We know, we know… 2020 hasn’t been the easiest of years. If we can, we work with no exciting breaks in sight, we have given up on lofty ideas of promotions or raises. We are tired of spending hot days inside, away from friends and family. It hasn’t been easy, and yet – we’re powering through. It seems almost crazy that we will be coming up on the new year in just a few short months. We thought that with the dawn of one of our favorite seasons, it might be time to review how we book lovers can spend some of our days or nights, keeping our distance but hanging out with some of our closest friends, all at once. Read on!
1. Read, of course! It’s the season to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea (or coffee… or wine) and begin to enjoy the changing of the seasons – which still change, despite Covid-19. (We checked.) On the plus side… reading is a solitary activity, which means that you don’t have to get together with a group of people, or risk your health to travel far and wide. Perfect! If you are able to head to your local booksellers to pick up a title (online or in person), great. If you don’t have book funds at the moment, look around your city or town for neighborhood Little Lending Libraries, or just a regular library!
2. An active mind is a healthy mind. For some of us, just reading simply isn’t enough. Perhaps it is time to start up that book blog you’ve always wanted. Blogging is remarkably easy (if we can do it, we know you can too), and nowadays the internet is widely accessible, and it is so easy to publish! It doesn’t have to be perfect. Perhaps you can start off focusing on character development, or things titles say about the books themselves. Perhaps you review books you read! Or maybe reviewing and blogging isn’t for you. Look into online book clubs, download Zoom and have at it! As long as books are at the crux of your activities, you’ll never be bored or lonely. <3
3. For you antiquarian book lovers out there… maybe it is finally time to set up the book collection you’ve been dying for. If you have the means to do so, go ahead and make a list of those titles missing from your shelves and turn to the internet to find them! Of course we fully recommend combing www.tavbooks.com first and foremost to find them (shameless plug), but there are so many sites available to you to help expand your collection. Some of our favorite platforms for searching a wide range of antiquarian inventory are www.abebooks.com, www.vialibri.net, and www.biblio.com. There are also a range of online virtual book fairs happening in the upcoming months… check us and our colleagues out there! Fill up your shelves with your favorites. At the rate we’re going, they might be what keep us all company in the upcoming winter months.
4. Organize! Now that the summer is over, and the days are getting shorter, the nights longer, take the time to go through your items and see what texts no longer serve you. I am in my thirties and up until a month or so ago still held onto college textbooks that I did not once look at after passing the class. Someone else could read those! This is less an idea for an antiquarian collection, but more a general shelf-weariness. Perhaps you could find one of the Little Lending Libraries we spoke of and drop off some used books of yours… make space for your favorites and the masterpieces you enjoy.
5. And last but not least… discuss your bibliophilia! There’s nothing like hearing a rave book review from a friend to make you want to jump out and read it for yourself. When we can’t be as social as we once were, it is still important to connect with other people. Perhaps it looks like joining an online book club, but perhaps it is also calling your friends and telling them about your current book squeeze. Get creative! Share what you read, and others will share back.
Happy Autumn, book friends! Bundle up and get cozy… it will be winter before we know it.
