5225 Canyon Crest Drive #30A, Riverside, CA 92507 | 951.787.7807 | cellardoorbookstore.com
Store Hours: Mon-Sat 10 am-6 pm | CLOSED Sundays
News & Events
November 2021
We are currently open for:
  • online orders
  • phone orders
  • curbside pickup
  • in-store browsing
To browse in-store, customers must agree to:
  • Wear a mask appropriately with both nose and mouth covered at all times while in the store
  • Use hand sanitizer provided at the door
  • Carry children who are unable to wear a mask in a stroller or in adult arms
Thanks for your understanding and patience while we navigate these difficult times!
Customer service: info@cellardoorbookstore.com
Small Business Saturday is November 27th! We are excited to welcome Ernesto Cisneros, the amazing author of the award-winning Efren Divided, to Cellar Door to help celebrate Indie Bookstores. Ernesto will be signing books, suggesting books for you, and just maybe, giving us a sneak preview of his new book, Falling Short (out March 15, 2022) which is AMAZING. A few other authors may be joining us, so be sure to check our social media. We’ll also have prizes for all kinds of fun things including best literary MASK!
This year, give the gifts of truth, courage and joy. We are so grateful to be part of the publishing world right now. Books are being published that crack open traditions in history, science, politics, race, sexuality and gender, heroism, emotional correctness, and cultural and societal norms. This isn’t new; folks have been writing about all of this for a very long time, but we have an opportunity here to bring these ideas to more people. Our job as booksellers is to make sure you know about them (please come in and ask us! We’re so excited to share the wealth) and to help our community take part in these important discussions. In light of this, we have two projects for the coming year and we’d like you to join us and give the gift of activism and community with the following books.


In January we will begin two long-term study, action groups born, of course, of books. One will focus on the climate crisis and the book edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine k. Wilkinson, All We Can Save. Every one of us has been affected by climate change, and those who are most vulnerable are also most challenged by the disasters brewing. But leadership on both sides of the aisle have not taken the bold steps necessary to save our planet, so once again, it’s up to the people. All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis is a collection of writings from women in the climate movement. They have also created the All We Can Save Project whose mission is “to nurture a welcoming, connected, and leaderful climate community, rooted in the work and wisdom of women, to grow a life-giving future (allwecansave.earth/project). I’m all in, and I hope you will join me. The more diverse our circle is, the more voices we hear, and the broader our reach, so all climate activists are welcome! We will read one section (most sections are about 50 pages) of the book for each session, so that we can engage in deeper dialogue. Our first meeting will be Monday, January 10th at 7:00pm and we’ll meet every two weeks after for 9 more sessions. We will discuss the first section of the book at the second session. If you are interested in joining us, please send Linda an email at linda@cellardoorbookstore.com. We have plenty of copies of All We Can Save and look forward to seeing you on Monday, January 10, 2022!

We are also partnering with the Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties for in-depth discussions of The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones. A dramatic expansion of The 1619 Project, the NYT Magazine’s award-winning reframing of the American founding and its contemporary echoes, placing slavery and resistance at the center of the American story.
Stories Heal –Thank you to all of you who donated last month! We took over $600.00 in books to RUHS! We are continuing our book drive for the Pediatrics Unit at Riverside University Health System (RUHS)– formerly Riverside County Regional Medical Clinic–to get new books in both Spanish and English to kids 0-18. The number of kids varies, but somewhere between 200-400 children in a month is not unusual. We’d like to give books to children and their families to take home as well as create a library in the pediatric playroom, so we have work to do. We invite you to join us. Click the button below to see how you can participate.
This year, give the gift of truth and courage.
The Case for Rage by Myisha Cherry: Watch the videos of Black women and men beaten, killed, treated as if not only do their lives not matter, but their rights will not be upheld. Witness the brazen attempts to wrestle the vote away from people who have made it clear that they will not stand for laws that unfairly target people of color. Watch the video of a teacher mocking Indigenous culture under the guise of teaching math to high school students. Then take that rage against a system that continues to allow these and other forms of racism in a country that pretends to stand for something else, and read Myisha Cherry’s The Case for Rage. This is a brilliant analysis of how to take that anger and channel it into the fight for antiracism. Cherry brilliantly addresses demands to temper the anger or change it altogether into a different emotion. Perceptions of rage from Seneca to Nussbaum to Audre Lourde weave together to create a rage justified, powerful and completely necessary to the anti-racist struggle. Read it and join us for a discussion with Myisha in January (place and time to be announced but let us know if you’re interested). - Linda
All We Can Save edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson: Every one of us has been affected by climate change, and those who are most vulnerable are also most challenged by the disasters brewing. But leadership on both sides of the aisle have not taken the bold steps necessary to save our planet, so once again, it’s up to the people. All We Can Save is a collection of writings from women in the climate movement. They have also created the All We Can Save Project whose mission is “to nurture a welcoming, connected, and leaderful climate community, rooted in the work and wisdom of women, to grow a life-giving future (allwecansave.earth/project). I’m all in, and I hope you will join me. The more diverse our circle is, the more voices we hear, and the broader our reach, so all climate activists are welcome! We will read one section (most sections are about 50 pages) of the book for each session, so that we can engage in deeper dialogue. Our first meeting will be Monday, January 10th at 7 pm and we’ll meet every two weeks after for 9 more sessions. We will discuss the first section of the book at the second session. If you are interested in joining us, please send me an email at linda@cellardoorbookstore.com. We have plenty of copies of All We Can Save and look forward to seeing you on Monday, January 10, 2022! - Linda
The 1619 Project created by Nikole Hannah-Jones: A dramatic expansion of The 1619 Project, the New York Times Magazine’s award-winning reframing of the American founding and its contemporary echoes, placing slavery and resistance at the center of the American story. From the editors of The New York Times Magazine, led by MacArthur “genius” and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, this collection of essays and historical vignettes includes some of the most outstanding journalists, thinkers, and scholars of American history and culture—including Linda Villarosa, Jamelle Bouie, Jeneen Interlandi, Matthew Desmond, Wesley Morris, and Bryan Stevenson. Together, their work shows how the tendrils of 1619—of slavery and resistance to slavery—reach into every part of our contemporary culutre, from voting, housing and healthcare, to the way we sing and dance, the way we tell stories, and the way we worship. This is a book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction—and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life.
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illus. by Nikkolas Smith: The 1619 Project's lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson. A young student receives a family tree assignment in school, but she can only trace back three generations. Grandma gathers the whole family, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders. But before that, they had a home, a land, a language. She learns how the people said to be born on the water survived.
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll: Every child wants to be seen, not filtered through the misinformation so often confused as fact, not through the prejudice of those who find difference so terrifying, but as that child is. For Addie Darrow, an autistic eleven-year old girl living in a small town in Scotland, this is not a small wish. Addie learns from her older sister, Keedie who is also autistic, how to mask, appear the same as her neurotypical peers, but masking takes a huge toll on her time and energy, and sometimes Addie just can’t manage it. When she is on a field trip learning about women accused of witchcraft, given an unwinnable challenge, and then hanged or burned, Addie’s increased levels of empathy send her into levels of grief her teacher and peers do not understand (and the odd thing here is, feeling that kind of pain over huge tragedies in our history is what’s weird?) In the course of a campaign to put up a memorial to those women and the wrong done to them, Addie discovers the importance of her family, how to recognize a true friend, and how to value her own truly amazing self. Please read this, give a copy to every teacher you know, and make sure every child reads it as well. - Linda
Frankie & Bug by Gayle Forman: A big-hearted coming of age told from the perspectives of two characters who understand the absolute necessity of allyship in a world bent on the destructiveness of othering. It is 1987 and for Bug, this will be a summer of discovery. Venice Beach has all that Bug could want for her summer: the ocean to play in, a lifeguard who knows her brother and her and keeps an eye on them while her mother works at the Mayor’s office, Phillip, Mom’s upstairs best friend, and a whole beach of friends. But for her brother Daniel this year has brought some changes, and he doesn’t want to spend the summer with Bug. Luckily, Phillip’s nephew Frankie is coming to spend the summer, but Frankie doesn’t like the beach and is obsessed with finding the serial killer on the loose in LA, the Midnight Marauder. FIX THIS!!But there are more complex mysteries to be solved: innocence allows us to see people as simple, the ideas we have of them, but unfold the layers of experience, strength, and resilience that Bug’s neighbors and most of them have to do with the complex layers each person holds to make them who they are. Some characters become friends- Frankie and Bug are that kind. - Linda
Pangolina by Jane Goodall, illustrated by Daishu Ma: There is no one better to explain the plight of the pangolin–one of the most endangered and illegally trafficked animals in the world–than Jane Goodall. Pangolins have been illegally captured and slaughtered by humans for their scales which are said to have curative properties. Wrongfully implicated in introducing COVID-19 to humankind, they’ve since found themselves in even more danger. Following pangolin baby Pangolina and her animal friends as she explores the world, and the trauma of being caught, caged, and nearly sold on the black market, this picture book combines Daishu Ma’s heartbreakingly beautiful illustrations and Jane Goodall’s unrivaled ability to explain the complexities of animals and their plight, particularly in a way that speaks to children. Humankind is connected to wild animals in deeper ways than we may ever really understand, and a book like this serves as a tool for all of us to learn how to see animals as deserving of empathy and respect. - Karen
November 2021 newsletter
Fun Holiday of the Month

According to our copy of Highlights 2021 Almanac of Fun, November 17th is National Hiking Day!

Put away your laptops, your tablets, your phones, and the rest of your iThings, put on your hiking boots, and head out into the wilderness. Give yourself a brain break and reconnect with nature. Maybe bring one of these books with you to read under a tree!
The holidays are coming!

Our publishers are very concerned about all of the shortages and shipping issues we are facing this Fall. We are being warned that some books have already been postponed due to these issues and that we will run out of stock early in the season with limited ability to reorder. Cellar Door sees two options. 1) Get your holiday gifts early, and 2) If we don’t have what you’re looking for, please ask our amazing booksellers to give you some suggestions that might be as good as if not better than the books you were looking for. Thank you and be well!
Book Club Schedule
Book clubs will continue on Zoom; you should be receiving information about them the week before your scheduled book club. As there are no fees to join any of our book clubs, we ask that you please purchase book club selections from us! We've included links in all of our event listings so that you can easily order online.
Book Clubs for Adults
Cellar Door Book Club
Meets the second Sun at 2 pm
November 14: A Tale for the Time Being
January 9: The Great Believers

Mystery Book Club
Meets the third Thurs at 6 pm
November 18: Arsenic and Adobo
January 20: Winter Counts

Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club
Meets the third Sat at 5 pm
November 20: Piranesi
January 15: Once and Future Witches

Historical Fiction Book Club
Meets the fourth Sat at 5 pm
November 27: A Thousand Ships
January 22: Rebel Nun

Classic Detectives Book Club
Meets the third Tues at 6:30 pm
November 16: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
December 21: The Conjure Man Dies

Philosophical Horror
Meets the third Mon at 6 pm
November 15: The Troop
December 20: Nothing But Blackened Teeth

Black Lit Book Club
Meets the fourth Fri at 6 pm
November 26: Leave the World Behind
January 28: Harlem Shuffle

History Book Club
Meets the first Wed at 6 pm
November 3: The Making of Asian America
January 5: Villa and Zapata
Speculative Fiction Book Club
Meets the second Sat at 4 pm
November 13: No Gods, No Monsters
January 8: The Low, Low, Woods

LGBTQ Book Club
Meets the fourth Thurs at 6 pm
*December 2: Galileo
January 27: Like This Afternoon Forever

Bucket List Book Club 
Meets the third Sun at 3 pm
November 21: The Old Curiosity Shop (Ch 37-end)
January 16: East of Eden

Phy-Sci Book Club
*NEW DAY* Meets the fourth Tues at 6 pm
November 23: Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear
January 25: The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2021

Feminist Book Club
Meets the first Tues at 6 pm
November 2: The Personal Librarian
December 7: The End of Men

Outdoor Lit 
Meets every other month, first Sun at 2 pm
November 7: Two Trees Make a Forest
January 2: Rise of Wolf 8

*NEW* Educators Book Club
Meets the first Thurs at 6 pm
November 4: Better Than Carrots or Sticks (Part 2)
January 6: Powerful Partnerships
Book Clubs for Kids & Youth

Early Readers Book Club Meets the second Sat at 1 pm
November 13: J.D. and the Great Barber Battle
December 11: Midnight Visitor

Kids' Book Club Meets the second Thurs at 6 pm
November 11: Midnight at the Barclay Hotel
January 13: Ruby in the Sky
*Starred meetings are not held at their usual date and/or time
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