Seattle Independent Bookstore Day 2019 was the day we broke up with our car. For the uninitiated, Independent Bookstore Day takes place nationwide on the last Saturday in April, and since 2015, Seattle has celebrated with a passport stamp challenge where participants get prizes for visiting some or all of the participating bookstores. We had planned to hit 21 stores and earn 25% off at all of them for the rest of the year – until our beleaguered little Prius broke down on the ferry to Bainbridge Island.
The car had made it to the boat under its own power, but had to be pushed off with what looked like a kind of Zamboni. I (Nora) waited for a tow truck to arrive, as Brian, our dog Arlo, and the rest of our friends took the next ferry back into town to console themselves with brunch.
If there’s one silver lining to being stranded while waiting for a tow truck on Bainbridge Island, it’s that you have plenty of time for reflection. At some point during that multi-hour wait, I decided that I was done. I sold the car a few months later.
We figured our days as Independent Bookstore Day champions were over. But in the wake of the pandemic, the format changed. To reduce crowding, they extended the challenge from one day to ten (and, alas, reduced the prize to one coupon per store). In 2023, we completed the Bookstore Day Passport Challenge once again–this time, entirely on public transit. Brian managed it again in 2024; I just joined for the fun parts.
In 2026, the challenge had grown to 33 stores – but the transit system had grown, too. In spite of light rail disruptions, ghost buses, and my inability to pronounce “Poulsbo” correctly, we were determined to be champions yet again.
Yes, You Can Do the Whole Challenge on Transit
Sound Transit’s blog will tell you that “quite a few participating shops are accessible.” But we’re here to tell you that every single one of these 33 bookstores is ultimately accessible on transit. All you need is an Orca card, OneBusAway, and a borderline unhealthy drive towards completionism.
If that sounds like you, here are a few things to know for next year:
- Saturday service for some Kitsap Transit starts in May. If you wait for the second weekend of the Passport Challenge, you can get connecting bus service from Poulsbo to Kingston, which makes a loop from Bainbridge through Poulsbo, on to Kingston and Edmonds and back to Seattle achievable.
- There will be a few buses (or ferries) that you absolutely cannot miss. If we hadn’t caught the 1:10 trip of the 107 to North Viking Transit Center on May 2nd, we would have gotten to Saltwater Books two or three hours after they closed.
- The fast ferry to Bremerton is only 30 minutes, and on the first Friday of the month (starting in May), it deposits you in the midst of a bustling waterfront night market.
- Hours often matter more than distance. The fact that Fantagraphics stays open till 8 meant that we could use it as an excuse to get Thursday burgers and cocktails in Georgetown instead of trying to shoehorn it into a weekend route.
- Scope out coffee shops and restaurants beforehand. You don’t want to get on the H Line with an empty stomach and a 90 minute journey to the U-District ahead of you. Better to stop at Stevie’s Famous for pizza just to be safe.
Saturday, April 25: Go East, Young Man / Return of the L8
- Walk to Ada’s Technical Books (Capitol Hill)
- Route 11 eastbound to Madison Books (Madison Park)
- 11 westbound to Elliott Bay Book Co. (Capitol Hill)
- 1 Line southbound to Beguiled Books, Arundel Books, andOpen Books: A Poem Emporium (Pioneer Square)
- 510 eastbound to Island Books (Mercer Island)
- 2 Line eastbound to Brick & Mortar Books (Redmond)
- 250 northbound to BookTree (Kirkland)
- 255 southbound to Route 44 northwestbound to The Wise Owl Books and Music (Tangletown in Seattle)
- 44 westbound to Book Larder (Fremont)
- 44 westbound o Secret Garden Books (Ballard)
- 40 eastbound to Charlie’s Queer Books (Fremont)
- 62 southbound to the 8 eastbound to home (Capitol Hill)
On Saturday morning, we head to Ada’s Technical Books for our first stamps and our crucial first cup of coffee. They’re packed, with a line all the way to the back where they actually keep the technical books. Ada’s may be especially busy because they’re closing forever on June 6th, leaving an Ada’s-sized hole in the 15th Avenue East ecosystem and the bookstore community.
While we wait, we chat with the person ahead of us in line. His name is Kevin, and he’s doing the challenge with his partner (who’s browsing the shelves). He tells us about his partner’s book club and gives us a tip about the cheap new paperbacks at the Friends of the Seattle Public Library store.
I ask what bookstores they plan to visit that day. “We were going to figure that over coffee,” he says. “We are mobile, we are using our vehicle today instead of transit, so we do have a bit wider range.”
“We’re just as mobile as you!” I harrumph internally. “We’re going to all the same bookstores that you are!” (I keep this thought to myself so Kevin doesn’t think I’m a huge pill.)
Even if they aren’t more mobile, they can definitely afford to be more spontaneous. Brian has spent weeks poring over Google Maps and Kitsap County Transit schedules to create a plan that gets us to every bookstore before closing.
Two bookstores later, we run into Kevin and his partner again. We’ve both gone from Ada’s to Madison Books to Elliott Bay Book Co., and they seem surprised that we’re keeping pace.
We wish them godspeed and head to Pioneer Square, where we flaneur our way from the light rail station to Beguiled Books, Arundel Books, and Open Books: A Poem Emporium, before a pit stop at Salumi for eggplant parm sandwiches.
After lunch, we catch the 550 to Mercer Island, and get shooed out of Island Books by the bookseller when she learns that we’re in danger of missing our transfer.
On the 2 Line platform, Brian spots another pair of bookstore-goers – the book-shaped earrings one of them is wearing tips him off.
Aaron and Katy are collecting stamps on transit because neither of them drives. “For some reason, they don’t want to give a driver’s license to a legally blind guy,” Aaron laughs – and Katy tells us she can’t afford a car. “I can get almost anywhere I need to on transit,” Katy adds. The conversation turns to what we’re reading, and Aaron recommends the audiobook of Mel Brooks’ memoir, narrated by the man himself.
We knew from our previous run that you could get to every stop on transit, but the 2 Line from Island Books to Brick & Mortar Books shaves nearly an hour off of this leg of the trip. That gives us time to browse and talk to Shay Shortt, Brick & Mortar’s school events manager, who tells us how much of an impact the 2 Line has made on their business.
Next, we bus from BookTree in Kirkland to The Wise Owl Books and Music in Tangletown; we learn from Christina Gilbreath, the owner, that it only takes one well-placed burger joint to get people to walk into your store. A lot of their business comes from foot traffic, but “for a long time people didn’t know we were here.” Once Lil Woody’s opened a location down the street, more people started walking by and coming inside to browse their hand-curated vintage sci-fi.
From here, we continue our Tour de 44 from Wallingford to North Fremont, then Ballard, and then Fremont-proper via the 40. After collecting our last stamp from Charlie’s Queer Books, we toast ourselves (and King County Metro) on how smoothly things have gone so far.
Unfortunately, saying this out loud brings down a curse from the transit gods, and we see the 8 pull away as we disembark at Dexter and Denny. We spend the next 45 minutes monitoring OneBusAway and slowly losing our will to live as the next 8, caught in post-Kraken game traffic, falls further and further behind schedule.
Ultimately, the four-mile trip home from Fremont to Capitol Hill takes 1 hour and 20 minutes. (That’s about how long it later takes us to get from downtown Poulsbo to Kingston, a 10-mile jaunt on the Kitsap Peninsula.)
Sunday, April 26: You’re About to Walk by a Bookstore
- 2 Line southbound to RapidRide C southeastbound to Paper Boat Booksellers (West Seattle)
- RapidRide C westbound to RapidRide H southbound to Page 2 Books (Burien)
- Walk to Three Trees Books (Burien)
- RapidRide H northbound to 2 Line northbound to Nook & Cranny Books (University Heights)
- Walk to Third Place Books Ravenna
- 62 eastbound to 65 northbound to Lovestruck in Seattle (Wedgewood)
- 65 northbound to 1 Line northbound to Ridgecrest Books (Shoreline)
Between West Seattle and Burien, day two starts off with more transfers than bookstores. God bless the H Line, but you do get a lot of reading done on it. At Page 2 Books, two employees tell us that Independent Bookstore Day is one of the biggest sales days of the year – comparable to the Christmas season. We hear the same thing from nearly every bookseller we talk to.
We’re especially excited to visit Nook & Cranny Books, because it used to be in our neighborhood on Capitol Hill, on 15th Avenue E. After losing their lease, the store moved to its new location in University Heights. Maren Comendant, the owner, spills a small amount of tea: she’s been pushing for an all-transit version of the Passport Challenge. She couldn’t get the rest of the steering committee on board this year, but next year she plans to try again.
We ask how things are going with the new location. The lack of foot traffic has been a problem, she says: “My sales are down like 60% from Capitol Hill.” Echoing what we heard at The Wise Owl, she tells us that the neighborhood needs more food and beverage options to bring people in–especially with Herkimer Coffee closing at 2 PM. With the right anchor and fewer empty storefronts, she thinks the neighborhood could be a destination like their old location.
On our way out, we walk past the same sandwich board we used to see on Capitol Hill: “HEY! You’re about to walk by a BOOKSTORE. Are you OK?” It’s a good sales pitch – they just need somebody to actually walk by the bookstore.
By the time we’ve gotten our stamps at Third Place Books, Lovestruck in Seattle, and Ridgecrest Books, we’re feeling the siren song of the couch. Luckily, it’s a straight shot on the train from Shoreline to Capitol Hill.
Thursday, April 30: Read Comix & Be a Nuisance
- 2 Line southbound (accidentally) to 1 Line southbound to the 60 southbound to Fantagraphics (Georgetown)
Fantagraphics is a giant of comics publishing, and their Georgetown digs (attached to a record store) are packed with the weird and wonderful alternative comics they’ve published over the years. Plus, for more mainstream tastes, the complete Peanuts. We opted to make this a weekday trip partially because their hours read less like a bookstore’s and more like a brewery’s – they’re open 11:30am to 8pm most days.
I talk with Larry Reid, the manager and curator, about the challenges of running a business in a neighborhood with relatively few residents. “In order to make it a viable business district,” he says, “we need to attract destination visitors.” Transit is a huge piece of that, and Larry tells us that he spearheaded the advocacy effort that brought 107 service to Georgetown after Route 106 was rerouted out of the neighborhood. His advice for other transit advocates? “Don’t be afraid to make a nuisance of yourself.”
Friday, May 1: Anchors, Aweigh!
- 1 Line southbound to Bremerton Fast Ferry westbound to Ballast Book Co. (Bremerton)
With a car in tow, getting from Seattle to Bremerton is an ordeal. Without one, it’s a cool 30 minutes on the fast ferry from Pioneer Square.
We spend our annual evening in Bremerton reminding ourselves that Ballast Book Co. is a great neighborhood bookstore (with some fun Spanish-language finds) and strolling the waterfront night market. We never would have realized that this neighborhood was accessible to us without the Passport Challenge.
Saturday, May 2: Viking Vibes / A Puzzling Encounter
- 1 Line southbound to Seattle–Bainbridge Island Ferry westbound to Eagle Harbor Book Co. (Bainbridge Island)
- 390 northwestbound to Liberty Bay Books (Poulsbo)
- Walk to Away With Words (Poulsbo)
- 344 westbound to 307 eastbound to Saltwater Bookshop (Kingston)
- Kingston–Edmonds Ferry eastbound to East West Books & Gifts (Edmonds)
- Walk to Edmonds Bookshop (Edmonds)
- 102 westbound to 2 Line southbound to home (Capitol Hill)
On Saturday, we return to the high seas. The 1 Line takes us to Pioneer Square, where we grab coffee at the Cafe Vita in Smith Tower before we hop on the ferry. We spend half an hour on deck, admiring the Sound, the Olympics, and the other ferries going in the opposite direction, before docking on Bainbridge Island.
Our visit to Eagle Harbor Book Co. is relatively short. We have to catch the 390 to Poulsbo, a town whose Scandinavian pride puts Ballard to shame. From there, we take the 307 to (no joke) the North Viking Transit Center. The one other person at the bus stop is, by this point, a familiar face–we also saw her on the 390 from Bainbridge Island and the night before in Bremerton. When she also gets on the 307 to Kingston, we finally overcome our natural aversion to interacting with other humans enough to nod and wave, and she confirms what we’ve already started to suspect: she’s doing Independent Bookstore Day on transit too.
Our fellow traveler’s name is Melinda, and she’s the only other person we meet who’s attempting to visit all 33 bookstores on transit. (Katy and Aaron were only aiming for the ones Katy hadn’t hit last year.) She’s just moved to West Seattle from the East Coast, and is using the Passport Challenge as an opportunity to see new neighborhoods. Her main interest is puzzles, not books, so she’s scoping out every bookstore’s puzzle selection. Everything, she tells us, takes an hour to get to from West Seattle.
The Viking vibes in Poulsbo are real. (Nora Sandler)
In Kingston, the bus drops us off at the Arco station across from Saltwater Bookshop. We have a soft spot for Saltwater, which we visited the very first day they opened: Independent Bookstore Day 2023. We’d shown up more than half an hour after they closed, but the owners noticed us jogging despondently across the parking lot as they loaded up their car and graciously stamped our cards anyway.
This year’s visit goes more smoothly. I chat with Patrick, the bookseller, who says that they’re primarily a neighborhood bookstore for people in Kingston who previously would have had to go to Poulsbo or Bainbridge to visit a bookstore. But they’re also a bit of a destination for people who want to take a quick ferry ride from downtown Edmonds.
On the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds, we run into Melinda again; she’s found a 500-piece puzzle in progress on a table on the passenger deck, and is intent on finishing as much of it as she can on the 30-minute voyage.
In Edmonds, we head towards East West Books & Gifts, a metaphysical bookstore whose sandwich board is advertising their Mother’s Day Crystal Show. Inside, the bookseller who stamps our card offers Arlo a dog treat and makes a fuss over him.
Where East West is very specialized, Edmonds Bookshop is a classic neighborhood bookstore – not huge, but large enough to lose yourself browsing in.
We grab dinner in Edmonds and eavesdrop on the first date unfolding at the table next to us before taking the train home.
Strong album cover vibes at the North Viking Transit Center. (Left, Brian Hoey, right: Nora Sandler)
Sunday, May 3rd: The 5 Vanishes / Victory!
- 8 westbound to 13 northbound to Queen Anne Book Company
- 13 southbound to Left Bank Books Collective (Pike Place Market)
- 24 northwestbound to Magnolia’s Bookshop
- 24 northbound to:
- Bopping around Ballard (via the locks) to 44 eastbound (Brian)
- eventually looping back down to Belltown for Spanish conversation practice, then RapidRide E northbound (Nora) to Phinney Books
- Walk to The Couth Buzzard (Greenwood)
- Victory!
The final day is nasty, brutish, and short. We only have five stamps to acquire, but we’re routing around Magnolia’s Bookstore opening at noon, my Spanish conversation club in Belltown at 1:30, and Phinney Books closing at 5pm.
We make it to Queen Anne Book Co. (which has a lovely translated books section), Left Bank Books Collective, and Magnolia’s Bookstore without ever taking our eyes off of Google Maps and OneBusAway. (At this point in the article, we would say more about our route to Magnolia, but Brian is still too traumatized by the tight transfers and low frequencies to revisit it.)
After my Spanish meetup, we have more than enough time to get to Phinney Books before they close at 5pm – that is, if the 5 would deign to show up. Brian has to walk from North Fremont up to Phinney Ridge, and I sweat it out in Belltown as one bus after another appears on OneBusAway and then vanishes like a city rat into a hedge.
Eventually, the RapidRide E shows up and whisks me up north. We have a cool 15 minutes to spare at Phinney Books before they close, which is enough time to get stamps and Lisa Robertson’s latest novel, Riverwork.
Eat your heart out Dewey Decimal System (at Phinney Books). (Nora Sandler)
This was the stressful part. Now we can relax. All we have to do is mosey about nine blocks north, get our final stamps from The Couth Buzzard, and declare victory.
When we make it to The Couth Buzzard, we’re greeted by a fundamentally quite reasonable question about the dog: “Is he a service animal?”
We had forgotten that they’re also a cafe. We get our stamps, hand in our passports, and scram. It wasn’t quite the hero’s welcome we’d imagined–but we’ve done it. We are Independent Bookstore Day champions.
Walking away, we return to Maren’s idea of a transit-only challenge. One possibility she’d floated was that transit riders could visit, say, 17 bookstores and get a smaller prize.
But ultimately, we have to admit that we preferred being “forced” to visit all 33. Doing the challenge on transit takes more time and planning, but it brings its own kind of freedom. We didn’t have to look for parking in Pioneer Square, we weren’t forced to keep our eyes on the road as we crossed Lake Washington, and we could show up minutes before a ferry departure, get on with no stress, and stare at the Sound long after the car passengers had been summoned below deck.
If they do a transit challenge in future years, we might advocate for a longer time window or a larger prize for transit riders, but we’d hate to set transit riders a smaller challenge. Transit riders don’t live in a smaller world.
We wouldn’t say no to a special, transit-only Independent Bookstore Day trophy, though.
