This is a ticketed event and tickets can be acquired here.

The Book & Cover is overjoyed to welcome author Hanif Abdurraqib back to Chattanooga and the Riverview Ampitheatre to celebrate the paperback publication of There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension.

Join The Book & Cover (and our neighbors!) for a Saturday of fall festival fun.

This is a ticketed event and tickets may be acquired/purchased here.

You're invited to spend Mean Girls day with The Book & Cover and author M.L. Rio who will be in the shop celebrating the publication of her novella Graveyard Shift. M will be in conversation with resident horrorphile bookseller Bennett Burns. The evening promises to be so fun it's scary!

M. L. Rio holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe and a PhD in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her bestselling first novel If We Were Villains has been published in twenty countries and eighteen languages. Graveyard Shift is her first novella.

Advance praise for the Graveyard Shift:

"This place has everything—rats, fungus, thrills, chills, mysteries, hostile incidents—and M.L. Rio deftly weaves it all together into a short, sweet (okay maybe not that sweet) story. A rad, crisp, creepy read."
—Chuck Wendig, bestselling author of Black River Orchard and The Book of Accidents

“Like all M. L. Rio's work, Graveyard Shift is shot through with cool, heavily dosed with ennui, and dense with people-pleasures. Within this tangled skein of complicated characters (ranging from sweetly unhinged to truly problematic), Rio presents a world of nihilistic macabre only to strip it back, painting the gruesome with a softer brush and her singular gift for portraiture.”
—Olivie Blake, bestselling author of Atlas Six

“Graveyard Shift is wonderful - dark, strange and hair-raisingly tense - it spills over with atmosphere, full of flawed, fascinating characters. I raced through it.”
—Catriona Ward, bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street

“[A] satisfying follow-up to If We Were Villains. . . Rio stuffs a plethora of surprises into her concise narrative without skimping on character development. This packs a punch.”
—Publishers Weekly
"Most Anticipated Crime Books of Summer 2024" - CrimeReads

This is a ticketed event, please register/purchase tickets here.

In his debut poetry collection, Greater Ghost, this extraordinary Black Southern poet precisely stitches the sutures of grief and gratitude together over our wounds. These pages move between elegies for private hauntings and public ones, the visceral bereavement of a miscarriage alongside the murder of a family member and the specter of police brutality.

With a profound awareness of literary tradition, Collier enters into the American canon and dialogues with Black Southern noir—a poem like “Beloved,” whose title expresses not only a genuine tenderness in its term of endearment but invokes Morrison, contextualizes this book within the legacy of racial injustice in the U.S., presenting again the prolific losses and disproportionate Black mortality across time, and yet remembers the resilience of love and transformative possibility of self-actualization from inside tragedy.

In addition to his debut collection, Greater Ghost, Collier is also the author of the chapbook The Gleaming of the Blade, the 2021 Editors’ Selection from Bull City Press. His works have appeared in December, Hayden’s Ferry Review, North American Review, The Michigan Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. A 2015 Loft Spoken Word Immersion Fellow, he is also the winner of the 2022 Porch Prize in Poetry and the 2020 ProForma Contest from Grist Journal. More about him and his work can be found at www.christianjcollier.com. Electric Lit did a cover reveal feature on Greater Ghost in May. You can access the article here: https://electricliterature.com/exclusive-cover-reveal-of-greater-ghost-by-christian-collier/.

Collier's work has also earned praise from many authors in the field, including Ruben Quesada, Melissa Studdard, Gabrielle Bates, and many others:

Christian Collier's evocative poetry collection, Greater Ghost, invites readers on a journey that touches upon themes of faith, hope, and the search for meaning. In "Sauna," he describes breath as a temporary beast, “a frightened deer sometimes sprinting / away & out of view" to underscore the transient nature of life and our constant quest for sustenance and survival. With poignant and vivid imagery, Collier captures fleeting moments of happiness and shadows that often lurk behind them. He writes, "Loss is the language living pours between our teeth. / In a way, we are what sits between two broken bones." This body as a vessel underscores the tension between the internal self and external forces. Don’t wait. Dive into a world where every poem is a discovery. Christian Collier's poems are tender and haunting.
—Ruben Quesada

If “the wound remains an open border,” as Christian J. Collier tells us in Greater Ghost, so, too, does the heart. How else could a poet so brilliantly transmute suffering into metaphor, lamentation into beauty, and the ghosts of his dead into an otherworldly wisdom? I could quote line after line after line of astoundingly gorgeous writing, but the thing I really want you to know is that grief has transformed Collier into someone “perforated and new,” someone who through his own openness has become a portal to truth, and I, for one, hope to never miss another word of that truth.
—Melissa Studdard

With ominous insights and images that provoke both horror and awe, Collier explores the vulnerable ecotones where beings encounter and belong to one another, in love and in grief. When I read this book, I feel the boundaries overflow; I feel mourning’s relentless parade and accept its invitation to a tender ongoingness. Greater Ghost is an incredibly moving collection, both nightmarish and beautiful. Here are poems populated by the dead, pulsing with life.
—Gabrielle Bates

Join us for a special story time with children’s book author Christina Soontornvat reading her book Leo’s First Vote! The author's father became a citizen when she was seven and she was excited he could now vote.  It's easy to feel helpless, but this accessible view of the voting process acknowledges that the world's big problems can make you feel small; but your actions matter and have an impact!

Folks from League of Women Voters will also be at the shop helping folks register to vote!

Join us for an afternoon with author Natalie Lloyd as we celebrate the publication of her newest middle grade novel The Witching Wind. Light refreshment and merriment and books!

The Book & Cover is so excited to welcome Aimee Nezhukumatathil, New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders, on her book tour for her new and beautifully illustrated collection of essays about food and memory, Bite by Bite. This highly readable set of essays offers a poignant and reflective look at the ways food connects and defines our world and our experiences, and is sure to be a great read for fans of nonfiction and food writing. This is a ticketed event.

It wouldn’t be an event for essays about food without treats, so expect some tasty treats as well, including bites taken from the pages of the book and a special sip designed by our neighbors at Rosecomb Bar!

Author Aimee Nezhukumatathil will be in conversation with The Book & Cover Co-founder Emily Lilley and Assistant Manager Jewel Thongnopnua. Get your tickets here.

Join The Book & Cover as we celebrate the pub day launch of local author Matthew Hubbard’s charming debut novel, The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge!

Matthew will be joined by author Julian Winters in conversation about the book and the writing process, and will sign copies of the gorgeous novel afterwards.

This engaging YA novel, called a “glitter-dusted revolution of a book” by Becky Alberthall, author of New York Times bestselling novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, is a fantastic queer story full of heart and verve.

Visit this link to RSVP, or simply join us for what promises to be a fun and uplifting time!

Register/purchase tickets here!

The Book & Cover is thrilled to welcome readers and neighbors back for the third annual Ink Drink and Independent Bookstore Day celebration. We invite you to venture with us into a curious realm of literary and community wonder.

There will be events throughout the day, only some of which are ticketed.

7 am - *Reserve a spot* Audiobook Run/Walk starting at the shop

10 am - Storytime Tea Party party with Alice in Wonderland and her friends (children are invited to wear their favorite costume from any story!)

11 am - 1 pm - Free face painting available at the shop with Andrea Zoppo!

12 pm - Poetry Pizza Picnic (join us on the grounds, where you can order lunch from the Pizzeria Cortile truck and enjoy live readings from local poets!)

4 pm - *Reserve a spot* Author Panel at Daily Ration feat. Kevin Wilson, Meredith Garrett, Natalie Lloyd, and Matthew Hubbard

6 pm - *Ticketed* Books & Covers Afterparty

Audiobook Run/Walk

This fun event has become one of our favorites! Whether you’d like to stroll with the walking group or get your heart rate up with the running group, let us know you’ll be joining us. This year the Audiobook Run/Walk is sponsored by our friends at Fastbreak and Libro.fm!

Libro.fm is offering up to 50 free audiobook credits for participants (1 per person), and these will be first come first serve so be sure to sign up so you don’t miss your chance!

All participants will also be entered in a drawing courtesy of our friends at Fast Break for a pair of After Shokz Bone Conduction headphones — if you want to know how great these are, just ask Sarah!

Signup is free. Let us know you’re joining us!

Author Panel

We’re so excited to gather some of our favorite southern writers to talk about writing in the South, how authors support each other, and so much more. This event will be held around the corner at The Daily Ration, and they’ll have the bar open for sips and snacks for attendees!

This event is free, but please let us know if you plan to attend so we know how many seats we’ll need:

Books & Covers After Party

The Ink Drink Cocktail party is always a marvelous time, and this year we’re so excited that we’ll be joined by soft pressed, who will be playing Taylor Swift and boygenius covers! We’ll also have an on-site friendship bracelet vendor, Bird’s Beads, and your ticket will include charcuterie and two free drinks. There will also be a cash bar, and the Pizzeria Cortile truck will be open.

Tickets are $35, limit two per purchaser.

Curiouser and curiouser!

Join us each Saturday for Storytime in the Storybook Forest! The first Saturday is bilingual storytime in partnership with Chattanooga School of Language.

Join us each Saturday for Storytime in the Storybook Forest! The first Saturday is bilingual storytime in partnership with Chattanooga School of Language.

Join us for an afternoon of poetry (encouraged by a 15% off poetry sale) and jewelry inspired by poetry crafted by local jewelry artisan Sister Homage (also available for a discount!). This pop-up is free to attend and folks can enjoy treats & sips while they browse.

Kait Makes x The Book & Cover Holiday Soirée

Join us for a festive evening at The Book & Cover! Get ready for a night full of creativity, merriment, and holiday cheer.

Kait Makes will be live stitching Out of Print Library Card totes - you can pre-order your tote here or plan to purchase your tote that evening. Tote purchasers get 10% off their book purchase that evening only so plan to stock up for all the literary lovers in your life (and don't forget yourself).

We will have seasonal sips & snacks and Catherine Campbell will be in the house crooning indie holiday classics.

RSVP here and start planning for a merry time!

Join us Monday, November 6 for an outdoor evening with Margaret Renkl as she discusses her new book, The Comfort of Crows.

The Book & Cover is proud to announce an evening with New York Times bestselling author, columnist, and Tennessean Margaret Renkl on Monday, November 6, 2023 at the Ampitheathre in Riverview Park with seats opening at 6pm EST and the event to begin at 6:30pm EST.

Renkl, author of bestselling books Late Migrations and Graceland at Last, will read from and discuss her new book, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year. The Comfort of Crows is described as a literary devotional comprising of 52 essays centered around the flora and fauna of her own backyard in her trademark lyrical, reflective prose. She will also sign books at the conclusion of the event.

Tickets are limited and must be reserved to attend the event. Your ticket includes one copy of The Comfort of Crows. Copies of Late Migrations and Graceland at Last will be available for purchase at the event.

Join us the first Saturday of each month for a bilingual story time in our Story Book Forest with Chattanooga School of Language!

Agatha and Edgar Award-nominated mystery author Valerie Burns will be in conversation with Gretchen Archer, author of the Davis Way Crime Caper series, at The Book & Cover! The two authors will discuss mystery writing and Burns’ new title, Murder is a Piece of Cake, the second in her Baker Street Mysteries series! Join us for a fun conversation about all things mystery at The Book & Cover.

Join us the first Saturday of each month for a bilingual story time in our Story Book Forest with Chattanooga School of Language!

Join us on Thursday June 8 and hear acclaimed nature and true-adventure writer Patrick Dean talk about his new book, Nature’s Messenger, with Jenise Gordon. Patrick will also be available to sign his books.

In the pages of this dynamic, fresh story, Patrick explores the life of naturalist and artist Mark Catesby—who predated John James Audubon by nearly a century— and his influence on how we understand American wildlife. 

Nature’s Messenger takes us from the rice plantations of the Carolina Lowcountry to the bustling coffeehouses of 18th-century England, from the sun-drenched islands of the Bahamas to the austere meeting-rooms of London’s Royal Society, then presided over by Isaac Newton. It was a time of discovery, of intellectual ferment, and of the rise of the British Empire. And there on history’s leading edge, recording the extraordinary and often violent mingling of cultures as well as of nature, was Mark Catesby.

Come mix and mingle with author Susan Crispell to celebrate the release of her new YA novel The Broken Hearts Club! This event is free to the public with refreshments provided.

Join us the first Saturday of each month for a bilingual story time in our Story Book Forest with Chattanooga School of Language!

Join us the first Saturday of each month for a bilingual story time in our Story Book Forest with Chattanooga School of Language!

Join us the first Saturday of each month for a bilingual story time in our Story Book Forest with Chattanooga School of Language!

Space is limited, please reserve your spot here: Marty Solomon in Conversation with Jay Banasiak Tickets, Tue, Mar 21, 2023 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite

This event is free and open to the public, please RSVP here.