# Event Details

- **Event Name**: The Secret Life of Bookshops
- **Event Start and End Date**: Tue, 21 Apr, 2026 at 06:30 pm – Tue, 21 Apr, 2026 at 08:30 pm (-04:00)
- **Event Description**: You probably think you know what a bookshop is. A place to buy books. Maybe browse. Maybe linger.

But is that really all?

This Indie Bookshop Day, we're asking the question out loud — and we've brought two of the most thoughtful people writing about bookshops today to help answer it.

Evan Friss is the author of The Bookshop, a New York Times bestseller and Goodreads Choice Award winner in History & Biography — named one of Time's 100 Must-Read Books of 2024. A history of the American bookstore from Benjamin Franklin to Amazon, it argues that bookshops have never just been retail spaces — they've been sites of resistance, community, and cultural life.

Anika Horn is the writer behind 40 Bookshops Under 40, a personal journey through independent bookshops across the country, and beyond. Her project began, fittingly, when she walked into an indie bookshop and found Evan's book.

Together with our host Julia — bookseller, curator, and your local guide to all of this — and with you in the room as the fourth voice, we'll explore what bookshops have been, what they are now, and what they need to become.

Are they businesses or cultural institutions? Are they endangered or evolving? And what do we actually lose when one closes?

Doors open at 6:30. Bring your memories, your questions, and your opinions.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/staunton/the-secret-life-of-bookshops/200029956054218
- **Event Categories**: Art, literary-art
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 0

## Ticket Details


## Event venue details

- **city**: Staunton
- **state**: VA
- **country**: United States
- **location**: Staunton Books and Tea
- **lat**: 38.149356245062
- **long**: -79.071692295279
- **full address**: Staunton Books and Tea, 32 E Beverly St, Staunton, VA 24401-4321, United States

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: The Secret Life of Bookshops
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events10/banners/c8b953b9e687ae391cd4bb2ec92b089623db7d8f5d4ce87913bd05d79fdabebe-rimg-w1200-h1553-dc095f38-gmir?v=1776372497

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is The Secret Life of Bookshops being held?
  - **A:** The Secret Life of Bookshops takes place on Tue, 21 Apr, 2026 at 06:30 pm to Tue, 21 Apr, 2026 at 08:30 pm at Staunton Books and Tea, 32 E Beverly St, Staunton, VA 24401-4321, United States.
- **Q**: Who is organizing The Secret Life of Bookshops?
  - **A:** The Secret Life of Bookshops is organized by Staunton Books and Tea.

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