News & Events

January 2023

*Starting in 2023, our hours will go back to Monday through Saturday only, 10am to 6pm. We will no longer be open on Sundays. Thank you!*

WE WILL BE CLOSED JANUARY 1st FOR NEW YEAR'S

AND JANUARY 3rd FOR INVENTORY

Let’s begin this year with a story of how love overcomes hate, because it will, it has, and it will continue to do so. In October of 2018, an angry woman tried to disrupt our second Drag Queen Story Time. She filmed, threatened, and spewed her hateful words at the parents, kids, Drag Queens and our staff. She posted her ugliness, and it was picked up by TV news. We had some phone calls, emails, and people coming into the store to object to something they didn’t even understand, but we had way more folks who came in to support our store, the Drag Queens, and the LGBTQ community. One of those people was Ross Mack, a special education teacher who saw the news segment and told his wife he was going down to Cellar Door to donate money to give books to queer kids who needed to know they are loved just as they are. Ross hadn’t been out of his house for months because he was in the final stages of a fight with cancer, but his anger at the hate and his determination to help kids know they are loved brought him to the store. He passed not long after that, but every year, Ross’ wife brings a donation to buy books for kids and to remember a wonderful man who wasn’t willing to sit quietly while hate spread. Just this year, Ross’s wife agreed to have his story told, so I give you this gift to start a year in which we will continue to honor Ross and the love he chose to spread. May it help you to stand up to hate whenever and wherever you find it.

Drag Queen Storytime

Saturday, January 14th at 2pm

Our beautiful and wonderful drag queens Kelly K, Scalene OnyxXx, and Athena Monet Kills will be here to read to all of us on Saturday, January 14th at 2pm!

January 14th is also National Dress Up Your Pet Day! We told Nya and she gave us her famous side-eye and then said absolutely not so we guess we won't be able to celebrate the holiday exactly as it was written up. We thought instead we'd dress up AS our pets!

Your donation will get you and your family/small group into the event. Through the last few years, our drag queens have meant the world to our community. They've put so much of their time and effort into putting smiles on our faces. This time, the donations will be split between our queens for helping to create a safe space for Cellar Door. Click the link below to purchase your ticket!

In Partnership with UC Riverside Professors:

The Phy-Sci Book Club

This book club reads a broad range of non-fiction focused on the physical and natural sciences, engineering, and technology. They have covered topics that include astronomy, mathematics, the sociology of science, medicine, history of computing, and nature. The book club's meetings are hybrid and use a Meeting Owl video camera. The online component has allowed the group to keep in touch with book club members who are far away. These meetings have been a really nice way to dive into science, technology, and medical current events. Some of their favorite reads highlight the human story of science, which includes stories of women in science, how science can improve society, and the dangers of how technology can threaten society.

Our friend Flip Tanedo, UCR Associate Professor in Physics and Astronomy, runs the book club every fourth Tuesday of the month at 6pm. The next book they're discussing is The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2022 edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and the meeting will be on January 24th. Buy your copy from us and hop into the discussion!

The 'So Emotional' Book Club

Ever wonder why you feel what you feel, is it right to feel that way, or what your feelings are telling you about the world? The 'So Emotional' Book Club is here to help you grapple with these questions. We read popular books by philosophers, neuroscientists, and psychologists to think about and discuss what emotions are, how society affects what and how we feel, and how to wield our emotions in the right way. The aim of the club is to improve our knowledge about emotions, and maybe even improve our own emotional well-being and emotional intelligence along the way.

Join our friend Myisha Cherry, UCR Assistant Professor of Philosophy and author of The Case for Rage on Zoom on the second Tuesday of the month at 5pm! The first meeting will be on March 14th and the book you'll be discussing is Daniel H. Pink's The Power of Regret. Buy your copy here and we'll sign you up for the book club!

For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome (out January 10): 1930s Mississippi is a dangerous place for a Black child to grow up. A look, a sound, an inability to move quickly enough away can put a person and her family in the gravest danger, so Marion Clark keeps her children close, tries to give her son Simeon just enough to maintain his strength while constantly clipping the wings of his independence, so dangerously like Marion’s own. It is a balancing game she is bound to lose. But it is Lamb, the daughter Momma has kept close and protected, who accepts a thorny offer of friendship and places the family in a danger there was no way to avoid. How does a Black mother love her children, protect them, help them grow up to have dignity and self-worth in a world that punishes that very sense of self, that success? Beautifully written, this explores the legacy of racism in the very fabric of family, in the love of a mother for her child. - Linda

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor (out January 3): Age of Vice focuses its narrative on three characters from very different walks of life, but all three are swept up in the inescapable force that is the Wadia crime family, their ill-gotten wealth, vast influence, and endless corruption. It is an epic crime saga in every sense of the word, with the cinematic scope of Once Upon a Time in America, but traversing the harsh modern landscapes of the city of Delhi and poverty-stricken Uttar Pradesh instead of 1930s New York. The story is propelled by India’s disparate caste system, greed, kidnapping and trafficking, exploitation, and violence at its most base. As the narrative unfolds, it also corrodes the characters, society, and everything else it touches, making this the most unadulterated piece of modern noir I’ve read in a long time, with characters whose actions and circumstances make you feel like you’re watching a car headed for a deadly crash–you’re horrified and yet you can’t look away. Don’t look away. This is a titan in storytelling. - Karen

Sincerely Sicily by Tamika Burgess (out January 3): Sicily’s plans for sixth grade, hanging with her Tether Squad, going to Ravenwood Middle School, and writing a play for her best friend Evelyn to star in are dashed when she gets notice that Shirley Chisolm Middle School has opened in time for the new year. Only Sicily’s abuela can console her but being new means introducing yourself to a whole new group and for a curious, confident Sicily, that may just mean exploring her own Afro-Panamanian background more carefully. Prepare to meet music that insists your body move, a history of strong and courageous people, and the incredible power of masterfully done braids. A wonderful addition to the diverse stories opening up our world! - Linda

(The rest of the) Book Club Favorites of 2022

(Not all book clubs could come up with favorites before the New Year, so we've included their picks this time around!)

Philosophical Horror Book Club

And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Black Lit Book Club

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride

Mystery Book Club

The Mystery Book Club favorite book of 2022 is still a mystery... look for it in February! ;)

Cellar Door Book Club

Meets the second Sun at 2 pm

January 8: The Sentence

February 12: The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois p.1-400

Mystery Book Club - HYBRID

Meets the third Thurs at 6 pm

January 19: Your House Will Pay

February 16: A Crack in the Wall



Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book Club

Meets the third Sat at 5 pm

January 21: She Who Became the Sun 

February 18: The Mountain in the Sea 

Historical Fiction Book Club

Meets the fourth Sat at 5 pm

January 28: The Book of Night Women

February 25: The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

Classic Detectives Book Club

Meets the third Tues at 6:30 pm

January 17: The Cask

February 21: The Bigger They Come

Philosophical Horror Book Club

Meets the third Mon at 6 pm

January 16: This Thing Between Us

February 20: You Feel It Just Below the Ribs 

Black Lit Book Club

Meets the fourth Fri at 6 pm

January 27: Palmares 219-end

February 24: Nightcrawling

History Book Club

Meets the first Wed at 6 pm

No January meeting

February 1: The Great Bridge

**Monday March 6: The Great Influenza

LGBTQ Book Club

Meets the fourth Thurs at 6 pm

January 26: Fadeout

February 23: Burn the Page

Bucket List Book Club 

Meets the third Sun at 3 pm

January 15: Bleak House

February 19: The Thief and the Dogs

Phy-Sci Book Club - HYBRID

Meets the fourth Tues at 6 pm

January 24: Best American Science & Nature Writing 2022

February 28: Slime

Feminist Book Club

Meets the first Tues at 6 pm

**January 10: The Soul of a Woman

February 7: Memphis

Outdoor Lit Book Club

Meets every other month, first Sun at 2 pm

**Sat, January 7: Sand Talk

March 5: Bears Ears

Educators Book Club

*CANCELLED FOR NOW*

Latinx Book Club - HYBRID

Meets the fourth Sun 2 pm

January 22: We Set the Dark on Fire

February 26: Woman of Light

NEW Self-Care Book Club - IN-STORE

Meets the second Fri 6 pm

January 13: The Myth of Normal

February 10: How Emotions Are Made