Happy Summer! Thank you for all of the support this past season! We hope you were able to come in for Customer Appreciation Day on June 20th, but even if you couldn’t make it, we still appreciate you!
We hope everyone is having a a safe but exciting summer. Here at TBR Books, we obviously think reading is one of the most exciting things to do this season. Do you prefer to do your reading outside under the hot sun, or do you prefer to read inside with air-conditioning?
In this newsletter, you’ll find recommendations, celebrations, and shop updates and reminders (not in that order). For summer recommendations, click the banner below!
New Goodies in Store
Simply Stylish Stiches has updated their display with newly embroidered t-shirts and bags and charming bookmarks!
If you are a local maker and want to display your wares in TBR Books, please check out our Artisans and Vendors page.
Ceramic Bob has some new pottery available for purchase, as well! Come check them out!
America’s 250th Birthday
This July 4th marks the 250th anniversary of the day we declared independence from Britain and became our own country!
Although we consider July 4, 1776 to be the official birthday of the United States, the colonies had been building up to independence for decades, and we had been at war with Britain since 1775. The war ended on September 3, 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. The Constitution that we use today was not ratified until 1788, years after the Revolutionary War had already ended.
Happy 4th of July! To find out more and to check out our recommendations for the Fourth of July, click the banner below!
Disability Pride Month
July is Disability Pride Month, which commemorates the 1990 signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA is crucial for protecting the rights of people with disabilities.
AmeriDisability defines disability pride “as accepting and honoring each person’s uniqueness, and seeing it as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity.”
According to Disabled World, “Disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions.” It’s “broadly defined as the consequence of an impairment that may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or some combination of these.”
In the United States, more than 1/4 of adults “report having a functional disability.” That’s around 70 million Americans. The highest disability rates occur in adults over age 65. Around 10 percent of the world’s population (650 million people) have a disability.
Disabilities can be temporary or permanent. Living with a disability can be quite challenging, and many disabilities are considered invisible, meaning they are not necessarily obvious (such as amputations or mobility aid usage).
To learn more and to find book recommendations, click the banner below.
French American Heritage Month
July is French-American Heritage Month! It celebrates the contributions and influence of French immigrants in the United States. France supported us during the American Revolution, so it makes sense for French-American heritage to be celebrated in July.
St. Louis and the Metro-East have a lot of French heritage. The first Europeans in Illinois were French fur traders, and their first permanent settlement was in Cahokia in 1699. The British took control over Illinois in 1763 after winning the French and Indian War (the Seven Years’ War). St. Louis was founded as a French fur trading post in 1764, although it was transferred to the Spanish in 1770 (France later signed a treaty to reclaim it) and sold to the United States in 1803.
For more information and to see book recommendations, click the link below!
Reminders
Book Clubs
TBR Books hosts 8 book clubs! They are free to join (no purchase necessary), and if you haven’t finished your book (or even if you read the wrong book), you’re still welcome to come. If you come to a meeting, you get to help pick the next month’s book! All book clubs meet at TBR Books after hours.
Non-fiction and Queer Voices are meeting on July 7th at 6:30pm.
Young Adult and Thriller are meeting on July 16th at 6:30pm.
SciFi and Fantasy are meeting on July 21st at 6:30pm.
Romance and Adult Fiction are meeting on July 23rd at 6:30pm.
For up-to-date information, please see our Facebook or Instagram.
E-Books and Audiobooks
If you purchase e-books or audiobooks, you can still support your favorite local indie bookshop (hopefully, that’s us)! All reading (including listening) is valid, and we want you to do it in whatever way you prefer.
TBR Books has partnered with Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, both of which are great booksellers who support independent bookstores across the country. Whenever you purchase from these websites with TBR Books selected as your chosen bookstore (or by using our special link), we get a percentage of the profit.
AI Policy
Nothing on our website or our newsletters has been written, researched, or made using generative AI. We do use Canva for our graphics, but we try to avoid their AI features as much as possible. Links are provided to sources where necessary (and also when interesting). Our full AI policy can be found on our About page.
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