Your local bookstore in Downtown Crystal Lake!

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

Upcoming Events

Summer Reading Adventure!

May 27 @ 10:00 am - August 26 @ 5:00 pm

Learn to Knit (Beginner Level)!

June 18 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Aldo Leopold Conservation Event

June 23 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Abalabix Books Merch!


Show your love for books, reading and George! Visit our partner, Bonfire, to purchase online.

@abalabixbooks21
Abalabix Books

@abalabixbooks21

Abalabix Books is NOW OPEN! Come in to find your next great reading adventure and meet George! 🐶
  • Don't miss the BOGO sale from @librofm from now until June 22nd!!!

And a huge thanks to everyone who supports us through their memberships and purchases! ❤️

#abalabixbooks
#audiobooksarereading
  • Hi everyone! Remember to go online and vote for ALL your favorite Downtown Crystal Lake businesses!!!

Link to the voting in bio!

#abalabixbooks
#georgeisfamous
#georgeisthecutest
  • This book is the topic of a Book Discussion on June 10th, as well a Conservation Event on June 23rd brought to you by McHenry County Libraries United.

We've been invited to sell books at both events but, if you want the book ahead of time, we have plenty of copies at the store. Please check out our website, abalabixbooks.com, for all the details for both events.
  • It's National Tea Day! Love my mug (thanks Erik!) and my new tea bags (thanks Donna!) with literary-themed quotes on them! 

On this chilly May day, I hope you get a chance to enjoy a cuppa while you snuggle up and read. 

#abalabixbooks 
#teaovercoffee 
#yeti
Don't miss the BOGO sale from @librofm from now until June 22nd!!!

And a huge thanks to everyone who supports us through their memberships and purchases! ❤️

#abalabixbooks
#audiobooksarereading
Don't miss the BOGO sale from @librofm from now until June 22nd!!! And a huge thanks to everyone who supports us through their memberships and purchases! ❤️ #abalabixbooks #audiobooksarereading
3 days ago
View on Instagram |
1/4
Hi everyone! Remember to go online and vote for ALL your favorite Downtown Crystal Lake businesses!!!

Link to the voting in bio!

#abalabixbooks
#georgeisfamous
#georgeisthecutest
Hi everyone! Remember to go online and vote for ALL your favorite Downtown Crystal Lake businesses!!! Link to the voting in bio! #abalabixbooks #georgeisfamous #georgeisthecutest
6 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/4
This book is the topic of a Book Discussion on June 10th, as well a Conservation Event on June 23rd brought to you by McHenry County Libraries United.

We've been invited to sell books at both events but, if you want the book ahead of time, we have plenty of copies at the store. Please check out our website, abalabixbooks.com, for all the details for both events.
This book is the topic of a Book Discussion on June 10th, as well a Conservation Event on June 23rd brought to you by McHenry County Libraries United. We've been invited to sell books at both events but, if you want the book ahead of time, we have plenty of copies at the store. Please check out our website, abalabixbooks.com, for all the details for both events.
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
3/4
It's National Tea Day! Love my mug (thanks Erik!) and my new tea bags (thanks Donna!) with literary-themed quotes on them! 

On this chilly May day, I hope you get a chance to enjoy a cuppa while you snuggle up and read. 

#abalabixbooks 
#teaovercoffee 
#yeti
It's National Tea Day! Love my mug (thanks Erik!) and my new tea bags (thanks Donna!) with literary-themed quotes on them! On this chilly May day, I hope you get a chance to enjoy a cuppa while you snuggle up and read. #abalabixbooks #teaovercoffee #yeti
4 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
4/4

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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
  • Crystal Lake Food Pantry
  • DowntownCL.org
  • Fastsigns (independently owned and operated)
  • George Roach & Associates, CPAs
  • KIN, Kids in Need
  • 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

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