CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

As many of you know, we all got covid in June, and one of us is still struggling with fatigue.

Some exceptionally kind people raised funds to help us with related medical bills (!!!Colleen is AMAZING!!!), but we do have a specific favor to request from those of you who might be willing to help us in a non-cash way.

If you don't mind about 15 minutes of outdoor work in this weather, could you help us to put out and bring in the Benefit Sale we're running for the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic?

They're raising money to switch to solar power, and we really want to help out, so we put out three tables and about twenty boxes of books each day. You can sign up to help here.

APRILLE CLARKE Reading on July 24

The cover of Aprille Clarke's debut novel-in-stories, The Case of Elena and All That Went Wrong. The cover is blue with four identical images of the back of a woman's head, with each of the four in a different and eerie hue of yellow, mahogany, teal, or fuschia.Aprille Clarke will be reading live at the Haunted Bookshop at 7pm on July 24, 2022, from her debut novel-in-stories, The Case of Elena and All That Went Wrong.

The overlapping worlds of diverse main characters connect in the liminal space of facing challenges... which in their cases, mean dealing with things like dead people in ice trays, awkwardly bloody piano lessons, and airplane passengers being shrunk by dehydration for travel convenience. Yet, the people and the situations are all familiar, in a way that readers who loved Karen Russell's Vampires in the Lemon Grove and Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties will appreciate.

Kindly RSVP via Facebook to ensure we have enough copies of the book - we are already worrying about reorders! (The reading will be held outdoors if the weather suits; attendees are encouraged to bring masks in case we move the reading under shelter.)

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at the reading; you can also preorder the book for shipping or pickup.

See AprilleClarke.com for more information, or watch Aprille introduce the book on YouTube.
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For the health of our patrons, staff, and 15mo baby, we only allow in-store browsing by appointment when new-case rates in our county are below a 10/100K/day threshold. Our mask requirement will remain in effect indefinitely. For more information about our pandemic safety practices, visit Covid Safe Network.

Click to browse PUZZLES!

We continue to offer shipping, free curbside pickup, and free local home delivery on thousands of books, puzzles, games, and more. Do you have favorite subjects or authors and want to try something new? Try a Surprise Me! bag! Set any budget you like - $10, $50, $76.39, it's your choice - and we'll fill it with books you'll love!

Thank you for your support and caring. We miss you! We completely understand your frustration - it's no fun to be a bookstore without visitors - and we will reopen appointment bookings as soon as it's safe to do so. Take care of yourselves, and help us take care of our family, and we will hope to see each other again soon!

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The Haunted Bookshop, Iowa City's oldest secondhand bookshop, carries over 50,000 used, rare, out of print and antiquarian titles in over 50 different subject areas, including poetry, fiction, plays, history, religion, philosophy, cultural studies, sciences and languages, art books, children's books, literary nonfiction, Iowa-related books, and more.

We are located in the Northside district in the historic Wentz House (1847), its rooms lined with shelves and comfortable chairs, its walls offering toys, games, cards, and more. Our friendly and quirky staff delight in helping visitors to find old book-friends and new, and we pride ourselves on resourcefulness and individual attention to our guests.

We're fond of avid readers, browsers, families, students, teachers, literary reviewers, artists, writers, and other good company; we welcome book groups and community organizations; and we delightedly encourage storytelling, reading aloud, book recommendation, puppet shows (use ours or bring your own), and spontaneous performances by visiting piano players.

We are still accepting donations of quality used books, but we are not purchasing additional inventory at this time.

New Books through Bookshop.org!

You can now order new books from us through Bookshop.org! Here's how it works: search for the books you want, buy them, and have them shipped directly to you. If you use this link to start your search, we receive a portion of the sale. Easy! - Check back soon as we begin expanding our recommendations on the bookshop.org website!

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