5 Vancouver bookstores to visit on Independent Bookstore Day

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Canadian Independent Bookstore Day

When: April 27

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Where: Many places

Ah, the pleasure of wasting an hour or two in a bookstore and coming home with a pile of printed material that you can read who knows when. But Canada Independent Bookstore Day is more than just a lazy afternoon. The annual event celebrates independent bookstores as community hubs that host events and author readings and provide readers with a place to gather, discuss ideas, and share recommendations. With that in mind, here are five local bookstores you can check out.

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The Paper Hound’s Bookstore (344 W. Pender St.) This cozy Gastown store offers an eclectic selection of new, used, and rare books. As the owners say on the store’s website: “We don’t specialize in a particular type of book, but we prefer classics, curious, strange, beautiful, visually stunning, academic, strange and whimsical.” Paper Hound also offers free delivery (by bike) within Vancouver.

Upstart and crow (1387 Railspur Alley) With a limited but carefully curated selection in a contemporary West Coast setting, Upstart & Crow focuses on new books from small, independent publishers. The website directs you to “Team Favorites” (“books we cherish and appreciate”), “Indigenous Storytellers,” and “Books by Black Authors,” among others. On April 27, author John Vaillant will stop by as a “special guest bookseller.”

Iron Dog Books (2671 E. Hastings St.) Hastings-Sunrise Bookstore began as a traveling bookstore before expanding to include a brick-and-mortar store. Iron Dog, which specializes in backlog and surplus books, also sources used books through an exchange program. Author events take place both on and off site, including a book launch at R&B Brewing on April 28.

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luck (3128 Main Street). Lucky’s is the place to go to stock up on your graphic novel needs: not the latest collection of Batman vs Joker comics, but surprising ones like Club Microbe, a colorful and comical look at microorganisms for microreaders; What It Is, cartoonist Lynda Barry’s guide to creativity; and Spa, a critique of the wellness industry by Swedish artist Erik Svetoft. You’ll also find non-picture books, such as a short story collection by Shirley Jackson, How Fiction Works by James Woods, and bonus tomes such as The Ultimate Excuse Generator, along with small press publications and fanzines.

Cross and Crow Books (2836 Commercial Dr.) It’s easy to forget that, among its other attractions, Commercial Drive probably has the most bookstores of any other Vancouver neighborhood: five at last count, including the latest, Cross & Crows Books. For Independent Bookstore Day, the store will host upcycled jewelry maker Bonnie Hammond/Bits & Keys, the launch of Li Charmaine’s book Anne’s Crash Landing, a chance to win $1,000 in purchases at a local independent bookstore, and a hunt of five hidden surprises. inside the store.

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