This Valentine’s, romance doesn’t begin with a swipe or a carefully worded bio, it begins with paper, ink, and a little uncertainty. Across India, Crossword Bookstore has quietly launched Blind Date with a Book, an in-store experience that asks readers to do something rare in the age of algorithms: choose a story without knowing its name.
Crossword Bookstore Launches ‘Blind Date with a Book’
Running until February 28, 2026, the initiative strips books of their most familiar markers. This means no covers, no titles and certainly no authors to lean on. Instead, each book is hand-wrapped and paired with a clue card, which is short, suggestive, and intentionally vague, offering hints about tone, genre, or emotional payoff. It is melancholic but hopeful, fast-paced and unsettling but also soft, romantic and unexpectedly funny. The rest is left to instinct.
The idea feels playful on the surface, but there’s something quietly subversive at work. Blind Date with a Book pushes back against the way readers are increasingly trained to choose by bestseller lists, social media hype, or familiar names. Here, there’s no shortcut. The only decision-making tools are curiosity and trust.
Inside Crossword stores, the display has become a pause point. Customers linger, some laugh at the clue cards and others pick up a book, put it back, and then return a few minutes later. It’s not uncommon to see someone buying one “for themselves” and another as a gift, because the format works especially well that way. A wrapped book becomes personal without being prescriptive and thoughtful without being obvious.
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The timing, of course, is intentional. Valentine’s Day tends to flatten gifting into predictable categories. Blind Date with a Book resists that. It offers something slower, more intimate, like a few hours alone with a story that didn’t come recommended by an app or an algorithm.
Supporting the initiative is Crossword’s Valentine’s gifting range, available in-store alongside the blind-date selection—journals, bookmarks, stationery, and small keepsakes round out the experience without overpowering it. The book remains the centre of gravity.
There’s no promise that every match will be perfect, and that’s part of the fun. Some books will surprise, some will challenge, and a few may take time to warm up. Much like dating, really.
Where: Crossword Bookstore, Mumbai (Multiple stores)
When: 4 February to 28 February 2026
Also Read: 16 Best Valentine’s Day Menus Across India, Perfect For A Delicious Date In 2026
This February, Crossword isn’t selling certainty, it’s offering the thrill of not knowing and the quiet possibility that a story might find you before you go looking for it.
Cover Image Courtesy: supplied and wolfart/canvapro
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