here are some thoughts: September 17, 2024
i just got back from NEIBA, which was my first bookseller-specific tradeshow in 10 (i am pretty sure) years, and i have some thoughts!
i keep forgetting to put a disclaimer in here about affiliate links; books are linked to Bookshop, and if i actually ever earn enough for a payout it will be donated to a good cause. hi, FTC!
📚 i am reading adrienne maree brown’s LOVING CORRECTIONS, which is a challenging book. the chapter on COVID and the unvaxxed, WHEW. i am still processing! one of the reasons i’ve been reading brown consistently for years is because of our shared love of Le Guin’s work, and she goes into THE DISPOSSESSED in another essay. so the serendipity of finding the same mass-market version at a used bookstore in Newton MA during a mini-bookstore tour felt too good to ignore. it was my first-ever Le Guin, i bought it at the little bookstore in a strip mall in high school based purely on the cover, and i haven’t reread it since probably high school; i’m incredibly curious how it will land with me almost 30 years later. but Le Guin is one of the authors i don’t hesitate to reread, which isn’t something i can say for many, so that’s a nice.
🫧 do y’all know about the Denman shower brush?? it is life-changing. my scalp has lit’rully never been happier. just passing on the good word.
💼 The NEIBA (the New England Independent Bookseller Association, for those who don’t speak regional book acronym) conference was, as i mentioned above, my first bookseller conference in a decade, and also was my first trip away after becoming a parent. so a BFD, tqbh. i was pretty excited in the lead-up because i knew i would see people i missed (HI EMMA!), especially now that my social media presence is functionally nonexistent, and because … i don’t know? i honestly was just so jazzed. i was also very nervous about how it would feel to be away from Fizz for four (!) nights, although also very excited about sleeping uninterrupted in a hotel bed. you can see where i’m going with this, i had Many Feelings. and it was a fantastic trip! i met my new coworkers with our actual faces, i got to paddle-board on the Charles River, i saw old bookfriends and made a few new ones, and my hotel room had a patio and a view of the river (!!!). i came home simultaneously refilled and exhausted and ready for baby cuddles and my couch. i regret nothing, which is a great feeling at this point in my life. you can take the girl out of the indie bookstore, but etc etc etc.
📼 i am listening to the audiobook of SLOW PRODUCTIVITY buy Cal Newport on a friend’s strong recommendation and while i am not super into the author’s narration style (so formal!), y’all know i love me a book reframing the Productivity Industrial Complex. stay tuned for thoughts other than “yep, sounds about right.”
👋 may the full moon recharge you even as it simultaneously frazzles us all.