Your local bookstore in Downtown Crystal Lake!

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

Upcoming Events

Mother’s Day Craft!

May 1 @ 10:00 am - May 11 @ 2:00 pm

Tuesdays with George!

May 6 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

No Book Book Club

May 8 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Tuesdays with George!

May 13 @ 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! 🐶
  • George five days after Independent Bookstore Day: 

📚 so many giant stacks of books that could have fallen on my head,
🦵so many legs to zig and zag around,
🎤 so much singing! (Well, actually, that was pretty cool.)

I'm still exhasted!

#abalabixbooks
#wearesograteful
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
  • What a great Independent Bookstore Day we had today!!! From Zach von Zonk's numerous readings of his hilarious book, "E-I-UFO", to delicious cookies from @cheshire_cakes_bakery, to our @librofm Golden Ticket winner, to a store that wasn't empty for one second today. George and I are gonna go sleep for a couple days now. Peace and love, Diane, Amy and Mitch.
  • I hope you were one of the lucky people to get one of these beautiful cookies made to honor George's famous bow-ties! Thank you @cheshire_cakes_bakery!!! 

Happy Indie Bookstore Day!!!

#abalabixbooks 
#cheshirecakes 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#independentbookstoreday
  • Congrats to our Libro.fm Golden Ticket winner! 12 free audiobooks! Nice!
  • Look closely. It's a George-a-palooza!!!
  • Join us tomorrow for Independent Bookstore Day 2025!!! We're going all out to make it a day to remember!

** FIND the Libro.fm Golden Ticket
** FREE Paw Print Squishies for kids
** FREE Graphix posters
** FREE Midwest Booksellers Roadmaps
** FREE Bow-tie cookies
** NEW Abalabix Books branded Mugs
** NEW Limited Edition (only 10!) Abalabix Books 3D printed bookmarks
** Buy a book with a mini book attached and get 10% OFF your entire purchase
** 11am – 2pm / Author Zach von Zonk reading his children’s book E-I-UFO
** SPEND $45 dollars and Spin the Wheel to win a Prize
** Advance Reader Copies for sale; proceeds to benefit Kids in Need
  • Don't forget to look for the @librofm Golden Ticket tomorrow on Independent Bookstore Day! You could win 12 free audiobooks!

#independentbookstoreday 
#LibrofmGoldenTicket 
#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
  • While big-box corporations run promotions, indie bookstores are doing what we do best: building community, recommending unforgettable reads, and throwing the book party of the year.

One week. Two choices.
📦Corporate discounts?
❤️Community celebration?

This Saturday, show up for the bookstore that shows up for you.

#IndieBookstoreDay
#ShopIndie
#abalabixbooks
#georgeisfamous
#georgeisacutie
  • Who has a better Great Big Beautiful Life than George? We have a few copies of Emily Henry’s newest book and some fun stickers too!
@penguinrandomhouse 
@emilyhenrywrites
#penguinrandomhouse #emilyhenrywrites #abalabixbooks #georgeisfamous #georgeisthecutest
George five days after Independent Bookstore Day: 

📚 so many giant stacks of books that could have fallen on my head,
🦵so many legs to zig and zag around,
🎤 so much singing! (Well, actually, that was pretty cool.)

I'm still exhasted!

#abalabixbooks
#wearesograteful
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
George five days after Independent Bookstore Day: 📚 so many giant stacks of books that could have fallen on my head, 🦵so many legs to zig and zag around, 🎤 so much singing! (Well, actually, that was pretty cool.) I'm still exhasted! #abalabixbooks #wearesograteful #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous
2 days ago
View on Instagram |
1/9
What a great Independent Bookstore Day we had today!!! From Zach von Zonk's numerous readings of his hilarious book, "E-I-UFO", to delicious cookies from @cheshire_cakes_bakery, to our @librofm Golden Ticket winner, to a store that wasn't empty for one second today. George and I are gonna go sleep for a couple days now. Peace and love, Diane, Amy and Mitch.
What a great Independent Bookstore Day we had today!!! From Zach von Zonk's numerous readings of his hilarious book, "E-I-UFO", to delicious cookies from @cheshire_cakes_bakery, to our @librofm Golden Ticket winner, to a store that wasn't empty for one second today. George and I are gonna go sleep for a couple days now. Peace and love, Diane, Amy and Mitch.
What a great Independent Bookstore Day we had today!!! From Zach von Zonk's numerous readings of his hilarious book, "E-I-UFO", to delicious cookies from @cheshire_cakes_bakery, to our @librofm Golden Ticket winner, to a store that wasn't empty for one second today. George and I are gonna go sleep for a couple days now. Peace and love, Diane, Amy and Mitch.
What a great Independent Bookstore Day we had today!!! From Zach von Zonk's numerous readings of his hilarious book, "E-I-UFO", to delicious cookies from @cheshire_cakes_bakery, to our @librofm Golden Ticket winner, to a store that wasn't empty for one second today. George and I are gonna go sleep for a couple days now. Peace and love, Diane, Amy and Mitch.
What a great Independent Bookstore Day we had today!!! From Zach von Zonk's numerous readings of his hilarious book, "E-I-UFO", to delicious cookies from @cheshire_cakes_bakery, to our @librofm Golden Ticket winner, to a store that wasn't empty for one second today. George and I are gonna go sleep for a couple days now. Peace and love, Diane, Amy and Mitch.
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
2/9
I hope you were one of the lucky people to get one of these beautiful cookies made to honor George's famous bow-ties! Thank you @cheshire_cakes_bakery!!! 

Happy Indie Bookstore Day!!!

#abalabixbooks 
#cheshirecakes 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous 
#independentbookstoreday
I hope you were one of the lucky people to get one of these beautiful cookies made to honor George's famous bow-ties! Thank you @cheshire_cakes_bakery!!! Happy Indie Bookstore Day!!! #abalabixbooks #cheshirecakes #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous #independentbookstoreday
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
Congrats to our Libro.fm Golden Ticket winner! 12 free audiobooks! Nice!
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
4/9
Look closely. It's a George-a-palooza!!!
Look closely. It's a George-a-palooza!!!
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
5/9
Join us tomorrow for Independent Bookstore Day 2025!!! We're going all out to make it a day to remember! ** FIND the Libro.fm Golden Ticket ** FREE Paw Print Squishies for kids ** FREE Graphix posters ** FREE Midwest Booksellers Roadmaps ** FREE Bow-tie cookies ** NEW Abalabix Books branded Mugs ** NEW Limited Edition (only 10!) Abalabix Books 3D printed bookmarks ** Buy a book with a mini book attached and get 10% OFF your entire purchase ** 11am – 2pm / Author Zach von Zonk reading his children’s book E-I-UFO ** SPEND $45 dollars and Spin the Wheel to win a Prize ** Advance Reader Copies for sale; proceeds to benefit Kids in Need
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
6/9
Don't forget to look for the @librofm Golden Ticket tomorrow on Independent Bookstore Day! You could win 12 free audiobooks!

#independentbookstoreday 
#LibrofmGoldenTicket 
#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
Don't forget to look for the @librofm Golden Ticket tomorrow on Independent Bookstore Day! You could win 12 free audiobooks! #independentbookstoreday #LibrofmGoldenTicket #abalabixbooks #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
7/9
While big-box corporations run promotions, indie bookstores are doing what we do best: building community, recommending unforgettable reads, and throwing the book party of the year.

One week. Two choices.
📦Corporate discounts?
❤️Community celebration?

This Saturday, show up for the bookstore that shows up for you.

#IndieBookstoreDay
#ShopIndie
#abalabixbooks
#georgeisfamous
#georgeisacutie
While big-box corporations run promotions, indie bookstores are doing what we do best: building community, recommending unforgettable reads, and throwing the book party of the year. One week. Two choices. 📦Corporate discounts? ❤️Community celebration? This Saturday, show up for the bookstore that shows up for you. #IndieBookstoreDay #ShopIndie #abalabixbooks #georgeisfamous #georgeisacutie
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
8/9
Who has a better Great Big Beautiful Life than George? We have a few copies of Emily Henry’s newest book and some fun stickers too!
@penguinrandomhouse 
@emilyhenrywrites
#penguinrandomhouse #emilyhenrywrites #abalabixbooks #georgeisfamous #georgeisthecutest
Who has a better Great Big Beautiful Life than George? We have a few copies of Emily Henry’s newest book and some fun stickers too! @penguinrandomhouse @emilyhenrywrites #penguinrandomhouse #emilyhenrywrites #abalabixbooks #georgeisfamous #georgeisthecutest
2 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

Get In Touch!