Save the Date: Annual Bookstore Sale
Member Preview (Online Only): September 3, 2026
General Public (In-Store & Online): September 4-7, 2026
Storytime with Brent
September 5, 2026 - 11:00 am
Free drop-in event. No reservations required.
Event will be canceled in instances of rain or heat over 100Ā° f
Join us for Storytime August 1 and September 5, at 11:00 a.m. Bring a blanket and snacks, and come enjoy stories read by Gamble House docents under the big oak on the lawn at this free family friendly event.
Book Club: DUST JACKET JOURNEYS
Tuesday, September 8, 2026, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
The Lost Children ArchiveĀ by Valeria Luiselli
Join us for our book club, Dust Jacket Journeys, where we invite you to explore perspectives around architecture, art, identity, and place.
Dust Jacket Journeys is currently held on the second Tuesday of the month from 5:30-6:30pm.
Each gathering will offer an opportunity for exploring diverse perspectives, sharing discoveries, and the exchange of ideas which make for a meaningful reading experience. In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Gamble House opening to the public, the theme this quarter is Museum Musings. Together we will delve into the personal, cultural, and societal impacts of museums both big and small. We look forward to sharing a literary journey to new perspectives and new understandings one book at a time.
The Museum of Whales You Will Never See:
Iceland is home to only 330,000 people (roughly the population of Lexington, Kentucky) but more than 265 museums and public collections. They range from the intensely physical, like the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which collects the penises of every mammal known to exist in Iceland, to the vaporously metaphysical, like the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, which poses a particularly Icelandic problem: How to display what can't be seen?
In The Museum of Whales You Will Never See, A. Kendra Greene is our wise and whimsical guide through this cabinet of curiosities, showing us, in dreamlike anecdotes and more than thirty charming illustrations, how a seemingly random assortment of objects--a stuffed whooper swan, a rubber boot, a shard of obsidian, a chastity belt for rams--can map a people's past and future, their fears and obsessions. "The world is chockablock with untold wonders," she writes, "there for the taking, ready to be uncovered at any moment, if only we keep our eyes open."
Purchase The Museum of Whales You Will Never See at shop.gamblehouse.org and receive a 20% off coupon for the next featured book.
Looking for Something Else?
We're a specialized bookstore, which means we don't carry a lot of titles you might find in other stores.
But don't fret, you can still support us whether you're a lover of fiction or cookbooks or just about anything else!
Purchases made at ourĀ Gamble House BookshopĀ site also support our museum.
Shop from our "Staff Picks" lists or use the search bar at the top of the page to find your latest read.
The Gamble House Bookstore is a drop-off site for Pasadena For All, a local grassroots mutual aid and advocacy organization who come together every Saturday to distribute items to our unhoused neighbors.
Items currently in high demand:
Men's shoes, tents, tarps, sleeping bags, NEW socks, NEW underwear, Men's clothing sizes L, XL, XXL & up, NEW toiletries, Backpacks, First aid supplies
Please refrain from donating stained or torn clothing. Please launder items prior to donation.
