Arts and Culture

Celebrate Indie Bookstore Day with these Minnesota favorites

Anne Bouta reads with her granddaughters.
Anne Bouta reads with her grandaughters, Audrey, left, and Ines Majica, center, inside the Wild Rumpus Bookstore in Minneapolis on April 14.
Evan Frost | MPR News 2017

Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day and we have dozens of ways to celebrate. We asked MPR News readers to share their favorite bookstore in the state and got a wide range of answers.

Readers’ top 5:

  1. Black Garnet Books, St. Paul

  2. Wild Rumpus, Minneapolis

  3. Content Books, Northfield, Minn.

  4. Drury Lane Books, Grand Marais, Minn.

  5. Birchbark Books & Native Arts, Minneapolis

Make sure to get out and support all Independent Bookstores on Saturday — and everyday! Here are other reader recommendations.

Subtext Books, St. Paul

  • Location: 6 West 5th St.

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

  • Exclusive merch and discounts

Fair Trade Books, Red Wing, Minn.

  • Location: 320 Bush St. #2526

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  • Music and giveaways

Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis

  • Location: 3038 Hennepin Ave.

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Buffalo Books and Coffee, Buffalo, Minn.

  • Location: 6 Division St. East

  • Saturday hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  • In-store drawings, giveaways and author visit

Eat My Words Bookstore, Minneapolis

  • Location: 214 13th Ave. NE

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m

Zenith Bookstore, Duluth

  • Location: 318 N. Central Ave.

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

  • Author visits, free hot cocoa and cookies and 10 percent of sales are being donated to the Building for Women in Duluth repairs

    A customer browses at the Zenith Bookstore in Duluth.
    A customer browses at the Zenith Bookstore in Duluth.
    Dan Kraker | MPR News 2019

Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul

  • Location: 891 Grand Ave.

  • Saturday Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

  • Prizes, patio bubbles, chalk drawing, scavenger hunt and author talks

Scout & Morgan Books, Cambridge, Minn.

  • Location: 114 Buchanan St. N

  • Saturday hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

  • All in-stock new and used books are 20 percent off

Silver Lake Books, Rochester, Minn.

  • Location: 111 Broadway Ave. South #100

  • Saturday hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Irreverent Bookworm, Minneapolis

  • Location: 5163 Bloomington Ave. S

  • Saturday hours: 12 - 5p.m.

  • Enter to a win a $50 gift certificate

Cherry Street Books, Alexandria, Minn.

  • Location: 503 Broadway St.

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Boneshaker Books, Minneapolis

  • Location: 20002 23rd Ave. S

  • Saturday hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  • 10 percent storewide discount

Moon Palace Books, Minneapolis

  • Location: 3032 Minnehaha Ave.

  • Saturday hours: 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

  • Giving out free advance reader copies

  • Masks required for all guests

    Moon Palace Books
    Moon Palace Books.
    Courtesy photo

Excelsior Bay Books, Excelsior, Minn.

  • Location: 36 Water St.

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

  • Author visits

Book House, Minneapolis

  • Location: 1316 4th St. SE #201

  • Saturday hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Garden Party Books, Rochester, Minn.

  • Location: 602 7th St. NW

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cream and Amber, Hopkins, Minn.

  • Location: 1605 Mainstreet

  • Saturday hours: 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

  • All staff picks will be 15 percent off in-store and online

Books Revisited, St. Cloud, Minn.

  • Location: 607 W. St. Germain

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Avant Garden, Anoka, Minn.

  • Location: 215 E Main St.

  • Saturday hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  • In-store drawing

CatTale’s Books & Gifts, Brainerd, Minn.

  • Location: 609 Laurel St.

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Four Pines Bookstore, Bemidji, Minn.

  • Location: 102 3rd St. NW

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  • All merchandise is 30 percent off, free cookies and bookmarks

Valley Booksellers, Stillwater, Minn.

  • Location: 217 Main Street North

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

  • Freebies, candy and in-store drawings

Next Chapter, St. Paul

  • Location: 38 Snelling Ave. S

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

  • Blackwing pencils, banned book jigsaw puzzles, and IBD 2023 tote bags

Blue Bird Books, Detroit Lakes, Minn.

  • Location: 813 Washington Ave.

  • Saturday hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Did we miss one of your favorites? Email sstroozas@mpr.org

This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.