Chicago Independent Bookstore Day Coming July 12

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 28, 2014 7:00PM

Author Susie Bright is shown reading at Women & Children First in April 2011. Women & Children First participates in Chicago Independent Bookstore Day on July 12, 2014 (Photo credit: Dawn Mueller)

On July 12, nine independent bookstores throughout Chicago will band together to create Chicago Independent Bookstore Day, a celebration of independent bookstores in the Windy City which will involve special deals, free books, and refreshments.

There will also be a unique puzzle game to tie the event together.

According to a news release about the event, "[c]ustomers will also receive a handful of puzzle pieces from each participating store that will fit together to create an exclusively designed frameable print by Lilli Carré," a Chicago interdisciplinary artist and illustrator whose work has appeared in both The New Yorker and The New York Times.

The list of participating stores includes Lincoln Square's The Book Cellar; 57th Street Books and Seminary Co-op in Hyde Park; Sandmeyer's in Printer's Row; Women & Children First, Andersonville's feminist bookstore staple and likely inspiration for a certain Portlandia sketch; Lakeview's Unabridged Books; Open Books, located in River North; Powell's Bookstore in University Village; and, finally, City Lit Books in Logan Square. (We're surprised Uncharted Books, also in Logan Square, isn't on this list, as it's a fine independent bookstore.)

There will be more information posed about events and giveaways leading up to Chicago Independent Bookstore Day on July 12, and owners of participating bookstores are already blogging at the official Chicago Independent Bookstore Day blog. If you're a bookworm, and value independent bookstores, this is the holiday for you.