When she opened Brave + Kind Book Store in Decatur in 2018, Bunnie Hilliard dreamed of launching an event that would foster community among Atlanta’s small, independent bookstores “in lieu of competition.”
So, three years ago she piggybacked on Small Business Saturday, the highly successful holiday marketing initiative launched by American Express in 2009, to start the Atlanta Indie Bookshop Crawl, encouraging shoppers to patronize their neighborhood booksellers.
Her goal was to get shoppers “excited about the uniqueness that independent bookstores offer that they can’t get from that other book retail giant that we shall not name.”
It started as a one-day event, but this year, the Atlanta Indie Bookshop Crawl spans from now through Dec. 1, and it features a whopping 30 bookstores.
In addition to intown sellers like A Cappella Books, Eagle Eye Book Shop, 44th and 3rd, Virginia Highland Books, and The Book Bird, participating stores include many suburban and specialty shops like Poe & Company, The Lavender Bookshop, All the Tropes and Atlanta Vintage Books. And if you like to sip a beer while you browse, Books and Brew and Bold Monk Brewing Co. are also participating.
Patrons who visit five stores will receive a 20% discount good for a single purchase at any participating store and, if they visit all 30 bookstores, they can enter a raffle for a prize. Passports are available at participating stores, or you can download one from atlantaindiebookshopcrawl.com.
While shopping, you might want to consider these new titles:
“Booked for Murder.” A Decatur author who goes by the pseudonym P.J. Nelson has penned this cozy mystery set in the tiny Georgia town of Enigma. Having left town to pursue college and a career in the theater, Madeline Brimley is forced to return to Enigma when her eccentric aunt dies, leaving behind a Victorian mansion containing a bookstore. Madeline gives bookselling a go, but someone in town clearly wants her gone, based on the anonymous phone calls she receives. The threats turn serious when her gazebo is torched. And when an employee is founded murdered in the store, Madeline sets out to solve the mystery with the aid of an elderly college professor and the local pastor. Minotaur Books, $28
“Beyond Self-Care Potato Chips.” Exercising self-care is a common Band-aid applied to women seeking solace from the rigors and challenges of modern-day life. Atlanta psychologist and social media influencer Amber Wardell’s new book exposes the unspoken implication of privilege and wealth rife in self-care culture and offers ways all women can find relief on a deeper, more sustainable level. With more than 700,000 TikTok followers and 12 million likes, this self-described millennial mom’s advice clearly resonates with women. Weaving in lots of humor, personal anecdotes and actionable recommendations, Wardell addresses what it really means to exercise self-care in marriage, friendships, families, careers and more. Health Communications, $17.95
“The Barn.” ESPN writer Wright Thomas grew up in the Mississippi Delta where Emmett Till was lynched in 1955, but the first he heard of the Black teenager’s murder by a mob of white men was after he grew up and left the state. Seeing the barn where the killing occurred inspired him to write this gripping account of Till’s life and death that became an instant New York Times bestseller. In it, Wright reveals details he says have long been covered up, like the fact eight men were guilty of the crime. “There is an ongoing battle in America between memory and erasure,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Penguin Random House, $35
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.
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