Bookstores, BookTube, and Libraries

A long time ago there used to be a bookstore in my town.  Then it closed and my days of going in and losing three to four hours standing in the stacks, looking at spines and reading book blurbs came to an end.  There is no bookstore in my town anymore.  We do have a used bookstore and a "friends of * Library" store. It's not the same.

They don't carry first run books. If you want what "might" be on the NYT bestsellers list you have to go to Target, Costco, or Walmart because they sell first run books.
It is sad.
Since bookstores in my area have gone away, which is very sad considering we live in JOHN STEINBECK'S HOMETOWN!!! There isn't a first run bookstore unless you go up to Gilroy. They have a Barnes & Noble, a place I find wanting. I am never happy with the selection they have.  But I mean if I want to go book searching, I could go there, even though it's like 30 mins away and smells like garlic.

Therefore, I was very very very happy to find Booktube!  I love Booktube. I love the people who are so passionate to step in front of a camera and espouse about a book they just read. It makes me happy. I sometimes get caught up in their excitement and want to rush out and buy that book.
And then the breaks come on because I have no job right now. No job equals no money. No money equals no new books. No hardcovers, no paperbacks, no magazines...no nuthin.

But we have a library system. In a previous post (link) I talked about how I have a person in my writer’s group who worked for the county free library system. She helped me get a card to that system and I began to check out books with them.
That rekindled my love for books and I began to read again.

So with Booktube on the computer giving me reviews and recommendations, and a library card in my wallet, I was about to find and read books.  My other favorite part of Booktube are the book hauls! Oh man, I love those. I can see the book, and put it on my To Read list. Then check the libraries catalog and place a hold on it, if they have it. I have a stack of books sitting next to me, that I should get a start on.  First up:  Scythe by Neal Shusterman.
Wish me luck!

Until next time!

Hello fellow writerly peoples!

I have been very bad. At the start of the year, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't reading enough. You know the old adage that:  to be a good writer you must read. Well, I was reading, just not published material. I was reading lots and lots and LOTS of scanlated manga and fanfiction.  I save the fanfiction offline, and put it on my Kindle. 

While I do enjoy fanfiction, and some fanfic authors are exceptional, I had the suspicion that this was NOT what they meant when they said you should read. IN MY DEFENSE, they also say: read within the genre that you will write in. Read everything! 
I was reading in my genre.  I consider it research and analyzing the market.
That is my story, and I am sticking to it.
But I digress. 

In January I set up a To Be Read Jar. I was pretty good at pulling out paper tags and searching for the books, and reading them, and then review them.  I was reading up to two books a month.
One of the books I pulled out of the jar was:  Mr. Penumbra's 24-hr Bookstore by Robin Sloan. That was a good book. It is set in San Francisco (a city I ALWAYS wanted to live in - I went to college up there so I can check that off my list of things to do) and it is in a BOOKSTORE! What is not to love about that?! I really liked that book. So mysterious.

That book was (luckily for me) available through the local county free library system. One of the members of my writing group just happens to work at the library and brought me the book. The only "bad" part was that I had to fill out a library card.
And anyone who is a bibliophile understands that you give a book lover a library card, it is like giving them a free sample of a hard drug. Book lovers are already addicts, give us a place where we can get our fix for free?
Yeah...

I was good! The nice lady actually brought the book to the writing group. I didn't have to even GO to the library.  But sooner or later I was going to have to return it. That is when I got into B.I.G T.R.O.U.B.L.E. I had to go inside the building.

Now you must understand, it had been FIVE YEARS since the last time I actually stepped inside of a library. It was like the books sang a chorus of welcome home! Their voices tempted me inside, and into the stacks.
The only reason I left was because my arms were so full I was having trouble seeing around the books I was holding.

I was very very bad.

I would say, it's better now. But it is not.
I renewed the library card for my city's library, and traveled to a second county free library. I currently have 11 items in that system on hold. I have to return three books to the city library, but I renewed 4 in my possession. They aren't getting them back! NEVER!!!!  Okay, I'll give them back, but they will be remembered and placed on my Amazon wish list just in case I have money again and I can buy them.

Oh I love books, and I am thankful for the treasure that is the free library loaning system.
So happy.

Suffice it to say, I haven't pulled another paper from the TBR jar. So I missed April, May, June, and July. However I was reading! Just not from those books in the jar. I'll have to continue that. Maybe next month I'll continue.

Tomorrow is Wednesday! I have started watching BookTube videos, and have decided to jump into the Top Five Wednesday group. I joined the group on Goodreads, and will post my responses here. I am all ready for tomorrow too. I have covers and everything.
So, that is something to look forward to.

See you manana!