Independent Bookstore Day was started to celebrate books, and the love of reading. It’s also in place to promote independent bookstores. In the city of Buffalo, we are lucky to have a number of independent bookstores to choose from.
Not only are there tried and true, reliable shops like Talking Leaves, there are also some notable up and comers. In fact, it was the informative map of independent bookstores (see below) that clued me into a bookstore that is so new that I didn’t even know that it existed! I’m talking about Black Rock Books, which recently opened at 43 Hamilton Street in Black Rock, right around the corner from Market Square. The building – former home of Black Rock Riverside Alliance (BRR Alliance) – was recently sold, as the Alliance relocated to 52 Amherst Street. It didn’t take long for the new owner to attract a “bookish” business that we can all get behind.
The Black Rock Books website states that the bookshop is home to cozy couches, puzzles and games, pens, notebooks, greeting cards, and plenty of books of course.
Consider us your go-to spot for analog living… Corrie Stone-Johnson founded Black Rock Books in 2023. By day, Corrie is a professor in educational leadership at the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. By night, she’s an avid reader, a fiendish coffee drinker, and an overly competitive puzzler. She’s a parent to two teenagers and a proud booster of her husband and his venture, Blue Table Chocolates. Things we love: dark coffee, Sunday crosswords, new pens, and the Oxford comma.
Another tidbit that I learned while scoping out the national book celebration is that there is a Read It & Eat Book Fair and Market taking place Saturday, April 29 (Independent Bookstore Day) at Seneca One, which supports independent bookstores and WEDI’s rebuilding of the West Side Bazaar. The event take place from 11am – 5pm, and will feature local food and book vendors (click here to learn more). The fair is presented by Bookmarks & Breadsticks (Read It And Eat).
If you really want to get to know the local Buffalo book scene, there’s no better way to do it than by picking up, and filling out, the Buffalo Bookstore Passport. This special passport encourages bibliophiles to visit all of Buffalo’s independent bookshops, as well as the Read It & Eat Book Fair and Market, over the course of a week’s time. Consider it a scavenger hunt of sorts, organized by Alice Ever After Books.
Here’s how it works (courtesy of Read It And Eat):
1. Between 4/22 and 4/29, collect stamps from each participating bookstore (no purchase necessary)
2. Drop off your passport at the last bookstore you visit (be sure to include your contact information!)
3. The week after Independent Bookstore Day we will draw ONE winner who will win a $25 gift certificate to EACH participating bookstore (you’ll get a gift card to the Read It & Eat shop online). That’s $275 in free books, friends!