Independent Bookstore Day is here!!! A wonderful day to pick up a new book and support your favorite local indie bookstores this Saturday April 24th :) We've got exclusive merch and special edition books available in-store and online to celebrate! Due to Covid-19, Seattle Independent bookstores will not be holding our usual festivities with the challenge to visit all participating stores in a single day. However, there is a NEW and wonderful challenge that is happening this year that will allow people to safely participate amidst the pandemic called the 10-10-10 Challenge!
From April 24th - May 3, you can participate by making a purchase at 10 participating bookstores within 10 days and win a limited-edition Seattle Independent Bookstore Day Tote Bag! You can complete this challenge in-person or online. You can pick up a passport in-person at a participating bookstore or click here to print one out. With your passport you can keep track of all the different bookstores you make a purchase from. To see a list of all participating bookstores and how to submit your receipts, check out the Seattle Independent Bookstore Day website!
*** On this particular patch of Earth, I'm in the traditional territory of the Duwamish people. This month especially, I want to express immense gratitude for the Tribe's stewardship of and respect for the land.***
I won't take up too much of your time (because hopefully you're outside or headed in that direction), but I'm just here to say...Happy Earth Day 2021!!!!!!! If that statement brings you joy, then YAY! I hope you find interesting and informative suggestions below to keep you engaged with nature all year long. If it fills you with trepidation or only reminds you of those photocopy coloring pages of recycling bins, that's understandable too. Natural landscapes and environmental education can be ridiculously unaccessible, but hopefully you'll find something in this post (there's books, podcasts, Instagram accounts, local organizations, and places to visit) that helps to (re)ignite your connection with this beautifully wild world.
What better way to celebrate April than with poetry books! I am a bit biased as someone who reads poetry not only during National Poetry Month but every other month as well. But I’m here because I love poems and I want more people to love them too.
Studying it in college, reading it during my lunch breaks, and writing it in my spare time, I am very familiar with the eye rolls and shrugs I get from people when I mention poetry. And, believe me, I understand when they say they just don’t get it because I don't get all of it either. One of the most common responses I hear is that school ruined it for them because required reading sometimes has a way of doing that.The overanalyzing in high school English class, your teacher and their unforgiving red pen, deters readers and nonreaders alike from picking up some of these amazing writers that are doing incredible things with language. Like Billy Collins writes, "all they want to do / is tie the poem to a chair with rope / and torture a confession out of it." You don't need a rope, a chair, or a confession - I promise.
Everything these days is understandably viewed through the lense of the pandemic--even these blog posts. I've only written three over the last year, but I'm pretty sure all of them started with some sort of cry for "normalcy" or a statement on how books can help us deal with everything that has had to change. And while yes, this Valentine's Day will be another unusual holiday in the books, I feel confident in saying that one thing has NOT changed: long distance relationships are a tale as old as time! Be it through letters, emails, texts, tweets, post-it notes or even time travel, love finds a way no matter how far apart we are.
There are some really amazing books coming out this spring that you're gonna want to check out. Pre-order them now so you'll be ahead of the curve when they're released. Seriously, these books look phenomenal and we can't wait for them to be out in the world.
