“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” ~Madeleine L’Engle
IN NOVEMBER 2024, Rebel Heart Books held our first Local Author Book Fair at the Jacksonville Public Library. It’s safe to say that […]
SAVE THE DATE!—Rebel Heart Book’s Local Author Book Fair is Saturday, April 18, 1-3pm, at Jacksonville Public Library
Due to the overwhelming response from the community and burgeoning group of talented local authors, Rebel Heart Books is hosting a second Local Author Book Fair this Spring!
Come join us on Saturday, April 18, […]
REBEL HEART BOOKS is proud to present its 2nd-Annual Local Author Book Fair on Saturday, November 8, 1-3 pm, at the Jacksonville Library Naversen Room. Back by popular demand, this event is the perfect opportunity to meet 20+ of our best local authors in one convenient place! Writers like Octavio […]
REBEL HEART BOOKS PRESENTS the 1st-Annual Local Author Book Fair, Saturday, November 16, 1-3pm, at Jacksonville Library Naversen Room.
The perfect opportunity to meet over twenty of the best local authors in one convenient place! Writers like Megan Crane, Stephanie Cotta, Frank DeLuca, Peggy Dover, Leslie Ghiglieri, Ken Gregg, Gates McKibbin, Sandra […]
WHEN MY SON RADEK was 2 ½ years old, he would refuse to get dressed to take his older brothers to school. Everyone in the Sacred Heart halls knew his daily uniform—ridiculously big Spider man gloves, pajamas, a wooden sword, and a plastic silver knight helmet […]
I’ll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. ~ Nina Simone
Since I opened Rebel Heart Books six years ago, I have occasionally been subject to a certain kind of inquiry. Some people come into the bookstore and peruse the shelves before asking, “Do you have a […]
Author Brenda Novak is on the road in her “Bookstream”—an Airstream Traveling Bookstore & Mini Coffee Shop—for a national book tour to promote the publication of her 75th book, The Seaside Library. On Sunday May 28, at 1pm, Rebel Heart Books will be hosting her stop in Jacksonville, at Bigham Knoll where she […]
“I want a book that acknowledges that life goes on but death goes on, too, that a person who is dead is a long, long story.”
—Elizabeth McCracken, An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination
People often asked me, “What books do you personally recommend?” My response always begins the same way: “I don’t recommend what […]
A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest, Granny Weatherwax had once told her, because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her.” —Terry Pratchett, Wintersmith
This past August, when my 15-year-old daughter […]
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that in the book industry, romance is the genre of hope. I’m often asked what makes a romance and I can say one thing for sure, it absolutely has to have what’s known as an HEA, a Happily Ever After. Peril, conflict, miscommunication, and pain can all be tolerated if […]
It’s September and although the world is different and the context is different, that still means back to school. In honor of the eternal pursuit of education—of toiling in order to conquer the mazes of reading, writing, and arithmetic—Rebel Heart Books is hosting a writing contest.
All ages are welcome to submit their 500 words (or less) […]
“Say Nothing,” by Patrick Radden Keefe, tells the 30-plus year history of the Troubles of Northern Ireland through the interwoven true stories of people whose lives were shaped by the conflict, beginning with Jean McConville, a 38-year-old, widowed, mother of 10 who was disappeared by a gang of masked men and women in Belfast in […]
The Review consulted with the best sources in town for some holiday reading recommendations for you book lovers out there and for you book gift givers alike! Here’s a few suggestions from Eileen and Marcella at Rebel Heart Books in downtown J’ville!
Retablos, Octavio Solis—This is a straight-to-the-heart-of-the-matter memoir told as a collection of vignettes, named […]
The holidays are right around the corner and Rebel Heart Books is celebrating with their second-annual Shop Small Business Party on Saturday, November 30. This year Eileen and Marcella are focusing on the little things, the things that matter the most, with the theme: Just One Book. Just one book can make a world of […]
When is a bookstore more than a bookstore? When a longstanding goal, a passion for literature, and the perfect curating team combine forces. Owner, Eileen Bobek had dreamed of opening a bookstore in Jacksonville. Three years ago, with community support, an ideal storefront and the perfect sales assistant in Marcella Bell, the dream came alive. Recently I visited […]
Readers will find that the shelves in Rebel Heart Books, the newest retail establishment in Jacksonville (located in the old blacksmith shop building at 157 West California), don’t display category labels. Thus, they may not immediately divine where the poetry volumes await, or whether there’s a sports book section (there is). The […]
In the first week of July, a new bookstore called, “Rebel Heart Books,” will open at 157 W. California Street in the historic 1859 Martin & Zigler Blacksmith Shop building. The Review caught up with co-owners Eileen M.K. Bobek and Natalya Miller to learn more about this exciting new venture. Bobek, a 15-year resident of […]