Curious Iguana

New this year! Tomorrow is Wacky Waldo Wednesday in Downtown Frederick. If you show up to any of these participating businesses during their business hours on July 3 with your Find Waldo passport, you’ll get some special deals!

-The Kitchenette: Free cookie cutter with purchase
-Delaplaine Arts Center: 10% off their youth “color-your-own” t-shirt
-Gravel and Grind: Mystery
-Vintage MC: 10% off plus a free gift
-North Market Pop Shop: 10% off an ice cream treat
-Surelocked In Escape Games: 10% off escape room bookings for 7/3
-Magpie Fibers: 10% off coupon
-The Trail House: 20% off one full price item
-Retro Metro: 10% off card
-National Museum of Civil War Medicine: 10% off gift shop
-Embark Skate Shop: 10% off
-I Made This! Pottery Studio: 10% off painted pottery
-BK Juices: 10% off their cleanses 2,3,5, or 7 day
-Frederick Book Arts Center: 10% off coupon towards an in-store purchase or class signup.

It’s that time of the year! Find Waldo Local in Downtown Frederick begins today! You can pick up your passports at Curious Iguana, Dancing Bear Toys and Games, Frederick Visitor Center, or C. Burr Artz Library!

RULES:
1. Visit each of the participating businesses in the month of July. When you find Waldo at each store, collect a store stamp or signature.
2. Find Waldo AND his Gold Medal at Curious Iguana to collect their stamp.
3. When you’ve collected at least 20 different stamps/signatures, take your passport to Curious Iguana to claim a Waldo sticker (while supplies last), a coupon for $1 off (while supplies last) and be entered into a drawing for a deluxe Waldo prize pack. If you found 20 Waldos AND all bonus Waldos, you’ll be entered to win a Treasure Prize Pack. The winner will be contacted by email and does not need to be present at the We Found Waldo Celebration to win.
4. Passports must be turned in to Curious Iguana by Saturday, July 27, at 8 pm and participants must be in attendance at the We Found Waldo Celebration on Sunday, July 28 to be eligible to win prizes. Prizes are reserved for kids 12 and under. The search ends with the We Found Waldo Celebration at C. Burr Artz Library on July 28 at 2 pm!

Staff pick Saturday! Sarah Grace (she/her) recommends Root Fractures by Diana Khoi Nguyen. Swing by between 10 am-8 pm and check it out!

About the book:
National Book Award finalist Diana Khoi Nguyen’s second poetry collection, a haunting of a family’s past upon its present, and a frank reckoning with how loss and displacement transform mothers and daughters across generations.

We had the best time last night! Beach reads, beer, and burgers were the perfect combo! Thank you to everyone who came by, author Erika Montgomery for signing copies of her novel (available at the Iguana), and to Attaboy Barrel House for partnering with us on another successful book fair. 🎉📖 Stay tuned for the next one!

Tonight! Join us from 5 pm-7:30 pm at Attaboy Barrel House (24 S Wisner St ste 110) for a beach reads book fair for adults! Featuring our favorite summer reads, fun drinks, tote bags, The Street Cow Ice Cream Bike, Boxcar Burgers, and more! This event is free and open to the public. ☀⛱🌊

Parking: Park on-site or park at the East All Saints Street Parking Garage (125 E All Saints St, Frederick, MD) and enjoy a 7-8 minute stroll to the venue.

Attaboy Barrel House

All we can say is WOW! We had Riley Sager fans from Frederick and beyond join us last night for a fantastic author talk and signing! Thank you to everyone who attended and celebrated the release of Middle of the Night. Extra signed copies are available in-store, and if you had a ticket but didn’t make it, your books are waiting for you at the Iguana with your name on it!

Special thanks to ERUCC for being our go-to event space for large author events!

Happy Tuesday! 📖✨ Swing by and check out new releases. Open till 8 pm. 🎉

It’s that time of the year! Find Waldo Local in Downtown Frederick begins on Monday, July 1! You can pick up your passports starting on Monday, July 1 at Curious Iguana, Dancing Bear Toys and Games, Frederick Visitor Center, and C. Burr Artz Library!

RULES:
1. Visit each of the participating businesses in the month of July. When you find Waldo at each store, collect a store stamp or signature.

2. Find Waldo AND his Gold Medal at Curious Iguana to collect their stamp.

3. When you’ve collected at least 20 different stamps/signatures, take your passport to Curious Iguana to claim a Waldo sticker (while supplies last), a coupon for $1 off (while supplies last) and be entered into a drawing for a deluxe Waldo prize pack. If you found 20 Waldos AND all bonus Waldos, you’ll be entered to win a Treasure Prize Pack. The winner will be contacted by email and does not need to be present at the We Found Waldo Celebration to win.

4. Passports must be turned in to Curious Iguana by Saturday, July 27, at 8 pm and participants must be in attendance at the We Found Waldo Celebration on Sunday, July 28 to be eligible to win prizes. Prizes are reserved for kids 12 and under. The search ends with the We Found Waldo Celebration at C. Burr Artz Library on July 28 at 2 pm!

Find more info here: https://curiousiguana.com/event/find-waldo-local-3/

Happy Pride!! 🌈 Swing by and browse some books to cool off! Open till 8 pm.

We're teaming up with Getaway for a free, fun-filled, summer reading challenge that's just for us grown-ups.

Log your reading from July 1 to July 28 for a chance to win prizes. The more days you read, the more chances you have to win!

Sign up: https://bookshoporg.beanstack.org

Only two more sleeps until Frederick Pride! 🌈

Celebrate and honor Juneteenth with books! View our extensive lists on Bookshop.org here: https://bookshop.org/lists/juneteenth-curious-iguana?
and Libro.fm here: https://www.libro.fm/playlists/7248?bookstore=curiousiguana

Books featured:

📖 A Kids Book About Juneteenth by Garrison Hayes�

📖 Juneteenth Is by Natasha Tripplett, Daniel J. O'Brien (Illustrated by)

📖 Let's Celebrate Juneteenth by Mudpuppy, Tonya Abari, Tabitha Brown (Illustrated by)

📖 On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

Treat yourself to a brand new book! 😉📖💕 Open till 8 pm today.

Staff pick Saturday! 📖 Lauren (she/her) recommends two reads this week! All Friends Are Necessary by Tomas Moniz and The Coast Road by Alan Murrin. Swing by and browse until 8 pm today!

About the books:

All Friends Are Necessary: In this “tender and open-hearted novel," (Nina LaCour, author of Yerba Buena) Tomas Moniz—a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway and Lambda Literary awards—delivers a commanding new story about the power of friendship, community, and the families we create for ourselves.

The Coast Road: A poignant debut novel about the lives of women in a claustrophobic coast town and the search for independence in a society that seeks to limit it.

Another fantastic author event in the books! Thank you to all who joined us last night to celebrate the release of Alex Finlay’s latest thriller, If Something Happens to Me. Alex was joined in conversation by fellow thriller author Sarah Pekkanen! Signed copies are available in-store for those who could not attend. 📖🎉

Comment below a book you’re reading for Pride Month! 🌈🎉📖🏳️‍🌈

New books this week! 🎉 Including signed copies of Ali Hazelwood’s latest release!

June 12 is Downtown Frederick’s Night Market! When you’re Downtown, swing by the store and unmask 😉 a new book from 5 pm-9 pm! 📖 We’ll have 60 surprise books with clues on the front. 🎉

Staff pick Saturday! 📖 Elna recommends three books this week! The Guncle and The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley and Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine by Nicole Melleby for mid-grade readers!

About the books:
The Guncle: A deeply funny novel about a once-famous gay sitcom star whose unexpected family tragedy leaves him with his niece and nephew for the summer.

The Guncle Abroad: The much-anticipated sequel, in which Patrick O’Hara is called back to his guncle duties…at a big family wedding in Lake Como, Italy. Gracing the page with his signature blend of humor and heart, Steven Rowley delivers the long-awaited sequel to a beloved story, all about the complicated bonds of family, love, and what it takes to rediscover yourself, even at the ripe age of fifty.

Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine: In this powerful novel by an award-winning author, 12-year-old Winnie Nash is forced to live with her grandma for the summer and finds herself torn between her family’s secrets and the joy of celebrating Pride.

A mountain of new books has arrived! 📖💕 Open till 8 pm.

Shop Libro.fm's FIRST EVER, members-only, buy-one-get-one sale in celebration of their 10th anniversary! Get two audiobooks with one credit, all while helping our bookstore thrive.😍 Click the link to start shopping: https://libro.fm/bogo

In addition to Libro’s 10th anniversary sale, we’re giving away free audiobook credits! If you want to be entered for a chance to win one free audiobook credit:
1. Like this post
2. Follow us
3. Comment an audiobook you want to read on Libro.fm and tag three friends!


[ID: Graphic that reads: “Libro.fm hearts Bookstores. 10 years of audiobooks. Celebrate Libro.fm’s 10th anniversary by helping our bookstore thrive! When you start a new monthly membership in support of our bookstore with code SWITCH, you’ll get two bonus audiobooks at sign up.” An animated teal book is to the left, reading an audiobook.]

🌈Celebrate the start of Pride Month with a book! 🌈 Check out our in-store display filled with books for Pride! Be sure to also take a look at our Pride Month lists on Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for even more book recs!

Bookshop.org lists: https://bookshop.org/shop/curiousiguana
Libro.fm lists: https://www.libro.fm/curiousiguana

Open today from 10 am-9 pm for First Saturday!

Don't forget! Sunday is your last day to turn in your passport!

We are very excited to celebrate local author Matt Lee’s new memoir, The Backwards Hand, on June 6 at C. Burr Artz Library! Join us at 7 pm and listen to Matt discuss his new memoir, answer questions, and sign copies. 📖

This event is presented in partnership with FCPL and is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

About the book: The Backwards Hand interrogates what it means to be a cripple in a predominantly ableist society, deconstructing how perceptions of disability are—and are not—reflected in art and media. Told in lyric fragments, The Backwards Hand traces Matt Lee's experience living in the United States for more than thirty years with a rare congenital defect. Weaving in historical research and pop culture references, Lee dissects how the disabled body has been conflated with impurity, worthlessness, and evil.

About the author: Matt Lee is the author of a memoir, The Backwards Hand (Curbstone Books, 2024), and a novel, Crisis Actor (tragickal, 2020). His writing has been featured in Barrelhouse, X-R-A-Y, Bruiser, Always Crashing, and elsewhere. Lee is a founding editor of Ligeia Magazine. He has also written and produced numerous works for the stage. He lives in Maryland with his wife and son.

Frederick County Public Libraries

New books are here! Including one we are super excited about, If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay! Join us at 7 pm at C. Burr Artz Library on June 13 for our event with Alex Finlay in conversation with fellow thriller author, Sarah Pekkanen! Free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event, but if you want a head start, you can pick up your copy today and start reading!  📖