Category Archives: Bookstores

Birmingham, Bookstores

Alabama Bookstores Report

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Publishers Weekly LogoAlabama ranked 4th in the nation when looking at “number of bookstores per capita” in 2012 according to Publishers Weekly. The report is a little strange to look at, since it’s a function of a state’s population and the number of book stores a state has. So Wyoming, with only 35 IN THE ENTIRE STATE, ranks 2nd. Still it’s interesting to see a breakdown of the number of independent bookstores, chain bookstores and big-box bookstores for Alabama.

 

 

The official numbers for Alabama Bookstores came in with

2012 Estimated Population: 4,822,023
2012 Independent Bookstores: 122
2012 Chain Bookstores: 47
2012 Total Bookstores: 169
2012 Big-box Stores: 117
2012 Total Stores: 286
2012 Per Capita: 1 per 16,860
2012 Per Capita Rank: 4

Which I thought was pretty interesting. New York has 505 stores! But with a population over 19.5 million people, they ranked 49th on the list. You can check out all the 2012 findings over on the Publishers Weekly site.

Birmingham, Bookstores, On the Web

Alabama Booksmith Blogs

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I just ran across the Alabama Booksmith’s blog  and wanted to share with all the other bookish folks in Birmingham. Here the link to their blog. Looks like it’s been weekly since April 2013 and is being staffed by someone calling themselves Paige Turner. So far it’s been an even mix of honest book reviews, recommendations and pitches for Alabama Booksmith events/programs.

I can’t seem to find an RSS feed though. Would you share if you happen to figure out if there is a way to subscribe? Thanks!

Alabama Booksmith blog

Birmingham, Bookstores, Events, Free Books

Church Street Books Scavenger Hunt

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The bookish barristas at Church Street Coffee & Books have organized something cool next week. They call it ‘Bookstravaganza’ and it kicks off on April 22nd, with a books-themed scavenger hunt, ending April 26th. Starting on the 22nd,  the indie bookstore will start posting cryptic clues for their Facebook and Twitter followers. Once decoded, the answer will points to another local Birmingham business where a free book is waiting on the first successful code cracker. So that’s four days of following for freebies. Sounds fun!

They are also running a neat promo inside the store, which I’m anxious to go by and try out. Basically, they’re inviting you to scan the books, on the shelves, with your smartphone to get the super-secret discount (10%-50% off)  price. Some of the books will also score you a free cookie or coffee.

Other events planned during the week that is Bookstravaganza 2013:

April 22nd at 7p.m. – Q&A with murder-mystery author Jenny Milchman about her book Cover of Snow

April 23rd (all day) – World Book Night giveaways, with hundreds of books to be given away free to help encourage reading. Many of which volunteers will hide in places around the city. This is a global event and very cool that they are participating.

So grab your decoder ring, smartphone barcode reader and follow Church Street Coffee & Books on Facebook and Twitter to play along next week. Bookstravaganza sounds like four days of fun promoting local businesses, reading and books, books, books!