Where I Find Books
One of my favorite ways to spend time is a bookstore. My town doesn’t have an independent store, but we do have a Barnes and Noble, and there are some really wonderful independent bookstores in surrounding cities. It’s rare for a date night not to end at a bookstore, as my husband and I both love books.
Of course, for the past few months I have not been able to visit a bookstore, not able to browse the new releases or see what employees recommend. Yet my reading life has been insatiable, and while rereads have been really fun, my need for new books has not stopped. What to do when I can’t go to a bookstore and choose a book by its cover?
There are a few places I always begin when I want advice on what to read next. One is Annie B. Jones’s podcast From the Front Porch. Annie owns The Bookshelf, a bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. I’ve never been there, but through listening to Annie and following her vibrant Instagram accounts (@thebookshelftville and @anniebjones05), I feel like I have. Annie podcasts creatively about books--she does a monthly recap of what she’s read, but she also does Literary Therapy, where she tries to solve reading problems sent in by readers; an episode where she and friends cast a movie version of a popular book; conversations where a friend takes her book list and makes a soundtrack for it; and episodes where she and friends make recommendations on what to read based on themes like travel. The Bookshelf hosts literary lunches, reader retreats, and book clubs, including the current Baby-Sitters Book Club, where they are reading through the Baby-Sitters Club books. Even though my daughter wouldn’t touch my old collection of books, I used to be a huge Baby-Sitters fan, and I love the creativity of this book club.
I also enjoyed the Summer Reading Guide by Anne Bogel (@modernmrsdarcy), podcast host of What Should I Read Next? where she talks to guests about three books they loved and one they didn’t and then recommends books they might like. I have not been as faithful to this podcast since they usually run a little long and the pandemic has cut my podcasting time, but her Summer Reading Guide is always a favorite, and it’s responsible for many of the books I have loved this summer. She sorts by genres, so I could go straight to the kinds of books I wanted.
I also check all kinds of book bloggers on Instagram. I love their pretty pictures and gravitate toward posts that focus on one book or author with brief reviews. One of my favorites of these bookstagrammers is Haley, who reads widely and has really fun taste. I can always trust her take on a book, and if she says it’s good, I’m probably going to need to read it.
Instagram is another source of book recommendations for me because I follow so many authors. If I like an author’s book, I want to read other things he or she has written, and I’m eager to see what kinds of things he or she is recommending. I found the fabulous Dream, Plan, & Go by Rachel McMillan this summer (I wrote about it here) when an author I admire posted about it. Now Rachel is also a favorite follow, and she also posts constantly about things she is reading.
Recently I found a Ray Bradbury quotation on Instagram that said, “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” I’ve found that’s true for me, but especially during the pandemic. I’ve clung to my own writing and to the writing of others as my escape and my sanity, and as a reminder of what reality could be and might one day be again. I’ve kept my eyes wide open for books that help me find who I want to be. There are always ways to find writing that moves you, if you are willing to look.
