Square Books

Square Books Shop Us Online: www.squarebooks.com
Follow us on Twitter & Instagram: Off Square Books is open 9 am-5pm, Monday-Saturday, and closed on Sunday.
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Square Books is a general independent bookstore in three separate buildings (about 100 feet apart) on the historic town square of Oxford, Mississippi, home of the University of Mississippi and many great writers, including William Faulkner, Barry Hannah, Larry Brown, and, for a time, both Willie Morris and John Grisham. The main store, Square Books, is in a two-story building with a cafe and balco

ny on the second floor; Off Square Books is a few doors down from the main store and has lifestyle sections such as gardening and cookbooks; and Square Books Jr, the children's bookstore, is in a building on the east side of the square. Square Books is known for its strong selection of literary fiction, books on the American South and by Southern writers, a large inventory of reduced-price remainders, and its emphasis on books for children. The store hosts the popular Thacker Mountain radio show and over 150 author events a year.

09/05/2026

It's time for another ! This week, Darion recommends Verity by Colleen Hoover. Read the book before you watch the movie! Find it in store or online at SquareBooks.com.

🎆📚🥊 LET'S GET READY TO BOOK BRAAAAAAAWL! 🥊📚🎆Are YOU a die-hard fan of John Grisham? We cordially invite you to prove yo...
09/05/2026

🎆📚🥊 LET'S GET READY TO BOOK BRAAAAAAAWL! 🥊📚🎆

Are YOU a die-hard fan of John Grisham? We cordially invite you to prove your taste in the first-ever Square Books !

📍VOTE HERE! ➡ https://forms.gle/5aHWqjMutvudeA4H8 ⬅

With the release of The French Illusion coming up at the end of this month, we want to know what YOU think is the GREATEST John Grisham novel of all time! We've lined up every full-length Grisham fiction novel head-to-head in what we expect will be a VERY heated competition.

Vote for YOUR favorites to choose which novels progress -- or face elimination. Round 1 features 40 novels facing off in 20 matchups, and for each subsequent round those numbers will halve until we reach the top 5. Voting elimination rounds will begin each Saturday for the next three weeks, and the winner will be announced on September 29--just in time for The French Illusion 😉

Click the link above to get out there and vote, vote, vote!

It's been a hard couple weeks, y'all. Today, we honor the passing of yet another one of our heroes, Gloria Steinem. Squ...
09/04/2026

It's been a hard couple weeks, y'all.
Today, we honor the passing of yet another one of our heroes, Gloria Steinem. Square Books was fortunate to host a signing with Gloria on March 4, 1993, for her book Revolution From Within. Her portrait hangs above the top of the staircase prominently in the gallery of great authors who have visited us. It is an honor to be able to carry on the legacy of voices such as hers.

September is stacked with events and we're starting out strong! Join us next week for📖 Jim Abbott in conversation with M...
09/03/2026

September is stacked with events and we're starting out strong! Join us next week for

📖 Jim Abbott in conversation with Marshall Ramsey for Paper Man
Tuesday, September 8, 5:30pm at Off Square Books

📖 Henry Wise in conversation with William Boyle for Promised Land
Wednesday, September 9, 5:30pm at Off Square Books

📖 Thacker Mountain Radio Hour RETURNS! With Timothy B. Tyson & Mary D. Williams for Mahalia Jackson, Moving On Up A Little Higher
Thursday, September 10, 6:00pm at The Powerhouse

It's going to be a fun week, and we can't wait to see you there!

The release of the latest novel from John Grisham, The French Illusion, is right around the corner! Have you pre-ordered...
09/02/2026

The release of the latest novel from John Grisham, The French Illusion, is right around the corner! Have you pre-ordered your signed copy yet? Visit the link below to secure yours now. And don't forget--gift wrapping is free 😉

https://squarebooks.com/john-grisham-signed-copies

About The French Illusion:
After Paul and Chelsea Tanner’s fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would target them, and why? It turns out this is not the first crime of its kind. The search for clues soon stretches across borders, with the FBI, CIA, and French Intelligence trying to work together to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Struggling to find answers, a young lawyer is recruited to be the bait in an elaborate CIA operation.

Propulsive and surprising, The French Illusion is an unmistakable Grisham thrill ride—gripping and impossible to put down.

We've got a great roundup of soon-to-be-signed books this ! Read ahead of the events now with Paper Man by Jim Abbot (e...
09/01/2026

We've got a great roundup of soon-to-be-signed books this ! Read ahead of the events now with Paper Man by Jim Abbot (event Sept 8), Promised Land by Henry Wise (Sept 9), and Revelator by Ellie Black (Sept 14). Also on our shelves today are Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea by Emily Wilson and SIGNED copies of The Disappearers by Marlon James. Find these and MANY more new & signed books on our shelves today in store or online at SquareBooks.com.

We heard news today of the passing of Wendell Berry, the great Kentucky poet / novelist / essayist / philosopher – our T...
09/01/2026

We heard news today of the passing of Wendell Berry, the great Kentucky poet / novelist / essayist / philosopher – our Thoreau. Upstairs regulars at Square Books know that in the front upstairs area there are two writers whose books are specially displayed: Faulkner’s, of course, in a bookcase by a window overlooking the square, and Wendell’s, whose oeuvre is set upon a fireplace mantel centered by a Bill Beckwith sculpture of two dancing nudes beneath a lamp.

Our esteem for this writer is such that we once invited him to an early Oxford Conference for the Book, saying that he had fans in Oxford, including a notable one in the Chancellor of the University, Robert Khayat. Soon an envelope arrived, a notecard regretting because “I am not now accepting any invitations to speak.” Inside the card was a poem that begins “Dear Friend,” its message an all-purpose regret to essentially everything, and closing (poem excerpt photo included):

"...I hate travel by Interstate and travel by air.
I'm almost not going anywhere.
A bird who cannot fly and sing,
I'm almost not doing anything
That can't be done at home. To your health,
Friend! Try staying home yourself.

--Wendell Berry"

Years later I ran into his publisher, Jack Shoemaker. I had asked him to participate in the 1999 conference. He suggested that we also include Wendell, and I shared his earlier response to my invitation. A month or so later he called one day and suggested I try again. Thus, Wendell gave a reading and spoke on a panel here. We are grateful that we had the opportunity to host him, and for the treasury of splendid books he left–wisdom and beauty needed now more than ever.

--Richard Howorth

Dear friends, today's event with Susan B. Adams & Meridith Wulff has been postponed. We do not yet have the books, but w...
09/01/2026

Dear friends, today's event with Susan B. Adams & Meridith Wulff has been postponed. We do not yet have the books, but we will keep you updated when they arrive and we have a new date locked in. Thanks for your understanding, y'all, and we'll see you at the next one!

We have a ✨winner✨ for our giveaway! Congratulations Abby McGrath - you’ve won this Exhausted & Beautiful hat and I Lo...
08/31/2026

We have a ✨winner✨ for our giveaway! Congratulations Abby McGrath - you’ve won this Exhausted & Beautiful hat and I Lost My Mind at Yesteryear Ranch bumper sticker. Thanks for playing 🙂

"The night changed into something dark blue and whispery and quiet and what's the word I'm looking for... reverent maybe...
08/30/2026

"The night changed into something dark blue and whispery and quiet and what's the word I'm looking for... reverent maybe, and the moon raced through the clouds, chasing us. It made me think of melancholy, how beautiful that word sounds, and how it turns something I should hate into something that's sort of like magic."
--Marlon James from The Disappearers

✨OUT THIS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 ✨
Take home one of these beautiful broadsides with your purchase of the latest from Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James , The Disappearers.

Longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize, The Disappearers is a propulsive crime story that is also a deeply human account of connection and acceptance, both a thrilling page-turner and a finely etched portrait of q***r life.

Pre-order your copy today or visit us in store or online this Tuesday.



Address

160 Courthouse Square
Oxford, MS
38655

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 8pm
Tuesday 9am - 8pm
Wednesday 9am - 8pm
Thursday 9am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 8pm
Saturday 9am - 8pm
Sunday 9am - 6pm

Telephone

+16622362262

Website

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