Indie Book Crawl celebrates Atlanta’s booming literary scene
Atlanta’s reputation as a literary epicenter continues to grow as independent bookstores open up across the metro area. And there’s no better time to check them out than during the Atlanta Indie Book Crawl.
Founded by Bunnie Hilliard, owner of Brave + Kind Book Store in Decatur, the fifth annual event takes place Nov. 20-29 and features 36 stores spanning the metro area from The Storybook Market in Gainesville to The Book Wyrm in Douglasville.
Many of Atlanta’s new bookstores specialize in niche literary genres, a growing trend in the industry. Books are curated to reflect a particular taste or type of literature, and the space is designed to cultivate a community where like-minded readers can gather and engage with one another.
To that end, most bookstores will host special events during the book crawl, especially on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28.
Offbeat Books opened last year at Terminal South in Peoplestown and focuses on speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, dystopian fiction, magical realism, alternative history and superhero fiction. It’s also a hub for tabletop role-playing games, such as Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering.
Basically, Offbeat Books sells “anything that doesn’t take place in our reality,” said owner Lindsi Bollinger.
But there’s also something for everyone, including a select offering of fiction, nonfiction, YA and children’s books.
Reflective of its customers’ eclectic tastes, the store’s current top seller is the latest in the “Dungeon Crawler Carl” series, a literary role-playing game by Matt Dinniman that combines elements of sci-fi novels and role-playing games. The second top seller is Tayari Jones’ “Kin.”
“Every book on our shelves was handpicked by myself or one of the other booksellers,” said Bollinger. “We don’t use any recommendation algorithms. We don’t go by bestseller lists. Everything in the store was something that we looked at, at one point, and said, ‘Yeah, I would pick that up.’”
On Nov. 28, Offbeat Books will host a book signing by poet Elizabeth Michaud. For information, go to offbeatbooks.com.
One of the newest additions to the Atlanta Indie Book Crawl is Darkly Rooted Books in the English Avenue neighborhood. Opened last month by Camille Watwood, it also specializes in speculative fiction but with an emphasis on authors who are Black, Indigenous or people of color.
Special events include photo sessions with Krampus — Santa’s frightful, horned enforcer from Alpine folklore — on Nov. 28. For details, go to darklyrooted.com.
Opened last year by best friends Madison Glines and Mallory Gay, Sincerely Yours Bookstore in Smryna specializes in romance titles, although it also carries a little bit of everything, including memoir, general fiction, mystery, thrillers and light non-romantic fantasy and sci-fi.
Top sellers include “Dungeon Crawler Carl” and “A Court of Splintered Harmony” by Sarah J. Maas.
“Right now, a lot of romantasy and fantasy is in,” said Glines. “When weather cools down, people want to read fantasy books.”
This year marks the store’s second time participating in the book crawl.
“We love doing the book crawl,” Glines said. “It’s always fun to get new people coming into the store — that’s the best part. And just making new connections with people. And then getting to share a love of other bookstores.”
On Nov. 28, Sincerely Yours will host a tattoo pop-up with Nashville-based Last Rodeo Tattoo. To learn more, go to sincerelyyoursbookstore.com.
To participate in the Atlanta Indie Book Crawl, attendees can pick up passports at any participating store. To qualify for a 10% discount on a purchase made in December, collect stamps or signatures from five or more stores. Industrious types who visit all the stores will be entered into a raffle for prizes. For details go to atlantaindiebookshopcrawl.com.
Suzanne Van Atten is a columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.