Mission
Established in 1975, Appletree Books is an independent bookstore located in the Cedar Fairmount neighborhood of Cleveland Heights (just up the hill from Cleveland’s University Circle), Appletree Books offers an eclectic, well-curated selection of new book titles in multiple genres for both children and adults.
We seek to offer books that transport readers to other places, both visually and verbally and aim to introduce beautifully illustrated and interesting books to our customers.
Discover greeting cards, journals, letterpress cards, and notecards in addition to puzzles, bookends, candles, and small gift items in an intimate, warm space in the historic Heights Center building.


PARTNERS
We are proud to actively collaborate and support our community, and call these institutions and organizations our partners.
ARTS & CULTURE
- Cleveland Hiking Club
- Family Connections
- GardenWalk Cleveland Heights
- Habitat for Humanity
- Magnolia Clubhouse
- Reach Out and Read
- Reaching Heights Spelling Bee
- Roberto Ocasio Latin Jazz Camp and Foundation
- RoxArts
- Seeds of Literacy
- The Morgan Conservatory
- The Music Settlement
- The Musical Theatre Project
SCHOOLS
PRODUCT LINES
We are pleased to carry the following from local and national gift and paper goods designers.
NATIONAL
- Amy Heitman: wrapping paper and greeting cards
- Campo de’ Fiori: terrariums, bronze candlesticks, and small bronze animals
- Cavallini & Company: Everyday cards, linens, boxed notecards, puzzles
- eeBoo: Children’s educational games and activities
- Felix Doolittle: Everyday cards, boxed notecards, and pocket mirrors
- Fred Popper: greeting cards and holiday cards
- Gingiber: Everyday cards, tea towels
- Hester & Cook: Everyday cards, boxed notecards, tea towels
- Ilee paper goods: Letterpress everyday cards, boxed notecards, and calendars
- june & december: pencils, flower presses, and notepads
- Notes & Queries: Everyday cards
- Pomegranate: Everyday cards, boxed notecards, calendars, and books
- Sister Golden: greeting cards
- Stick Candles: handmade beeswax candles from sticks and twigs
- Smudge Ink: Everyday cards, boxed notecards, and wrapping paper
- Zen Art Puzzles
LOCAL
- Dude About Town: Boxed photo cards
- Free Period Press: art prints and pocket size guidebooks
- Hazelmade: Everyday cards, boxed note cards, and tea towels
- JC Marbeling: marbelized journals and notecards
- Mavec Collections: colorful accents for desk and home
- Ornament Letterpress: Boxed notecards
- Piccolino Designs: Boxed notecards
- Shopgirl Books & More: vintage book and gameboard journals
Publishers
What sets Appletree Books apart is that we maintain accounts with publishers and purchase from them directly, as opposed to ordering primarily from Ingram, the nation’s largest book wholesaler. In addition, Appletree Books sells only new books, not previously owned titles.
PUBLISHERS
- Abrams
- Arcadia (and History Press)
- Capstone
- Chicago Distribution
- Chronicle Books
- Cleveland Landmarks Press
- Gray & Company
- Hachette
- Harper Collins
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- IPS (Ingram Publishing Services)
- PenguinRandomHouse
- PGW
- Oxford University Press
- Princeton University Press
- Scholastic
- Simon & Schuster
- Sourcebooks
- Sterling
- TriLiteral – Yale University Press, Harvard and Princeton
- Workman
- W.W. Norton
- Yale University Press
Community
Book Groups
Our Books In A Bar book group is currently on vacation! We are currently evaluating ideas for our next selection of books, location options, and times for our group to meet. Look for more information on our plans in January! If you have any ideas for a book to read and discuss, can you call us at 216-791-2665, or send an email to info@appletree-books.com with your ideas!


Community
Educators
We offer a 20% educator discount on books and other materials purchased in the store that are used in your classes. Just present your valid educator’s ID at the time of purchase!
Customer Reviews
Staff

Lynn Quintrell
Lynn purchased Appletree Books in 2014 and has been on the entrepreneurial journey ever since. Raised in New Jersey, she married a Cleveland native and has enjoyed living in Cleveland for over 30 years. She has also managed to rope her spouse into providing accounting and technology support for the store. Lynn enjoys historical fiction, contemporary fiction and beautiful interior design and garden books.

Michael Wells
Michael has loved books since birth and has been with Appletree Books for over five years. His friends bemoan his library, but he loves every page in it. He is particularly drawn to classics (loosely defined), history and mystery. Note that in his library he has both Faulkner and History and Faulkner and Mystery, but his favorite book is Stoner by John Williams.

Holly Scott
Born and raised in the Cleveland area, Holly has spent the majority of her working life involved in education. She and her husband, also a retired teacher, have three children who with their families love to explore the outdoors, spend time in Maine and read. With Appletree Books for about a year, Holly enjoys multiple genres and authors from Kevin Henkes and Jan Brett to Paulette Jiles and Richard Russo

Lorie Novak
A happy grandmother from Garfield Heights, Lorie has been with Appletree Books for over four years. She brings extensive retail and customer service experience, and she enjoys reading books from multiple genres, be they mystery, fantasy, historical fiction or translated, international fiction.

Ed Alix
Ed has been with Appletree Books for over ten years; he is our delivery person “extraordinaire” as well as our off-site event sales manager. With many professional years spent in the East Cleveland school district, Ed harkens from Connecticut originally but considers Cleveland home after 40 plus years.

Kristen Fistek
A mother of three, Kristen is an avid reader of multiple genres. Although her professional background is in counseling, Kristen was an English major in college, and by working at Appletree Books, she is able to share her literature knowledge and enthusiasm with other readers.

Tessa Hartman
Tessa graduated from Cleveland State University where she studied film production and scrptwriting. For as long as she’s loved movies, she has also loved books. When it comes to genre, Tessa isn’t picky and can always get lost in a good story.
Careers
Apply
We are always on the lookout for talented individuals to join our team. Please complete the form below to submit your cover letter and resume.