About this Event
We’re partnering with Libro.fm and Silent Book Club to host a Banned Books Read-In during Banned Books Week!
The plan is simple: Spend your Monday evening among fellow book lovers quietly reading any book of your choice as an act of protest against book bans. You can bring a book from home or shop our shelves including a special Banned Books display!
Bring the spirit of the event home with you by choosing a free audiobook copy of either or and learn even more about the movement.
⭐️ This event is free to attend but we ask that you RSVP via Eventbrite in order to guarantee a seat in the event’s designated reading area!
Free RSVP spots are limited, so grab yours soon! If the event sells out, you can join the Eventbrite waitlist by selecting “Reserve a spot” followed by “Join Waitlist”. Should any spots open up, you’ll have 24 hours to register before we offer it to the next person.
💗 If you’re on the waitlist you are still welcome to attend and download a free audiobook! We’re only able to guarantee available seating to those who are able to RSVP but encourage you to settle in and read here at the store if space allows, or enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Harvard Square. 💗
Accessibility
Check-in will take place at our front entrance on Brattle Street. If you have any accessibility needs, you're welcome to use our side entrance (located on the right side of the building), which is wheelchair accessible and has a ramp.
Guests who would benefit from priority seating or any additional assistance are encouraged to reach out in advance — just email us at [email protected]. We're more than happy to make arrangements to ensure you feel comfortable and supported.
We’re always learning and looking for ways to make our events more accessible. If you have suggestions or feedback, we’d love to hear from you!
About Libro.fm
Libro.fm is an audiobook retailer and app that shares profits with over 5,000 independent bookstores across the globe.
About Silent Book Club
Silent Book Club (also known as “Introvert Happy Hour”) is a global community of readers with 2,200+ chapters in 70 countries. There's no assigned reading — it's bring your own book. More than a million members gather in person, online, and in destinations around the world to read together and swap stories. All readers are welcome!
About Banned Together
A dazzling YA anthology that spotlights the transformative power of books while equipping teens to fight for the freedom to read, featuring the voices of 15 diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators.
Books are disappearing from shelves across the country. What does this mean for authors, illustrators, and—most crucially—for young readers?
This bold collection of fiction, memoir, poetry, graphic narratives, essays, and other genres explores book bans through various lenses, and empowers teens to fight back. From moving personal accounts to clever comebacks aimed at censorship, fifteen legendary YA authors and illustrators confront the high-stakes question of what is lost when books are kept from teens.
Contributors include Elana K. Arnold, Nikki Grimes, Ellen Hopkins, Kelly Jensen, Brendan Kiely, Maia Kobabe, Bill Konigsberg, Kyle Lukoff, MariNaomi, Trung Lê Nguy?n, Ashley Hope Pérez, Isabel Quintero, Traci Sorell, Robin Stevenson, and Padma Venkatraman; the collection is a star-studded must-read that packs strength and power into every last word.
Striking illustrations from Ignatz-nominated artist Debbie Fong pair perfectly with the searing, impactful narrative. Resources include tips from the Vandegrift Banned Book Club and other teen activists, as well as extensive recommended book lists, a How to Start Your Own Little Free Library flier, and more.
About How to Defend Books and Why
From Ginsberg's Howl to libraries, from prisons to PalestineYou're invited to the book revolution!
Fight back against censorship and empower your community with this close look at the book banning movement.
In a moving, compulsively readable call to arms for readers everywhere, Danny Caine, bestselling author of How to Resist Amazon and Why and How to Protect Bookstores and Why, offers an expertly-crafted confrontation of far-right, Christian nationalist attempts to reshape American culture through ban campaigns targeting schools, libraries, bookstores, and prisons, with the aim to silence marginalized identities in life and in literature.
From the first-ever banned books display at San Francisco's City Lights in the 1950s to the rapid rise of so-called Moms For Liberty during the COVID-19 pandemic to attempts to silence Palestinian authors, Caine charts the course of repressive censorship campaigns, along with the creative and sometimes unlikely activists who've stood up against them. Each chapter is based on a particular book banning episode, bolstered by research and legal precedent, and concludes with helpful takeaways for further reading or resistance. Throughout, Caine approaches these heated issues with gentle openness harkening back to his work as a public school teacher and a bookseller. He emphasizes our collective responsibility towards art, free speech, and each other.
is a Romance Bookstore and cafe in Harvard Square. to sign up for our newsletter and be the first to know about events and other news.
The Lovestruck is a cozy corner for settling in with a novel, sharing cheese & charcuterie over a glass of wine, grabbing a coffee before browsing the shelves, or treating yourself to something sweet.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO
Your presence at the Lovestruck Books & Cafe event acknowledges that you have been informed of the potential to be documented as part of a video or photo release, and that you grant permission for your likeness to be included in publication of any footage.
Event venue & nearby stays
Lovestruck Books & Cafe, 44 Brattle Street, Cambridge, United States
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