Saturday, April 27, is the fifth annual Independent Bookstore Day. Sedona’s own Literate Lizard will be among the more than 550 indie bookstores participating in the celebration.
Since this event’s inception in 2014, over 200 authors and major publishers have shown their support for independent bookstores by creating exclusive merchandise not available anywhere else.
This year, the Literate Lizard will be offering signed editions of such hot titles as “Adjustment Day” by Chuck Palahniuk, “Women Talking” by Miriam Toews, “Why Don’t You Write My Obituary Now So I Can Correct It” by Roz Chast and Patricia Mark and the graphic novel, “Maneaters,” by Chelsea Cain.
There will be specials for the kids as well, including signed editions of “The Girl Who Drank the Moon” by Kelly Barnhill and “Ada Twist & The Perilous Pants” by Andrea Beaty. There will also be an exclusive Little Golden Book of “Elmo’s New Puppy” and a mini-book of two, never-before-published, “Wings of Fire” stories by Tui T. Sutherland.
Other unique merchandise includes a vinyl record of Charles Bukowski featuring recorded sessions of him reading “Run For The Hunted,” as well as interviews with the poet; a “Fight Evil — Read Books” pin, as well as pins featuring the likenesses of Margaret Atwood, Neal Gaiman, Toni Morrison and James Baldwin; a canvas pouch featuring a We Should All Be Feminists quote from Chimamanda Ngozo Adichie; a “Find Your Voice, Make Some Noise” illustrated journal from “The Hate U Give” author Angie Thomas and signed prints from Maggie Stiefvater, author of the “Raven King” series.
There will be free giveaways as well: “Atlas Obscura’s Literary Wonders” by Joshua Foer, Overheard on the Titanic prints by Austin Kleon, Flora of Middle Earth postcards by Graham Judd and the book Poems to Keep in Your Pocket.
Supplies of this exclusive merchandise are very limited and the licensing rights prohibits reserving any copies in advance. All will be sold or given away on a first come, first serve basis.
Refreshments will be available all day, so come out and meet fellow booklovers, pick up some exclusive goodies and support independent bookselling. As 2019 IBD author ambassador Tayari Jones, “An American Marriage,” said, “Indie stores stock books by hand and sell them the same way. They know what we want and need to read because they know us, as people. A writer is not a machine. A reader is not an app. We are human beings and so are the independent bookstore workers who show up each day and place books in our hands.”
The Literate Lizard is located at 1575 W. SR 89A in West Sedona. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day; parking is available in the lot behind the building, off Oak Creek Boulevard.
