This past weekend the Ithaca Is Books Festival brought literary whimsy to Ithaca through bookstore events, author readings and a book fair in the Ithaca Commons. The festival has been taking place annually since 2021, but the book fair itself was added in 2024. The fair featured 24 booths and ran from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. It even included an author signing tent where you could meet participating authors.
All of my favorite local bookstores — Autumn Leaves Bookstore, Buffalo Street Books and Odyssey Bookstore — had their own booths. None disappointed; each offered a unique curation of books from their store. From what I remember from visiting these bookstores in person, I thought they each had an artful selection displayed. Most of the other booths featured bookstores and publishers from out of town.
A vendor that caught my eye immediately was an all-fantasy book seller called Divine Realm Books based in Camillus, N.Y. They had an excellent selection of all things fantasy, including books from my favorite author Sarah J. Maas. They also had cute fantasy themed trinkets like earrings, mugs and candles. I thought they were such an engaging booth that played into my specific genre interests.
For those more interested in books with an important message of political meaning, there was PM Press, whose sign said they were “publishing radical materials to educate, entertain, and inspire.” I enjoyed looking through their various offerings, which were mostly nonfiction. They were not a bookstore, but an independent publisher that was promoting their authors. I appreciated the opportunity that the festival provided for me to explore new publishers.
Similar to PM Press, there was Burning Books, a radical bookstore based in Buffalo. They also sold books centering around social justice and sustainability. I picked up a small book about women healers and witchcraft, which was probably one of their lighter reads but so far seems very entertaining.
A unique booth I came across was Duck Prints Press, an independent press focused on printing fanworks and promoting diversity. At first, it was not clear to me what they meant by fanworks. Once I picked up one of their publications, I realized they were essentially fan fiction based on existing characters in popular culture. This struck me as such a niche concept for a book festival’s offering and I am glad I got to learn about them.
Another interesting bookseller was Black Walnut Books from Glen Falls, N.Y. They had an amazing curated collection of books centered around queer, Black and Native American voices and authors. I had a great time looking through their selection and wrote down some titles I had not heard of before. Their mission was inspiring and unlike any I had heard of before.
A very cute booth was All My Friends Books. They offered a very wide selection of blind dates with a book. For those of you unfamiliar with this concept, this is when a book is wrapped so that you cannot see the title before buying. There is usually a description written on the wrapping so that you are not totally in the dark. This was the perfect idea for a book fair like this and there were many other booths with blind dates with a book as well.
One booth featuring a local vendor was Protagonist Books and Coffee, located in Dryden, N.Y. They offered a nice selection of popular books and themed tarot cards. They are also easy to visit as they are only about a 20-minute drive from Collegetown.
The last vendor I visited was Dead Anthems Books and Music pop-up shop based in the Corning region. I loved their gothic theming and great selection of used books. There was also a tent from the Tompkins Public Library where you could sign up for a library card.
Overall, I thought the Ithaca is Books Festival was a fantastic time for a book lover like myself. They had a wide range of options from every genre, and it was a great opportunity to speak with other bibliophiles and connect over our favorite novels. I highly recommend keeping an eye out for the dates of the fair next year if you were not able to attend this year!
Emma Robinson is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a staff writer for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at erobinson@cornellsun.com.
