Saturday, August 29 is Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (CIBD)! CIBD is dedicated to celebrating the vital role that independent bookstores play in our communities, and this year especially we applaud the resiliency and innovation our incredible booksellers have shown against all of the challenges posed by COVID-19.

To help us raise awareness about CIBD and further support our indies, we are delighted to share a conversation between award-winning actor Amanda Brugel and Samra Habib, author of We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir. Amanda successfully defended Samra's title to victory in this year's CBC Canada Reads debates, the first time in the show's history that a book written by a woman has won with a female defender.

In this video, Amanda and Samra share their respective Canada Reads experiences in addition to fascinating book recommendations, and of course, the importance of independent bookstores. It’s an incredibly warm and inspiring conversation, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Thank you, Amanda and Samra!

Be sure to follow @PenguinRandomCA and the hashtag #CIBD today to help us spread the word and to join the celebration!

Find and support your local independent bookstore near you: bit.ly/CanadianIndies

Meet some of Canada's incredible booksellers: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/cam...

Keep in touch about future events by signing up here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/