Mitch and Amy for everything!

The winner of our "How Many Books" contest, and a $35 gift card, is Alisa G with a guess only 48 books away from our total of 5,952 books.
We did it!!! We survived our first inventory and even came away with only a .09% difference from what we already had in inventory. Thank you Mitch and Amy for everything! The winner of our "How Many Books" contest, and a $35 gift card, is Alisa G with a guess only 48 books away from our total of 5,952 books.
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
8/9
We'll be open regular hours this weekend so please come grab a book so we don't have to count it!

Also, enter our "How Many Books" contest! The closest guess wins a $35.00 gift card!!!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisfamous 
#georgeisthecutest
We'll be open regular hours this weekend so please come grab a book so we don't have to count it! Also, enter our "How Many Books" contest! The closest guess wins a $35.00 gift card!!! #abalabixbooks #georgeisfamous #georgeisthecutest
3 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

Get In Touch!