Bookish Habits

 

Books read in 2014

Last summer after I graduated, my dream was to hang a hammock between the two trees in my back yard and spend the whole summer sipping refreshing beverages and lazing about reading (because guys, I love me some solitary habits). That dream was neatly shattered the day after I hung the hammock and came outside, book and drink in hand, to discover that all of the birds in the neighborhood had left their (ahem) signature on it. Solitude disrupted, I instead turned to some of the other more social and connected ways you can go about engaging with the (solitary) things you love, including reading. Here are a few of the ways I've  found:

• Starting a book club. Now be honest with me. If we were playing a word association game right now, if I threw out "book club," you would say "lame." My eyes are even rolling listening to me right now. But, for instance, say you love to cook, and you love to cook and eat with your friends - but throwing a dinner party is way too costly and time consuming. What about a cookbook club? Pick a cookbook, agree on a recipe you'd all like to try, and meet at someone's house to make that recipe while congratulating yourselves at every step with wine. Always wine.
  
  Or maybe that's not your style. In that case, think about the type of book you enjoy, and be selective about who you ask to join your book club - you want to be able to agree on the book that you'll be reading. If historical fiction is your bag, don't start a club with someone who only reads self-help books - that is, unless you're into it too, or unless you think that the two of you are both open-minded enough to have some really engaging interactions about it. New in town, or looking for like-minded folk? Check for groups at your local bookstore, or mosey on over to Meetup.com.
  
  Truly, the simplest formula is to find folks that have more than one common interest - in my book club, the largest unifying themes are whiskey, feminism (cough Susan Sontag coughcough), as well as an inherent distrust for the wearers of a certain brand of winter jacket. Specificity is key. It's also fun to come up with a cool name. Our club name's acronym keeps expanding exponentially - WWBBBDBC, in fact, as it currently stands. I would tell you what it stood for, but then I would have to kill you. 

Potluck brunch to discuss "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson

• Stay connected to local literary hubs. There are few greater pleasures in life than seeing a really fantastic lecture or reading delivered by one of your favorite writers. Literary events can easily enough slip under the radar, so first, identify where things happen. Is is a local book store, at the local university? Is it in the next city over? Sign up for mailing lists, bookmark event calendars, and keep checking. If you still need encouragement, I just happened to scroll through the University of Texas' events calendar while writing this post, and by sheer chance and luck saw events for Zadie Smith, and that OH MY GOD DENIS JOHNSON is giving a reading on April 10. I mean, no big deal - he's only one of my literary idols. My point is, if you don't check, you'll never know what you're missing.
  
  If you're in Austin, be sure to check out Book People (I spent one memorable reading there sipping free Schlitz served in paper bags to promote the launch of a pulp serial), some of the smaller area independent bookstores like Book Woman and Monkey Wrench, and make sure you keep up with the Witliff Collections at Texas State University - they tend to host each writer first at the school, and then the same or the next day at the Katherine Anne Porter House in Kyle. Thanks to their efforts, I've been fortunate enough to catch Tim O'Brien, Louise Erdrich and Karen Russell - and if I gave it my all, this spring I could catch both Sherman Alexie and Jorie Graham as well.
  
  Also keep your eye out for the Inprint! Literary Series in Houston. I legit drove to Houston and back all in one day to see the swoon-worthy Michael Ondaatje read from The Cat's Table.

One slice of my to-read shelf

• Volunteer at local events. The Texas Book Festival comes to Austin every October, and it is a veritable feast of glory. It's held at the Texas Capitol, so you're likely to be sitting in some very venerable chambers for the panels and lectures you attend. One of my favorite panels every year is the one held by Vintage & Anchor. They typically have a couple of their authors sit down and discuss their process, what they've been reading lately, and answer questions about how to go about the business, and volunteers at the door will even hand you a tote bag with a selection of free Vintage & Anchor titles when you walk in. Pretty cool stuff.
  
  In a truly unfortunate series of events, I was signed up to be a volunteer for the Texas Book Festival in 2013 working in the author signing tent - but like the dummy I am, I had to go and take another part-time job, and it totally conflicted with my volunteer duties, so I had to relinquish them. I will never stop regretting that I missed Claire Vaye Watkins speak. The way she weaves her tumultuous origin story into her heart flummoxing shorts makes my senses weep with wonder - that, and the fact that we are close in age, places her squarely in the arena of being one of my very favorite new writers. Seriously, go read Battleborn. Now. 

From A Year of Reading the World.com

• Challenge yourself. First of all, there's no way I would ever attempt to read 196 books in one year - I'm not THAT achievement-oriented. But Ann Morgan, a writer based out of London, set out to try it, reading one book by one author from each country in the world. Oh yeah, and all in a year. Now, in order for me to accomplish that, I would have to quit my day job (thus losing the ability to purchase said books), and probably say sayonara to all of my friends (thus losing my license on PERSPECTIVE, y'all) - so you know, I probably couldn't do it at all.
  
  What I could do, though, is try a challenge of a different tack. Maybe I could challenge myself to read a book for each week of the year, and both keep track of and write at least a cursory review of each? Okay, I'm already doing that. Other ways of keeping it interesting might be to pick an author you've never read, and read everything they wrote in chronological order. Or you could find a list of essential reading that strikes a note with you, and make your way through it.

So, what do you think? Are you motivated yet?