Story by Ella Apisakkul
Staff Writer
Photo by Philip Kwak
Staff Photographer
Outpost Books is a new bookstore in South Pasadena that has been open since late September of 2026. It is South Pasadena’s first new and used independent bookstore, open to readers of all ages through their book selections, decorations, and future events.
The bookstore is located at 1010 ½ Fair Oaks Avenue, and operates from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. It contains books from a wide range of genres from science fiction to romance, and has a kids’ section at the back of the store, called the Kids’ Corral.
The bookstore is founded and run by Nicole Novembrino, a lifelong reader who formerly worked with art books, making sales for publishers and galleries.
“When I thought about what would make me happy, it’s books,” she said, sharing that starting a bookstore felt like a natural step for her after her history with reading extensively as a child and working with books in adulthood.
Outpost Books has already begun hosting events and activities tailored for the community, both involving and aside from their books. Currently, Novembrino runs a book club every Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. as well as children’s storytimes, and she held an All Hallows’ Eve event on Friday, Oct. 30 with tarot card readings, crafts, and Halloween music.
Along with the events she has already begun, Novembrino is open to receiving feedback from the community on how Outpost Books can improve or add to its future events.
“I started doing storytime from day one, and I heard that a lot of people wanted to have bilingual storytime. They wanted it to be in Spanish. So this week, we’re doing it. I think a lot of feedback from the community, on what people want, is helpful,” Novembrino said.
In order to stock the store’s shelves before its opening, Novembrino sourced her used books from many different places. Through her many methods of collection, initially filling the shelves came relatively easy, but may become less so in the future.
“Before I opened up, I was sourcing them from lots of different places, like friends, people who were moving, retirement communities. I would go to library book sales, everything, from all over. Now that I can’t really go out and source them as easily, because I’m here all the time, it’s all donation-based,” Novembrino said. The new books that the store distributes are directly sourced from distributors or publishers.
Accompanying its name, the theme of the bookstore is that of a historic Western trading post. After having the idea to start a bookstore, the theme quickly came to her, inspired by her nostalgic childhood experiences going on road trips to visit her family.
“My mom grew up in Alberquerque, New Mexico … so, to me, it felt very familiar. I wanted it to feel like California as well, very regional for the community, so it all ties in,” Novembrino said.
To help the theme come to life, Novembrino made sure to select art pieces that captured the outpost theme she was aiming for.
“Before I opened, I went on a road trip to Arizona and grabbed a whole bunch of things there. [I also brought] things from New Mexico, just because they really captured the feel of the Southwest, like California, Arizona, New Mexico, [and] I wanted it to have that feel,” Novembrino said. These include framed paintings and drawings resting on top of bookshelves and bronze statues, which can be purchased.
Novembrino encourages her customers to donate toward the causes she supports through the installment of a donation box near where patrons purchase their items.
“I have a little donation box that I’m going to switch out every season, or every few months, for a different cause that I think is important. For me, right now, I really love the wild horses and burros, so this is to help because they’re being taken to get slaughtered, so [I want to] fund the sanctuaries and prevent that,” Novembrino said. Through these contributions to the community and good initial reception, Outpost Books aims to become a local fixture.
The bookstore has been very grateful to receive unexpected traffic from local residents within its first month of business from readers of all ages. Though they do not have any current plans for the store’s future, Novembrino said that they will take things one day at a time.
“I think community is such a big thing here, so everyone’s just come in and been so excited and thanked me for opening a bookstore. [They have] just been happy that they have a place to go, and that they have their own bookstore now,” Novembrino said.