Considering that I've never, as far as I can tell, written about National Book Lovers Day (August 9) before last Friday's column, doing so for the second week in a row is the very definition of unprecedented. But a couple of things struck me, the first being just how popular the unofficial holiday turned out to be on social media among indie booksellers, including:
Hickory Stick Bookshop, Washington, Conn.: "Happy National Book Lovers Day from your bookselling team at The Hickory Stick! We think every day should be Book Lovers Day but whatever you're reading today, enjoy! Actually... what are you reading today?"
The Little Bookshop, Midlothian, Va.: "Happy National Book Lovers Day!! We've been so busy reading books, we almost forgot!!"
Pig City Books, Lexington, N.C.: "Happy National Book Lover's Day! I'm thinking we should normalize presents for National holidays? If you would like to celebrate a reader in your life, feel free to check out our website and order your loved one a new read! Local pickup & international delivery available! Hope you all get to spend at least a part of your day with your nose in a good book!"
Inklings Bookshop, Yakima, Wash.: "Happy National Book Lovers Day! Here are your local Inklings Book Lovers with some of their favorite books."
Nowhere Bookshop, San Antonio, Tex.: "Happy National Book Lovers Day!! 'Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.' "
Prairie Fox Books, Ottawa, Ill.: "Happy Book Lovers Day! We still have used books left 10 for $1.00... come and grab some great hardcovers and see what changes we are making to our kids section!"
Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, Mo.: "At Skylark every day is book lovers day, but today it's National Book Lovers Day! (Really!!)."
Secondly, I learned that Google seemed to R&Ding an AI conscience of sorts (for 24 hours at least) and celebrated NBLD by sharing "top U.S. trends from Search and Maps for our fellow bibliophiles out there, along with tips to hunt down local bookstores that are worth, well, bookmarking.... So far this year we've seen millions of book-related searches on Google Maps--with searches peaking on July 11 when they were up 111% from the same day in 2020. Beach reads anyone?"
Thus far in 2021, the top five genres on Google Search for "Best... books" are fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, historical fiction and fiction. "Books about..." searches were led by love, life and mental health.
As might be expected, Google's tips on finding great bookstores were, well, Google-centric: "Discover bookstores near you and save to lists for a future visit.... Use the Explore tab on the Google Maps app to search for bookstores near you"; and "Follow others on Google Maps for their recommendations. Show love for local bookstores. Leave reviews, add photos, update hours or other missing details about your favorite book stores so other bookworms can discover and learn about the spots you love."
Google also said that more than 40 states have at least one comic book store among their top 10 searched bookstores, with Florida at the head of the rankings with eight comic book stores in its top 10 most-searched bookstores on Google Maps.
In addition to offering some tips to "track down and support independent bookstores near you," Google noted: "And don't worry, if you're wondering where you are going to store and display your latest novels--you're not alone. In January, search interest for 'bookcase' hit an all time high."
Search Engine Journal dove into the numbers a bit: "Ever ready to respond to a trend, Google hopped on the book-loving bandwagon with some search data and tips that marketers can take advantage of to better their strategies and shoppers can use to find hidden treasure in the form of local bookshops."
Citing the rise in "bookcase" searches ("largely surpassing 'book shelf' "), SEJ wrote: "Not only did Google showcase the types of terms marketers within the publishing or independent bookshop sectors can target as part of their digital advertising efforts, but they also touched upon other online shopping trends related to reading.... This not only helps marketers with allocating their advertising budgets but also when deciding what products to stock in the short and long term.... Optimizing for Google can often be a serious topic, so it's extremely refreshing when Google delivers information in quirky and fun ways."
Ultimately, however, independent booksellers are not a collection of neatly categorized algorithms. So I'll leave the final words of indie NBLD wisdom to Word After Word Books, Truckee, Calif., which recently moved and expanded (during the Covid-19 pandemic, no less!):
"Happy National Book Lovers Day! Today we wanted to show you our booksellers' smiling faces (well, we're smiling behind our masks, we promise) along with some of our favorite books we've read lately! As you would imagine, we are all devoted book lovers and passionately opinionated about the books we read and adore and absorb into our hearts.
"We ship our books across the nation, so you can order a book (or several) from our wordafterwordbooks.com to send to the book lover in your life, near or far. Not only that, but we personally add complimentary gift wrapping and a bookmark to every order we ship. What has been *your* favorite book you've read lately??"