‘People are being reminded of how fun reading can be,’ says one indie Vancouver bookseller ahead of Canadian Independent Bookstore Day on April 25
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Canadian Independent Bookstore Day
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When: April 25
Where: Various locations
Info:cibabooks.ca
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The debut of the Heated Rivalry TV series could not have come at a better time for Amy Pelletier.
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Last August, Pelletier opened the doors of her romance-themed bookstore, Perfect Match. Just over two months later, Heated Rivalry debuted on Crave and HBO Max. For weeks the six-part series became water cooler conversation topic No. 1 and shone a spotlight on its source material, a six-book (soon to be seven) series by Canadian author Rachel Reid.
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“We had people coming in who hadn’t bought or read books in years, and so they were coming to independent bookstores, buying their first book, or reading their first book, maybe since university or even high school,” Pelletier said. “That was so exciting, because then people are being reminded of how fun reading can be.”
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Sun Spots
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Canadian Independent Bookstore Day is another reminder. On the last Saturday of April, indie booksellers plan special events at their stores, helping customers find their next read, meet local authors, join a book club or win a prize.
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“We have many things going on,” Pelletier said. These include double frequent buyer points, treats for the first 50 people to come in, exclusive tote bags with purchases over a certain amount, and a “golden ticket” for 12 free audiobooks from Libro.fm that will be hidden somewhere within the store.
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Upstart & Crow will also hold prize draws. A $300 gift card and a curated book and gift box featuring staff favourites will be up for grabs. First arrivals will receive treats from Granville Island neighbour Laurelle’s Fine Foods.
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Specializing in new fiction from small and independent presses, new translations, and disruptive non-fiction, the small shop has also experienced a sales bump, though not from hockey romance.
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“Wuthering Heights has been flying off the shelves,” said store manager Robyn Smith. This is due, at least in part, to the recent movie adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic from director Emerald Fennell.
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Nor does Brontë-mania end there. Another hot seller is Karen Powell’s Fifteen Wild Decembers, a 2023 novel about the Brontë sisters told from Emily’s perspective. “It makes Charlotte look like a real piece of work,” Smith said.
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Other store favourites include Sara Stridsberg’s Beckomberga, “about a woman who witnesses her father’s life spent almost entirely within the confines of a psychiatric hospital,” and Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection.
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“It’s a short, pitch-perfect satire of two millennial designers living the gentrification dream in Berlin,” Smith said. “This is the kind of book that feels like an experience.”
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Thanks to movie adaptations of his novels The Martian and Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir is helping keep the lights on at Iron Dog Books. But the American novelist’s popularity is also having a spillover effect.
