In literature, protagonists (and sometimes a few antagonists) often find themselves on The Hero’s Journey. Setting out on a quest, traveling to distant locations, meeting people and learning things, and then finding a reward or enlightenment at the end.

Oh, and someone usually dies. Like a mentor. Usually has gray hair.

Avid bookworms in Houston and surrounding areas can take a similar trip (without the death) thanks to the Houston Bookstore Crawl 2024. This year, 18 local independent stores are taking part (complete list below).

Readers pick up a Bookstore Bingo Card at any store and get it stamped at each one they. After 10 stores, the card can be turned in for a chance to win donated prizes. Each store stamp after that initial 10 counts as another entry, and a visit to all 18 stores will score the journeyperson 10 entries.

The Crawl is going on until April 30, and is timed to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day on April 27.

The pre-history of the Crawl began in 2017 when Murder by the Book put together READ Houston, an online resource for bookstore events in town. During the pandemic, it blew up with the many virtual events local stores were having to keep customers engaged. In 2022, Blue Willow Bookshop put out an Instagram map with the locations of many indie stores as a guide.

Houston-area bookstore owners and managers began to see similar crawls in other cities. And after a lot of cross discussion among CLASS Bookstore Owner Dara Landry, Brazos Bookstore Manager Randi Null, and Kindred Stories General Manager Chanecka Williams, they decided that H-Town needed one of its own. And this year’s Houston Bookstore Crawl is the most realized edition. Edwin Smalling of Basket Books created the logo.

“Just seeing the expansiveness and all the niche bookstores is so cool. And I go to everybody’s store and send people there if we don’t have something,” Williams says. “The purpose of this Crawl is to promote community and conversations. People are looking for that. You can find things in these stores you haven’t been to before.”

Pundits have been predicting (falsely) the Demise of the Bookstore for years. Whether it was the threat of deep discounts or fast shipping that Amazon could offer, or the proliferation of e-readers that would bury sales of physical copies, or the challenges being faced in a new era of book banning and controversy.

But in one of the few positive developments during the pandemic when people were stuck at home, they took up new or neglected hobbies and pursuits. And reading was a big winner (with apologies to jigsaw puzzle manufacturers and fabric companies).

“There was definitely a lot of panic about that, especially for niche stores. We had to figure out what we could offer that an e-book or online shopping could not, whether that was events or discussion groups,” says John McDougall, Event Coordinator at Murder by the Book.

“It’s one thing to find the big release, but one thing an algorithm can’t give you is a hidden gem, like the first book in a series you hadn’t heard of before. And we stare at our screens all day long. There’s something wonderful about just sitting down quietly and reading for a bit without getting notifications.”

Landry adds that bookstore employees can also give readers recommendations on a more personal level. “And we even know that people have connected with each other and [met] going on the Crawl. They share what they’re reading with each other,” she says.

And Null notes that “Amazon isn’t going to squeal with you when you come back for Book Two in a series and want to talk about the first one you finished in the middle of the night last night. You don’t get that feedback.”

To date, Crawl participants haven’t just come from just Houston and the surrounding areas. “We just had somebody leave from Beaumont!” Null laughs. “They drove in and got seven stores on the Crawl today!”

MacDougall says that one out of town customer called and said while they wouldn’t be able to make it to Houston in April, they requested a PDF of the Crawl Bingo Card to use the next time they visited.

Landry and Williams’ both feel that the Crawl will help to expose Black and multicultural authors and ideas to a wider audience.

“We’re right next to Texas Southern University’s campus, and a lady of a different culture than I came in and said ‘I’ve never been this far back in the Third Ward!’ And I don’t know if she was frightened or excited!” Landry laughs. “But she got to see a part of the city that she might not normally.”

Williams adds that some of her more diehard new followers don’t want to leave the premises – even when the store is closing! “It’s been amazing. And because we focus on Black authors, seeing people open to that is beautiful as well.”

Finally, as to what makes Houston’s indie bookstore scene different from other cities in the Lone Star State, Null says it all comes down to one word: Diversity.

“Our stores reflect our city, and Houston is the most diverse city in the country,” she says “I used to live up in Austin and it was fine…it was great…but it was not Houston,” she says.

“There’s nothing as authentic as Houston, and that’s well reflected in the bookstores here. And a good indie bookstore reflects the community and micro-community that it’s in. You won’t find the same thing anywhere else you go.”

BONUS! BOOK RECOMMENDATONS!
We asked each interviewee to recommend one book to readers that they think they have only in their store.

Dara Landry
They Came Before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima
The non-fiction story of Africans who traveled the seas and traded with Native Americans before the landing of Columbus. It shows that slavery was the interruption of Black history in America, rather than the beginning of it.

John McDougall
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
An older novel that features an 11-year-old girl who has a fondness for poison. Written for adults, it’s also for young readers who want adult novels without adult content. It holds the record for the bestselling title in the store’s history.

Randi Null
For You to See the Stars by Radney Foster
A collection of short stories by the well-known Texas singer-songwriter where each story is inspired by or continues the tale or feel of a song on an accompanying record of the same name.

Chanecka Williams
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
The debut novel by a young Black British author is a love story written in the second person from the man’s perspective. It is one of the store’s best sellers, showcasing Black literature outside of the US.

HOUSTON BOOKSTORE CRAWL 2024
PARTICIPATING STORES BY LOCATION

Humble
The Book Readers Venue – 801 1st St. E.

Katy
Houston Book Warehouse – 17939 Keith Harrow

Memorial
Blue Willow Bookshop – 14532 Memorial

Montrose
Basket Books & Art – 115 Hyde Park

Pearland
Lit Java Coffee & Books – 5018 Broadway

Rice
Brazos Bookstore – 2421 Bissonnet
Murder By the Book – 2342 Bissonnet

Richmond
LIT bookbar – 611 Jackson, Suite B

Spring
Copperfield’s Books – 8220 Louetta, #106

Third Ward
CLASS Bookstore – 3803 Sampson
Gulfcoast Cosmos Comics – 2306 Stuart
Kindred Stories – 2304 Stuard

Tomball
The Book Attic – 1522 FM 2920

Woodland Heights
Kaboom Books – 3116 Houston

Woodlands
Buy the Book – 25162 Grogans Park
Good Books in the Woods – 25915 Oak Ridge
Village Books – 9955 Woodlands Pkwy

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