Bookworms, Unite! 🪱
For the Love of Bookselling
I didn't start The Nonbinarian Book Bike with the vision that it would one day be a bookstore. In fact, it genuinely didn't occur to me. The idea of The Nonbinarian becoming a brick-&-mortar wasn't the point—we got a cargo bike for a reason.
But as we approached our two-year anniversary, all signs started to point toward the next step, whatever that may be. Finally, I called Jihye and asked, "What would you say if I said I wanted to open a bookstore?" And, matter-of-factly, Jihye said, "I was just waiting for you."
As anyone who has made a career in bookselling can tell you, no one chooses this profession for the money. While many outside the industry might hold the romantic notion that bookselling must be like Belle on a rolling ladder, there's certainly nothing glamorous about the job either—it is retail, after all.
So what is it that makes bookselling so special and why on Earth would anyone choose to open a bookstore in the first place?
Because we love putting all our weird little bits of "useless" knowledge to use to conjure up a recommendation for a customer. We love crowdsourcing from bookseller to bookseller to fill in the blanks of what we might not know, all in pursuit of answering that one person's inquiry. We love coming up with creative displays and selecting staff picks and turning over tables to passively introduce new books to people. We love being able to champion the stories we believe in by writers we believe in, to put those stories directly into people's hands so they can find a little piece of what they didn't know they were looking for in those pages.
We love not just the stories these books contain, but the talisman that is the book itself. As booksellers, we are not like any other retail worker there to sell you an object. We are here because we know how transformative reading can be. We are here as stewards of those experiences—from our bookshelves to yours.
Thank you for supporting your local Nonbinarian and for shopping indie.
— K. Kerimian, Nonbinarian Founder & Co-Owner
Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl
Saturday, April 19 — Saturday, April 26
Week-long borough-wide bingo board culminating on Independent Bookstore Day!
Pick up your passport from any participating store.
Get your stamp or signature from every participating store you visit all week.
Visit 5+ stores & get a $5 off coupon good at all participating stores through end of May!
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Indie Bookstore Day Crown Heights Crawl
Saturday, April 26
The return of our popular Small Business Saturday one-day neighborhood tour!
Pick up your punch card at The Nonbinarian Bookstore.
Get your stamp or signature from every participating store, all on the same corner of President & Rogers (Polly's, Rodeo, & Radio Shop).
Bring your fully stamped card back to the bookstore for free IBD & Nonbinarian stickers!
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2025 Indie Bookstore Day Celebration at The Nonbinarian
Saturday, April 26
In addition to participating in the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl & hosting our own Crown Heights Crawl, we'll have our own day-of festivities complete with exclusive 2025 IBD merchandise, Nonbinarian limited edition goodies, and giveaways!
IBD Exclusives include 2025 Independent Bookstore Day tote, Frog & Toad coloring book, Late Night Book Club mini tote, Late Night Book Club hat. While supplies last.
Nonbinarian Limited Edition Merch includes a custom Nonbinarian Virgins on Fire candle. While supplies last.
We have a host of events planned in April! Here’s what’s happening this month. All times EST; 💻 = virtual, 🛍 = in-store, 🚲 = off-site.
Reminder: All in-store events at The Nonbinarian Bookstore are masks required! Testing is encouraged and we have free tests on-site, but negative tests will not be accepted in lieu of a well-fitted mask.
Watch our social media and website for updates!
🛍 Knit to Resist with Nonbinarian Arya: Wednesday, April 2, 6—7 p.m., No Registration Needed
🛍 Queer Disability Aid Pod-Mapping Support Group: Saturday, April 5, 7-8 p.m., RSVP via Eventbrite
🛍 T4T Clothing Swap: Sunday, April 6, 1—4 p.m., No Registration Needed
💻 Virtual Monthly QT Meditation with Nonbinarian K.: Monday, April 7, 8:30—9 p.m., Zoom
💻 Virtual Queer Writers Brooklyn Workshop with Nonbinarian Art: Tuesday, April 8, 7—8 p.m., Zoom
🛍 Knit to Resist with Nonbinarian Arya: Wednesday, April 9, 6—7 p.m., No Registration Needed
🛍 Tarot Workshop & Readings with Nonbinarian Jesús: Friday, April 11, 7-8:30 p.m., RSVP Link TK
🛍 Lez Night Out Lesbian Book Swap: Sunday, April 13, 2-4 p.m., No Registration Needed
🛍 Knit to Resist: Wednesday, April 16, 6—7 p.m., No Registration Needed
🛍 Intimate Fragments: A Smutty Trans Open Mic: Thursday, April 17, 7—9 p.m., RSVP via Partiful
Intimate Fragments offers trans and queer people the space to share their rawest, grittiest, sexiest, and silliest poetic and prose pieces on the themes of love, lust, heartbreak, and SMUT. Hosted by L’or, a lifelong Brooklynite and author of the T4T smut zine Fuckin’ Transplants.🛍 Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl (Global Bookstore Crawl): Saturday, April 19-Saturday, April 26
🛍 Queer Cookbook Club: Sunday, April 20, 4-6 p.m., RSVP via Partiful
💻 Virtual Queer Writers Brooklyn Workshop: Tuesday, April 22, 7—8 p.m., Zoom
💻 The Nonbinarian Book Club: Friday, April 25, 8—9 p.m., Zoom
🛍 Independent Bookstore Day: Saturday, April 26, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
🛍 Little Readers ROAR! Storytime: Sunday, April 27, 11:30 a.m.—12 p.m., No Registration Needed
Nonbinarian volunteers read aloud from our favorite picture books, classic and new. Coloring materials provided. Appropriate for ages 0-5; all are welcome.🛍 Monthly ATLS Name Change Clinic: Sunday, April 27, 2—4 p.m., No Registration Needed
Please remember to bring a valid government ID for the ATLS notary to see.🛍 Queer Disability Aid Art as Art Therapy Support Group: Sunday, April 27, 7—8:30 p.m., RSVP Link TK
🛍💻 Hybrid Reading Trancestors: A Trans History Book Club with Nonbinarian Philomena: Monday, April 28, 8—9 p.m.
Register via Zoom or RSVP via Partiful for in-store attendance.🛍 COVID-Conscious Crafting: Tuesday, April 29, 7-9 p.m., RSVP Link TK
Bring your own supplies/crafts or come use ours!🛍 Knit to Resist: Wednesday, April 30, 6—7 p.m., No Registration Needed
The Nonbinarian Book Club
April is Arab American Heritage Month! The Nonbinarian Book Club is reading the widely acclaimed and award-winning novel, The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar.*
Join us Friday, April 25 at 8 p.m. ET on Zoom to meet other club members and chat about the book! The Zoom link will be sent out on the day of the meeting.
The Nonbinarian Book Club is a monthly, virtual, queer and trans-focused book club. Attendees will receive $5 off their next purchase at The Nonbinarian Bookstore, in-store or online. Meetings take place on the last Friday of each month and book club picks will be announced via the Nonbinarian Newsletter and social media on the 1st of each month.
If you prefer to listen to the audiobook, support indie bookstores and the Book Bike by purchasing through Libro.fm and selecting us as your store of choice!*
Reading Trancestors: A Trans History Book Club
Thank you for celebrating the launch of our new book club, Reading Trancestors: A Trans History Book Club! Hosted monthly by Nonbinarian Philomena Polefrone, Reading Trancestors will meet on the last Monday of the month both in-store at The Nonbinarian Bookstore and virtually on Zoom. Each month we will collectively suggest and vote on our next book together.
In April, we’ll be reading Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg (available in print).*
Reading Trancestors is a free, monthly, hybrid reading and discussion group centering trans authors and readers, focused on learning from a past that insists on continually repeating itself. How did our trancestors survive the things we’re scared will happen again? Where did they find purpose in a world with no concept of their existence? What beautiful siblings are in the archive, siblings we may not even know existed?
Attendees (both virtual & in-person) will receive $5 off their next book club pick purchase at The Nonbinarian Bookstore.
Note: This book club centers the trans gaze and is closed to trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming attendees.
*If ever you cannot afford to obtain a copy of the book club pick for any of our meetings, please reach out to us via email. No judgment, no questions. We take care of us.
Nonbinarian founder K. Kerimian spoke with Calvin Kasulke for The Lit Hub Podcast about opening a brick-and-mortar bookstore!
Thank you, Queer Sapphic, for spotlighting The Nonbinarian Bookstore in “NYC’s Best Bookstores for Queer, Sapphic & Gay Reads”!
The Nonbinarian is proud to partner with the following organizations. Please check out their mission statements and support them however possible.
🌠 Reading 4 Black Lives Project
The Nonbinarian has partnered with ATLS to provide monthly hybrid name change clinic services with the Bookstore. Visit us on the last Sunday of the month from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST via Zoom or at 1130 President Street and please bring a valid government ID for the ATLS notary to see.
If you'd like to partner with us for an event or sponsorship, please reach out via e-mail! In addition to subscribing to our newsletter, following us on social media, visiting the store, and participating in events, you can also support the Nonbinarian in the following ways:
📚 Donate a book (or books)! See our used book policy for details.
📚 Donate funds to help upkeep costs rent and bike maintenance! You can make a one-time donation or set up a monthly one on Ko-Fi, or you can donate via Venmo.
📚 Buy a book from our wishlist!
📚 Buy a book through our Bookshop storefront!
📚 Support us with a Libro.fm subscription!
📚 Buy Nonbinarian merch!
To get involved in our virtual or in-person programming, please email info@thenonbinarian.gay!
Thank you to the Nonbinarian community for always showing up and showing out! We wouldn’t be here without our comrades, cheerleaders, volunteers, and backers! It has been a joy to meet you in-store and at pop-ups, interact with you on social media, and get to know the Brooklyn community and its various neighborhoods.
Want to contribute to the Nonbinarian Newsletter?
If you want to submit something to the newsletter, including events, mutual aid needs, book recs, or ideas you'd like to see us include, please email us at newsletter@thenonbinarian.gay.
Thank you for supporting the Nonbinarian Book Bike! Look for our next newsletter on the 1st of the month. In the meantime, follow us on social media for daily updates.