Wondering how to celebrate National Book Lovers Day? This fun bookish holiday falls on August 9th every year, and is the perfect day to do all the bookish things you love. Need ideas of what to do? Here are 21 exciting ways to celebrate National Book Lovers Day this year!
1. Visit Your Favorite Bookstore
One of the best ways to celebrate National Book Lovers Day is by visiting your favorite bookstore! This is a fun outing for a bookish holiday like this, and even better if you have some fun indie bookstores near you. There’s never been a better time to support your local bookshops!
2. Buy A Book For Yourself
Another fantastic option for celebrating Book Lovers Day is to simply buy a book (or two or three) for yourself…or for friends! Celebrate the day by indulging in that book you’ve had your eye on for a while, or spread the love of reading by gifting books to family or friends this National Book Lovers Day!
3. Reread an Old Favorite Book
When you’re wondering how to celebrate National Book Lovers Day, you also can’t go wrong with spending some time reading an old favorite book. The books we’ve read and loved really are like old friends, so this can be a fun and comforting way to celebrate this fun bookish holiday!
4. Read a New Book
Of course, you could also pick up a new book to read for National Book Lovers Day as well! Cozying up with a new book is a great way to celebrate your love of books, and is both exciting and relaxing!
5. Visit Your Local Library
Another bookish excursion you could go on for National Book Lovers Day is to visit your local library. And you can pick up some books to read for free while you’re there!
Plus, if you don’t yet have a library card (gasp!), today is the perfect day to sign up! It’s free!!
6. Attend an Event for National Book Lovers Day
If you’re looking for community-based ways to celebrate National Book Lovers Day, then you should definitely look into attending a bookish event!
Authors, publishers, libraries, and bookshops are all likely to have events on or around National Book Lovers Day. Some of these might be in person, and others might be virtual. So check out your local bookshops and libraries to see if they have events coming up, or check in on your favorite authors to see if they’re holding an event online or near you!
7. Wear a Bookish Outfit
While every day is a great day to wear your love for books on your sleeve, National Book Lovers Day is especially a great time to wear a bookish outfit!
You could wear a bookish shirt or shirt from your favorite fandom, book-themed socks, or really any other bookish item you want! It’s the perfect day to show off the books you love!
8. Dress Up Like Your Favorite Literary Character
Want to take the dressing up for Book Lovers Day to another level? Consider dressing up like your favorite literary character!
You can either go all out by wearing an actual literary costume, or you can go the more subtle route by using clothes you already own to give the suggestion of a literary character. Either way, this is sure to be a fun way to celebrate National Book Lovers Day
9. Visit a Literary Site
Feeling adventurous? This National Book Lovers Day, you could try visiting a literary site!
There are tons of different literary sites to choose from, and it’s likely there’s at least one or two near you…though you could also plan a vacation if you want 😉
Basically, this is a real-life book place that could be an author’s home, a place an author visited and wrote about, or places mentioned in your favorite books. Think Bath, England for Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway’s house in Florida, or even somewhere like Forks, Washington for Twilight fans.
Check out what authors and book locations are near you, and take the time to visit them this Book Lovers Day!
10. Start a Bookstagram or BookTok
Have you joined the Bookstagram or BookTok worlds yet? If not, National Book Lovers Day is the perfect time to join bookish social media!
Bookstagram is the book side of Instagram where people share books they’re reading, reviews, and everything bookish, and BookTok is similar but for TikTok instead. Join one or both, and start connecting with other book lovers today!
11. Write a Book Review
Another fun way to celebrate National Book Lovers Day is to write a book review.
Have a book you loved and want to share with the world? A book review is the perfect way to do that! You can then share it on your new Bookstagram account as well 😉
12. Celebrate Your Favorite Author/Book
Something else you might find enjoyable to do to celebrate National Book Lovers Day would be to celebrate your favorite author or favorite book, by sending reader fan mail to the author or something of the like.
This might also look like taking a picture of one of their books and tagging them on Instagram, or writing a nice message on socials as well. Any fun (and not creepy!) ways of letting them know you love their writing is sure to make your day and their day as well!
13. Watch a Movie Adaption
Watching movie adaptions of your favorite books is also an exciting way to celebrate National Book Lovers Day!
Of course, we all know the book is better than the movie…but it’s still super fun to eat popcorn and watch some of your favorite books come to life on the screen!
14. Make a Bookish Craft
Another fun hands-on way to celebrate National Book Lovers Day is to make a bookish craft.
This could look like making your own bookmarks (you could create your own designs on these blank wooden bookmarks, or create bookmarks out of paper like with this origami butterfly bookmark tutorial). It could also look like creating bookish embroidery, making a Book Nook for your shelves, or any number of other things! The sky’s the limit!
15. Make Literary Food
Something else I love doing for bookish holidays like National Book Lovers Day is to make literary food.
Ever read a book and see mentions of food that sounds delicious? Well, today’s the day to make it in real life! There are lots of recipes for various foods mentioned in books online, but you can also get literary cookbooks that offer curated recipes for book lovers from various books. You’ll find everything from foods mentioned in Anne of Green Gables, to foods from Dr. Seuss, to Harry Potter dishes, and so much more!
16. Give Yourself a Bookish Gift
National Book Lovers Day is also the perfect day to treat yourself to a fun little bookish gift!
From bookmarks, to enamel pins, to stickers, and so much more, there are so many fun bookish gifts. You can find the bookish items I make and sell here, but also check out these gifts for book lovers and all of these curated gift guides for book lovers who love specific books and authors.
17. Host Your Own Book Club
Looking for another way to celebrate National Book Lovers Day with friends? Consider hosting your own book club for this bookish holiday!
Book clubs are so much fun throughout the year, but holding a book discussion on Book Lovers Day is especially exciting! Get your friends to read a book with you, and then come together to discuss it while eating fun snacks. What could be better?
18. Buy an E-reader
Another treat yourself option for Book Lovers Day? Buy yourself an e-reader!
While I love reading physical books and that’s often my go-to method of reading, getting a Kindle changed my life. It’s so compact and means I can carry lots of books with me wherever I go, which is especially great as a book lover who frequently travels. The Kindle Paperwhite is the one I have and recommend, so if you’re looking to treat yourself this bookish holiday this is the way to go!
19. Get a New Bookshelf
Another fun way to celebrate? Get yourself a new bookshelf for National Book Lovers Day! After all, you’re going to need somewhere to store all the new books you’ll get over the next year…
20. Organize Your Bookshelves
A more practical way to celebrate National Book Lovers Day would be to spend some time getting your book collection in order by organizing your bookshelves.
You can organize just a shelf or two, or go all out and organize your whole collection. Or even join the 14-day book organization challenge for a whole book library refresh! Whatever way you go, organizing your bookshelves will not be time wasted this Book Lovers Day.
21. Donate Your Old Books
Have books you no longer want? Consider donating them for this bookish holiday!
While it’s hard to say goodbye to old book friends, perhaps you have duplicates or you have books you know you won’t ever read again. In cases like these, wouldn’t it be nice to pass the books along so someone else can enjoy and cherish them?
There are lots of different places you can donate books, so if you want to share the love of reading and pass some books along to someone else to enjoy, then be sure to check the list out and donate this National Book Lovers Day!