This Is Date Night: For the bookworm

“What do you want to do tonight?”

To which I respond with the equally unhelpful, “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

Despite living in a city packed with activities and good eats, we always end up drawing a blank.

That’s where this series comes in.

Welcome to This Is Date Night, your weekly guide to planning Tucson date nights around the people and interests you love the most.

First up, the bookworm.

Let’s face it, reading is hot.

Between BookTok, overflowing TBR piles and people carrying paperbacks around like accessories, bookworms are having their moment. Luckily, Tucson has plenty to offer the literary romantics among us.

Here's how I’d plan the perfect Tucson date night for the bookworm in your life.

First stop: Antigone Books

A date for a book lover that doesn’t involve a local bookstore would be like a date for a foodie that skips dessert.

Start the evening at Antigone Books, a Fourth Avenue institution that has been serving Tucson readers for more than 50 years. With shelves packed with books, plus stationery, gifts, bookmarks and other fun finds, it's the kind of place where you can wander for an hour without realizing it.

Make things interesting by picking out a book for each other. Consider it a low-stakes compatibility test. Fair warning: bookworms aren’t exactly known for leaving bookstores empty-handed.

Where: 411 N. Fourth Ave.

For more information, visit their website.

Next: Dinner and book talk

Once you’ve secured your reading material, head down Fourth Avenue for dinner and compare your selections.

Luckily, Fourth Avenue has no shortage of options. Split a pizza at Brooklyn Pizza Company, settle into a cozy booth at Caruso’s Italian Restaurant, or keep things casual with classic sandwiches and soup at Bison Witches.

End the night at Stacks Book Club Broadway

Once you've picked out books for each other and spent dinner debating your selections, cap off the evening at Stacks Book Club on Broadway.

The new Midtown location combines a bookstore, coffee shop and bar all under one roof, making it the perfect place to settle in with your latest finds. Grab a coffee, cocktail or dessert, find a cozy spot to sit and spend some time talking about the books you picked out earlier in the evening.

If your date happens to fall on Saturday, June 20, you'll also catch the shop's grand opening celebration, which includes live music and other festivities.

After all, no bookworm has ever complained about ending the night surrounded by more books.

Where: 2920 E. Broadway Blvd

For more information, visit their website.

Bonus Chapter: For the reader who isn’t ready to close the book

If your idea of a perfect date night includes talking about your latest read, Tucson has plenty more bookish events on the horizon. In July, Di Luna Candles + Goods is hosting a month-long lineup of literary-themed workshops, markets and crafting events for readers who want to take their love of books beyond the page.

Highlights include a free Book Swap + Night Market on July 11 featuring bookish vendors, coffee, food and community partners including the Pima County Library, plus a Summer Slow Burn event on July 17 that pairs candle making, a charcuterie box and a personalized blind date with a book from Heart Swell Books.

Throughout the month, attendees can also make beaded bookmarks, paint tote bags, create book-themed candles and even bedazzle their favorite novels. As an added touch, Di Luna’s candle-making workshops will feature scents inspired by beloved books, including Twilight and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

For more information, visit their website.