On Saturday, April 25 indepedent bookstores across the country will celebrate Indie Bookstore Day with author visits, activities and a general reminder that local bookshops are making a comeback in the United States.

I will be participating in the Ink & Imprint Books event in Lincoln with our book Prairie Flyers of Central Illinois: A Century of Aviation in America’s Heartland. If you have never visited Ink & Imprint Books located at 125 North Kickapoo Street just off the downtown square, you’ve missed a terrific shop filled with a diverse selection of new and used books. The shop is owned by Julie Bates, an associate professor of English at Millikin University and a freelance editor and writer.

The weekend observation of locally-owned book shops will be shared with 1,600 others across the country. The trend to open bookstores in communities has seen a resurgence in recent years, with about 3,218 independently owned stores currently in the Unites States. More than 420 opened in 2025.

If you are looking for something fun to fill your Saturday, I will be at the Ink & Imprint at 1:30p.m. to sign copies of our book and chat with readers. The collection of stories I co-authored with Denis Hambucken and the late John Warner, includes well-known aviators from the DeWitt and Logan County area.

Indie Bookstore Day calls for a celebration of shops that keep books on the shelves for their local readers!