5 Vancouver bookstores to check out on Independent Bookstore Day

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Canadian Independent Bookstore Day

When: April 27

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Where: Various locations

Ah, the joys of frittering away an hour or two at a bookstore and coming home with a pile of printed matter that you’ll get around to reading who-knows-when. But Canadian Independent Bookstore Day is about more than the lazy afternoon browse. The annual event celebrates indie bookstores as community hubs that host author events and readings and give readers a place to meet, discuss ideas, and share recommendations. With that in mind, here are five local booksellers to check out.

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The Paper Hound Bookshop (344 W. Pender St.) This cosy 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 one particular kind of book, but we favour the classic, curious, odd, beautiful, visually arresting, scholarly, bizarre, and whimsical.” Paper Hound also offers free delivery (by bicycle) within Vancouver proper.

Upstart & Crow (1387 Railspur Alley) Featuring a limited but lovingly curated selection in a contemporary West Coast setting, Upstart & Crow focuses on new books from small and independent presses. The website directs you to “Team Favourites” (”books we’re holding near and dear”), “Indigenous Storytellers” and “Books by Black Authors,” among others. On April 27 author John Vaillant will drop by as “special guest bookseller.”

Iron Dog Books (2671 E. Hastings St.) The Hastings-Sunrise bookseller began as a bookmobile before expanding to include a brick-and-mortar store. Specializing in backlist and remaindered books, Iron Dog also sources used books through a trade-in program. Author events occur on-site as well as off, including a book launch at R&B Brewing April 28.

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Lucky’s (3128 Main St.). Lucky’s is the place to go to stock up on your graphic novel needs — not the latest hardbound collection of Batman vs Joker comics but eye-poppers like Club Microbe, a colourful, comedic look at micro-organisms 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 like a Shirley Jackson short story collection, James Woods’ How Fiction Works, and gift-y tomes like The Ultimate Excuse Generator along with small press publications and zines.

Cross & Crows Books (2836 Commercial Dr.) It’s easy to forget that, among its other attractions, Commercial Drive probably has the most bookstores of any other neighbourhood in Vancouver — five at last count, including the latest, Cross & Crows Books. For Independent Bookstore Day, the shop is hosting upcycled jewelry maker Bonnie Hammond/Bits & Keys, a book launch for Li Charmaine Anne’s Crash Landing, a chance to win a $1000 shopping spree at a local independent bookstore, and a hunt for five surprises hidden within the store.

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