Your local bookstore in Downtown Crystal Lake!

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

Upcoming Events

Indie Bookstore Regional Passport Program!

April 1 @ 10:00 am - April 30 @ 5:00 pm

Joy Ribar Author Event!

April 18 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

The Hopeless Romantics Book Club!

May 7 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 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! 🐶
  • Our favorite cozy mystery writer, Joy Ribar, is back with a new series to talk about!!! Join us Saturday, April 18th at noon to hear all about it!

Her featured book for our event, is "Shake-speared in the Park" a 2025 Finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards in the Mystery and Mayhem category.

And, in keeping with our theme of eating whenever Joy comes to visit, this year we’ll be offering a brunch package featuring Benedict La Strata’s famous veggie quiche along with a side of fruit and a beverage. You get Brunch and a copy of "Shake-speared in the Park" for $20. AND you get a $5 credit towards any items you purchase after the event!

Use the QR code to register or go the Events page of our website for a link!
  • Just a quick reminder that our Which Book? Book Club will be discussing "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou tomorrow at 5pm in the bookstore! How to see you here!!!
  • Local author Zach von Zonk's book "E-I-UFO" was chosen by children across the country as one of their TOP TEN favorite books!!! We have 5 signed copies; hurry in before they fly away!

Check out our YouTube channel for a video of Zach reading/singing his hysterical book. Link in our bio!
  • IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!

The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year!

$15 gets you a store stamp,
5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry.

The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! 

See the link in our bio for all the details!

#abalabixbooks
#regionalpassportprogram
#indiebookstoreday
Our favorite cozy mystery writer, Joy Ribar, is back with a new series to talk about!!! Join us Saturday, April 18th at noon to hear all about it!

Her featured book for our event, is "Shake-speared in the Park" a 2025 Finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards in the Mystery and Mayhem category.

And, in keeping with our theme of eating whenever Joy comes to visit, this year we’ll be offering a brunch package featuring Benedict La Strata’s famous veggie quiche along with a side of fruit and a beverage. You get Brunch and a copy of "Shake-speared in the Park" for $20. AND you get a $5 credit towards any items you purchase after the event!

Use the QR code to register or go the Events page of our website for a link!
Our favorite cozy mystery writer, Joy Ribar, is back with a new series to talk about!!! Join us Saturday, April 18th at noon to hear all about it!

Her featured book for our event, is "Shake-speared in the Park" a 2025 Finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards in the Mystery and Mayhem category.

And, in keeping with our theme of eating whenever Joy comes to visit, this year we’ll be offering a brunch package featuring Benedict La Strata’s famous veggie quiche along with a side of fruit and a beverage. You get Brunch and a copy of "Shake-speared in the Park" for $20. AND you get a $5 credit towards any items you purchase after the event!

Use the QR code to register or go the Events page of our website for a link!
Our favorite cozy mystery writer, Joy Ribar, is back with a new series to talk about!!! Join us Saturday, April 18th at noon to hear all about it!

Her featured book for our event, is "Shake-speared in the Park" a 2025 Finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards in the Mystery and Mayhem category.

And, in keeping with our theme of eating whenever Joy comes to visit, this year we’ll be offering a brunch package featuring Benedict La Strata’s famous veggie quiche along with a side of fruit and a beverage. You get Brunch and a copy of "Shake-speared in the Park" for $20. AND you get a $5 credit towards any items you purchase after the event!

Use the QR code to register or go the Events page of our website for a link!
Our favorite cozy mystery writer, Joy Ribar, is back with a new series to talk about!!! Join us Saturday, April 18th at noon to hear all about it! Her featured book for our event, is "Shake-speared in the Park" a 2025 Finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards in the Mystery and Mayhem category. And, in keeping with our theme of eating whenever Joy comes to visit, this year we’ll be offering a brunch package featuring Benedict La Strata’s famous veggie quiche along with a side of fruit and a beverage. You get Brunch and a copy of "Shake-speared in the Park" for $20. AND you get a $5 credit towards any items you purchase after the event! Use the QR code to register or go the Events page of our website for a link!
2 days ago
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Just a quick reminder that our Which Book? Book Club will be discussing "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou tomorrow at 5pm in the bookstore! How to see you here!!!
Just a quick reminder that our Which Book? Book Club will be discussing "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou tomorrow at 5pm in the bookstore! How to see you here!!!
4 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/4
Local author Zach von Zonk's book "E-I-UFO" was chosen by children across the country as one of their TOP TEN favorite books!!! We have 5 signed copies; hurry in before they fly away!

Check out our YouTube channel for a video of Zach reading/singing his hysterical book. Link in our bio!
Local author Zach von Zonk's book "E-I-UFO" was chosen by children across the country as one of their TOP TEN favorite books!!! We have 5 signed copies; hurry in before they fly away!

Check out our YouTube channel for a video of Zach reading/singing his hysterical book. Link in our bio!
Local author Zach von Zonk's book "E-I-UFO" was chosen by children across the country as one of their TOP TEN favorite books!!! We have 5 signed copies; hurry in before they fly away! Check out our YouTube channel for a video of Zach reading/singing his hysterical book. Link in our bio!
1 week ago
View on Instagram |
3/4
IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!

The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year!

$15 gets you a store stamp,
5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry.

The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! 

See the link in our bio for all the details!

#abalabixbooks
#regionalpassportprogram
#indiebookstoreday
IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!

The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year!

$15 gets you a store stamp,
5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry.

The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! 

See the link in our bio for all the details!

#abalabixbooks
#regionalpassportprogram
#indiebookstoreday
IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!

The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year!

$15 gets you a store stamp,
5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry.

The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! 

See the link in our bio for all the details!

#abalabixbooks
#regionalpassportprogram
#indiebookstoreday
IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!

The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year!

$15 gets you a store stamp,
5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry.

The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! 

See the link in our bio for all the details!

#abalabixbooks
#regionalpassportprogram
#indiebookstoreday
IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!

The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year!

$15 gets you a store stamp,
5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry.

The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! 

See the link in our bio for all the details!

#abalabixbooks
#regionalpassportprogram
#indiebookstoreday
IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!

The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year!

$15 gets you a store stamp,
5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry.

The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! 

See the link in our bio for all the details!

#abalabixbooks
#regionalpassportprogram
#indiebookstoreday
IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!

The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year!

$15 gets you a store stamp,
5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry.

The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! 

See the link in our bio for all the details!

#abalabixbooks
#regionalpassportprogram
#indiebookstoreday
IT'S BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!! The Indie Bookstore Passport Program is bigger and better than ever with 17 participating stores and 6 Grand Prizes this year! $15 gets you a store stamp, 5 store stamps gets you a special sticker, a hometown bookstore Raffle Entry and a Main Raffle entry. The more bookstores you visit the more Main Raffle entries you can earn! See the link in our bio for all the details! #abalabixbooks #regionalpassportprogram #indiebookstoreday
1 week ago
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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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