Hello, fellow book dragons! Looking for book-themed holidays to celebrate this year?
I’ve compiled a list of literary holidays for readers, writers, grammar-lovers, and bilbliophiles so you can make sure your favorites are marked on your calendar. This list is updated for 2023 with some new bookish holidays that have been added from last year’s list.
JANUARY 2023
National Book Blitz Month
National Braille Literacy Month
Jan 1: New Year’s Dishonor List Day | International Public Domain Day | Copyright Law Day
Jan 2: National Science Fiction Day
Jan 3: J.R.R. Tolkien Day
Jan 8-14: Universal Letter Writing Week (Second full week of January)
Jan 9: National Word Nerd Day
Jan 10: Poetry at Work Day (Second Tuesday of January)
Jan 16: Book Publishers Day
Jan 18: National Thesaurus Day | Winnie the Pooh Day (author A. A. Milne‘s birthday)
Jan 23: National Handwriting Day
Jan 25: Burns Supper (poet Robert Burns‘s birthday) | Library Shelfie Day (fourth Wednesday of January)
Jan 30 – Feb 6: National Storytelling Week
FEBRUARY 2023
National Library Lovers Month
Feb 1: Robinson Crusoe Day | World Read Aloud Day
Feb 4: Take Your Child to the Library Day
Feb 5-11: Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week (First week of February)
Feb 9: Read in the Bathtub Day
Feb 12-18: Freelance Writers Appreciation Week (Second week of February)
Feb 14: International Book-Giving Day | Library Lovers Day | Read to Your Child Day
Feb 20: Clean Out Your Bookcase Day
Feb 26: Tell a Fairy Tale Day
MARCH 2023
Small Press Month
Mar 2: National Read Across America Day
Mar 4: National Grammar Day
Mar 5-11: Read an Ebook Week | Return Borrowed Books Week
Mar 14: National Write Your Story Day
Mar 16: National Freedom of Information Day
Mar 20: World Storytelling Day
Mar 21: World Poetry Day
Mar 25: Tolkien Reading Day
Mar 30: National Pencil Day
APRIL 2023
National Poetry Month
School Library Month
Apr 1: Edible Book Day | Reading is Funny Day
Apr 2: Children’s Picture Book Day
Apr 4: National School Librarian Day
Apr 10: National Encourage a Young Writer Day
Apr 12: D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Day
Apr 13: National Scrabble Day | Celebrate Teen Literature Day
Apr 15: World Art Day | Rubber Eraser Day
Apr 16: National Librarian Day
Apr 17: International Haiku Poetry Day
Apr 18: National Columnist Day
Apr 23: Shakespeare Day | Talk Like Shakespeare Day | World Book and Copyright Day
Apr 23-29: National Library Week
Apr 25: National Library Workers Day (Tuesday of National Library Week)
Apr 26: National Library Outreach Day (Wednesday of National Library Week — formerly National Bookmobile Day)
Apr 27: National Tell a Story Day | National Poem in Your Pocket Day
Apr 28: Great Poetry Reading Day
Apr 30: Independent Bookstore Day (Last Saturday of April)
MAY 2023
Short Story Month
Get Caught Reading Month
Latino Books Month
May 1: Mother Goose Day
May 2: International Harry Potter Day (Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts)
May 2-8: Children’s Book Week
May 3: World Press Freedom Day
May 5: National Cartoonists Day
May 6: National Scrapbook Day | Free Comic Book Day (First Saturday of May)
May 9: Peter Pan Day
May 12: National Limerick Day
May 16: National Biographer’s Day
May 22: Sherlock Holmes Day
May 25: Towel Day (in honor of author Douglas Adams)
May 31: National Speak in Complete Sentences Day
JUNE 2023
Audiobook Appreciation Month
GLBT Book Month
Jun 10: National Ball Point Pen Day
Jun 16: Bloomsday (in honor of writer James Joyce)
Jun 19: National Garfield the Cat Day
Jun 23: National Typewriter Day
JULY 2023
Read an Almanac Month
Jul 4: Alice in Wonderland Day
Jul 30: Paperback Book Day
AUGUST 2023
Aug 2: National Coloring Book Day
Aug 9: National Book Lovers Day
Aug 18: Bad Poetry Day
Aug 21: Poet’s Day
Aug 25: National Hug a Librarian Day
Aug 30: Frankenstein Day (author Mary Shelley‘s birthday)
Aug 31: We Love Memoirs Day
SEPTEMBER 2023
Read a New Book Month (also December)
Library Card Signup Month
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month
National Literacy Month
Sept 6: National Read a Book Day
Sept 7: Buy a Book Day
Sept 8: International Literacy Day | World Ampersand Day
Sept 11: Libraries Remember Day
Sept 13: Roald Dahl Day
Sept 18: Read an Ebook Day
Sept 17-23: National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week
Sept 22: Hobbit Day | Dear Diary Day
Sept 24: National Punctuation Day
Sept 25: National Comic Book Day
OCTOBER 2023
National Book Month
National Cookbook Month
National Medical Librarians Month
National Reading Group Month
Church Library Month
Oct 1: National Poetry Day
Oct 1-7: Banned Books Week | National Newspaper Week (Starts on the first Sunday of October) | Mystery Series Week (First full week of October)
Oct 6: Mad Hatter Day
Oct 8: International Newspaper Carrier Day
Oct 11: Myths and Legends Day
Oct 12: Cookbook Launch Day | National Freethought Day
Oct 16: Dictionary Day
Oct 15-21: Friends of Libraries Week (Third week of October)
Oct 17: Black Poetry Day
Oct 20: National Day on Writing
Oct 27: Frankenstein Friday (Last Friday in October)
Oct 31: Books for Treats Day
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NOVEMBER 2023
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
National Family Literacy Month
National Life Writing Month
Picture Book Month
Nov 1: National Author’s Day | National Family Literacy Day
Nov 2: National Nonfiction Day (First Thursday of November)
Nov 5-11: International Games Week
Nov 7-13: National Book Award Week
Nov 12: National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day
Nov 13-17: National Young Readers Week | World Nursery Rhyme Week
Nov 14: Young Readers Day (Second Tuesday of November)
Nov 15: I Love to Write Day
Nov 18: High Five a Librarian Day
Nov 19-25: National Bible Week
Nov 20-26: Book Week Scotland
DECEMBER 2023
Read a New Book Month (also September)
Spiritual Literacy Month
Dec 7: Letter Writing Day
Dec 10: Dewey Decimal System Day
Dec 21: Crossword Puzzle Day | National Short Story Day | Phileas Fogg Win a Wager Day (from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne)
Dec 24: Jolabokaflod, also known as the Christmas or Yule Book Flood (Iceland)
Dec 25: A’phabet Day or No L Day (Pun Day — “No L” = Noel… get it?)
Did I miss any book-related holidays? Please let me know in the comments and I will consider adding them to the list!
Love fantasy worldbuilding, strong character bonds, and page-turning adventures? Check out my award-winning Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series.
Sources:
https://nationaltoday.com/books/
https://buildyourlibrary.com/calendar-book-related-holidays/
https://bookriot.com/book-holidays/
https://buildbookbuzz.com/2023-literary-calendar/
I'm an award-winning fantasy author, artist, and photographer from La Porte, Indiana. My poetry, short fiction, and memoir works have been featured in various anthologies and journals since 2005, and several of my poems are available in the Indiana Poetry Archives. The first three novels in my Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series have received awards from Literary Titan.
After some time working as a freelance writer, I was shocked by how many website articles are actually written by paid "ghost writers" but published under the byline of a different author. It was a jolt seeing my articles presented as if they were written by a high-profile CEO or an industry expert with decades of experience. I'll be honest; it felt slimy and dishonest. I had none of the credentials readers assumed the author of the article actually had. Ghost writing is a perfectly legal, astonishingly common practice, and now, AI has entered the playing field to further muddy the waters. It's hard to trust who (or what) actually wrote the content you'll read online these days.
That's not the case here at On The Cobblestone Road. I do not and never will pay a ghost writer, then slap my name on their work as if I'd written it. This website is 100% authentic. No outsourcing. No ghost writing. No AI-generated content. It's just me... as it should be.
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