For the fourth year in a row, Auntie’s Bookstore of Spokane participated in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, honoring the store’s owner’s Irish ancestry and giving out candy, 15 percent-off coupons, advanced reading copies and generally enjoying the revelry. “It is crazy, to say the least,” says bookseller Marina Huffaker. “When we make our way to a clump of people they scream, they hold out their hands . . . Children and adults alike shout and beg to get our attention in hopes for a book. They shout ‘We love Auntie’s!’ ‘The book mobile!’ ‘Please, lady GIVE ME A BOOK!’ and ‘I’m an avid reader!’ ”
The store’s “float” is usually a van or a truck filled with reader’s copies. Huffaker says it’s a great use for ARCs that have already been read by booksellers and would normally languish in the store’s basement. “Now they have become treasured items to the city’s parade goers,” she says. “Sure we get a few rare cases of less enthusiastic readers, but the moments that stand out are when children chase us down the block or turn down candy and ask for something to read . . . It’s a great opportunity to advertise and give free books to our community!”