Looking for all the best bookish holidays to celebrate in 2024? There are so many exciting book-related holidays you could celebrate throughout the year, and it can be hard to keep track of them. So here is a list of some of the best bookish holidays to add to your calendar this year!
Whether you are wanting to celebrate book-themed holidays on your own or with friends and family, you’ll find all sorts of themed events and author birthdays below perfect for any book celebration. So check them out and start planning how you’ll celebrate books this year!
January
National Braille Literacy Month
Week 2: Letter Writing Week
1: International Public Domain Day
2: National Science Fiction Day; Isaac Asimov Birthday (1920)
3: J.R.R. Tolkien Birthday (1892)
9: National Word Nerd Day; Severus Snape Birthday
16: Book Publishers Day
18: National Thesaurus Day; A.A. Milne Birthday (1882)
19: Edgar Allan Poe Birthday (1809)
22: Lord Byron Birthday (1788)
24: Library Shelfie Day (fourth Wednesday of the month)
25: Virginia Woolf Birthday (1882)
27: Lewis Carroll Birthday (1832)
30: Lily Potter Birthday
February
National Library Lover’s Month
Week 1: Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week
Week 2: Freelance Writers Appreciation Week
1: World Read Aloud Day (first Wednesday of February)
6: Arthur Weasley Birthday
7: Charles Dickens Birthday (1812); Laura Ingalls Wilder Birthday (1867)
8: Jules Verne Birthday (1828)
14: Library Lovers’ Day
20: Clean Out Your Bookcase Day
26: Tell a Fairy Tale Day
March
Week 1: Read an Ebook Week; Return Borrowed Books Week
1: Ron Weasley Birthday (HP)
2: Read Across America Day; Theodor Seuss Geisel Birthday (1902)
4: National Grammar Day
8: National Proofreading Day
11: Douglas Adams Birthday (1952)
14: National Write Your Story Day
16: National Freedom of Information Day
21: World Poetry Day
25: National Tolkien Reading Day
26: Make Up Your Own Holiday Day (make up your own bookish holiday!)
27: James Potter Birthday
April
National Card and Letter Writing Month
National Poetry Month
Week 2: National Library Week
2: Children’s Book Day
4: School Librarian Day
10: Encourage a Young Writer Day
11: National Library Workers Day (Tuesday of National Library Week)
12: National Bookmobile Day; D.E.A.R Drop Everything and Read Day
13: Scrabble Day
16: National Librarian Day
17: International Haiku Poetry Day
23: World Book Day; National Talk Like Shakespeare Day
26: Shakespeare’s Birthday (1564)
27: Tell a Story Day; Independent Bookstore Day (last Saturday in April)
28: National Great Poetry Reading Day; Harper Lee Birthday (1926)
May
National Get Caught Reading Month
Week 2: Reading is Fun Week
2: Harry Potter Day (anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts)
6: Free Comic Book Day (first Saturday of the month)
9: J.M. Barrie Birthday (1860)
12: Limerick Day
13: Daphne de Maurier Birthday (1907)
29: G.K. Chesterton Birthday (1874)
June
National Audiobook Appreciation Month
5: Draco Malfoy Birthday; Rick Riordan Birthday (1964)
11: Ben Jonson Birthday (1572)
13: Dorothy L. Sayers Birthday (1893)
28: Dobby Birthday
July
11: E. B. White Birthday (1899)
21: Ernest Hemingway Birthday (1899)
24: Alexandre Dumas Birthday (1802)
28: Beatrix Potter Birthday (1866)
30: Paperback Book Day
31: Harry Potter Birthday; J.K. Rowling Birthday (1965)
August
2: National Coloring Book Day
9: Book Lover’s Day
11: Ginny Weasley Birthday
18: Bad Poetry Day
20: H.P. Lovecraft Birthday (1890)
21: National Poets Day
30: Mary Wolstonecraft Shelley Birthday (1797); Frankenstein Day
September
National Library Card Signup Month
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month
6: National Read a Book Day
8: International Literacy Day
13: Roald Dahl Birthday (1916)
19: Hermione Granger Birthday
22: Hobbit Day
24: National Punctuation Day
25: National Comic Book Day
October
National Book Month
National Reading Group Month
National Cookbook Month
Week 1: Banned Books Week; Mystery Series Week
Week 3: Friends of Libraries Week
6: Mad Hatter Day
16: Dictionary Day
27: National Tell a Story Day (UK)
30: Molly Weasley Birthday
November
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
National Family Literacy Month
Picture Book Month
National Non Fiction November (UK)
Week 2: National Young Readers Week; National Book Award Week
1: National Author’s Day; National Family Literacy Day
3: Sirius Black Birthday
4: Book Lovers Day (first Saturday of the month)
8: Bram Stoker Birthday (1847)
10: Neil Gaiman Birthday (1960)
18: High Five a Librarian Day
December
Read a New Book Month
6: Rubeus Hagrid Birthday
7: Letter Writing Day
10: Dewey Decimal System Day
16: Jane Austen Birthday (1775)
24: Jólabókaflóðið (purchasing/gifting books for Christmas Eve)
Have more book holidays or literary holidays you think should be on this list? Leave a comment below!