Theo a brown dog swims with the words books keeping me afloat and photos of the covers of Theory of Water by Leanne Betasmosake Simpson The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer Undrowned by Alexis Pauline Gumbs Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba We Are the Middle of Forever Practicing New Worlds by Andrea J Ritchie Loving Corrections by adrienne maree brown

Amidst escalating fascism and horror, the books we have been reading for the Strength in Community Book Club have been a particular life line. These books point to nature and the wisdom of our ancestors as a guide, and hope, creativity and imagination as key tools in the dreaming of a new world.

The words “this country was never for us. Let’s dream something better” and Black Walnut Books queer and Native owned on a green background with a red poppy, green sage and purple lavender drawings.

The words “tools for dreaming” and Black Walnut Books queer and Native owned on a green background with a red poppy, green sage and purple lavender drawings. Images of the book covers of undrowned, let this radicalize you, practicing new worlds, theory of water, fables and spells, love after the end, our history is the future, a darker wilderness, mouths of rain and surviving the future are in the center.

These books are full of the tools we need to build a better future. We have to imagine another, better future to start building it. Our ancestors did this for us, and now we do it for the next 7 generations.

Bookmail from @blackwalnutbooks.bsky.social
The Art Thieves by @andrealrogers.bsky.social
Mapping the Interior by @sgj.bsky.social

Can’t wait! 🖤

A graphic with wavy teal, pink and yellow color blocks and colorful stars. In the top left is the Independent Bookstore Day round logo with small flags and stars and the date of the event, Saturday April 26 2025. Around that are the words the historic shirt factory 4 stores to explore. Next to that is 10-6pm in pink. Below it says in teal giveaways raffle merch story time scavenger hunt. Below that are the store logos for Black Walnut Books, Beldame Books, Little Black Walnut Books and Ghosts Books. Below that is the address 71 Lawrence St., Glens Falls, New York.

A graphic with wavy teal, pink and yellow color blocks and colorful stars. In the top left is the Independent Bookstore Day round logo with small flags and stars and the date of the event, Saturday April 26 2025. Around that are the words the historic shirt factory 4 stores to explore. Next to that are the logos for Black Walnut Books and Little Black Walnut Books. Below that are the photographic images of two tote bags one says Decolonize your shelf with a raven. And th says shop Indie Shop local with robots and a person walking away from them. below that are the words buy a tote and get 20% off everything you fit inside of it in white.

A graphic with wavy teal, pink and yellow color blocks and colorful stars. In the top left is the Independent Bookstore Day round logo with small flags and stars and the date of the event, Saturday April 26 2025. There is a sign post graphic with the words capital region shop indie shop, local shop, shop small. Below that are the words make a day and do a Bookstore tour. The right side of the graphic has a map with the logos of Black Walnut Books, Little Black Walnut Books, Beldame Books and Ghosts Books next to a marker for Glens Falls. Below that and connected by a dotted line is the logo for Northshire Books and the marker for Saratoga Springs, which is connected to the marker for Greenwich, which had the logo for Owl Pen Books, which is connected to the marker for Troy and the logo for Paper Moon.

Independent Bookstore Day is 4/26✨
Celebrate with us from 10-6pm! Buy a tote at Black Walnut Books and everything you can fit inside it is 20% off📚
Make a day of it and do a little bookstore tour! There are 4 incredible bookstores to explore in The Shirt Factory and many more in the Capital Region💕

Cover of the book The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Cover of the book What My Bones Know, a memoir of healing from complex trauma by Stephanie Foo

Cover of the book Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan

Somehow wanted to do three book clubs this month thanks to @blackwalnutbooks.bsky.social having some excellent picks, and finished two out of three, fruiting bodies is the third and I’m starting it today!

I *love* this series sooo much @melissablair.bsky.social 🖤

Hillary wearing a striped turtleneck and a gray cardigan with blueberry earrings holding up a rainbow stack of the following books: God Isn’t Here Today, She Who Became the Sun, How Long Til Black Future Month, The Thick and the Lean, The Magic Fish, Pleasure Activism, Venco, Water Moon, The White Guy Dies First, Deja Brew and A Shadow Crown. Behind her is a large pothos plant, a black hutch with books displayed and a rainbow painted on a white wall.

A graphic with the words We need diverse books day April 3rd 2025 in colorful letters in the shy above a group of people reading books in a field.

A graphic with the words what is We need diverse books day April 3rd 2025 in colorful letters in the sky above a group of people reading books in a field. In smaller font it says to celebrate a decade of work WNDB is launching we need diverse books day, to be celebrated on April 3rd. This holiday is intended to highlight the importance of reading books that reflect our beautifully diverse world.

A graphic with the words how to celebrate We need diverse books day in colorful letters in the shy above a group of people reading books in a field. In smaller black font it says in bullet points: read diverse books, share reviews and lists of diverse books, join a Black Walnut Books book club, or subscription box, follow we need diverse books, check out diverse books from your library or local, diverse focused indie bookstore like black Walnut Books.

Today is We Need Diverse Books Day! I started Black Walnut Books because I deeply believe in the importance of diverse books & diverse voices. Everyone deserves to see themselves in literature, and it is a delight to be able to read about people like you and people completely different than you.

A photo of Doechii smiling with her tongue out with the words Bisexuals RISE. Underneath in white text are the words Reading List Black Walnut Books Native & Queer Owned. There are hot pink bars on the left and right of the photo.

A photo of Doechii smiling with her tongue out with the words Bisexuals RISE and the covers of the following books: The Essential June Jordan, Greedy, Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution, Bi, It Ain’t Over Til the Bisexual Speaks, Dear Bi Men and Wow No Thank You. At the bottom are the words Black Walnut Books Native & Queer Owned. The background is purple and there is a white line drawing of an alligator at the top right.

A photo of Doechii smiling with her tongue out with the words Bisexuals RISE and the covers of the following books: You Exist Too Much, Monstrilio, Detransition Baby, Futbolista, Bog Swiss, Exciting Times and How to Find a Princess. At the bottom are the words Black Walnut Books Native & Queer Owned. The background is blue and there is a white line drawing of an alligator at the top right.

A photo of Doechii smiling with her tongue out with the words Bisexuals RISE and the words “We are not going anywhere” -Doechii and Black Walnut Books Native & Queer Owned. The background is bands of pink, purple and blue and there is a white line drawing of an alligator at the mid right.

Doechii the Don, Doechii the dean, Doechii supreme was awarded the Outstanding Music Artist award at the GLAAD Media Awards! I am so happy to see bi rep so loud and proud, so I did what I do best and made a reading list about it.

All of these are available on my bookshop page ✨🐊✨

The words Trans Rights Readathon March 21-31 Black Walnut books Native & Queer Owned and “The Trans Rights Readathon is an annual call to action to readers and book lovers in support of Trans Day of Visibility on March 31st. We are calling on the reader community to read and uplift books written by and/or featuring trans, nonbinary, 2Spirit, and gender-nonconforming authors and characters” on a background of pink clouds in a light blue sky.

The words Trans Rights Readathon March 21-31 Black Walnut books Native & Queer Owned Recommended Reading on a background of pink clouds in a light blue sky with the covers of the following books: Docile, Detransition Baby, Light form Uncommon Stars, Future Feeling, Your Body is Not Your Body, Triple Sec, The Tensorate Series, Even Though I Knew the End, Godly Heathens, Transmogrify, Chromatic Fantasy, The Palace of Eros, The Subtweet, Key Lime Sky and The Pairing.

The words Trans Rights Readathon March 21-31 Black Walnut books Native & Queer Owned Recommended Reading on a background of pink clouds in a light blue sky with the covers of the following books: Gender Queer, Gender Euphoria, I’m Afraid of Man, How Far the Light Reaches, Falling Back in Love with Being Human, Miss Major Speaks, Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, Tar Hollow Trans, Pretty, Fairest, Disintegrate/ Dissociate, Pageboy, He/She/They, Spellbound and We Want it All.

The words Trans Rights Readathon March 21-31 Black Walnut books Native & Queer Owned Recommended Reading on a background of pink clouds in a light blue sky with the covers of the following books: 47,000 Beads, Lunar Boy, When Aiden Became a Brother, I am Jazz, My Rainbow, Phoenix Gets Greater, ABC- Deconstructing Gender, The Boy and the Bindi, Obie is Man Enough Hurricane Child, Pet, Becoming Who We Are and The Out Side.

The Trans Rights Readathon starts tomorrow and goes until 3/31. Join me in reading and celebrating trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming voices. The readathon is about spreading joy and awareness, raising funds and for standing in solidarity. bookshop.org/lists/trans-...

A graphic that has a holographic purple and blue background with the text Black Walnut Books Indigenous and Lit March Discussion The Sky Was Once a dark blanket by kinsale drake Sunday March 16 at 12:30 on discord a native a queer owned bookstore in white. There is a picture of the author looking over her shoulder next to the cover of the book, which is pink with a desert scent illustration.

A purple slide with photos of the covers of blood sisters by Vanessa Lillie Teeth by Dallas Hunt the Sky was once a dark blanket By kinsale drake moon of the crusted snow by waubgeshig rice a more tolerable body by jaye simpson theory of water by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson swim home to the vanished by Brendan Shay Basham we can never leave by HE Edgmon soft as bones by Chyana marie sage Venco by Cherie dimaline by the fire we carry by Rebecca nagle and indiginerds edited by Alina Pete behind the words black walnut books 2025 Indigenous & lit Native and queer owned in white.

A graphic that has a holographic purple and blue background with the text Black Walnut Books Indigenous and Lit a native a queer owned bookstore in white. Underneath there are the words April, May and June. Underneath each month is a book cover and author photo (moon of the crusted snow, a body more tolerable a George of water respectively).

If you want to read more books by Indigenous authors, join the Indigenous and Lit Book Club! We meet online once a month to discuss books by contemporary Indigenous authors. Each discussion is led by Hillary, a member of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and owner of Black Walnut Books.

A stack of the following books: Falling Back in Love with Being Human by Kai Cheng Thom I’m Afread of Men by Vivek Shraya Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans Tauhou by Kōutku Titihuia Nuttall God Isn’t Here Today by Francine Cunningham My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado The City in Glass by Nghi Vo The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin The Sky Was Once a Dark Blanket by Kinsale Drake Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers Four Faces of the Moon by Amanda Strong on a wooden surface in front of a pink and white wall with floating bookshelves.

Today is International Women’s Day & I wanted to share a stack of a handful of my favorite books by women.

Just a reminder: if your feminism is only for white, straight, cis women, it’s not feminism it’s fascism.

I encourage you to read as intersectionally as possible, you’ll thank me I promise!

An iPad with the cover of Legendborn by Tracy Deon on the screen on a table with a bottle of wine from Mercury and a glass of wine. There is a piano in the background with cards, plants and photos on it.

Celebrating 2 years of the bookstore being open with a delicious glass of wine from my trip back to California and my first ever bookshop ebook! Indie bookstores being able to sell ebooks has been in the works for such an incredibly long time, this feels like such a triumph!

a hand holding the books Fix Your Clothes by Raleigh Briggs and Witchbody by Sabrina Scott.

bookstore? more like bookSCORE. goodies from @blackwalnutbooks.bsky.social scooped last night.

Thank you so much!! I hope you love them! 💕💕💕

A pile of books with the spines showing: Dead Collections by Issac Fellman; The Street Rat’s Guide to Spells and Royalty by LR Weltmann; Do You Dare? By Tamani Wooley; Silk & Steel edited by Janine A Southard; Bad Cree by Jessica Johns; The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava; Daydreamer by Rob Cameron; Looking for Smoke by KA Cobell; When Stars Have Teeth by Dani Trujillo; Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline; Strike Three: You’re in Love by Anna Denisch

Whew! The book expo was quite… inspiring! I had preordered about half of these and the rest were irresistible. Had a great time chatting with authors and readers. ❤️ Really loving The Shirt Factory and @blackwalnutbooks.bsky.social

Yay!! Thank you so much for supporting local books and authors 💕📖💕

The words Black Walnut Books Subscription Boxes Indigenous and Lit Queer Books Strength in Community Decolonize your shelf support a native owned bookstore $20 per month in white font on a colorful blurred background with flowers.

We have three Black Walnut Books subscription boxes that coincide with three of our book clubs. They are $20 per month and include the current book club read and a little gift.

These boxes quite literally keep the store going & help you decolonize your reading. They are available on our website.

Native people will NEVER stop fighting for our future - and yours. As long as the tree stands, as long as the fish swim, as long as the bear climbs. We are *here* protecting & fighting for each and every one of you, even with the harm your ancestors did or even you do - consciously or unconsciously.

A hand holding up Love is a War Song by Danica Nava, which had a teal cover with two people laying on their backs looking at each other with one holding a cowboy hat and the other holding a guitar. Behind the book there are bookshelves with books by Indigenous authors. You can see The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava and Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie faced out.

It’s exciting (and high time) that major publishers are publishing romance by Native authors. If you’d like to read Native romance, while supporting a Native owned store, & send a message to publishers that we want more of this, pre-order Love is a War Song from me here: bookshop.org/lists/exciti...

Black Walnut Books Strength in Community Book Club in white font on a pink and blue gradient background with white triangles framing on the top and bottom.

The words The Strength in Community Book Club will meet monthly on Sunday evenings online to discuss books that look to Indigenous and Black authors for topics of community building, reciprocity, mutual aid, abolition, resistance and intentionality in white font on a pink and blue gradient background.

The words 3/2 @ 5pm EST The Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Pauline Gumbs 4/6 @ 5pm EST The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer 5/11 @ 5pm EST Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Mariame Kaba Kelly E. Hayes in white font on a pink and blue gradient background next to an image of the cover of each book. Undrowned is teal with yellow and white writing. The serviceberry is tan with a bird and branch on the cover. Let athis Radicalize You is yellow and orange with blue font and the silhouettes of people in blue at the bottom.

The words discussions will take place on the black walnut books discord server. Sign up at blackwalnutbookshop.com/book-clubs Books are available individually on our bookshop page and on our website as a monthly subscription box in white font on a pink and blue gradient background.

The Strength in Community Book Club meets monthly on Sunday evenings online to discuss books that look to Indigenous & Black authors for topics of community building, reciprocity, mutual aid, abolition, resistance & intentionality. www.blackwalnutbookshop.com/book-clubs

The text Books by Black Authors You Should Read in neon green on a lilac purple gradient background with the words Black Walnut Books in small back font at the bottom. There are small white stars throughout.

The text Books by Black Authors You Should Read in neon green on a lilac purple gradient background with the words Black Walnut Books in small back font at the bottom. There are small white stars throughout. The covers of ten books are in rows under the neon green word fiction. The books pictured are: Another Brooklyn Butter Honey Pig Bread Such a Fun Age The Death of Vivek Oji The Old Drift That Hair Giovanni’s Room Girl Woman Other The Prophets What We Lose

The text Books by Black Authors You Should Read in neon green on a lilac purple gradient background with the words Black Walnut Books in small back font at the bottom. There are small white stars throughout. The covers of ten books are in rows under the neon green word fiction. The books pictured are: Witchmark Peaces So Let Them Burn Raybearer Ring Shout Pet Even Though I Knew the End The City We Became The Gilda Stories

The text Books by Black Authors You Should Read in neon green on a lilac purple gradient background with the words Black Walnut Books in small back font at the bottom. There are small white stars throughout. The covers of ten books are in rows under the neon green word fiction. The books pictured are: How Long ’Til Black Future Month Ghostroots Walking on Cowrie Shells What is Not Yours is Not Yours Lot Bloodchild Whatever Happened to Interracial Love What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky Milk Blood Heat Blackout

Here are some books by Black authors that I love and think everyone should read. They are listed in the comments and on my bookshop page, where you can order any of them from me. Have you read any of these?

North Country at Work: Celebrating diverse authors in a Glens Falls bookshop "As a queer indigenous person, getting to see myself is so meaningful. I have literally cried reading those books."

I was interviewed on @ncprnews.bsky.social for their North Country at Work series. You can listen here: www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/5...

A black background with the words Black Walnut Books Indigenous and Lit Book Club and Subscription Box in white. Underneath is a picture of An Afro-Indigenous history of the United States, a black book with white words and stripes alternating between gold stars, red triangles and green turtles. Next to the book are the words February meeting Sunday 2/16 at 12:30pm EST on the Black Walnut Books Discord server. Underneath that is a green square with a QR code and the words sign up or learn more at our website. There is a yellow abstract line pattern in the background.

The Indigenous and Lit Book Club reads a book by a contemporary Indigenous author each month. Our next pick is An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States. You can sign up to join the discussion or for more info on our website.

Theo is the brown pup and Charlie is the black and white one. Pippin is the kitty 💕

The books The City in Glass, which has a green archway with two statues on either side in the foreground and a city on fire with a reflection of the city not on fire in the background, being held on a white blanket next to a black and white plate with a pink macaron with red spots. In the background there is a brown dog, a black and white dog and a back cat.

I absolutely loved this book! It is an epic tale of a demon’s love of her city in a tiny little package. There are so many little details in this book that make it like a little jewel box of magic and fantasy. I don’t often revisit books, but this one might be an annual reread.

I just fixed it!!

Hillary wearing a green hoodie and a yellow and maroon bandana holding up the books The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a tan book with a bird and plants on the cover, and Undrowned, a turquoise book with yellow font and 3 dolphins in a circle on the cover. Behind her is a pink wall, bookshelves and cork boards.

I’m starting a new book club! The Strength in Community Book Club will meet on Sunday evenings online to discuss books that look to Indigenous and Black authors for topics of community building, reciprocity, mutual aid, abolition, resistance and intentionality. You can sign up on my website.

We’re hosting a bunch of awesome events in February! We try to have a good mix of virtual and in person events to cultivate community wherever you may be 🌈📖💕

💕🌈💕

They will be tomorrow!