A Weekend for Celebrating Books and Bookstores

It’s Independent Bookstore Day, and there are so many events for book lovers to get out, connect with each other, and connect to the authors and books they love.”

For independent bookstores, Christmas comes twice a year: once in December, of course, and the other the last weekend in April, when we celebrate Independent Bookstore Day.

On April 25th in the Book Shop, we’ll be celebrating this one-day, nationwide party with exclusive Indie Bookstore Day items for sale, which include tote bags, a paperback edition of “Black AF History” by Michael Harriot (which I loved for being eye-opening and entertaining), an indie bookstore edition of “Partypooper” by Jeff Kinney (20 books in, the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series is not skimping on quality), and special edition Blackwing pencils (these go quickly every year!).  We’ll also have our Wheel o’ Fun to spin for prizes and discounts.

April 25th also launches the third annual North of Boston Book Trail.  The Book Shop is one of 20 stores on the trail (others in the area include Susie’s Stories in Rockport, the Bookstore of Gloucester and Dogtown Books in Gloucester, Copper Dog Books in downtown Beverly, Paper & String Books in Hamilton, and Saltwater Bookstore in Marblehead).  Over the course of the weekend, participants try to visit as many bookstores as they can, collecting stamps along the way, in order to be entered to win over $5,000 in prizes.  The Book Shop will have a quantity of passports available that weekend — first come, first served! — or you can print one by visiting northofbostonbooktrail.com, where you can also see the full list of stores and start planning your route.  Each store will also have enamel logo pins for a special weekend price of $5.00.  Decorate your tote bag to show which bookstores you visited!

Can’t do it all in one weekend?  Try the Slow & Steady challenge instead.  You have until Labor Day to finish the trail.

This weekend always coincides with the Newburyport Literary Festival, when dozens and dozens of authors come to Newburyport for a weekend of events across town — all free and open to the public.  The festival opens at the Firehouse Center for the Arts at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, April 24, with Michael Updike, artist and son of John Updike, to talk about the publication of “Selected Letters of John Updike," a more than 900-page collection edited by James Schiff.  The New York Times Book Review critic Alexandra Jacobs, a lifelong Updike fan, will interview Michael about the book and his experience growing up Updike.

Saturday it will be tough to choose.  I loved Sarah Stewart Taylor’s “Agony Hill,” the start of an historical mystery series set in Vermont, starring police detective and Boston transplant Franklin Warren.  I recommend seeing Taylor discuss her series as part of a thriller panel, along with Jamie Day (his newest book is “The Lake Escape”) and Tracy Sierra (author of “Warning Signs”). After that you could see Catherine Newman, who followed up her bestselling “Sandwich” last year with “Wreck,” or Julie Satow and Julia Cooke, two journalists who have written books about remarkable women who changed the world (in “When Women Ran Fifth Avenue,” and, “Starry and Restless” respectively).  Or Wil Haygood in conversation with Peter Guralnick about Haygood’s new book, “The War Within a War,” about the black experience during Vietnam.

There’s a little something for everyone, whether you like historical fiction (Emily Franklin will be talking about “Love & Other Monsters,” her follow-up to “The Lioness of Boston”), poetry (stop by the Congregational Church for events throughout the day), sports (Bob Ryan, David Arnold and more of Boston’s most influential sports reporters will there!), romance (Christine Pride and Lori Gold will be interviewed by Salem-author Betty Cayouette), or local history (City Hall has events throughout the day).

Make sure you save some gas in the tank for Sunday.  My brother and I will be hosting a special episode of our new podcast, “Four Books a Fortnight,” live on Zoom, as part of the festival’s day of virtual programming.  We’ll be talking about four books by festival authors — which ones?  You’ll just have to tune in to find out.  Visit newburyportliteraryfestival.org to learn more.

Hannah Harlow is owner of The Book Shop, an independent bookstore in Beverly Farms.  Harlow writes biweekly recommendations for us.  See more of what she recommends reading at thecricket.com.