Local on the 8's

Local on the 8′s

As Daren Wang notes on the Verb blog, the “institutional” Atlanta book world is crumbling – bookstores are closing, then the AJC fired their book editor, eliminated Phil Kloer’s book blog, and now can’t be bothered to update the weekly book calendar because…well, it’s not clear why they can’t fulfill the obligations anymore. Not to fear, the local book community is stepping in to fill the gaps, and by all accounts, the Atlanta scene seems to be doing better than ever. From this point forward, Daren’s calendar is THE place to find out what’s happening in Atlanta.

Here’s a bit of what’s happening this weekend in the ATL:

On Friday, Little Shop of Stories’ bookseller extraordinaire Terra Elan Mcvoy celebrates the release of her new novel Pure at the Little Shop at 7:30. Cupcakes, champagne, and live music. ALL the cool kids will be there. You should, too.

Record Store Day will be celebrated all day long Saturday at Criminal Records – the best record store in the Southeast. (Says me.) There will be plenty of free stuff and live music. Here’s the sched:

11AM – Death on Two Wheels
12PM – Thy Mighty Contract
1PM – Carolina Chocolate Drops
2PM – Mike Farris & the Roseland Rhythm Revue
3PM – Ocha La Rocha
4PM – Noot d’Noot
5PM – Player/Kommander
6PM – Carnivores
7PM – Selmanaires
8PM – Manchester Orchestra
9PM – Judi Chicago

Be there, too.

On Satuday night, writers Jamie Iredell and Blake Butler host a reading series at the Beep Beep Gallery in Midtown. The evening will feature readings by Mark Leidner, Lara Glenum, and Sandy Florian. Download the flier (pdf) so you’ll have all the info at your fingertips.

Sunday you’re free to check out the Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park or check out the Sweetwater 420 Festival in Candler Park.

As author and recent Atlanta visitor Ben Tanzer recently remarked in a blog post: