Independent Bookstore Day

Start: 
Saturday, April 30, 2016 - 10:00am
Location: 
2421 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX 77005

Independent bookstores are not just stores, they’re community centers and local anchors run by passionate readers. They are entire universes of ideas that contain the possibility of real serendipity. They are lively performance spaces and quiet places where aimless perusal is a day well spent. Come celebrate the joys of independent bookstores with us!

Join us for a special story time at 10:30am and celebrate curiosity! We’ll read two classic Curious George stories, and then the Houston Zoo’s ZooMobile will set up an exploratory station where kids can interact with animals and artifacts.

From 2-4pm, we’ll throw an Independent Bookstore Day Happy Hour. Free coffee, wine, beer (from Saint Arnold)—and customers who share their love of books on Twitter using the hashtag #BrazosIBD will receive 15% off their purchase.

All day long, customers can also purchase exclusive Independent Bookstore Day merchandise (not eligible for the 15% discount). These items are in limited supply and we cannot hold anything for customers; they will be sold first-come, first-serve! This merchandise includes:

* Neil Gaiman Coloring Book ($14.99): The Neil Gaiman Coloring Book includes 20 pieces of black-and-white art by Chris Riddell and quotes from Neil Gaiman—taken from the pages of Coraline, The Graveyard Book, and Fortunately, the Milk—all ready to be colored in by YOU!
* “Read With Me” Curious George Plush Toy ($15.00): This is only the second time in George’s 75 years that he has worn a branded t-shirt (the other one was for Harvard, his hometown school). And what better message could there be? The front reads: READ WITH ME. The back features the IBD logo.
* A $6 Story: The Care & Feeding of an Independent Bookstore 
by Ann Patchett ($6.00): The first in what is sure to become a favorite IBD series, A $6 Story: The Care & Feeding of an Independent Bookstore by Ann Patchett includes 3 instructive essays. Each beautifully designed, saddle stitched booklet is SIGNED.
* Bookstore Cats Zippered Canvas Pouch ($14.00): This handy 100% cotton canvas zippered pouch (perfect for pencils, make up, cash, and other sundries) features portraits of real bookstore cats hand drawn especially for IBD.
* …and the debut of a brand new Brazos Bookstore logo t-shirt, half-price on purchases of $50 or more!

Also, for fans of both film and books, we’ll debut Stanley Kubrick-centric art on our windows—and we’ll announce the full details of an exciting summer-long program: Summer of Kubrick 2016, in partnership with Alamo Drafthouse and MFAH Films.

All day long, we’ll honor our favorite local authors with an in-store display. Brazos Bookstore is nothing without Houston’s literary community, so come browse books by Chris Cander, Amber Dermont, Nick Flynn, Mat Johnson, and more—and if you’re lucky, you might even be able to snag some signed copies!

Speaking of local authors, at 7pm, we’ll celebrate the book release of THE ADVENTURIST by J. Bradford Hipps. Hipps is a graduate of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston, and we will honor his fantastic debut novel with a reading and book-signing. We’re proud of the writers who come of age in Houston, and Hipps is a bright new talent.