If your weekend is booked (pun intended) this weekday itinerary is your guide to crawling your way through all participating Lakeland Bookstores! We've done the math on store hours, highlighted bookstore days, and distance between locations, so all you have to do is grab an extra book tote and use this itinerary as your cheat sheet. If you choose a different route, we encourage you to check the social media or website page for each Lakeland Bookstore to ensure you'll have plenty of browsing and shopping time.

Monday:  Kick off your customized book crawl year at Bookends, today's featured Lakeland Bookstore, where Connie has shelves of over 100,000 books for you to browse (and buy, of course) your morning away. With the money you'll save from the stores' event discount, drop in one of the north Lakeland restaurants for lunch then drive only 6 miles to The Unbound Bookery. Prepare to be awed at Sandi's beautiful book collection and reminisce through the classics you'll just have to take home. Don't forget to peek into the clothing and gift collections of The Bungalow Boutique, where The Unbound Bookery is located.

Wednesday: Start your morning early with coffee and pastries at Pressed Coffee and Books, the one-stop bookshop for breakfast AND books! Even better – you'll receive a free coffee with the purchase of a new book since Pressed is today's featured Lakeland Bookstore. If you have little ones, plan to hang around for morning storytime. Your mind and body will be fueled to walk a couple of blocks to Inklings Book Shoppe to inquire about Finley's trade credit program while you're at the checkout counter.

Thursday or Friday: Today is the day to discover Lakeland's newest bookstore, as you start at BookaReaderville! As Lakeland's largest used bookstore, make sure you don't get lost roaming each genre room because you'll still want time to crawl close by to another Thursday featured Lakeland Bookstore, Crash Bookshop. This pop-up shop will get your creative juices flowing as you discover Brooklyn's unique book selections. After a brainstorming lunch session (there are several restaurants close by), end your book crawl afternoon with Friday's featured Lakeland Bookstore, Little Bus Books mobile bookshop on wheels AND storefront. Sharing a space with The Nectary, a native Florida plant nursery, you'll have double the shopping opportunity!

If your week was packed with adulting and you're ready to get your bookish weekend started then is your guide to crawling your way through all participating Lakeland Bookstores! We've done the math on store hours, highlighted bookstore days, and distance between locations, so all you have to do is grab an extra book tote and use this itinerary as your cheat sheet. If you choose a different route, we encourage you to check out the social media or website page for each Lakeland Bookstore to ensure you'll have plenty of browsing and shopping time.

Thursday: Start your customized book crawl small, but mighty, with your first stop at Crash Bookshop! Stock up on books that will give you the bright ideas your creative mind has been searching for then crawl over to our newest book crawl participants, BookaReaderville. You'll have plenty of time to roam the genre rooms even if it's a work day because you'll enjoy both featured Lakeland Bookstores extended hours.

Friday: Now that you have your brain focused on books, start your day browsing the many rooms at Inklings Book Shoppe. No matter the genre, Finley has you covered with overflowing shelves of favorites, from classics to fantasy and anything in between. But, of course, unlike yesterday, your day's book crawl journey doesn't stop there! Heading east from downtown, circle Lake Mirror, to Little Bus Books. As today's featured bookstore, get ready for a spin in your bookstore experience, as you'll have the opportunity to shop the storefront AND bookshop on wheels with diverse book selections for all ages.

*Saturday: You're halfway through the Lakeland Book Crawl and it's only the beginning of the weekend! Your first stop today will depend on which part of town you're leaving from. North? Head to Bookends. South? Set your GPS to The Unbound Bookery. Either way, you'll have fun celebrating National Independent Bookstore Day! Did you remember to make a bet with your book bestie to see how many of your purchases you'll have read by now? If you pulled a booklover all-nighter then you'll enjoy an afternoon pick-me-up at Pressed Coffee and Books as you search for a new book to add to your To Be Read pile. Because, after all, your TBR stack is never too tall for Just. One. More. Book (or 2 or 3).....that you'll get at your final 2024 Lakeland Book Crawl stop. If you started at Bookends, head to The Unbound Bookery. If you started at The Unbound Bookery, drive to Bookends. Why do we have you finishing in the opposite direction of where you started? By making another round in front of several of the bookstores, you'll be able to "run in" for that book you wished you'd bought the first time you were there!

If your week was packed with adulting and now you're ready to get your Lakeland Book Crawl party started, then this is your guide to crawling your way through all participating Lakeland Bookstores! We've done the math on store hours, highlighted bookstore days, and distance between locations, so all you have to do is grab an extra book tote and use this itinerary as your cheat sheet. If you choose a different route, we encourage you to check out the social media or website page for each Lakeland Bookstore to ensure you'll have plenty of browsing and shopping time.

Friday:  Slide out of your office chair just in time to make it to Inklings Book Shoppe before closing and check out Finley's new downtown storefront! This means that if you're browsing and buying time tonight is cut short, you'll be close by tomorrow to stop in again. If you've been an Inklings Book Shoppe customers, you'll be feeling a little déjà vu at your next stop to BookaReaderville, the newest Lakeland Bookstore continuing the bookshop tradition on Combee Rd. Your Friday night book crawling continues at Little Bus Books. As today's featured bookstore, you can take advantage of extended hours to meet your book bestie for 3 more shopping opportunities in the Little Bus mobile bookshop, storefront, and bonus store partner The Nectary.

*Saturday: Set your GPS for a city-wide journey across the longest US road in Florida! Leaving from the north end of Lakeland? Head to Bookends. South? Start at Crash Bookshop. Either way, your To Be Read stack will thank you! Once your book tote has become too heavy, give your back a short break en route Hwy 98 to Crash Bookshop (for your northern starters) or Bookends (That's you southern starters.) Just when you're starting to feel like the main character in a time travel series, you'll beam yourself back to the center of town to experience book history (aka the Classics) at The Unbound Bookery. Enjoy a little bonus shopping from storefront partner The Bungalow Boutique then spend the finale of your National Independent Bookstore Day celebrating with Pressed Coffee and Books for an afternoon treat and, you guessed it, more books!

If your weekend is booked (pun intended) this weekday itinerary is your guide to crawling your way through all participating Lakeland Bookstores! We've done the math on store hours, highlighted bookstore days, and distance between locations, so all you have to do is grab an extra book tote and use this itinerary as your cheat sheet. If you choose a different route, we encourage you to check out the social media or website page for each Lakeland Bookstore to ensure you'll have plenty of browsing and shopping time.

Thursday: Your first stop today will depend on which part of town you're leaving from. North? Head to Bookends. South? Set your GPS to Crash Bookshop, today's featured Lakeland Bookstore. Either way, you'll kickstart your 2024 Lakeland Book Crawl with a plethora of reading materials to choose from! Hwy 98 will serve as your guide to finding the shiny vintage "Little Bus" at your mid-morning stop, Little Bus Books. Save a little time for sprucing up your favorite outdoor reading space with a native Florida plant from storefront partner, The Nectary then continue to fill your reading nook with festive finds at Lakeland's newest bookstore, BookaReaderville.  By lunchtime, you'll be ready to head to Dixieland for a quick stop at one of Lakeland's many local restaurants before entering the welcoming, cozy shops of The Unbound Bookery and store partner, The Bungalow Boutique. When you've found the perfect outfit to match your favorite book classic, make your way a few miles to the shelves of either Pressed Books and Coffee or Inklings Book Shoppe. These bookstores are within walking distance of each other, so let your mood take you.... Need an afternoon treat while you browse the bestsellers? Pressed. Intrigued to check out their newest collection of sci-fi classics (among other genres)? Inklings. It'll be late afternoon by the time you're heading to your last stop, so it's great that your last store has after 5 hours. Was your starting point south? It's time to head north to Bookends Used Books. Northern starter? End your crawl by getting your creativity soaring at today's featured bookstore Crash Bookshop. Wondering why we're sending you in the opposite direction of your starting point? Because we know you'll be thinking of the book you wished you'd bought and will have no excuse to grab it, if early enough when you pass the other bookstores on your way home!

*Saturday:  Friday is not the night to pull a booklover's all-nighter because you'll want to get an early start on National Independent Bookstore Day celebrations! Whether you're a morning person or a night owl, you'll enjoy kick-starting your crawl with caffeine and sweets while you browse the bestsellers at Pressed Coffee and Books. This boost will give you the energy to walk a couple of blocks and explore the eclectic shelves of Inklings Book Shoppe. Once you've got your book selection confidence going, get mobile at Little Bus Books where you'll have the opportunity to shop the storefront and bookshop on wheels. Reading cover summaries to pick the book you didn't know you needed will prepare you for your next stop at BookaReaderville. Used books fill the festive genre rooms, giving you a boost of energy to keep your crawlin' going at Crash Bookshop, a space for novel ideas (yep, pun intended.) Before continuing your route around the longest US road in Florida, stop to smell the book pages (but definitely don't count the books) and commend yourself for completing more than half of the 2024 Lakeland Book Crawl! You're making Lakeland Bookseller history and The Unbound Bookery, the next bookshop stop, will take you down the road of historic authors. But before you head home to get lost in a book, get lost in the aisles of Bookends, Lakeland's only northside bookstore.