Is there anything better than unwrapping a gift that’s a book?
The answer is no.
Author Archives: Alicia Abdul
Traditions
About this time, the tags for book trees (a lit up tree made from books) or Jolabokaflod, the Icelandic book flood, come fast and furious. As they should because they’re traditions just like building a gingerbread house is for my family and making pierogies on Christmas Eve.
As for book traditions, there is one that I’ve done for years. On the last day of school, I take our boys to the indie bookstore and let them buy whatever they want– they’re reasonable and bookish, so it all works out. It’s a way to celebrate another school year gone by and usher in summer reading outside.
I have a tradition for the end of one year and the beginning of another. It’s simple but ‘a thing’. By December I’ve usually picked my last book of the year and the first book I’ll read in the new year– usually to end and begin on a high note– selecting a type of book that I traditionally enjoy or have heard all good things about.
And while I don’t have one for the winter itself as a family, I might try to build a tradition in the vein of Jolabokaflod though it’s complicated by the fact that we are at family’s on Christmas Eve. But it can be whatever we make it. I think I’ll take some recommendations over the next month and see what we come up with.
Any suggestions?
Animals
One of my favorite booktalks each year is for the AP Language classes because it’s all nonfiction and each student has to have a different book than every other student across the multiple classes. And my opening lines to start the booktalk each year always have to do with curiosity; essentially, permission to love what you love without fear of judgement by others.
Serial killers? Sure!
Psychology? Done!
Mongol Empire? We’ll make it work!
Animals? I’m your woman!
I use the example quite frequently that little kids love to read about animals and you don’t have to grow out of it. I haven’t. I’m more into animal books as an adult than I ever was as a kid. I recently read a 2023 book that got me thinking about my love of these types of stories. Here are my recommendations.
Over this next year
The day before Thanksgiving I turned the page to chapter 40 (a bookish pun I couldn’t resist). Coming up on the day, I thought about the fun little things I could do to make it special because I was excited about moving to another age bracket. So I came up with a list of 40 books that I would reread this year– generally books I own because books I own are books that I had previously read and knew I needed to own.
But I admit that I rarely reread books. It’s either a committee assignment that forces a book reread, an upcoming author visit, or in the case of Saga, a comfort read during the pandemic. It’s still rare. Yet, I wanted to recapture the feelings I had years or decades ago with this retrospective over the course of this upcoming year.
These books have changed my thinking, warmed my soul, or hearken back to another time in my life. I’ll be updating my journey periodically on Instagram. Here were the books I settled on.
Thankfulness
Waking up today will be my first full day turning the page to chapter 40. It also happens to be Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for being able to live another year.
I am thankful for good food and drink whether it’s at a beautiful new restaurant or from my own kitchen.
I am thankful to be able to run a Turkey Trot this morning with my nuclear family, two teenagers and a husband before spending time with extended family to share in some turkey, stuffing, and cranberries (don’t forget dessert!)
I am thankful for authors, books, and being surrounded by the power of words.
Gifts for the book nerds in your life
Gift giving season is upon us, so what kinds of items would a book nerd in your life want? I’ll tell you the things I’ve been gifted and loved and the things that I’d love to own.
Canvas bags with pithy sayings like this gorgeous one.
Apparel that brings comfort to readers like these warm socks with a cool slogan.
Items that compliment your reading environment like these adorable coasters.
Jewelry like a bangle that says “I love books”.
For the book nerds with an extensive library that they often don’t like to lend out– they’ll add a reminder of just whose it is with a stamp or embosser. That’ll do the trick!
And book weights! That item has revolutionized my reading life.
What are your favorite book nerd gifts?
Stocking up for long weekends and breaks
Just like you buy the essentials to stock up when impending weather hits, so I stock up on long weekends and breaks when libraries are likely to be closed. I want to make sure I have enough reading material at the ready. Yes, I know that the digital world remains available, but it’s often so much better to hold a book in your hands.
Luckily in our high school library, we got a big shipment of books in, so we’ve created a few displays to highlight these books to stock up. Last Friday two girls came up to the desk to check out and asked how many they’re allowed to borrow at a time. I told them that four is usually a pretty good number but around long weekends and holidays we’ll let them take as many as they can carry. They chuckled and shouted loudly about how happy that made them. Adults do it, teens do it, and the adults for little children do it too.
Here in upstate New York, wintery weather is starting to arrive, so I’ll be sure to make sure my shelves are stocked.
Fueled by audiobooks
Last year I was training for a 15K in the summer which would lead to running my first half marathon in the fall. Eight years ago I would have laughed at you if you told me I was going to be a runner. And seven years ago, I would have laughed (as I did my friends and colleagues) if you told me you listened to audiobooks while running. Because I was decidedly *not* a runner, I could only imagine getting pumped up to run with music.
Fast forward to last year’s training and I couldn’t imagine running WITHOUT an audiobook. I’m sure there were mornings where I ran farther because I didn’t want to stop reading. And even now, now that we’re also dog owners again, the daily walks also include audiobooks if I’m not walking with another family member in addition to any running I do. Here are a few of the memorable audiobook runs and walks.
This was my first ever audiobook run. You can never go wrong with Steve Sheinkin’s nonfiction.
My first Colleen Hoover book was this audiobook while running. Spicy!
Nugent’s Little Cruelties was so complicated, deliciously messy, and screwed up (in all the best ways) that I remember my eyes bugging out a little while I was running. What was I listening to?!?!
Beautiful storytelling and a vivid setting combined to immerse me in a mystery that absolutely took me to another time and place. I definitely ran longer than I had planned to keep reading.
This poetry collection includes nature sounds while the the multiple narrators share the poetry and while you’re actually walking in nature, it was captivating.
When books are memoirs, you need to have an audiobook narrated by the author. This one was not only perfectly executed as an audiobook, but it also spoke to me on a deeper level that I ended up buying the book to own in addition to listening to it a second time.
Save money, use your library
Our library system ran an expedition, the second iteration in a handful of years to promote all of the thirty-six libraries in the system. After the expedition finished, they did a Library Love event to bring the libraries back together, give out some awards, provide recognition for the staff who put the activity together, and allow fellow library lovers a chance to have fun and connect.
At the event, the staff had a station where you could pose with the dollar amount you saved by borrowing from the library using a standard dollar amount per book, but that didn’t include your digital borrowing.
I know I read a lot of books, so to know that I have the public library, in addition to my job as a school librarian, saves me quite a lot of money. In this photo from September, my borrowing totaled over $42,000. That’s a car. It’s a salary. It’s a lot of groceries (well not as much anymore).
I know there are libraries whose digital borrowing receipts include “you saved X dollars by borrowing these items”, which I also love.
We should continue to celebrate what public libraries do from hosting events and community gatherings, to still the thing as old as time– lending books. Thank you to people like Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Carnegie, all the librarians and library staff, and communities that support their libraries!
Romance, romantasy, & cuteness
In a recent professional development, the portmanteau romantasy was dropped and in the last 48 hours I’ve used it and seen it used in publisher emails. With the publication of certain new titles that are making book nerds swoon, it has officially entered the lexicon heavily. Then there are the romance titles which have been heavily requested for the last several years. And happy love stories that lay on the cuteness. Here’s a short list of some favorites in the three categories:
- A First Time for Everything by Santat– cuteness
- You Bet Your Heart by Parker– romance
- Always Never by Lafebre– romance
- Julieta and the Romeos by Andreu– romance
- Horimiya by Hero– romance
- The Princess and the Grilled Cheese by Muniz– cuteness
- Ryan and Avery by Levithan– romance
- Fangs by Andersen– romantasy
- Check & Mate by Hazelwood– romance
- Crumbs by Stirling– romantasy
Readers Be Advised 