Where to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day in Greater Boston

Boston Globe

25-04-2025

So if you're wondering where to begin celebrating this tight-knit community, here is a guide to Independent Bookstore Day celebrations happening in Greater Boston.
Lovestruck Books
Advertisement
Shelves of books at Lovestruck Books.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Lovestruck Books, the romance bookstore and café-and-wine bar in Harvard Squard, will spend Indie Bookstore Day inaugurating its outdoor patio. The store
44 Brattle St., Cambridge.
Papercuts Bookshop
Papercuts Bookshop owner Kate Layte, stands outside the Jamaica Plain locale.
Issac Fitz
At Papercuts Bookshop, the IBD celebration will be extra sweet with free slices of gluten-free coconut-pineapple cake courtesy of residential bakery
60 South St., Jamaica Plain.
Advertisement
Side Quest Books & Games
Side Quest Books & Games is an indie fantasy bookstore in Bow Market. The store will celebrate Independent Bookstore Day this Saturday at its Somerville location.
Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
All things fantastical can be found at Side Quest Books & Games, but its commitment to showcasing the underrepresented is entirely nonfiction. The Somerville shop will be debuting new swag displaying graphics commissioned by local artists. Other items customers can snag to rep their bookworm ways include Indie Bookstore totes and stickers — the latter of which will be given out for free with every purchase.
1 Bow Market Way, Somerville.
Porter Square Books
Porter Square Books in Cambridge
handout
Porter Square Books is more than just its two retail locations in Cambridge and Boston's Seaport neighborhood. The retailer's foundation of the same name works to make reading more accessible within the Cambridge community through sponsored visits by authors to local schools and book donations. To support their efforts on IBD, PSB will be holding a Stuffed Animal Portrait Fund-raiser at its Cambridge location, during which attendees can bring their favorite cotton-brain friend to get their portrait drawn by professional illustrators. Later in the day, PSB employees will partake in a bake-off, where the 'Undisputed Baking Champion of the Year' will be determined by the audience's taste buds.
1815 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.
Read My Lips Boston
Twin sisters Lily (left) and Hannah Barrett will be organizing an Independent Bookstore Day celebration in Malden.
JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
For romance readers, Read My Lips has a bit of everything. From raunch-filled pages you hide in public to sweet tropes that have you kicking your feet, they carry it. Therefore, it's only fair that things get a bit hot and heavy during the IBD event. The pop-up bookstore will be setting customers up on blind dates with books at Idle Hands Craft Ales, where readers may find a $25 gift card lying seductively between the pages. The romance pop-up will also be donating 10 percent of the profit from book-themed merch to the pop-up's nonprofit of the month, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.
89 Commercial St., Malden.
Advertisement
The Purple Couch Bookshop
Purple Couch is fittingly decorated with colorful furniture at its North Andover location.
The Purple Couch Bookshop
North Andover's Purple Couch Bookshop is taking Independent Bookstore Day a step further by making its celebration a two-day event, extending to Sunday. Throughout the weekend, customers can play a game of banned books bingo, take a peek around with the little ones for a kids' scavenger hunt, or go on blind book dates. On Saturday and Sunday night, the store will remain open until late and provide light refreshments for celebrating customers.
350 Winthrop Ave. Unit 9B, North Andover.
Boujee Bookstore
Located in Norwood, Boujee Bookstore will spend Indie Bookstore Day in the company of various New England-based authors.
Boujee Bookstore
The vibes at Boujee Bookstore are typically light, fun, and girly, and so are its Independent Bookstore Day activities. Customers (21+) can snag a free cocktail or fill a bag at the all-pink candy bar while browsing the store's tidily shelved titles. Alongside other bibliophiles, customers can spend time with eightindie fantasy authors, including Amanda Sinatra and Allie Maddox, to get their books signed by locally-based writers.
61 Endicott St., Norwood.
Marianna Orozco can be reached at