Book recommendations from feminist bookstore Wolfe & Kron Books in New Jersey
Independent bookstores are the heartbeats of their communities. They provide culture and community, generate local jobs and sales tax revenue, promote literacy and education, champion and center diverse and new authors, connect readers to books in a personal and authentic way, and actively support the right to read and access to books in their communities.
Each week we profile an independent bookstore, sharing what makes each one special and getting their expert and unique book recommendations.
This week we have Wolfe & Kron Books in Asbury Park, New Jersey!
What’s your store’s story?
Wolfe & Kron Books is a queer-woman owned feminist bookstore specializing in LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC stories. Founded in 2023 as a hidden used bookstore inside a flea market, Wolfe & Kron Books now has its home next to Georgie's — the hub of LGBTQIA+ community on the Jersey Shore since 1999.
With a tin ceiling and original 100 year old hardwood floors, Wolfe & Kron Books is a space to discover titles often lost in the fervor of new releases. Combining an inventory of used and new books means no title is unreachable due to being out of print, and books are made more unattainable with a breadth of price points.
What makes your independent bookstore unique?
We have embraced the idea that an indie bookstore, especially one focused on LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC authors, serves the same space as the local bar — we are not booksellers but booktenders.
In our first year, we launched the Asynchronous Book Club, a Books I've Read (BIR) book club focused on shared reading journeys. One person's BIR becomes another's TBR (To Be Read) with books flying from reader to reader, not as assigned reading, but through excitement and desire to share the experience of a new story.
Removing the pressure of required reading has made the Asynchronous Book Club more accessible to those in the neurodivergent community, while ensuring a point of entry for readers of all levels.
Why is shopping at local, independent bookstores important?
We need access to stories — to diverse stories — and we need people to talk to about those stories we've read. Indie bookstores get to have personality, they get to specialize, to be quirky and strange and specific, and the more of them there are, the more quirky and specific they can be.
Having that personality turned into a place, a space to touch books, to discover stories, is critical to communities being able to see themselves more clearly. Between their goal of being "all of the things," and the constant churn of employees, a big-box store, no matter how hard it tries to reflect its community, will always be a watered down reflection of that vibrant reality, sanitized as they are through the wringer that is corporate policy.
To shop at a local indie bookstore is to engage fully, deeply, and completely with a community.
What are some of your store's events, programs, or partnerships coming up this quarter that you would like to share?
We're continuing our Asynchronous Book Club, meeting weekly around Monmouth County, New Jersey at breweries, distilleries, meaderies, and at our storefront.
We’re also launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the design, build, and install of new custom shelving for the store that will make use of our 12 foot ceilings! That fundraiser will also be the kickoff of a series of author and artist interviews, featuring authors who will be part of our 2025 Author Event Series featuring LGBTQIA+ authors, and artists who will be creating exclusive designs for Wolfe & Kron Books to license.
Check out these books recommended by Wolfe & Kron:
- "Gingerbread" by Helen Oyeyemi
- "The Snow Queen" by Joan D Vinge
- "A Door Into Ocean" by Joan Slonczewski
- "The Three Lives of Cate Kay" by Kate Fagan
- "Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel
- "An Absolutely Remarkable Thing" by Hank Green