Tomorrow is Independent Bookstore Day! It’s always such a fun day to get out and celebrate the need for indie bookshops in our communities. The goal is simple – just get out, if you can. Here’s a handy map where you can type in your zip code to see if any of the 2000+ participating shops are near you. (If you don’t have an independent bookshop around you, do check out Bookshop.org. The site is very well done, supports indie shops and is helpful for those living in book deserts.)

This week I was asked, “Which shops are worth visiting?” This is a tough question to answer as I want to simply say “All of them?”. But that’s not as helpful as I want, so I am offering up a little strategic plan of attack for this Saturday (the rain will be off and on) with an itinerary that would put a few miles on your car, but allow you to visit some really fun shops around town. Maybe next year we can all get together and do a bookstore crawl or something!? (I’m a tad jealous of all these bookstore crawl events.) So just think about it, fellow Birminghamsters… 

Anyway, for all you folks in and around Birmingham, AL, here is what your Saturday could look like tomorrow:

• 8am – have breakfast & buy books at Cala Coffee Co while Enjoyer Books has their pop-up
• 10am – coffee refill and book refill at Church Street Books
• 11am – shop for books at Burdock Book Collective
• 12pm – swing by Jim Reed Books and see if anything old is new and then get lunch nearby
• 3pm – stop by for a signed book at The Alabama Booksmith
• 4:30pm – last book shopping stop at Thank You Books and eat dinner nearby

That would have you start out at The Summit, then down 280 to downtown, then Homewood and back to 5th Ave. Pretty easy driving. What changes would you make? There are a few more shops around town. Last year, for Independent Bookstore Day, we closed out the day in Trussville at Bookmarked Paperie so we could get the pimento cheese, chips, and beer at Ferus.

For those a little farther out, here is a list of all the bookshops that have officially said they are participating around Alabama:

1. Greene Books – Athens, AL
2. The Mossy Lantern – Atmore, AL
3. Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers – Auburn, AL
4. Burdock Book Collective – Birmingham, AL
5. Thank You Books – Birmingham, AL
6. Court Street Books – Florence, AL
7. Dorothy June Booksellers – Foley, AL
8. BOOKCLUB – Fort Payne, AL
9. The Bookwyrm – Huntsville, AL
10. Blushing Books – Huntsville, AL
11. The Snail on the Wall – Huntsville, AL
12. Blue Apple Bookstore and More – Madison, AL
13. All In Books – Madison, AL
14. Storylight LLC – Mobile, AL
15. The Haunted Book Shop – Mobile, AL
16. The NewSouth Bookstore – Montgomery, AL
17. Hyperbole Books – Montgomery, AL
18. The Second Story – Pratville, AL
19. Ernest & Hadley Booksellers – Tuscaloosa, AL
20. Sweet Home Books – Wetumpka, AL

There are some good ones on there.

Wherever you are, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and have a good book nearby.