Overview: Get Lit Books & Things, a Black, queer, and woman-owned bookstore, has relocated to a new space at Canyon Springs Plaza in Moreno Valley, California. The new location offers more accessibility for customers, including parking spaces directly at the storefront and a bathroom inside the shop. The store sells new and used books by LGBTQ, BIPOC, and women authors, as well as curated jewelry, candles, and tarot readings. The store also hosts community events and has partnered with organizations such as the Jack and Jill of America Foundation and Planned Parenthood.
Alyssah Hall
The Black, queer and woman owned bookstore, Get Lit Books & Things, held their grand reopening on March 14. Originally located on the second floor of the Moreno Valley Mall, Get Lit Books & Things remains in Moreno Valley but has found its new home at the Canyon Springs Plaza Suite E303.
Founded by married couple Danielle and Ruthie Myers-Porter in 2024, the shop provides new and used books by LGBTQ, BIPOC and women authors as well as offers curated jewelry, candles, tarot readings and also hosts community events. At the mall, there was a request by management for Get Lit Books & Things to be open for more days and longer hours. Danielle and Ruthie felt this change of schedule was a dealbreaker for them so they decided they needed to move forward in a new space.
Their new location has already presented more accessibility for their customers, such as easy drop off with parking spaces directly at the store front and a bathroom inside the shop. Their new space also welcomes new items from more local artists, cubby study/work spaces, and additional space where they they plan to hold gardening workshops and financial workshops in.
“We built such a beautiful community in the mall, and we still go back and visit those businesses, but the neighbors here are wonderful. So we have no love lost, but we love it here and it’s so bright,” Ruthie said.
“We’re so happy to still be a Moreno Valley bookstore…With all of the small businesses and local artists that we support, we’re just like, ‘Moreno Valley deserves and needs this beautiful thing,’ because Moreno Valley is such a beautiful space,” Ruthie shared.
Ruthie and Danielle left the Moreno Valley Mall in October 2025 and came to Canyon Springs Plaza in February 2026. This four month period of relocating and not having their store open during the holidays was financially tough for Ruthie and Danielle. The holidays are where they make most of their money and they had decided to create a GoFundMe for their shop during that transition. In their new building, the couple wanted to maintain a welcoming space for their customers where they could “whimsy against the rage” of the world.
“We always say the only thing we don’t allow here is hatred. So this is a space to come in and get refilled, so that when you go out into the world and face the fight of the world, you feel rejuvenated and loved…This is just a space to feel safe, exist and just be truly who you are,” Ruthie said.
The grand reopening brought in many locals including Jan Wildman, who said she found out about the event in the newspaper. Wildman said she wasn’t originally familiar with Get Lit Books & Things but lived nearby their new location and was delighted to know the community would acquire a good bookstore.
“It’s beautiful. It’s wonderful. So thoughtfully put together, and I look forward to coming back often,” Wildman commented.
Get Lit Books & Things loyal customers- turned- store volunteers and now store employees, Chloe Gordon and Alyssa Munoz expressed their love and preference for the new store location. Munoz shared that their store front is cozy and aesthetically pleasing. Gordon stated that the space gives them more freedom for future store plans and enjoys the proximity to more food places and the accessibility of exiting the store.
In April, Get Lit Books & Things will be partnering with the Jack and Jill of America Foundation for an event for the children. They will also be partnering with Planned Parenthood in April as a “needs drive” pickup space for items like diapers and menstrual supplies. They have worked with Planned Parenthood in the past holding events highlighting the importance of doulas and midwives and even hosting yoga in the store.
“When we were in the original space. We had made a lot of contacts with different organizations that do really fantastic work, like our PYA out of Riverside and Riverside pride, and then Jack and Jill, and just all these organizations that have come here and been able to do this,” Danielle said. “We hadn’t really had the space to be able to accommodate all the things that we wanted to do. Now it feels like the sky’s the limit.”