San Diego Book Crawl
Here’s how I spent Independent Bookstore Day this year: roaming San Diego on a full-blown book crawl, buying things I absolutely didn’t plan to buy, and having the best time doing it.
Specifically, the 2026 San Diego Book Crawl—aka a weekend-long excuse to wander from indie bookstore to indie bookstore collecting stamps, discovering new favorites, and fully abandoning any illusion of self-control.
Fifteen stores were on the crawl.
We hit six.
And honestly? Perfect.
Keri and Jen at Mysterious Galaxy
My friend Keri happened to be in town, so we tackled it together—and I highly recommend a book crawl buddy. You need someone to say “you don’t need that” while actively encouraging you to buy it anyway. It’s a delicate ecosystem.
To earn a stamp, you had to spend $10 at each store, which meant I made some very strategic choices. Yes, I picked up a couple of magazines and a book. But also: if you’re in the market for stickers, bookmarks, or any kind of bookish chaos item, I am now wildly overqualified to help. How many “read queer” items does one chaos bi need, I ask you!
Our six stops:
Every single one had incredible energy. I’m not kidding—the people working the registers were in fantastic moods. Friendly, chatty, clearly loving what they do. There’s something kind of magical about being surrounded by people who care that much about books.
We paused once for boba (essential, non-negotiable), and otherwise kept the day gloriously unstructured. No rigid plan, no racing a checklist. Just wandering, browsing, buying, repeat.
Which is how we ended up at my favorite moment of the day.
We pulled up to Libélula Books & Co. in Barrio Logan and accidentally walked straight into a full-on street fiesta—music, incredible cars, people everywhere. The shop was packed, the whole neighborhood buzzing. I found a 15-minute parking spot like it was the last one on earth but I would’ve stayed all day if I could.
That’s the magic of this kind of day. You go for the books—and you end up with an experience.
We wrapped things up in Coronado with dinner at a pub, comparing our hauls like the absolute nerds we are.
Also: shoutout to the woman we met at La Playa Books who was on stop 14 of 15 in one day. I respect it. I will not be doing it. Couldn’t be me.
Give me a little breathing room, a sugar break, and the freedom to wander into something unexpected any day.
Because that’s the real point, isn’t it? Not just buying books—but finding stories you didn’t know you were looking for.
