Your local bookstore in Downtown Crystal Lake!

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

Upcoming Events

Santa Storytime!

December 22 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 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! 🐶
  • Apparently, there is more than one way for George to mark his territory!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
  • Alrighty then. We're going to try this one more time. Small Business Saturday Snow Date is tomorrow, Dec 6th! Woohoo!

We've still got lots of tins of personalized M&Ms to give away free with a $35 purchase and a few other small items as well! 

'Tis the season to shop local and shop small. And please know that we appreciate you so much.
  • Attention all hopeless romantics! The Book Club for tonight has been canceled due to the impending 4 degree weather. Stay home and stay cozy. You're welcome.
  • Baby it's cold outside! Want to warm up? Head on over to Abalabix Books tomorrow, Thursday, Dec 4th at 5pm for the Hopeless Romantics Book Club!

#abalabixbooks 
#thehopelessromanticsbc
  • Hi everyone! Just one more last minute humble plea to bring your donations for the CL Food Pantry to the bookstore this weekend! We still have lots of ARCs to give away with any donation!

#abalabixbooks 
#supportyourcommunity
  • Reminder -- the next meeting of The Who Crew is tomorrow night, Thursday, Nov 20th, at 5pm at the bookstore!

We'll be discussing "The Man Who Died Twice" by Richard Osman. It's book 2 in The Thursday Murder Club series!

C'ya tomorrow!

#abalabixbooks 
#welovemysteries
  • Thank you to our WONDERFUL customers for supporting our community! This weekend we collected $383 and 183 pounds of food for the @clfoodpantry!!! FYI, we're still taking donations and still have plenty of free books to give away!

#abalabixbooks
#supportyourcommunity
  • FREE items with a food or monetary donation to the Crystal Lake Food Pantry! In these trying times we at Abalabix Books feel the need to try and help out in any way we can. Please help support our community!

Thank you @scholastic books!!!
  • Calling all Dog Man fans! While waiting for the new book to be released next week we are bidding our time reading an exerpt from the new Captain Underpants Manga book releasing next April! Come get your copy and some other freebies before they are gone! 

@scholastic
@everychildareader 
@cbcbooks 

#abalabixbooks
Apparently, there is more than one way for George to mark his territory!

#abalabixbooks 
#georgeisthecutest 
#georgeisfamous
Apparently, there is more than one way for George to mark his territory! #abalabixbooks #georgeisthecutest #georgeisfamous
4 days ago
View on Instagram |
1/9
Alrighty then. We're going to try this one more time. Small Business Saturday Snow Date is tomorrow, Dec 6th! Woohoo! We've still got lots of tins of personalized M&Ms to give away free with a $35 purchase and a few other small items as well! 'Tis the season to shop local and shop small. And please know that we appreciate you so much.
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
2/9
Attention all hopeless romantics! The Book Club for tonight has been canceled due to the impending 4 degree weather. Stay home and stay cozy. You're welcome.
Attention all hopeless romantics! The Book Club for tonight has been canceled due to the impending 4 degree weather. Stay home and stay cozy. You're welcome.
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
Baby it's cold outside! Want to warm up? Head on over to Abalabix Books tomorrow, Thursday, Dec 4th at 5pm for the Hopeless Romantics Book Club!

#abalabixbooks 
#thehopelessromanticsbc
Baby it's cold outside! Want to warm up? Head on over to Abalabix Books tomorrow, Thursday, Dec 4th at 5pm for the Hopeless Romantics Book Club! #abalabixbooks #thehopelessromanticsbc
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
4/9
Hi everyone! Just one more last minute humble plea to bring your donations for the CL Food Pantry to the bookstore this weekend! We still have lots of ARCs to give away with any donation!

#abalabixbooks 
#supportyourcommunity
Hi everyone! Just one more last minute humble plea to bring your donations for the CL Food Pantry to the bookstore this weekend! We still have lots of ARCs to give away with any donation! #abalabixbooks #supportyourcommunity
3 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
5/9
Reminder -- the next meeting of The Who Crew is tomorrow night, Thursday, Nov 20th, at 5pm at the bookstore!

We'll be discussing "The Man Who Died Twice" by Richard Osman. It's book 2 in The Thursday Murder Club series!

C'ya tomorrow!

#abalabixbooks 
#welovemysteries
Reminder -- the next meeting of The Who Crew is tomorrow night, Thursday, Nov 20th, at 5pm at the bookstore! We'll be discussing "The Man Who Died Twice" by Richard Osman. It's book 2 in The Thursday Murder Club series! C'ya tomorrow! #abalabixbooks #welovemysteries
4 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
6/9
Thank you to our WONDERFUL customers for supporting our community! This weekend we collected $383 and 183 pounds of food for the @clfoodpantry!!! FYI, we're still taking donations and still have plenty of free books to give away!

#abalabixbooks
#supportyourcommunity
Thank you to our WONDERFUL customers for supporting our community! This weekend we collected $383 and 183 pounds of food for the @clfoodpantry!!! FYI, we're still taking donations and still have plenty of free books to give away!

#abalabixbooks
#supportyourcommunity
Thank you to our WONDERFUL customers for supporting our community! This weekend we collected $383 and 183 pounds of food for the @clfoodpantry!!! FYI, we're still taking donations and still have plenty of free books to give away!

#abalabixbooks
#supportyourcommunity
Thank you to our WONDERFUL customers for supporting our community! This weekend we collected $383 and 183 pounds of food for the @clfoodpantry!!! FYI, we're still taking donations and still have plenty of free books to give away! #abalabixbooks #supportyourcommunity
1 month ago
View on Instagram |
7/9
FREE items with a food or monetary donation to the Crystal Lake Food Pantry! In these trying times we at Abalabix Books feel the need to try and help out in any way we can. Please help support our community!

Thank you @scholastic books!!!
FREE items with a food or monetary donation to the Crystal Lake Food Pantry! In these trying times we at Abalabix Books feel the need to try and help out in any way we can. Please help support our community!

Thank you @scholastic books!!!
FREE items with a food or monetary donation to the Crystal Lake Food Pantry! In these trying times we at Abalabix Books feel the need to try and help out in any way we can. Please help support our community!

Thank you @scholastic books!!!
FREE items with a food or monetary donation to the Crystal Lake Food Pantry! In these trying times we at Abalabix Books feel the need to try and help out in any way we can. Please help support our community! Thank you @scholastic books!!!
1 month ago
View on Instagram |
8/9
Calling all Dog Man fans! While waiting for the new book to be released next week we are bidding our time reading an exerpt from the new Captain Underpants Manga book releasing next April! Come get your copy and some other freebies before they are gone! 

@scholastic
@everychildareader 
@cbcbooks 

#abalabixbooks
Calling all Dog Man fans! While waiting for the new book to be released next week we are bidding our time reading an exerpt from the new Captain Underpants Manga book releasing next April! Come get your copy and some other freebies before they are gone! @scholastic @everychildareader @cbcbooks #abalabixbooks
1 month 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!