One fun version of browsing is clicking on links shared by fellow readers, as I did with the Viking book you read! Maybe I'll read it! (I'm headed to my ancestral Norway in July...)
Also, I know that Florence Y'all sign oh so well 😂
In Britain we have a phenomenon called Little Libraries ie a collection of books somewhere water proof that people can borrow from free of charge, and donate read books to too. Ours is a couple of streets away so I regularly take a couple of used books along and pick up anything that catches my eye in exchange. I have bumped into so many Treasures this way. Stuff I never would have thought to try if I was dictated to by shelf names and categories in a Store or Library. Do you have anything similar near you?
We do have Little Libraries, Rachel. They’re so delightful. There are quite a few around town, but none on my normal walking routes. I do love checking out the selections when I pass by.
I’ve also found some interesting books in the shelves at hotels and resorts where they gather books people have left behind.
When I was spending summers in Bell County the trip to the library was around 30 minutes, and the building was pretty small. There was a tiny room for kids books and NO ONE interested in talking to me about what I might enjoy checking out.
I stumbled across a book called Dragon’s Blood and, sister, I 100% judged that book by its cover and I judged it worthy.
I read it one time, over thirty years ago, and I still remember what every setting looks like, how hot the desert must’ve been, and how the spiced drink they served seemingly everywhere had to have tasted.
There is something straight up MAGIC about finding a book completely independent of anyone else’s input or urging.
They are pretty magical. When I think back to that library from my childhood, I think about how hard they had to work to make a place full of books sort of unpleasant. But, then again, I’m not even sure they had anything like a children’s librarian or anything.
I am a daisy-chainer when it comes to book selections. Some time in the dark distant past, I found a book that intrigued me and as I read it, I discovered references to other books as I read through the first author’s body of work. That led to the next author and all her books, wherein I found references to other writers and all their books, a daisy chain that continues to this day, except, like a branching genealogical tree, the list of must reads grows exponentially.
There are tools that help speed up reading productivity. Audible books are very help. Ebooks help, but I doubt I will ever catch up.
To paraphrase the old proverb about when the house is finished, the man dies, if I ever catch up on my reading backlog, I will die, which means at this point, I am destined to live forever.
I like the daisy-chainer method. I’ve certainly done that for the blurbs on the back of books, though that method is less reliable. Being able to blurb a book is no guarantee of being able to write a good book.
Yes, I remember the first time I realized that I’d never come close to reading all the books in the world. I was both crushed and awed.
Robyn, your post encapsulates why I seldom buy books online. I get so many insights into new books when I browse one of our independent bookstores (most frequently, because I like to mark-up books) or the library (less frequently, because they get upset if I made notations in their copies!) Thanks for articulating this so well. (And also, thanks for the chuckle with the Florence Y'all sign.)
There’s nothing quite like browsing an independent bookstore, especially one that’s really well-curated, like Tomorrow Bookstore in Indy. If you’re ever out that way, check them out.
Browsing shelves of books was and is one of my favorite states of being. These days, I often order the book ahead of time and then just breeze in an pick it up but even when I do this, I cannot resist the lure of those spines lined up alphabetically on the "New" shelf or deep in the stacks, long unvisited. On sad days, I am struck by the sheer number of books in the world and how so many lie forgotten. On good days, I thrill myself with the discovery of an old book that is new to me. I feel like one of those old water seekers walking around with a divining rod.
Yes, I’m probably more likely to browse the shelves of new books, because they’re right there, upstairs, as opposed to the rest of the books, relegated to the poorly lit basement of the library. Which is very much a design issue, come to think of it.
But I am excited about heading down there more often.
One fun version of browsing is clicking on links shared by fellow readers, as I did with the Viking book you read! Maybe I'll read it! (I'm headed to my ancestral Norway in July...)
Also, I know that Florence Y'all sign oh so well 😂
Oh, I would love to go to Norway. The book is only tangentially Viking-related.
I spent too many hours of my youth inside that mall under that sign. Wish I would’ve been playing soccer!
In Britain we have a phenomenon called Little Libraries ie a collection of books somewhere water proof that people can borrow from free of charge, and donate read books to too. Ours is a couple of streets away so I regularly take a couple of used books along and pick up anything that catches my eye in exchange. I have bumped into so many Treasures this way. Stuff I never would have thought to try if I was dictated to by shelf names and categories in a Store or Library. Do you have anything similar near you?
We do have Little Libraries, Rachel. They’re so delightful. There are quite a few around town, but none on my normal walking routes. I do love checking out the selections when I pass by.
I’ve also found some interesting books in the shelves at hotels and resorts where they gather books people have left behind.
When I was spending summers in Bell County the trip to the library was around 30 minutes, and the building was pretty small. There was a tiny room for kids books and NO ONE interested in talking to me about what I might enjoy checking out.
I stumbled across a book called Dragon’s Blood and, sister, I 100% judged that book by its cover and I judged it worthy.
I read it one time, over thirty years ago, and I still remember what every setting looks like, how hot the desert must’ve been, and how the spiced drink they served seemingly everywhere had to have tasted.
There is something straight up MAGIC about finding a book completely independent of anyone else’s input or urging.
Lol. It was hard being a Gen X, book-loving kid. Or I guess just hard being a Gen X kid, period.
I forgot to mention Robin McKinley, who I also loved reading. There were dragons. Dragons are perennial.
Libraries are my favorite places in the world.
They are pretty magical. When I think back to that library from my childhood, I think about how hard they had to work to make a place full of books sort of unpleasant. But, then again, I’m not even sure they had anything like a children’s librarian or anything.
I am a daisy-chainer when it comes to book selections. Some time in the dark distant past, I found a book that intrigued me and as I read it, I discovered references to other books as I read through the first author’s body of work. That led to the next author and all her books, wherein I found references to other writers and all their books, a daisy chain that continues to this day, except, like a branching genealogical tree, the list of must reads grows exponentially.
There are tools that help speed up reading productivity. Audible books are very help. Ebooks help, but I doubt I will ever catch up.
To paraphrase the old proverb about when the house is finished, the man dies, if I ever catch up on my reading backlog, I will die, which means at this point, I am destined to live forever.
I like the daisy-chainer method. I’ve certainly done that for the blurbs on the back of books, though that method is less reliable. Being able to blurb a book is no guarantee of being able to write a good book.
Yes, I remember the first time I realized that I’d never come close to reading all the books in the world. I was both crushed and awed.
Robyn, your post encapsulates why I seldom buy books online. I get so many insights into new books when I browse one of our independent bookstores (most frequently, because I like to mark-up books) or the library (less frequently, because they get upset if I made notations in their copies!) Thanks for articulating this so well. (And also, thanks for the chuckle with the Florence Y'all sign.)
There’s nothing quite like browsing an independent bookstore, especially one that’s really well-curated, like Tomorrow Bookstore in Indy. If you’re ever out that way, check them out.
Browsing shelves of books was and is one of my favorite states of being. These days, I often order the book ahead of time and then just breeze in an pick it up but even when I do this, I cannot resist the lure of those spines lined up alphabetically on the "New" shelf or deep in the stacks, long unvisited. On sad days, I am struck by the sheer number of books in the world and how so many lie forgotten. On good days, I thrill myself with the discovery of an old book that is new to me. I feel like one of those old water seekers walking around with a divining rod.
Yes, I’m probably more likely to browse the shelves of new books, because they’re right there, upstairs, as opposed to the rest of the books, relegated to the poorly lit basement of the library. Which is very much a design issue, come to think of it.
But I am excited about heading down there more often.