Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day on April 25 at Kepler’s in Menlo Park
On Saturday, April 25, come to Kepler’s in Menlo Park to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day. The Kid’s Coloring Corner will be open all day, featuring fun, book-themed coloring pages, bright supplies, and plenty of space for kids to get creative. There will also be opportunities to win a bag of ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) and 12 months of free audiobooks.
From 2:00 to 3:30 pm, Ashley will be running literary trivia and, at 4:30 pm, Laura Dave will take to the stage to talk about her bestselling novel The First Time I Saw Him.
Customers with an active membership will receive 10% off on all items (excluding memberships, sale items, gift cards and shipping) purchased online and in-store on Saturday, April 25. For online orders please use the code MEMBERSHIPLOVE.
T.D.G April 20, 2026 at 4:23 pm
If you’ve seen my comments on this hyperlocal blog, I tend to be positive, careful, and fact-oriented.
That said, I’ve long had reservations about Kepler’s, despite the level of local praise it receives. What troubles me is not the presence of new or diverse voices, but the apparent marginalization of the traditional canon. On my last visit (about a year ago), finding writers like Shakespeare required going to the back shelves. That kind of placement signals something about priorities.
Having studied with figures such as George Steiner, Philip Lopate, and Maura Spiegel, I tend to view literature through a lens that emphasizes enduring merit and intellectual rigor. When presentation leans too heavily on categorizing authors by identity, it can feel as though literary value is being reframed in ways that risk sidelining the canon rather than engaging with it alongside newer perspectives.
A healthier balance would make both traditions clearly visible and easy to discover—and would keep the focus on the work itself rather than treating identity as a proxy for quality.