Indie Bookstore Day 2021!
Tomorrow, Saturday April 24th, is Indie Bookstore Day and aren’t we all glad that even though it won’t look like it has in years past, we still get to have some version of this day that celebrates Independent Bookstores and the people who love them? In fact, we get to have ten days. Instead of the mad dash, it will be more of a leisurely saunter, which is just about my speed.
To be honest, my first experience with Indie Bookstore Day was on accident. I was working for Starbucks in QFC, and had a few hours off between my morning shift and going back to help out with Frappuccino Happy Hour. Island Books was always my go-to place to hang out for an hour or two on Mercer Island. Imagine my surprise to walk in and find a prize wheel in action, a scavenger hunt to complete, and my first encounter with the wondrous thing that is Advanced Review Copies, i.e. ARCs, i.e. the things we now wrap up and give away for Blind Date With a Book. I thought the scavenger hunt would be a cinch after all my years (and years and years) of shopping at Island Books. It wasn’t. James put some very hard questions on there, and I discovered things I never noticed before about Island Books. Hints ended up being necessary. Form completed, I spun the prize wheel that Laurie was enthusiastically manning, winning a literary tea towel, plus an advance copy of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris. I went back to work to make a million Frappuccino samples a happy reader.
Since coming to work at Island Books as a bookseller, I’ve gotten to experience the full glory of Indie Bookstore Day from the other side of the counter, wearing my Island Books hoodie, stamping passports and ringing up piles of books. I love ringing up a big pile of books, I find it immensely satisfying. I’m the one that gets to give away ARCs now. I talk about my favorite books and welcome back the returning visitors, the ones we see once a year when they come in for the passport challenge. Because I always worked on Indie Bookstore Day, I’ve never done the full challenge myself. In theory, it sounds somewhat exhausting. But I can see how, with the right group of people, it would be fun, and give me a chance to visit bookstores in the area I’ve yet to experience. I’d hear about how early people would get up to make that first ferry to Bainbridge, coffee in hand, and how many bookstores they still had to go to complete their passports. For those who finished their passports at Island Books we would ring a very loud cowbell. Very loud. One year we made sashes for the champs with glittery letters. At the end of the day everyone was a little punchy and worn out, but happy to be with a group of people that love books and independent bookstores so much they would spend the entire day going from Poulsbo to Redmond to Mercer Island. And as much as an introvert as I am (indeed as many booksellers are) there’s a joyful energy that comes from being around that kind of bookish enthusiasm.
As I said at the top, this year will be different as so many things are different in the wake of 2020. We’ll all have on our masks and keep our distance and be happy to see people in smaller numbers. For the 10-10-10 challenge you have the option visit some bookstores virtually, instead of in person, and spread out your Indie Bookstore love over ten days instead of cramming it into one. You get the chance to support at least ten independent bookstores in the Puget Sound area with a purchase and with that purchase help each of us stay in your neighborhoods and communities to keep providing you with curated recommendations for amazing reads. Plus each bookstore will have Indie Bookstore Day exclusives available only at Independent Bookstores, for purchase starting on Independent Bookstore Day, and in limited quantities. Visit our Indie Bookstore Day page for more details, and the Seattle Independent Bookstore Day page for links to the printable passport and submission details.
Not sure what you want? Check out our staff recommendations, pull out your TBR list, or simply browse for that serendipitous moment when a cover, a title, or a whim catches your fancy. It could be your next great read. Buy all the forthcoming books for your book club. Ask someone to do a buddy read with you. Armchair travel with a novel set in foreign parts or get a guide book for the bucket list trip you can’t take yet. Take your cue from the specialty bookstores and buy some poetry at Open Books (it’s still poetry month after all), a graphic novel at Fantagraphics, or that cookbook you’ve been eyeing at Book Larder. Stock up your audiobook library on Libro.fm, making sure to support one of the bookstores on the passport and get a free audiobook for good measure. My pick would be the powerful YA thriller, Firekeeper’s Daughter - I loved it!
A bookstore is nothing without its community and this incredible reading community has already kept Island Books in business for over 47 years, including through the challenges of 2020 - we are all so profoundly grateful that you keep choosing us. Your continued support is why we are still here. Thank you. Book people are the best people.
Happy Independent Bookstore Day (plus the nine days after) and we’ll be seeing you!
