The seventh annual Lehigh Valley Book Festival, a “celebration of reading” set for March 26-29, will showcase a multitude of immersive events for all ages while encouraging individuals to “close your apps, shut down your screens, and open a book.”
The Lehigh Valley Book Festival, founded in 2020, is produced by Let’s Play Books Co.
The End Bookstore in South Whitehall Township coordinates all of the authors on tour, and venue hosts include Bethlehem Area Public Library, Cedar Crest College, Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre and Nowhere Coffee Co.
Lehigh Valley Book Festival
This year’s theme is “Reading is Resistance: Celebrating Conversations, Not Keyboards.”
“Our lives are drowned out by digital noise — clickbait headlines, online ‘experts,’ AI slop, endless social media feeds — all competing for our attention,” a news release states.
“One quiet act of resistance to the daily onslaught? Close your apps, shut down your screens, and open a book. Reading encourages us to slow down, think deeply and engage with new perspectives and challenging ideas.”
The LV Book Festival showcases several authors currently on tour for newly released books, while also providing a venue for local authors and illustrators to connect with a book-loving Lehigh Valley audience.
Most of the four-day festival is free, except for the March 28 evening event, The Dating Game, held at Nowhere Coffee Co. Tickets are $23 and include a free book of choice.
On site will be the event’s annual book drive to benefit school libraries in Allentown and Bethlehem, as well as The Boys and Girls Club. A selection of titles can be purchased at a discount.
Books from all presenting authors will be sold at the events. Only books purchased through the Lehigh Valley Book Festival or The End Bookstore will be eligible to be signed.
Thursday, March 26:
Book swap at Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre, 4540 Shankweiler Road, Orefield (Tickets required, free.); 5:30pm
Midnight Lair readers (horror/occult/dark romance/romance/romantasy/fantasy) are invited to bring books to swap prior to the beginning of the theatre’s annual TWIhard weekend, featuring showings of “Twilight” and its sequels.
You must pre-register to attend, and registration for the book swap does not include a ticket to the movies – you must do that separately. Click on the BOOKSWAP ticket to register to attend the book swap.
Registered attendees may bring up to six books. Books will be placed on the tables from 5:30 to 6 p.m., and selections will begin at 6 p.m. Books should be in like-new condition.
Friday, March 27:
Authors’ reception, The End Bookstore, 3055 Tilghman St., South Whitehall Township (Tickets required, free); 6 – 7:30pm
Gather at The End to celebrate the Lehigh Valley Book Fest! Enjoy meeting and greeting fellow readers and writers in town early for Saturday’s festivities. Meet featured local authors as well as a preview event with Julissa Hernández Roberts, author of “The New American Diner Cookbook.”
Saturday, March 28:
BOOK FEST Day at Bethlehem Area Public Library, 11 W. Church St.; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Kids’ Fest, 10 a.m. to noon:
Best-selling kids’ authors and illustrators, story times, activities, book signings, Little Golden Book fun and more. Featured authors include Kevin McCloskey (“Snails are Just My Speed”), Alyssa Reynoso-Morris (“Bold, Brilliant & Latine”), Matt Phelan (“Bartleby”), Justin Colón (“Impossible Possum for Mayor!”), Namrata Agarwal (“The Mithai Box is Not Empty”).
Lehigh Valley Book Festival Expo, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
Over 20 exhibit tables, featuring local, independently published authors; and small presses and artisans. Also enjoy free activities.
Main stage, noon to 5 p.m. (concurrent programs)
Noon: A New Era of Discovery – Social media and online communities have changed the way readers find must-read stories and connect with their favorite authors. The session will explore how reading – and talking about reading – have evolved. It will feature content creators Aubree Côté, Chris Dougherty, Wallie Martinez-Vega and Jarlyn Ortiz in discussion with Theresa Hegel.
1 p.m.: Key Conversations
1 p.m.: Jeff Boyd, Hard Times, with Jaciel Córdoba, WFMZ (crime thriller)
1:30 p.m.: Misty L. Heggeness, “Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine our Economy” with Jennifer Musser, “Align Your Business with the Real You” (business)
2 p.m.: Time for Romance – Sugar, spice and everything nice? These authors have all the ingredients to create swoon-worthy love stories. Individuals are welcome to join a conversation that goes from meet-cute to happily-ever-after and everything in-between. Sophie Andrews, “Going Deep,” Xio Axelrod, “Girls with Bad Reputations” and Victoria Schade, “Fated Skates,” with Theresa Hegel
2:30 p.m.: It’s a Mystery – Whether it’s a psychological thriller, suspense set against a suburban backdrop, a historical detective story or a twisty time loop mystery – these books will keep you guessing and leave you wanting more. The session will feature Kristine Delano, “The Lies We Trade”; Christina Kovac, “Watch Us Fall”; Rob Osler, “The Case of the Murdered Muckraker”; Katie Siegel, “Out of the Loop”; with Paul Acampora, “In Honor of Broken Things”
3:15 p.m.: Are We Frightened? – From the spine-tingling to the truly terrifying, these authors know how to get your heart racing and the wheels in your head spinning. The session will feature Edward Ashton, “The Fourth Consort”; Clay McLeod Chapman, “Bodies of Work”; De Elizabeth, “This Raging Sea”; with Thomas Elrod, “The Franchise”.
4 p.m.: Closing Session: Reading Is Resistance – In an age of book bans and censorship, reading widely and diversely is more important than ever. The session will feature children’s authors Robin Gow, Alison Green Myers and Alexandra Villasante with Aimee Saunders, of Red, Wine & Blue.
Laros Room, noon to 3 p.m. (concurrent programs)
Noon: Middle Grade 4 All – Morgan Baden, “Famous Anonymous”; Cordelia Jensen, “Lilac and the Switchback”; Robin Gow, “Sabertooth”; Matthew Landis, “National Archive Hunters”; with Dana Kramaroff, “The Do More Club”
1 p.m.: Words In Your World – Drop-in activity with Alison Green Myers, “This Way To Happy” and Alexandra Villasante, “Fireblooms.” All ages are welcome.
2 p.m.: Meet The Authors: Joyce Hinnefeld, “The Dime Museum,” 2 p.m.; Julissa Hernández Roberts, “American Diner Cookbook,” 2:15 p.m.
Saturday, March 28:
The Dating Game, Nowhere Coffee Co., 3127 Tilghman St., South Whitehall Township; 7pm.
Billed as the “romance book event of the year,” this isn’t quite your 1970s Dating Game.
Three romance authors, with three to four books each, equals up to 12 possible choices.
The event will feature Sophie Andrews, Xio Axelrod and Victoria Schade, with host Wallie Hernandez-Vegas.
A few lucky attendees will be chosen to play the Dating Game with the three romance authors. The audience will help, and at the end of the three or four rounds, everyone takes home the book of their choice.
Tickets are $23 and include a free book of choice.
The event is hosted by Nowhere Coffee Company and The End Bookstore and co-sponsored by Christmas City Spirits.
Sunday, March 29:
Closing Keynote: Show Your True Color, Cedar Crest College Alumni Auditorium, 100 Cedar Crest Blvd., Allentown; 2 p.m.
Kory Stamper, a lexicographer and bestselling author of “Word for Word,” in conversation with Cedar Crest College adjunct professor and author Megan Angelo in celebration of Stamper’s new book “True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color – from Azure to Zinc Pink.”
To register for the event, click here.
Lehigh Valley Book Festival
After the program, put your newfound color expertise to the test with an interactive art experience led by Lauren Beck, founder of Bloomery, Art Co.
The Feeling in Color: A Playful Watercolor Experience begins at 4 p.m., and there is a suggested $5 donation at the event.
Individuals will explore interactive color through playful paint mixing and blending, with a beginner-friendly art workshop to complement Kory Stamper’s keynote talk on her new book, True Color.
Guests will experiment with vibrant watercolor inks using wet-on-wet techniques to create unexpected blends, evoking emotion through a sensory experience. Rather than painting a specific subject, this session focuses on overlapping abstracted shapes to emphasize curiosity with color mixing. When an artist can shift focus away from a specific end goal, they can tap into intuition and experimentation, letting color lead them to a joyful experience. This workshop will celebrate letting go and embracing play!
Once guests paint their abstracted watercolors, the paper can then be cut down to become bookmarks, as a personalized literary keepsake.