Independent Bookstore Day

 

Tomorrow is the last Saturday in April, which means book lovers across the country are gearing up for Independent Bookstore Day. Each year on this day, indie bookstores hold special events featuring authors, live music, children’s activities, readings, and more. Just as no two bookstores are the same, no two parties are either.

The holiday encourages people to visit and support their nearby bookstores. Locals know these stores bring more to a city than just books. They are community spaces, places where people can come together to gab about new releases or old classics, or get lost for hours just perusing the shelves. Even with the rise of e-readers and online bookselling, local bookstore don’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. In fact, more have cropped up in recent years.

Whether you live in Houston, Austin, El Paso, or elsewhere, independent bookstores across Texas are celebrating tomorrow. Here’s what some Texas bibliophiles are up to:

 

BookPeople, Austin

The largest independent bookstore in Texas is hosting readings and a book swap. At 10:30 a.m., Xelena González and Adriana M. Garcia will host a storytime with their award-winning children’s book All Around Us! Then, in the evening at 6 p.m., visitors can bring their favorite book from home and participate in a White Elephant style book swap while snacking and drinking wine and beer.

Also, Austinites can participate in the city’s second annual bookstore crawl. Participants visit three or more of Austin’s 15+ bookstores, complete a task at each one, and post about it on social media using #atxbookstorecrawl to be entered in a drawing to win the grand prize: books, gift cards, and more.

 

Brazos Bookstore, Houston

Houston’s longtime book hub is hosting events all day, including a book poster raffle, storytime, face painting, coffee and poetry, adult coloring, and more. View the schedule of events here.

 

Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston

Another longstanding Houston indie bookstore, Blue Willow is hosting events, including a storytime, book bag giveaway, and literary libations.

 

Interabang, Dallas

Dallas’ newest independent bookstore is participating in its first Indie Bookstore Day with a lineup of events. They’ll have a storytime, book recommendation session, and happy hour. And if you spend $50 or more at the store, you’ll get a free Interabang tote or mug.

 

Other Texas Independent Bookstores to Check Out

 

 

 

Event: GOD SAVE TEXAS Book Launch with Lawrence Wright!

Join us as we celebrate the official launch of GOD SAVE TEXAS, the highly anticipated new book from Pulitzer Prize-winning Texas writer Lawrence Wright!


What:
Lawrence Wright speaking about and signing God Save Texas

When: Tuesday, April 17 at 7pm. Doors at 6pm.

Where: Central Presbyterian Church, 200 E 8th St, Austin, TX 78701

Hosted by: Texas Book Festival and Austin Film Festival. BookPeople is the bookseller for this event.

Book Tickets: Free admission with the purchase of a copy of God Save Texas. Book Tickets will be available, as space allows, at the door.

Books will be received at the event. Seating is first come, first serve.

General admission tickets are also available. General admission tickets will be available online through Monday, April 16. As of Tuesday, April 17, they will be available at the door, as space allows.

All ticket purchases support Texas Book Festival and Austin Film Festival, your local cultural arts nonprofits committed to keeping Austin interesting.

Can’t attend the event? Signed copies of the book are available to pre-order from BookPeople. They ship worldwide!

 


The Texas Book Festival and the Austin Film Festival are proud to present Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright in celebration of the launch of his highly anticipated new book, God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State. Wright will appear in conversation with AFF Executive Director Barbara Morgan at Central Presbyterian Church.

Admission is free with the purchase of a copy of God Save Texas from TBF and AFF. General admission tickets are also available. A book signing will follow the talk. Additional copies of the book will be available for sale at the event, courtesy of BookPeople.

About God Save Texas

In the summer of 2017, The New Yorker ran “America’s Future is Texas,” an excerpt of God Save Texas that caught massive national attention. Here, now, is the full story, a profound portrait of our Lone Star State that explores the history, culture, and politics of Texas the way only a native—and a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and journalist—can.

Join us for a conversation with Wright that digs deep into the heart of Texas and all of its complicated, contradictory, controversial glory. Wright holds up our stereotypes for rigorous scrutiny, examining everything from our kingdom of oil to our technology exports; our blue cities to our red state; our economic growth to our income disparity; and much more. If what happens here is what happens in the nation, then what, exactly, is going on? And what’s to come?

About Lawrence Wright

Lawrence Wright is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of nine previous books of nonfiction, including In the New World, Remembering Satan, The Looming Tower, Going Clear, Thirteen Days in September, and The Terror Years, and one novel, God’s Favorite. His books have received many prizes and honors, including a Pulitzer Prize for The Looming Tower. He is also a playwright and screenwriter. He is a longtime resident of Austin.


Join us for this big conversation about Texas.
Free Admission With The Purchase of GOD SAVE TEXAS.

Thank you for supporting your local cultural arts nonprofits!

 

 

TBF + BookPeople Present: ANTHONY DOERR

Anthony Doerr Web Slider (1)

We’re pleased to announce we’ve teamed up with BookPeople to welcome Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, to Central Presbyterian Church in Austin to speak about and sign his highly acclaimed novel on Thursday, April 6th at 7:00PM.

Tickets are now available and include a paperback copy of ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE.
VIP tickets support the Festival and come with a set of limited edition TBF cards featuring the art of Jack Unruh!

 

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If you, like us, are among the thousands of readers who were stunned by Doerr’s beautiful, wrenching novel set during World War II, don’t miss this opportunity to hear him discuss this unforgettable story and meet him in person. Doerr will be signing books at Central Presbyterian Church after he talks. We hope you’ll choose to support the Texas Book Festival’s literacy programs by selecting a VIP ticket. Every dollar funds our mission to connect readers with authors and to strengthen libraries and literacy across Texas.

In addition to his phenomenally bestselling, award-winning recent novel, Doerr is also the author of two story collections Memory Wall and The Shell Collector, the novel About Grace, and the memoir Four Seasons in Rome. He has won four O. Henry Prizes, the Rome Prize, the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award, the National Magazine Award for fiction, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Story Prize.

Here’s a little preview of what we have to look forward to on April 6th: 

 

We hope you’ll join us and BookPeople for this very special event. Purchase your tickets now!