September at Carnation Bookhouse

A stack of books. On the spine the titles are "Write" "Read" "Protect" "Trans" "Books."

September is here! I am hoping it will bring some colder weather with it. I’m sick of sweating in this heat and I know y’all are too. Thanks for coming out anyway.

My goal is to make this a really creative month for Carnation, where I’m releasing new art for the shop, book packages and reading lists.

For example, I’ve made some new sticker designs, which are now available at the booth. One is the first image on this, and I have a new sticker sheet, which is below!

A sticker sheet of fruit with various piercings and a sticker that says "Fruity."

Retail space updates

I was hoping to have news of a retail space by now, but I hit some snags. I am looking into alternative locations.

Possibly repeating myself again (oops), but the aim with a retail space is to be able to host community events and have places for people to sit and rest while browsing books, instead of us all cramming into a tent. It’s also better for the books long-term for them to not be outside of course.

One of the other things I’m doing is exploring how to form a worker-owned cooperative with this store, instead of just me running it. I’m not really super invested in being an “owner,” I feel like three racoons in a trenchcoat peddling books most of the time. I’d rather go in on it with some like-minded queers, and also build in some sustainability so that we can help each other on bad pain days, or with different skills.

This store definitely doesn’t make heaps of money or anything. Right now I think I’m probably around breaking even on it, and I have another part-time job that actually helps me pay the bills (I work at the Martens and Leonard Centers, come say hi). So I feel hesitant about doing a worker-owned cooperative because I don’t want more people to put themselves in debt for this thing that is so new and small-scale right now. I’ve reached out to some other worker-owned co-op bookstores and they’ve given me some great info I’m taking time to digest. That said, if you are reading this and thinking “silly Sam, I know a lot about this” or “I want to be a part of this and am ready to put down time and money” DM me or email me, I’d love to talk to you more about what you know. My email is hello@carnationbookhouse.com.

What I’m reading

I just finished the book After Hours at Dooryard Books, a historical fiction book with an MLM romance. A lot of people described it as “cozy” in Goodreads reviews, but to me it had a lot of emotional depth and there was a lot of grief explored through the book. Mind the tags (they are in the back of the book) before reading, but I thought it was an interesting read. The characters are complex and messy. I wrote several quotes down from it to ponder on later.

I have a few books lined up for my next reads: Worry Doll by Laura McPhee-Browne, a book called Trans Love and a book called Gender Euphoria: Stories of Joy from Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex Writers.

I’m hoping to have copies of all of these books in the shop soon.

Where will we be?

This is a super busy month for Carnation Bookhouse. We are doing special events almost every week, and doing the additional night market in Urbana during September too. Here’s the schedule. I hope to see you at the shop!

Every week:

Tuesday: Champaign Farmer’s Market from 3-6 p.m.

Thursday: Urbana Night Market from 6-9 p.m. NEW!!!

Saturday: Urbana Farmer’s Market from 7-noon

Special Events:

Sunday September 13: Vendor Market at The Space from 5-8 p.m.

Wednesday September 23: Quiet Queers at Amy’s Place from 6-9 p.m.

Sunday September 27: Ephemera at Channing Murray from 7-9:30 p.m.

I have an idea for you! I think you should carry X book or go to X event!

So cool! Drop me a line at hello@carnationbookhouse.com. Or DM me!

If you're still reading this, thank you for your support! Tell me Sept26 at the booth for a 10 percent discount on your next book(s).