Novelist Maura Cheeks opens Brooklyn’s newest bookstore and wine bar

Liz's Book Bar, a new Black-owned, woman-owned bookstore selling coffee, beer and wine, is now open in Carroll Gardens

It’s Saturday afternoon in Carroll Gardens and every seat in the newly-opened Liz’s Book Bar is taken.

At the bar, people sit reading books, both hardcover and on Kindle; at tables, duos and groups chatter about what to read next for their book clubs. Three women pose for a picture wearing shirts proclaiming themselves as “BOOKWORMS.”

And behind the bar, novelist and owner Maura Cheeks is pouring drinks.

It’s been a busy year for Cheeks. In February, she released her debut novel “Acts of Forgiveness,” which follows a Black family impacted by the Forgiveness Act, a fictional federal reparations program in an imagined Philadelphia. She also published an op-ed in the Times about real-life reparations, following her research for the Atlantic on the racial wealth gap between Black and white Americans. After that came the book tour, and now, the Book Bar.

Liz’s Book Bar is named after Cheeks’s late grandmother, Elizabeth Parker.

“We were always going to bookstores when I was younger,” Cheeks says. “She was always handing me a very thick book to read, and is part of the reason that I’m a writer as well. So it just felt like a great way to honor her legacy.”

The new bookstore-bar is partially inspired by Book Club Bar, which opened in the East Village in 2019. After quitting a job in marketing, Cheeks worked there for a year as research for her own place. She also drew inspiration from the Lit Bar in the Bronx, one of only a handful of other bookstore-bars in the city.

“I’ve always wanted to create a public space where people can connect with strangers and neighbors and just hang out,” Cheeks says. “A place that’s not home, that’s not work, where you feel comfortable just spending time, is really important.”

Now that Liz’s is open, Cheeks joins an elite cohort of authors with their own bookstores. There are only a smattering of them, and most are located outside of New York — the most famous author-owned stores, owned by Louise Erdrich and Ann Patchett, are in Minneapolis and Nashville, respectively — but Cheeks’s location is just a few blocks away from Books are Magic, owned by novelist Emma Straub.

“I feel like we’re very different because we’re going for different things,” says Cheeks, pointing out how Liz’s Book Bar aims for people to linger, not just shop.

Photo by Hannah Berman

‘Done and done!’
Here, the party is in the front, and the books are in the back. Customers are greeted first by an elegant, wide mahogany bar, where an espresso machine sits with pastries provided by Bien Cuit for sale; in front of it, there are tables where customers can drink, read and write.

It’s only once you pass the bar that you find the books, arrayed on shelves made from matching wood. Cheeks’s literature curation focuses on personal taste, rather than stocking the hottest book of the season.

“We’re not emphasizing new releases,” Cheeks says. “I would love for people to discover old books that they perhaps haven’t read before.”

It’s not the most kid-friendly bookstore — for obvious, drinky reasons — but there is a nook hidden below a staircase and painted with flowers where kids might play, and a couple shelves of picture books and young adult novels.

The opening has ushered in an eager crowd of readers. Nani Dels, who lives in Carroll Gardens, has been anticipating Liz’s arrival. On Saturday, she met friend Sofia Poonawala there for their weekly book club of two, drawn by the promise of coffee surrounded by bookshelves.

“I really like that they have a cafe because every time I go into a bookstore, my bank account can’t handle buying a book every single time, so this is nice because we’re going to have a coffee and we’re gonna have a sweet treat anyway,” Poonawala says.

Other customers came from farther afield, drawn by what they had seen about Liz’s online.

“I came across a post on Instagram and I was like, Black-owned, woman-owned bookstore? Done and done,” laughs Gravesend resident Alysha Hall, who came to Liz’s with her partner. “You know, we’re losing small businesses left and right, and it’s so nice to be able to support an establishment in this time that supports reading and learning, and is owned by someone that maybe the chips are kind of stacked against. So yeah, it was a no-brainer — we were coming, and we’re probably gonna be here a lot.”

Soon, Liz’s Book Bar will begin to host book talks and Paint and Sip evenings. There will also be book subscriptions available: $75 buys you one discounted hardcover book and a drink, once a month for three months.

Cheeks hopes these efforts will help Liz’s Book Bar become a true third space between home and work, enticing people to socialize and stay longer. Above all else, she wants her Book Bar to encourage creativity — like her grandmother Liz did for her.