Chaucer's Bookstore

Chaucer's Bookstore A Santa Barbara mainstay for booklovers since 1974. https://chaucersbooks.com/
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We love when authors stop into the store! Melissa Pace ( Melissa Pace 📚 Sci-Fi Thriller Author ) came in and signed copi...
09/21/2026

We love when authors stop into the store! Melissa Pace ( Melissa Pace 📚 Sci-Fi Thriller Author ) came in and signed copies of her book The Once and Future Me. You can find them in our Mystery, Thriller + Suspense paperback shelves.

School book fairs are baaaaack! These book fairs are the perfect time to come get that book you've been wanting. Make yo...
09/20/2026

School book fairs are baaaaack! These book fairs are the perfect time to come get that book you've been wanting. Make yourself AND the schools happy! 😁📚

During the book fairs 25% of all sales is donated to the hosting school.

Tuesday, 9/22, 5-7pm: Kellogg Elementary School

Sunday, 10/4, 2-4pm: Starr King Parent-Child Workshop

Wednesday, 10/7, 5-7pm: Riviera Ridge School

Thursday, 10/15, 5-7pm: Peabody Charter School

Tuesday, 10/20, 5-7pm: Mountain View Elementary

Are you planning for 2027 already? Getting ready for gifting? We have the calendars for you! This is only a portion of t...
09/18/2026

Are you planning for 2027 already? Getting ready for gifting? We have the calendars for you! This is only a portion of the wall and daily calendars we have, as well as all the planners. 😁🗓️

Update: Whoa. And now we're sold out.We only have about 50 of our limited edition 2026 stickers left! If you've been thi...
09/18/2026

Update: Whoa. And now we're sold out.

We only have about 50 of our limited edition 2026 stickers left! If you've been thinking about it or are just now seeing the sticker, stop by soon. Based on past sales, we may be out by the end of the month. And then they're gone...

Thank you to the packed house that joined us last night to celebrate local author Ellen O’Connell Whittet ( Ellen O'Conn...
09/16/2026

Thank you to the packed house that joined us last night to celebrate local author Ellen O’Connell Whittet ( Ellen O'Connell Whittet ) and her new novel A Book of Hours! Introspective, celebratory, and all the feels. If you missed last night's event, we do have signed copies on hand at the store. 🌸📖

A Book of Hours is a celebration of the sacredness of women, and inspired by Whittet’s own experience with childbirth. This book confronts the erasure of women’s stories, historically and presently, through the lens of medieval mysticism and contemporary motherhood.

As a child, a girl sees visions of saints. Saint Nicholas in elementary school. Saint Catherine of Siena during her confirmation. This secret, combined with her Catholic upbringing, breeds a fascination with female saints, who only achieved their holiness after enduring extreme suffering. Her obsession intensifies when she discovers “Le Roman du Mont Saint-Michel,” a medieval French poem about a pregnant pilgrim saved by Saint Michael while miraculously giving birth in stormy seas.

The obsession fades as she steps into her marriage. But as she grapples with a years-long stretch of infertility, the woman finds herself once again grasping at the tale of “Le Roman du Mont Saint-Michel”—searching for an explanation for her miscarriages and unsuccessful IVF treatments. At what point does holy suffering end?

Ellen O’Connell Whittet teaches in the Writing Program and College of Creative Studies ( UCSB CCS ) at UC Santa Barbara. Her memoir, What You Become in Flight was named a most-anticipated book by Refinery 29 and Chicago Review. She has an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.

Join us for a talk and signing with author Steve Hawk and filmmaker Chris Malloy for Hawk’s new book Nearshore.Steve Haw...
09/14/2026

Join us for a talk and signing with author Steve Hawk and filmmaker Chris Malloy for Hawk’s new book Nearshore.

Steve Hawk is the former editor of Surfer, Sierra, and Stanford Business magazines, and of surfline.com. His first book, Waves, explores the science and aesthetics of ocean waves. He is currently co-writing a book with his brother, Tony Hawk, about the history and culture of skateboarding. He lives near Half Moon Bay, California, where he spends as much time as possible frolicking in the ocean. Nearshore is his first novel.

Daybreak. West Virginia. A “small” nuclear bomb detonates beside an Appalachian highway. The weapon’s explosive yield is meager, the death count blessedly low. And yet: It is history’s first act of nuclear terrorism, and it threatens to tilt the world beyond reckoning. When a second device is detonated, an unlikely team—a surfer, an orphan, and a math whiz—must persuade investigators that the bombmakers are not only homegrown but also hiding in plain sight.

An immersive and disturbingly plausible debut, Steve Hawk’s debut novel, Nearshore, moves with the speed of a barreling wave, exploring deeper collisions: isolation versus community and family, Silicon Valley versus humanity, words versus action, land versus sea.

Can you name the book based on their sprayed edge design?? Some are new releases. Some are special collected editions. S...
09/13/2026

Can you name the book based on their sprayed edge design?? Some are new releases. Some are special collected editions. Some are anniversary editions.

Join us for a talk and signing with author David K. Israel ( David K. Israel ) around his new book The Last Mozart. Thur...
09/12/2026

Join us for a talk and signing with author David K. Israel ( David K. Israel ) around his new book The Last Mozart. Thur 9/24 at 6:00pm.

Israel has composed extensively for dance, receiving commissions from Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and New York City Ballet, among others. His debut novel in 2005, Behind Everyman, was praised by People as “loads of mensch-y charm…leavened with heart and humor.”

In this book, Noah Wideman is an overqualified music student trying to graduate with a degree no one asked for. It’s 1987. He’s scraping by on odd jobs and the kind of hope only a twenty-one-year-old with a library card can muster. One of those jobs is at Allegro FM, the local classical station, where he stumbles into an unlikely friendship with Bertram Bobker: honey-voiced, immaculately dressed, and somewhere north of eighty.

Soon after Noah is unceremoniously fired, Noah is spending afternoons with Bertram’s closest friends: aging gentlemen who sip Poire Williams, collect dusty manuscripts, and speak of dead composers as if they might still RSVP to dinner.

Enter Eos: a fellow student, brilliant and intimidating, with a silence that unnerves professors. Together, they launch a wild plan, part heist, part heartfelt gamble on the power of music, friendship, and second chances. Because who’s to say one more piece by Mozart can’t still upend a few lives, mend a few hearts, and maybe even cover first and last month’s rent?

We had a thankful, insightful, and laughter-filled evening last night with author Antwone Fisher for his latest book, Re...
09/10/2026

We had a thankful, insightful, and laughter-filled evening last night with author Antwone Fisher for his latest book, Reflections Beneath the Buckeye Trees: Notes from a Life. Thanks to all the folks that came out to listen and who also made it a successful fundraiser for SBCC Umoja Community !

In the book, Fisher ( ) shares a collection of personal stories and reflections drawn from a life marked by adversity, resilience, discovery, and gratitude. Join us in conversation with Fisher on Wednesday, September 9 at 6pm.

Traveling from the streets of Cleveland to the decks of Navy ships, from family struggles to professional success, Fisher explores the people, places, and moments that helped shape the man he became.

Written with honesty, warmth, and quiet wisdom, these reflections examine family, friendship, identity, forgiveness, service, and the search for belonging. Rather than following a strict timeline, the book invites readers to pause and consider the lessons hidden within ordinary moments and extraordinary experiences alike.

Antwone Fisher is the New York Times bestselling author of Finding Fish and the screenwriter of the acclaimed film Antwone Fisher, directed by Denzel Washington.
A U.S. Navy veteran, educator, and speaker, he has spent decades encouraging young people through storytelling and service.

Thank you Barb. Chaucer's Books wouldn't be what it is today without you. Retiring after 31 years.Thanks to all the folk...
09/09/2026

Thank you Barb. Chaucer's Books wouldn't be what it is today without you. Retiring after 31 years.

Thanks to all the folks that stopped in, customers, previous staff, friends.

Every person in the first two pics is someone Barb hired. We wouldn't be here without her. Fact.

Address

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

Website

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