A celebration of indie bookshopping, the literary spirit, and keeping local Austin alive.

There will always be books — but will there always be bookstores? In a time where Amazon is the largest bookseller in the world, controlling more than 50 percent of the overall print book market and contributing to the alarming growth of AI scam books, it’s hard not to feel like there’s a loss of the literary spirit in today’s book world.

Enter: indie bookstores.

Each one a little different, local indies are literary guides ready to introduce you to everything from small presses and limited-print titles to hand-picked selections across your favorite genres – you name it. They’re hosting Dungeons & Dragons tabletop nights, ice cream party book readings, and your favorite author on tour. They know your name and/or your coffee order, and they’ve always got the best suggestion for what you should read next.

Let’s keep indie bookshopping alive. Whether you’ve loved bookstores your whole life or you’re just now entering your reading era, join us for our annual celebration of literary institutions here in Austin, Texas.

Explore the 2025 trail here.

We launched the Book Trail in April 2024.

Before us, there was the ATX Bookstore Crawl, created by a few booksellers at BookPeople in 2017. The crawl ran until 2019 and followed a similar format of bookstore list, raffle prizes, and closing afterparty.

With these starting blocks, we developed the Book Trail with these ideas in mind:

Connecting with Community

It’s the little moments that we love, like bumping into someone you haven’t seen in a while at the local book launch. Our hope is you’ll find these moments throughout the trail, whether you connect with old friends or meet someone new.

Showing Up As Support

Show up to the places you want to see stick around — it’s really that simple. Even if you don’t buy anything on Trail Day, showing your support through social shares, Google reviews, or sending the link to that big group chat you’re in, are all great ways to ensure that the indies you like will outlive the chain store popping up down the block.

Discovering New, Cherishing Old

One of the most common things we heard from our first year of the Book Trail was: “I had no idea there were so many bookstores in town!” This is the real heart of the project — introducing you to new spots that might become your new favorites.

Of course, we can’t forget about the classics. The bookstores that have been around for decades need just as much support as the new kids on the block, and the trail’s a good reminder of that.

If you’d like to support the Book Trail in 2025, send us an email at austintexasbooktrail@gmail.com.

In the Press

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In the Press 🗞️

Join us on the trail.

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