Chaucer's Bookstore

Chaucer's Bookstore A Santa Barbara mainstay for booklovers since 1974. https://chaucersbooks.com/
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Join us in the store as we welcome local poet Hannah Turner for a reading from her collection The Clarity of Chaos. Mond...
06/10/2026

Join us in the store as we welcome local poet Hannah Turner for a reading from her collection The Clarity of Chaos. Monday, June 22 at 6:00pm.

The Clarity of Chaos is a raw, luminous collection of poetry chronicling one woman’s courageous journey from the depths of addiction to the triumph of recovery. With searing honesty and breathtaking grace, Turner chronicles the turmoil of alcoholism, the desperate nights and fragile days, and the quiet, unyielding strength it takes to build a new life. Each poem is a testament to the resilience, grit, and fierce spirit she discovered along the way. Now several years sober and a proud graduate of the American University of Paris, Hannah Turner has become a beacon of hope and inspiration to other women facing similar battles. The Clarity of Chaos is a celebration of survival, a journey through the dark to find the light, and an invitation to every reader to embrace the beauty of their own resilience.

Hannah Turner is a 28-year-old poet living in Ojai, California. She began writing The Clarity of Chaos while studying in Paris, where she also began her journey of sobriety. Now three and a half years sober, Hannah channels her experiences with addiction and recovery into poetry that is raw, honest, and deeply human.

Staff Feature!! >> Hi, I'm Brandy, a proud transgender woman with a PhD in English and emphasis in science fiction studi...
06/06/2026

Staff Feature!! >> Hi, I'm Brandy, a proud transgender woman with a PhD in English and emphasis in science fiction studies. Between reading graphic novels and trying local cafes, I enjoy dancing and sharing hidden food gems, including Taco Bell. 😁

Brandy's Recs
* Blades of Furry by Emily Erdos & Deya Muniz - Adorably illustrated yet poignant, this book is a contemporary Twilight meets Heated Rivalry for teens! An excellent addition for q***r romantic comedy lovers.

* The Black Fantastic: 20 Afrofuturist Stories edited by André M Carrington - Edited by one of the leading scholars of speculative fiction, this book reminds me of science fiction's place in contemporary culture. It further illustrates Black science fiction's ability to imagine otherwise and critique the present moment.

June Staff Picks! Scroll through the list https://chaucersbooks.com/staff-picks-month and maybe purchase your next read....
06/06/2026

June Staff Picks! Scroll through the list https://chaucersbooks.com/staff-picks-month and maybe purchase your next read. 😁 Our Staff Picks are also always on display in the store by the registers and is a great place to peruse.

Who loves a good genre mashup?! Hard- boiled detective + the supernatural, we know someone is just itching for this as t...
06/05/2026

Who loves a good genre mashup?! Hard- boiled detective + the supernatural, we know someone is just itching for this as their next read!

Thanks to author Duane Swierczynski, we've got signed copies of his work in the store! Come grab it while you can...

A smart-talking supernatural noir, full of twists and turns, delivered at a whipalong pace about a dead investigative-journalist-turned-soul-collector on the trail of his nemesis – and murderer. Perfect for fans of Ben Aaranovitch and Richard Kadrey.

Del Farmer isn’t your ordinary hardboiled private eye. Instead of collecting fingerprints or clues, he collects souls of the recently dead. His latest dead guy, Brad Larsen, might just be the key to destroying Farmer’s long-time nemesis, The Association.

Of course, Farmer is sadly mistaken. An FBI agent unstuck in time is toying with him. A mysterious couple keeps trying to kill him. Another job―a mundane babysitting gig that pays the bills―is threatening to steer him way off course into a violent hell of sexual deceit, fractured identities, and cheap apartment toilets.

With only a head packed full of nagging ghosts, Farmer realises this case might just drive him out of his mind, literally.

Thank you to author Gregory Orfalea for a thoughtful conversation tonight around his book Wonder + Shame. For folks who ...
06/04/2026

Thank you to author Gregory Orfalea for a thoughtful conversation tonight around his book Wonder + Shame. For folks who like contemporary global fiction, immigrant stories, baseball, and hope, this book is for you. Signed copies available!

About the Book: Frank Matter, seasoned by failure, has a great notion: organize a baseball team of Syrian refugees in a hostile refugee camp. An historian disillusioned with his country during the presidential campaign of 2016, Frank learns that his family’s ancestral village has just been destroyed in a chemical weapons attack. He journeys to Syria to rescue a deaf cousin with whom he had been in love as a young man. Known as “the Seamstress of Damascus,” cousin Dayzi escapes with Frank from her predator-clients on both sides of the war, and together they flee to the largest Syrian refugee camp in the world (half a million). There Frank purports to teach orphans the American game of baseball. Everyone and everything resist it.

About the Author: Gregory Orfalea was born and raised in Los Angeles and is the author or editor of eleven books. He has taught writing and literature at the Claremont Colleges, Westmont College, Santa Barbara City College, and his alma mater, Georgetown University, among others. His collection of memoirs, Angeleno Days, was a finalist for the PEN USA Prize and won the Arab American Book Award.

It's publication day for all these pairings of books! If you are interested in one of these books, you might like the ot...
06/03/2026

It's publication day for all these pairings of books! If you are interested in one of these books, you might like the other... 📙💜📘

Join us as we welcome Teri Siri to the store at 6pm on Thursday, June 11 for her memoir, Pretty for a Crippled Girl.Teri...
06/02/2026

Join us as we welcome Teri Siri to the store at 6pm on Thursday, June 11 for her memoir, Pretty for a Crippled Girl.

Teri Siri has heard it all throughout her life, and in her memoir Pretty for a Crippled Girl, she has written an uncensored, honest, at times painfully raw and yet, entertaining memoir about her life with a disability. Her story defies people’s perceptions and prejudices about those with physical challenges.

More than 70 million people in the United States live with some kind of functional or intellectual / developmental disability. Every one of these individuals faces discrimination, inequality, and barriers to a fuller life from a world built for able-bodied people. Teri’s voice is a crucial addition to the growing chorus in the disability community demanding fair treatment. For those who want to understand what living with a disability might look like, Teri’s story is enlightening. And for people with disabilities who feel unseen and unheard, hopefully, Teri’s memoir will speak to you loudly and clearly.

Teri Siri and her twin sister were born prematurely in Portland, Oregon in September 1964. Teri has cerebral palsy, a physical condition that affects her legs and muscle stiffness. Despite medical experts’ dire predictions that Teri would most likely be a “vegetable” and should be institutionalized, Teri grew up with her family, and has lived a full, independent, and adventurous life, and continues to do so.

Join us as we host John La Puma M.D. for a book talk of Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years-the 7% O...
06/01/2026

Join us as we host John La Puma M.D. for a book talk of Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years-the 7% Outdoor RX Restores Them. Thursday, June 11 at 6:00pm.

Modern life traps us indoors for 93% of our time-under artificial light, staring at screens, disconnected from the natural signals that regulate energy, hormones, attention, and recovery. The result is familiar: burnout, brain fog, poor sleep, metabolic dysfunction, and accelerated aging. This physician-authored framework shows how repurposing part of the 7% of your week you already spend outdoors-less than an hour a day-can help restore energy, focus, resilience, and long-term health. No supplements, biohacking gadgets, or extreme routines required.

The 7% Outdoor Rx offers a practical way to help restore focus, mood, and resilience for the whole family. This isn't a parenting book-it's a biological reset for growing brains in an indoor world.

Written by Dr. John La Puma, a board-certified internist and two-time New York Times bestselling author, Indoor Epidemic delivers a rigorous, research-grounded approach for professionals, parents, and anyone navigating modern indoor life.

If you've been wanting to read Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, now's the perfect time to come by and get a copy as Burk...
05/31/2026

If you've been wanting to read Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, now's the perfect time to come by and get a copy as Burke stopped by and signed our stock! Limited availability, when they're gone, they're gone.

Thank you to authors Philippa Malicka ( ) and María Amparo Escandón ( ) for a book talk last night for Malicka's book ...
05/27/2026

Thank you to authors Philippa Malicka ( ) and María Amparo Escandón ( ) for a book talk last night for Malicka's book In Her Defense! Such an intriguing discussion. If you missed out, we still have some signed copies on hand.

In Her Defense leads the reader through a sensational celebrity libel trial for which a young woman at the periphery secretly wields the power to make or break the case. But with her own hidden past, will she dare to speak up? Everyone is watching, but only one person knows the truth. Twisty and propulsive, In Her Defense is a compulsively readable debut for fans of Lucy Foley and Laura Dave.

“[A] bewitching debut… the crackling story toggles effortlessly from past to present as the depth of the characters’ betrayals and manipulations comes out in open court. This serpentine courtroom drama will captivate readers.” --Publishers Weekly

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3321 State St
Santa Barbara, CA
93105

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 8pm
Tuesday 9am - 8pm
Wednesday 9am - 8pm
Thursday 9am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 8pm
Saturday 9am - 8pm
Sunday 9am - 7pm

Telephone

+18056826787

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