You might not think that spring is the best time to read, but the seventh annual Lehigh Valley Book Festival will remind you that any time is a good time for books.

The Lehigh Valley Book Festival is March 26 to March 29 at six different locations.

There will be 36 national touring and 20 local authors, and 40 speakers, including a few non-authors.

Last year, 2,500 people attended the three-day Lehigh Valley Book Festival, compared to 1,000 for the one-day event in 2022.

New this year is “The Dating Game - LV Bookfest Style” at Nowhere Coffee Co.

“We are trying to do something creative, new and exciting with our Romance authors,” says Kirsten Hess, owner of The End Bookstore, Allentown.

“The Dating Game” ran on television for eight seasons on and off from 1965 to 1986, and was briefly brought back as the “Celebrity Dating Game” in 2021. The format had a woman ask questions of three bachelors, and then choose one to go on a date. Occasionally, it would reverse, having a man question three women.

“Younger people don’t know what it is,” says Hess.

Hess says that in the Lehigh Valley version, “Three authors will each answer questions as characters from their books. The authors have each written four books they can use for their answers. Moderator Wallie Martinez-Vega will pick four audience members to ask questions.

“It will be a cross-generation fun event,” says Hess. The game, which requires tickets, is the only event that is not free, except for the children’s show “Click Clack Moo!,” March 29, Zoellner Arts Center. Free tickets are required for some events.

This year’s theme is “Reading is Resistance.”

“There were more books banned last year than ever before,” says Hess.

According to PEN America, a nonprofit organization to raise awareness for the protection of free expression, there were 6,870 instances of book banning in the 2024-25 school year.

“Politics aside, books are crucial to sharing information,” Hess says.

This year’s “Book Swap” is at Shankweiler’s Drive-In, Orefield, with, for the first time, there are tables outdoors. It’s on the first day of “Twihard Weekend,” when the drive-in screens films in the “Twilight Saga.”

The Bethlehem Area Public Library hosts “Kids Fest,” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 28 on “Lehigh Valley Book Festival Day,” featuring children’s book authors.

There will be panel discussions, including on the topics of Romance, Mystery, Sci-Fi and “Reading is Resistance,” noon to 5 p.m. March 28, Bethlehem Area Public Library.

“There will be five authors on each panel. They will rotate every half hour, so the members who were on the previous panel can sign books in other parts of the room. It will be very quick,” Hess says.

The closing event at Cedar Crest College is 2 p.m. March 29 with Kory Stamper, who wrote “True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color - from Azure to Zinc Pink,” and a chance to play with watercolors with Lauren Beck of the Bloomery Art Co.

“’True Color’ is about dictionary definitions of color, and how they came about,” Hess says.

Hess does not believe that digital works and AI can replace books:

“Real books are how we can disconnect from social media and doom scrolling [looking for negative news]. They create a way to calm your brain down.”

Schedule

Lehigh Valley Book Festival: Book Swap, 5:30 p.m. March 26, Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre, 4540 Shankweiler Road, Orefield

Authors’ Reception: Julissa Hernández Roberts, “The New American Diner Cookbook”; Bart Bailey, “In Our Bones”; Joyce Hinnefeld, “The Dime Museum,” 6 p.m. March 27, The End Bookstore, 3055 Tilghman St., Allentown

“LV Bookfest Day,” “Kids’ Fest,” 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; exhibits and panels, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 28, Bethlehem Area Public Library, 11 E. Church St., Bethlehem

“The Dating Game,” 7 p.m. March 28, Nowhere Coffee Company, 3127 Tilghman St., Allentown

Closing Program, 2 p.m.; “Watercolor Experience,” 4 p.m. March 29, Cedar Crest College, 100 College Drive, Allentown

“Click Clack Moo!,” 4 p.m. March 29, Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Avenue, Bethlehem

Information: https://theendbooks.co/lehigh-valley-book-festival

“Literary Scene” is a column about authors, books and publishing. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com