This year’s fourth Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl, an annual celebration of the area’s book scene, took place on Saturday, drawing crowds of enthusiastic readers.

The concept is simple: Participating shops hold events, offer discounts and host authors for book signings. There’s no specific route to follow; most people choose based on location and genre. More than 60 bookstores in the city and suburbs, including at least nine in Northwest Philadelphia, participated.

The specials were limited only by the imagination. They included giveaways, raffles, tarot readings, children’s story times, adult coloring books, a small press and poetry fair, a lesson on how to pitch and sell memoirs, and horror events that included a showing of the classic “Night of the Living Dead.”

In Manayunk, Thrillerdelphia saw long lines extending down the block for its day-long author signings. The shop, owned by Tina and Anthony Long, specializes in horror, thriller and true crime books. Their second store, Cupid’s Bookshop, is a block away and specializes in romance novels. In Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy and Germantown, patrons similarly made the rounds among several local bookstores, from Hilltop, booked. and 50 Watts at the top of the Hill, down Germantown Avenue to Multiverse, Big Blue Marble, Beaucoup Hoodoo and Uncle Bobbie’s, helped in part by the fact that stormy weather held off for most of the day.

Overall, 75% of U.S. adults say they have read all or part of at least one book in the past 12 months, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October 2025. Digital books have grown in popularity but more Americans still read books in print format.