Happy November! Fall took a while to feel like it arrived, so this month feels a bit like it has snuck up on us. Thank you for your support this season! It means a LOT to us!
If you’re doing holiday shopping this month, books make a GREAT gift! TBR Books also has lots of other gifts, including locally-made crafts! (And if you can’t decide on a gift, we also have gift cards!)
In this newsletter, you’ll find information about November events here at the bookstore and around town. We’ve got information about the Thanksgiving Market, a Veteran’s Day event hosted by Sisters in Service, new vendors, and book club meetings! Find all these things (not in that order) and more below!
Election Day
November 3rd is the General Election! Don’t forget to vote if you can! Click the banner below for information about elections in Illinois.
If you’re feeling particularly stressed or concerned about current events, check out this excellent resource about how to manage election and political stress. One of our readers was kind enough to share it with us!
Thanksgiving Market
Vine Street Market is hosting its Thanksgiving Market on Saturday, November 21st from 9am-12pm at O’Fallon Station, just down the street from TBR Books.
Small Business Saturday
November 28 is Small Business Saturday. It is the day after Black Friday. Please stop by to support us!
Holiday Hours
Thanksgiving (11/26): CLOSED
Black Friday (11/27): CLOSED
Small Business Saturday (11/28): 9am-5pm
Christmas Eve (12/24): 10am-4pm
Christmas Day (12/25): CLOSED
New Year’s Eve (12/31): 10am-4pm
New Year’s Day (1/1): CLOSED
Book Clubs
TBR Books hosts multiple book clubs! They are very casual and FREE to join. Even if you didn’t finish the book, you can still join in! Books for the next month’s meeting are chosen at the end of each meeting. See below for the book clubs’ meeting dates and book selections.
- Non-fiction
- When: November 3 at 6:30pm
- Where: TBR Books
- Book: Whatever you’ve been reading
- Queer Voices
- When: November 3 at 6:30pm
- Where: TBR Books
- Book: The Saw Mouth
- Thriller
- When: November 5 at 6:30pm
- Where: TBR Books
- Book: The Reformatory
- Young Adult
- When: November 5 at 6:30pm
- Where: TBR Books
- Book: That’s Not My Name
- SciFi/Fantasy
- When: November 17 at 6:30pm
- Where: TBR Books
- Book: Whatever you’ve been reading
- Adult Fiction
- When: November 19 at 6:30pm
- Where: TBR Books
- Book: Whatever You’ve Been Reading (or: The Witches of Honeysuckle House)
- Adult Romance
- When: November 19 at 6:30pm
- Where: TBR Books
- Book: Whatever You’ve Been Reading (or: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street)
Event Space at TBR Books
Our back room is ready for everyone to enjoy! It is a cozy reading room and event space. Are you interested in hosting your next gathering at TBR Books? Check out our Event Room page for more information!
New Vendors
HP’s Premium Soaps
TBR Books now sells soaps hand-crafted by HP’s Premium, owned and operated by O’Fallon local Marianne. Marianne has been making soaps for more than two years, and all of her products are tested on her friends and family, who are her beloved guinea pigs. She likes being able to create beautiful colors and smells and thinks that making soap is fun. Also, when it turns out right, it feels like you’ve made something beautiful. She says, “if it fails ugly, you still have soap that you can use.” She hopes people enjoy using her soaps as much as she enjoys making them. Her advise is “Use the good soap. It doesn’t belong in a guest bathroom.”
Scarves by Mary Liz
Mary Liz, one of our local librarians, hand knits beautiful scarves in her spare time. This is the perfect season for scarves! They come in a variety of colors, sizes, and textures. We are excited to have them in store (Tracy was so excited about them that she forgot to do a proper interview with Mary – sorry, Mary)!
Become a Vendor
If you’re a local creator interested in selling your creations at TBR Books, please take a look at our Artisans and Vendors page, where you can fill out an application form.
Veteran’s Day
November 11 is Veteran’s Day! TBR Books thanks all veterans for their service and their sacrifice.
Sisters in Service is hosting a Veteran’s Day event here at TBR Books on November 11th from 11am-1pm. Tickets are free! Learn more below!
Sisters in Service Event
Sister’s in Service’s Veteran’s Day Event, Sip & Shop with SIS, is November 11 from 11am – 1pm at TBR Books.
Enjoy coffee, community, and early holiday shopping from 11-1 at TBR Books. Then, march with us in the annual O’Fallon Veteran’s Day Parade! Everything is optional, come and go as you please. Snag your free tickets HERE.
Sisters in Service holds Community Hours at TBR Books on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month and every Friday from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Learn more about Sisters in Service at www.sistersinservicestl.org.
Native American Heritage Month
November is Native American Heritage Month. Its purpose is to celebrate the culture and heritage of our nation’s indigenous peoples.
Around 9.7 million people identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, which is about 2.9% of our country’s total population. There are 574 federally recognized Tribal Nations across the United States. 227 are located in Alaska and 109 in California. There are 326 federally recognized reservations, where Native communities maintain cultural administrative centers with their own governments, laws, and traditions.
Over 150,000 Native Americans, “representing over 175 different Tribal Nations,” currently live in the state of Illinois. Illinois is also home to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, which is the only federally recognized Tribal Nation in our state. According to the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative, Tribal Nations with traditional homelands in Illinois include “the Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibwe Nations; the Illinois Confederation: the Peoria and Kaskaskia Nations; and the Menominee, Myaamia, Wea, Ho-Chunk, Sauk, Kickapoo, Mascouten, and Meskwaki Nations.”
TBR Books, specifically, is located on land belonging to Osage, Quapaw, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Myaamia, and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ.
Currently, the Navajo Nation is asking for help due to catastrophic flooding this past week in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
If you’re interested in learning more and seeing what books we have to offer, click or tap the banner below.
Novel November
November is National Novel Writing Month (or, more recently, Novel November)! Here at TBR Books, we love to read, and we know some of you love to write! While the organization NaNoWriMo has closed down, we can still celebrate Novel November by writing and encouraging people to write. Let us know what you’re writing! Come by from 1-4 on Saturdays in November to have technology-free reading/writing time in our Reading Room!
November Literary Celebrations
Here are some literary celebrations you might be interested in!
- Academic Writing Month
- National Life Writing Month
- National Family Literacy Month
- Picture Book Month
- November 1: National Author’s Day
- November 1: National Family Literacy Day
- November 7-13: National Book Award Week
- November 7-13: World Nursery Rhyme Week
- November 11: Young Readers Day
- November 15: I Love to Write Day
Community Resources
As it gets cooler outside, it’s a good time to remind you that we have a Community Resources page, where you can find out how to find local warming shelters and food pantries. If there are any particular Community Resources that you’d like to see us share, please let us know by commenting on this newsletter!
Reminders
If you or your friends like to listen to audiobooks to read e-books, you can still support TBR Books by using Libro.fm (for audiobooks) and Bookshop.org (for e-books or physical books).
No AI was used in writing this newsletter or making any of the graphics. For TBR Books’ AI policy, check our About page.
If any of our links don’t work, please let us know by commenting on this post!
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