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Origin Story
As with many stories, Rebel Heart Books began as a secret dream, an if only, a someday. Since setting foot in the historic town of Jacksonville, OR over 20 years ago, the setting was the only thing we knew for sure.
WHY REBEL HEART?
We believe that everyone has a bit of a rebel heart; the desire to be or do something different or unexpected. After artist, Daniel Killackey, designed the Rebel Heart archeress, her image drove everything, including our mantra: “be brave, be true, leave your mark”
Origin Story
As with many stories, Rebel Heart Books began as a secret dream, an if only, a someday. Since setting foot in the historic town of Jacksonville, OR over 20 years ago, the setting was the only thing we knew for sure.
WHY REBEL HEART?
We believe that everyone has a bit of a rebel heart; the desire to be or do something different or unexpected. After artist, Daniel Killackey, designed the Rebel Heart archeress, her image drove everything, including our mantra: “be brave, be true, leave your mark”
Meet Eileen
I’m Eileen, former Emergency Medicine doctor turned bookseller. When people ask me what the last great book I’ve read is, I say, “I don’t recommend what I read to 99.99% of people.” Since childhood, my reading has generally centered on non-fiction and specifically on grief and loss. I love to read and write personal essays. My humor tends toward the dark. As I’ve gotten older though, I have ventured into genres I would have previously claimed were not for me.
I tab my books with zeal. I mark sentences I love, insights that speak to me, words that make me curious and question. The books on my list are riddled with these tabs. I also write monthly newsletters delivered right to your email.
Visit Eileen’s Bookshop List
Get to know Eileen better by reading her beloved personal essays here.
Meet Eileen
I’m Eileen, former Emergency Medicine doctor turned bookseller. When people ask me what the last great book I’ve read is, I say, “I don’t recommend what I read to 99.99% of people.” Since childhood, my reading has generally centered on non-fiction and specifically on grief and loss. I love to read and write personal essays. My humor tends toward the dark. As I’ve gotten older though, I have ventured into genres I would have previously claimed were not for me.
I tab my books with zeal. I mark sentences I love, insights that speak to me, words that make me curious and question. The books on my list are riddled with these tabs. I also write monthly newsletters delivered right to your email.
Visit Eileen’s Bookshop List
Get to know Eileen better by reading her beloved personal essays here.
Meet the Booksellers
Dallas
Hey hi, this is your friendly neighborhood Dallas! I am one of the newest recruits to the wonderful little crew that keeps our favorite independent bookstore up and running! And man, what a lucky girl I am to be! The PNW has been a physical home to my adventurous little soul for all of my life, but in the wonderful words of George R.R. Martin "I have lived a thousand lives and I have loved a thousand loves. I've walked on distant worlds and seen the end of time. Because I read." If I’m not immersed in a story there’s usually one being written in my head or on my keyboard. Some call that maladaptive daydreaming. I call that, a girl doing what she’s got to, to get by lol. Truthfully though, I equally love anything that might offer me a new perspective or a tool to my metaphorical toolbox. Because how beautiful it is to never stop learning and growing into a better human. So whether it’s a helping word you seek or an escape from the mundane, your girls got you!
Dallas
Hey hi, this is your friendly neighborhood Dallas! I am one of the newest recruits to the wonderful little crew that keeps our favorite independent bookstore up and running! And man, what a lucky girl I am to be! The PNW has been a physical home to my adventurous little soul for all of my life, but in the wonderful words of George R.R. Martin "I have lived a thousand lives and I have loved a thousand loves. I've walked on distant worlds and seen the end of time. Because I read." If I’m not immersed in a story there’s usually one being written in my head or on my keyboard. Some call that maladaptive daydreaming. I call that, a girl doing what she’s got to, to get by lol. Truthfully though, I equally love anything that might offer me a new perspective or a tool to my metaphorical toolbox. Because how beautiful it is to never stop learning and growing into a better human. So whether it’s a helping word you seek or an escape from the mundane, your girls got you!
Marcella
I am a mixed Afro-Indigenous author, bookseller, and yogini (she/her) with an intensely beating fangirl heart, and because you take yourself with you wherever you go, you’ll see that person reflected in this list. Whether it’s decolonizing, falling in love, going on a hero’s journey, or laughing when you probably shouldn’t, I like my books to come with seasoning, grit, and a whole lotta heart. You’ve come to the right place if you do, too.
My Rebel Heart Origin Story
I was in my sixth year of bookselling when I came to Eileen and Rebel Heart. Much like Chihiro (Sen) from to the movie Spirited Away, I came with a certain amount of desperation to work at the store, and like all of the rebel-heart-led strays she encounters, Eileen brought me in, fed my spirit, and gave me a home where I could fully be and discover myself. That combination, along with some very fateful encounters at the store, turned out to be the exact recipe I needed to free the person I always was. It has been a wild ride of book buying, getting published, and being loved ever since. Rebel hearts can’t be broken.
Marcella
I am a mixed Afro-Indigenous author, bookseller, and yogini (she/her) with an intensely beating fangirl heart, and because you take yourself with you wherever you go, you’ll see that person reflected in this list. Whether it’s decolonizing, falling in love, going on a hero’s journey, or laughing when you probably shouldn’t, I like my books to come with seasoning, grit, and a whole lotta heart. You’ve come to the right place if you do, too.
My Rebel Heart Origin Story
Noelle
For a long time, I was a writer who didn’t enjoy reading, which is as blasphemous and lame as it sounds. But the truth was that I had never let myself read for pleasure. Instead I’d only choose books that were supposed to heal trauma, help me understand mental health struggles, and give me the tools I needed to be “better” as a woman, wife, mother, and human. Enter Rebel Heart Books—a bookstore I fell in love with for its aesthetic, intentionally curated selections, and the woman behind the counter with equally intentional conversation. After a few years of being a customer and a collaboration between Rebel Heart and my previous job, I had racked up hours of conversations with Eileen and simultaneously fell in love with reading for more than just growth, but for pleasure, for acceptance, for connection, and for the power of our collective stories.
Noelle
For a long time, I was a writer who didn’t enjoy reading, which is as blasphemous and lame as it sounds. But the truth was that I had never let myself read for pleasure. Instead I’d only choose books that were supposed to heal trauma, help me understand mental health struggles, and give me the tools I needed to be “better” as a woman, wife, mother, and human. Enter Rebel Heart Books—a bookstore I fell in love with for its aesthetic, intentionally curated selections, and the woman behind the counter with equally intentional conversation. After a few years of being a customer and a collaboration between Rebel Heart and my previous job, I had racked up hours of conversations with Eileen and simultaneously fell in love with reading for more than just growth, but for pleasure, for acceptance, for connection, and for the power of our collective stories.