Saturday April 29th marks the 10th annual Independent Bookstore Day, and we’re going bigger and better than we ever have before! Our day of celebration will include a lineup of author appearances, special Parnassus coloring sheets, exclusive IBD merchandise, and an online auction of signed books and retired Parnassus merch, with all proceeds benefitting the Parnassus Foundation. Read on for the full schedule, as well as information about the auction and our foundation, and make plans to join us in-store or online on April 29th!
If you’ve participated in Independent Bookstore Day before, you know that each year brings a new line of exclusive bookish merch. Get here early to snag your favorite items, because when they’re gone, they’re gone! Some of the items we’re most excited for are the Richard Scarry-inspired onesie, the Blackwing x IBD collaboration pencils, and of course, this year’s tote bag, each of which are pictured below! These and more will be available in-store on Independent Bookstore Day, and a limited quantity of some items will also be available online. Check out what we’ll be offering on our website!
For Independent Bookstore Day 2022, we tried something new: we brought in the wonderful Margaret Renkl, Mary Laura Philpott, and Ann Patchett to do signing lines throughout the day. We had a blast meeting all the lovely folks who came from near and far to meet some of their favorite authors, so we decided we’d do it again! Below is the schedule of author signing lines for this year’s celebration. Don’t miss your chance to chat with these authors, get your books signed, and even snag a copy of Sarah Adams’s new book three days before it goes on sale!
10:30 AM – Storytime with Jessica Young
11:30-12:30 PM- Signing line with Tyler Merritt
2:00-3:00 PM – YA author signing with Julian Vaca, Erica Waters, and Jeff Zentner
3:00-4:00 PM – Romance author signing with Lauren Kung Jessen and Sarah Adams (Special offer! We will have copies of Sarah Adams’s upcoming book, Practice Makes Perfect, for sale during the event. Get your copy 3 days before official release! In store only.)
4:00-5:00 PM – Signing line with Ann Patchett
Independent Bookstore Day has always been cause for celebration here at Parnassus, but the 10th anniversary of IBD calls for something extra special. Over the course of the eleven years Parnassus has been open, we’ve collected dozens and dozens of signed, first edition books, and for the first time, we’re making them available to YOU! We’ve created an online auction of over 100 items that anyone in the country can bid on. It will run from April 29th at 10am CT to May 6th at 6pm CT, and all of the proceeds will go directly to the Parnassus Books Foundation. Before we tell you more about the Foundation, let’s take a look at some of the items we’ll be auctioning off, because y’all, this selection is pretty incredible.
- Know a John Grisham fan? Chances are you do. We’re auctioning off not one, not two, but FORTY signed first edition John Grisham novels, ranging from The Pelican Brief to Camino Island to books from the Theodore Boone series.
- If you’re a fan of literary fiction, you’ve probably read (and loved) at least one of Louise Erdrich’s novels. Now’s your chance to own a signed first edition of Love Medicine, The Round House, or one of the twelve other Erdrich titles available in our auction.
- Want to be among the first people to read Ann’s new novel, Tom Lake, before it hits shelves on August 1? Bid on a signed advance readers copy!
- Other signed first editions included in the auction are…
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- The Underground Railraod by Colson Whitehead
- End of Watch by Stephen King
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
- Surrender by Bono
- Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Annie Liebovitz: Portraits 2005-2016 by Annie Liebovitz
- and more!
- We didn’t forget about the young and young at heart! We have picture books, middle grade titles, and young adult novels up for grabs, including…
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
- Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
- Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett
- and more!
- And finally, we have retired Parnassus tote bags, art prints, and signed Ann Patchett broadsides available!
Click here to take a look at all of the items we’re auctioning off in support of the Parnassus Books Foundation! The Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit we created to help bring books and authors to Title I schools here in Nashville. Everything was set for us to announce the Foundation to all of you in the
spring of 2020, but COVID derailed our plans. While the Foundation didn’t have the formal launch we envisioned, our team has been working hard to bring authors and illustrators to classrooms across Nashville and send students home with books. While the Foundation is not currently accepting direct donations, we’re so excited to host this auction as an opportunity for all of you to join in support of the Foundation and bid on some incredible items.
The Impact of the Parnassus Books Foundation
“We are grateful to the Parnassus Foundation for supporting student literacy in MNPS. The Foundation has given our students the chance to meet authors of books they love, and they’ve provided numerous copies of books for our Battle of the Books events and for our Project Lit book clubs. The Foundation’s generosity is helping us grow lifelong readers.” – Lindsey Kimery, MNPS Coordinator of Library Services
“This year we were lucky enough to host author Andrew Maraniss, thanks to our local bookstore, Parnassus Books! He spoke so beautifully and our students had LOTS of questions for him—about sports, about his personal
life, and about his research and writing. It is so meaningful for students to hear first-hand about the process of writing a book, and also learn about the untold stories of people who broke boundaries in sports. The BEST thing, though, was seeing our kids’ excited faces when we handed them each a brand-new copy of the book to keep. Students were so excited, and Mr. Maraniss signed copies for all students who asked questions during his presentation. It was a treat that we never could have afforded on our own, and we are so grateful to Rae Ann Parker and everyone at Parnassus for giving our students an opportunity like this!” – Alison M. Brooks, Apollo MS Librarian
We hope to see you in-store and online to help us celebrate Independent Bookstore Day!
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