For Independent Bookstore Day, I hit up three bookstores in Bed-Stuy: Gladys Books & Wine, Adanne Bookshop, and BEM Books & More. As part of the Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl, you could collect stamps in your passport at each stop to win prizes. And contrary to popular belief, I did not only need a light jacket on April 25th as it was pouring rain all day and very cold.
Gladys Books & Wine
All three bookstores I visited are Black-owned, but Gladys is also lesbian-owned, so that was cool. By the time I reached the shop, I was soaked and cold from the rain, but I’m a masochist, so I still ordered an iced matcha from the cafe. They also have a bar downstairs, a wide selection of diverse titles across every genre, and merch from Buy Weed From Women, a Black women-owned and operated design & apparel house out of New Jersey.
Adanne Bookshop
The music and vibes at Adanne Bookshop were immaculate. Beyond the hand-curated selection of Black literature, there were tote bags, t-shirts, jewelry, CDs, vinyl, essential oils, and more. They also offer a service called “Craft Corner,” where you can pay $30, choose your craft (they provide the materials), and you can spend the day creating in their workspace. Think jewelry-making, pottery, decoupage, glass painting, loom weaving…the variety is wild.
BEM | Books & More
BEM is the nation’s first Black food bookstore, describing itself as “existing at the intersection of all things Black, culinary, and literary.” They opened their brick-and-mortar store in October 2025 and offer a selection of cookbooks, fiction and nonfiction, poetry, children’s books, and more. They also have a Detroit Jewel retro oven as a display case for books, a cafe, and an adorable sweatshirt tacked to the wall with what looks like honey dripping over buttered biscuits (I don’t know if they sell it, but I regret not leaving the bookstore with it).
In the end, I walked away with copies of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin, two books I’ve been meaning to read for quite some time. All in all, a successful Indie Bookstore Day.
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