Seattle Independent Bookstore Day is the local home of the national Independent Bookstore Day, a one-day celebration on the last Saturday of April, hosted by independent booksellers for readers and customers. The 2023 Independent Bookstore Day takes place on Saturday, April 29th.
The Couth Buzzard has been a fixture in Greenwood since 1988, when it opened in the space that currently hosts Ridge Pizza at 7217 Greenwood Ave N. In its current home (8310 Greenwood Ave N) since 2009 and with a larger space for performances and meetings in its backroom, the Couth has become became a beloved neighborhood hub in addition to a new and used book store. The shop is currently going through a re-imagining to become sustainable, and needs all the patronage and support it can get.
When PhinneyWood’s neighborhood bookstore, Santoro’s, chose not to renew their lease in 2014, the opportunity presented itself for one if its long-time residents. Author and avid reader Tom Nissley never planned on owning a bookstore, but after a little research the timing seemed right. nearly 10 years years later, Phinney Books (7405 Greenwood Ave N) now fills the need for local readers and continues to expand its reach beyond the PhinneyWood community.
Nissley opined in an 2019 interview with the Blog “Things did look pretty rough for bookstores 10-15 years ago, but the last five years we’ve seen things swing back our way a bit. I think people just really like books and book stores. I worked at Amazon when the Kindle came out and a lot of folks really thought that there would be no physical books in five to ten years. But there’s something about a book that’s different… it’s a different machine.”
Both Phinney Books and their sister store Madison Books are participating in this year’s Bookstore Day Passport Challenge. The Challenge gives participants ten days to complete the challenge: visit all 27 participating Seattle-area independent bookstores. Book fanatics who complete the challenge will receive a Bookstore Day Champion Stamp Card, good for a one-time 25% discount at each participating store and valid until April 26, 2024. Those who don’t complete the full challenge get their passport stamped at at least five participating stores during the ten-day period will receive a single 25%-off coupon, good at any of the participating stores. You can see which stores are participating here.
