Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day at BookHampton

Independent Bookstore Day marks its third year of celebrating independent bookstores in 48 states and over 490 stores on Saturday, April 29. BookHampton is celebrating with raffles, giveaways, a literary scavenger hunt and two events.

At 1 p.m., BookHampton and Calypso St. Barth will host authors Jordan Reid and Erin Williams for their new book, “The Big Fat Activity Book for Pregnant People,” a comedic activity book with quizzes, mazes, fill-in- the-blanks, journaling pages and musings on what pregnancy is really like.

At 4 p.m., BookHampton will host Paul Vogel, owner of East Hampton’s Vogel Bindery for a bookbinding workshop. This event will include a talk on the history of books and binding and a hands-on demonstration. Attendees will bind two small books to take home after paying a small supplies fee.

Since 2014, more than 150 authors like Neil Gaiman, George Saunders, Roxane Gay, Lauren Groff, James Patterson, Stephen King and others have donated work in support of Independent Bookstore Day. Last year, participating bookstores saw an average increase in sales of 200 percent with some stores up as much as 1000 percent over their average Saturday sales in April.

“There are those who love Christmas, and those who love Valentine’s Day and those for whom Independent Bookstore Day is the only holiday that matters. Three cheers to the readers, the writers, the booksellers, the kiddos, the dogs, the cats and the bookstores that bring us all together,” 2017 Bookstore Day Author Ambassador, Emma Straub said.

Ms. Straub is the bestselling author of the novels “Modern Lovers,” “The Vacationers,” “Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures” and a short story collection, “Other People We Married.” She and Michael Fusco are co-owners of Books Are Magic, a new bookstore opening this spring in Brooklyn.

BookHampton will offer a selection of limited edition, unique books and art pieces for Independent Bookstore Day 2017, available only at participating bookstores on this day including “The Sandmeyer Reaction,” a signed, limited, and bound edition of a story cut from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon’s new novel, “Moonglow,” and “A Literary Cocktail Party: Favorite Drinks from Our Favorite Writers,” a modern take on a classic cocktail guide, from 30 American writers.

Every year, event organizers creates a signature “Bad Citizen” graffiti stencil to highlight the authors and the words that push us to think, read and be disruptive when necessary. This year’s stencil features a quote from professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. that reads, “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” The term “bad citizen” comes from a 1997 “New Yorker” interview with Don DeLillo; “...we’re writing against what power represents, and often what government represents, and what the corporation dictates and what consumer consciousness has come to mean. In that sense, if we’re bad citizens, we’re doing our job.”

Independent Bookstore Day is produced by writer and former bookseller Samantha Schoech in partnership with the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association and sponsored by Penguin Random House, Ingram and the American Bookseller’s Association.

Bookhampton is located at 41 Main Street in East Hampton. For more information, please call (631) 324-4939 visit bookhampton.com or indiebookstoreday.com.

--Lindsay Andarakis