What started as a California idea (naturally) dreamed by Samantha Schoech and Pete Mulvihill of Green Apple Books in 2014 to mimic Record Store Day has grown into a nationwide phenomenon with nearly 1,900 participating stores. You do not want to miss all the special events your local bookshops are doing on this year’s Independent Bookstore Day, Saturday, April 25, 2026.
If you’re the type who considers a full day of bookstore-hopping a perfectly reasonable Saturday plan, check out all the organized bookstore crawls happening throughout the state, like the San Diego Book Crawl, which includes The Book Catapult, Mysterious Galaxy, and Warwick’s, as well as Sacramento Read the Region book crawl, which will include stops at East Village Bookshop, Underground Books, and Wild Sisters Book Co.
As you make your way through your route, keep your eyes peeled for golden tickets. Libro.fm is partnering with participating stores to hide tickets redeemable for 12 audiobook credits each. Some participating bookstores include Laguna Beach Books, Pages, a Bookstore, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Bookshop West Portal, Green Apple Books, Browser Books, Pegasus Books, and Gallery Bookshop.
Of course, if spending an entire day at a single store is more your speed, California’s indie shops are pulling out every stop imaginable. Locals, start at Bookshop Santa Cruz—they’ll have free coffee as long as supplies last, along with a prize wheel, scavenger hunt, and even a raffle.
West Hollywood’s BookSoup is bringing author Brad Neely in conversation with Nic Juarez. He’ll be chatting and signing his upcoming release, Creased Comics. Author Luke Goebel and Caroline Kepnes will also be live in conversation at Vroman’s in Pasadena, signing Goebel’s latest release, Kill Dick.
Manhattan Beach’s Pages, a Bookstore, meanwhile, is leaning all the way in: mimosas and flash temporary tattoos when you spend over $50, which won’t be hard once you see all their limited-edition Independent Bookstore Day merch.
For book clubs, Olivia & Daisy in Carmel Valley is hosting the very first “battle of the book club” trivia challenge. For those who prefer solo introspection, they’ll also have $5 tarot card readings courtesy of Hawthorn Mountain Tarot, and coffee and wine throughout the day.
Another special event to mention is Sylmar’s Tía Chucha’s Fill-a-Bag event: Buy a $25 tote bag, fill it with as many used books as you can physically carry, and pay nothing more.
The poetry world is well represented, too. Anatalia Vallez is celebrating six years of her poetry collection The Most Spectacular Mistake with a live event at LibroMobile in Santa Ana. And if one poet is not enough, Orinda Books is hosting four local poets: Joseph Di Prisco, Elizabeth Robinson, Cynthia Leslie-Bole, and Jim Gunshinan.
Families, meanwhile, should head straight to Bart’s Books in Ojai, which is extending its hours and opening a small night market with flowers, onigiri, portraits for sale, juggling, and a live harp player. Corte Madera’s Book Passage is also running a mini fest with 40 local authors on hand to chat and sign copies of their work.
Hey, San Franciscans: Green Apple Books on the Park is hosting a mini market with vendors like Moonlit Mercantile Tea, Crocheted Goodies by Lindsey, and Tarot by Dreamseed Alkhemy. Singles, hit up Green Apple Books on Clement, where they’re hosting a literary singles mixer. Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino is joining in on the fun with a raffle, a prize wheel, and ARC giveaways with a book purchase, and Kepler’s in Menlo Park will have trivia.
More author events include: Culver City’s Village Well Books & Coffee’s book launch event for Judy Batalion’s new book, The Last Woman of Warsaw; City Lights’ Alyce Mahon discussing her book about Dorothea Tanning in San Francisco; Sharon Rose at Copperfield’s Books in Larkspur; and both Long Beach’s Casita Bookstore and Alameda’s Books Inc. will have author storytimes.
Even the San Francisco Center for the Book is getting in on this Independent Bookstore Day fun by partnering with Bookshop West Portal and hosting a free bookmaking pop-up. And not to be left behind, UC Berkeley is collaborating with Medicine for Nightmares for a special screening of A Través de Nuestros Ojos: Displacement & Discovery and an evening of local vendors.
Need to map your day? Use our independent bookstore guide. And if you’re unsure what to buy, check out our weekly book review, our weekly article on what Californians are reading, and our April roundup of most-anticipated releases. Happy shopping!•
Elizabeth Casillas is an associate editor at Alta Journal. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, she has previously written for the Poly Post and Enspire Magazine.
