You may choose a corner of a spacious area in an open-concept living room or den; even a cozy nook beneath a long staircase or floor-to-ceiling shelving in your office space works well. Libraries no long need doors or specially structured spaces.

Books add character and charm to any interior environment, so be inventive and create a unique, stylish library design. Here you’ll find innovative ideas and tips for a home library design that are stylish and functional. Photo top rightby Jon Tyson on Unsplash.

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Photo: Pickawood / Unsplash

Two-Story Contemporary Home Library: This spacious two-story contemporary home library features large-scale floor-to-ceiling built-in shelving. Lined with a glorious collection so books, these shelves offer the ideal image of an orderly, well-organized home library. The high vaulted ceiling provides plenty of space for the upstairs balcony with more shelves neatly lined with books.

The recessed lights above the first-floor bookshelves and the bright, sparkling fixtures in the ceiling offer good reading light. On the first floor, the plush neutral-toned corner sectional sofa, pillows, and matching ottoman provide a welcoming ambiance. Who can resist lingering in this stunning, inviting interior to browse and explore this large, intriguing collection of books?  

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Photo: Leora Dowling / Unsplash

Country Cottage Library and Sitting Room: This charming country cottage-style library with its adjoining sitting room welcomes one and all. The floor-to-ceiling shelves are filled with books is a comfortable state of slight disarray. Near the shelves, a pair of vintage upholstered chairs in light floral prints emphasize the casual cottage atmosphere.

Beside one chair, a basket of handcrafted walking sticks lends character to this library setting. In the sitting room beyond, rustic wooden chairs with spool backs align with the overall decor. The patterned wallpaper mirrors the design of the front room’s cushioned chairs, inviting visitors to relax, read and linger for a while. 

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Photo: Pickawood / Unsplash

Upstairs Library Nook with a View: This beautiful upstairs library offers a quiet reading space with a large selection of books in a long wall of ceiling-high shelving. Modern rectangular pendant lights add more soft reading light.

The light natural timber flooring lends lovely wood tones while adding to the room’s basic beauty and allure. This library has the feeling of a tree-top reading room that is separate from the rest of the house. The large indoor plant along with the pristine white walls and shelving accents this interior’s soft brightness and appeal. 

Every room will always look better with a cozy place to sit. Adding a comfy chair to read in will always improve a home library. Don’t forget to add a child sized chair too for quality time in the library with the kids.

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Library as a Room Divider: This attractive living space carves out a comfy living space by using floor to ceiling shelving as a room divider. The wall of high bookshelves adds character, and the tabletop adjacent to the sofa can function as a display for the titles that are next on your reading list.

With natural light from its windows, this reading and seating area has a pleasing open, yet cozy feeling. The decor and atmosphere encourage browsing and reading while you enjoy a warm beverage or cuddling up with your companion animal.

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Photo: Pickawood / Unsplash

Understated Beauty Farmhouse Style Library: This simple, rustic farmhouse style library has beautiful natural-finish deep wood shelves. The built-in shelving unit provides plenty of room for books plus drawers and cabinetry below for storage. Since farmhouse style is simple and uncluttered, it promotes an organized, neat design that suits a quiet reading area.

Rooms that feature natural wood are also calming and conducive to quiet reading. This type of home library can be equally effective as a separate area or combined with a family room. The simple design and decor clear your mind from the day’s earlier tasks and demands, leaving you relaxed for reading.  

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Cozy Cookbook Library and Eating Area: For the compulsive cookbook collector, what better place to display your books than where you eat? This casual cookbook library can be constructed in a dining room, dinette, or even in an open-plan kitchen if you have the space. The floor to ceiling construction ensures that your collection can grow. If your books don’t quite fill the shelves, you can always use the spaces for displaying dishes, or any other kitchen wares that look attractive.

Your dining table can be used to display your favorites when not in use, or as a space to mull over and choose the delicious recipes you want to make next.

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Photo: Jonathan Borba / Unsplash 

Casual Library in a Garret-Style Space: This cozy library setting is easy to fit into a garret-style room with a sloping ceiling. The handcrafted units of low, deep bookshelves create a casual display for books and decorative items. The simplicity of the light walls and flooring, and double doors is pleasing in this small attic room.

The low-to-the-floor library lends creative charm and design to an otherwise empty interior corner. Yet something about its uncomplicated style is endearing and somewhat intriguing. This is a great space for sinking deep into a captivating mystery novel or oversized art or travel book to dream over.

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We might be living in a sleek, sophisticated digital world, but nothing compares with the inviting warmth and enjoyment of a cozy or chic home library setting. The casual luxury of relaxing on a deep-cushioned sofa with your favorite book and beverage remains a major pastime. 

Some homeowners even build a garden library by the pool with sliding doors to keep books dry and fresh. Why not enjoy your treasured reading time to the ultimate in your own unique, clever, trendy or traditional library setting? 

See more ideas for The Bookish Life on this site.

The post 7 Ideas For Stunning, Unique Home Libraries appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Here’s a slew of books for book lovers that celebrate the passion for the page. Above, Bibliophile: An Illustrated History by Jane Mount, which kicks off this list.

In this list you’ll find a book about so-called “book towns” around the world; a celebration of libraries; a musing on the art of reading itself; a collection on the thrill of finding rare books; books on bookstores, and a book on the joy of  bibliomania. What perfect gifts these make for the book nerds in your life — or for yourself!

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Bibliophile: An Illustrated History by Jane Mount

A love letter to all things bookish, book people and places are curated by Jane Mount, who illuminates them with the vibrant illustrations she’s known for.

You’ll find literary trivia, see the world’s beautiful bookstores, workplaces of famous authors, and even get a taste of famous fictional meals. Best of all, it’s a wonderful resource for discovering some of the greatest reads ever.

“In this love letter to all things bookish, Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations … A source of endless inspiration, literary facts and recommendations, Bibliophile is pure bookish joy.” Bibliophile is followed by Bibliophile: Diverse Spines.

Bibliophile on Bookshop.org*
Bibliophile on Amazon*

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Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores
by Bob Eckstein

A 100 postcard set from this book are available as well*

New Yorker cartoonist Bob Eckstein presents Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores: True Tales and Lost Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Book Lovers. It’s a collection of 75 gorgeous detailed paintings of some of the world’s most iconic bookstores, served up with the inside scoop about what goes on inside them.

Quirky and charming, the anecdotes and stories feature many of today’s most renowned authors and thinkers.Some of these bookstores have gone by the wayside, many, thankfully, are still open for business.

“Page by page, Eckstein perfectly captures our lifelong love affair with books, bookstores, and book-sellers that is at once heartfelt, bittersweet, and cheerfully confessional.” Read an excerpt from this book.

Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores on Bookshop.org*
Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores on Amazon*

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For the past few decades, Black bookstores have been centers of community, culture, and activism. This book’s subject is especially resonant at a time when our current regime is attempting to erase the history and existence of various populations — the very hallmark of fascism. Literature has always been a crucial form of resistance! Prose to the People is equal parts travelogue, love letter, historical document, and manifesto. From the publisher:

“Thoughtfully curated by writer and Black bookstore owner Katie Mitchell, Prose to the People is a must-have addition to the shelves of anyone who loves book culture and Black history. Though not a definitive guide, this dynamic book centers profiles of over fifty Black bookstores from the Northeast to the mid-Atlantic, the South, and the West Coast, complete with stunning original and archival photography.”

Prose to the People on Bookshop.org*
Prose to the People on Amazon*

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The Curious Reader

From the publisher: Readers rejoice! From Mental Floss, an online destination for more than a billion curious minds since its founding in 2001, comes the ultimate book for lovers of literature. From Americanah to War and Peace, from Chinua Achebe and Jane Austen to Jesmyn Ward and George R.R. Martin, learn surprising facts about the world’s most famous novels and novelists.

“With sumptuous, visually stimulating spreads, this book delivers on its promise– to unearth strange stories, bizarre facts, or unexpected details about the books on our shelves. Good for curious readers, whether they want to delve into authors and books they love, feel competent faking knowledge about books everyone else seems to have read, or just dip into and out of literary worlds” – Library Journal

The Curious Reader on Amazon*
The Curious Reader on Bookshop.org*

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Book Towns: Forty Five Paradises
of the Printed Word by Alex Johnson

“Book Towns” of the world are hamlets, villages, and towns center on literature and bookshops — in other words, paradises for book lovers.

Book Towns will take you on a tour of the recognized literary towns around the world, with stories of how they grew and offering information on how to get there. But even if you never get to any of them, the beautiful photos and charming stories are perfect for the book-loving armchair traveler.

“Amid the beauty of the Norwegian fjords, among the verdant green valleys of Wales, in the shadow of the Catskill mountains and beyond, publishers and printmakers have banded together to form unique havens of literature.” Read more about Book Towns on this site.

Book Towns on Bookshop.org*
Book Towns on Amazon*

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I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas
of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel

I’d Rather Be Reading is a collection of witty reflection that any voracious reader will relate to. Blogger and author Anne Bogel (known for her popular podcast What Should I Read Next?) invites book lovers into a virtual community that’s as cozy as it is fascinating.

“With fascinating new things about books and publishing, and reflect on the role reading plays in their lives. The perfect gift for the bibliophile in everyone’s life, I’d Rather Be Reading will command an honored place on the overstuffed bookshelves of any book lover.”

I’d Rather be Reading on Bookshop.org*
I’d Rather Be Reading on Amazon*

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I’d Rather be Reading: A Library of Art
for Book Lovers by Guinevere de la Mare

Echoing the title of the previous entry, this gifty book is more visually oriented. From the publisher: For anyone who’d rather be reading than doing just about anything else, this book is the ultimate must-have.

In this visual ode to all things bookish, readers will get lost in page after page of beautiful contemporary art, photography, and illustrations depicting the pleasures of books.

A pocket-sized book of less than 100 pages, it’s rounded out with poems, quotations, and aphorisms celebrating the joys of reading, this lovingly curated compendium is a love letter to all things literary, and the perfect gift for bookworms everywhere.

I’d Rather Be Reading on Bookshop.org*
I’d Rather be Reading on Amazon*

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The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History
of Publishing by Michael Castleman

From the publisher: From Gutenberg to Amazon, Michael Castleman’s The Untold Story of Books is the first and only history of publishing told from a veteran author’s point of view. Witty, entertaining, and full of remarkable new insights, it is a deeply researched, fascinating history of the idiosyncratic book business—aimed at authors, aspiring authors, booksellers, industry professionals, and everyone who loves to read books.

Organized into three distinct book businesses, all defined by the evolution of printing, The Untold Story of Books explores how each new book business upended its predecessor, forcing authors, publishers, and booksellers to adapt to ever-changing circumstances. It’s a story full of surprises: Why is New York the nation’s publishing capital? Why are book endorsements called “blurbs”?  And why is copyright often an illusion? Arriving at the present day, Castleman paints a compelling portrait of an evolving book business full of new promise and peril.

The Untold Story of Books on Bookshop.org*
The Untold Story of Books on Amazon.com*

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Rare Books Uncovered: True Stories of Fantastic Finds
in Unlikely Places by Rebecca Rego Barry

From the publisher: Feed your inner bibliophile with this volume on unearthed rare and antiquarian books. Few collectors are as passionate or as dogged in the pursuit of their quarry as collectors of rare books. In Rare Books Uncovered, expert on rare and antiquarian books Rebecca Rego Barry recounts the stories of remarkable discoveries from the world of book collecting.

Read about the family whose discovery in their attic of a copy of Action Comics No. 1— the first appearance of Superman — saved their home from foreclosure. Or the Salt Lake City bookseller who volunteered for a local fundraiser — and came across a 500-year-old copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle. These tales and many others will entertain and inspire casual collectors and hardcore bibliomaniacs alike.

Rare Books Uncovered on Bookshop.org*
Rare Books Uncovered on Amazon*

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The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell

From the publisher: Here’s a book in which the bookshop, even more than the book itself, is the center of curiosity and fascination. Here you’ll  find more than 300 weird and wonderful bookstores around the world, in every form imaginable: shops on buses, in converted churches, abandoned factories, on barges, and even odder places.

You’ll encounter stories of bookshops that moveable, mutable, and that are even folded into vending machines. “From the oldest bookshop in the world, to the smallest you could imagine … The Bookshop Book is a love letter to bookshops all around the world.” From the bestselling author of Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops.

The Bookshop Book on Bookshop.org*
The Bookshop Book on Amazon*

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The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

You wouldn’t think that the journals of a bookseller would be so comedic, but The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell is laugh-out-loud-funny. The owner of a used bookstore, appropriately called The Book Shop, Shaun’s story takes place in Wigtown, Scotland.

This rural town was the first of the forty-some odd “Book Towns” compiled into the book of the same name, above. Bythell dishes on how he buys books, how he makes his old-fashioned business thrive in the modern world, and more.  The heart of the book is his the hilarious interactions with staff and customers, adding up to an entertaining romp for book nerds. Shaun Bythell is also the author of Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops.

The Diary of a Bookseller on Bookshop.org*
The Diary of a Bookseller on Amazon*

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The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders by Stuart Kells

From the publisher: Ancient libraries, grand baroque libraries, scientific libraries, memorial libraries, personal libraries, clandestine libraries: Stuart Kells tells the stories of their creators, their prizes, their secrets, and their fate.

To research this book, Kells traveled around the world with his young family like modern-day ‘Library Tourists.’” So states the description of this book that will surely thrill devoted library lovers.

The Library is a celebration of libraries as places of wonder, and of the physical book as a thing of beauty. And it explores the human element, the very thing that has made libraries enduring institutions in a rapidly changing world. By the author of Shakespeare’s Library: Unlocking the Greatest Mystery in Literature.

The Library on Bookshop.org*
The Library on Amazon*

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The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Susan Orlean has created a wondrous love letter to libraries. From Amazon: “Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before …

Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalist’s reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.”

The Library Book on Bookshop.org*
The Library Book on Amazon*

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The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures
by The Library of Congress

From the publisher: The Library of Congress brings book lovers an enriching tribute to the power of the written word and to the history of our most beloved books.

Featuring more than 200 full-color images of original catalog cards, first edition book covers, and photographs from the library’s magnificent archives, this collection is a visual celebration of the rarely seen treasures in one of the world’s most famous libraries and the brilliant catalog system that has kept it organized for hundreds of years.

Packed with engaging facts on literary classics — from Ulysses to The Cat in the Hat to Shakespeare’s First Folio to The Catcher in the Rye — this package is an ode to the enduring magic and importance of books.

The Card Catalog on Bookshop.org*
The Card Catalog on Amazon*

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Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks
by Annie Spence

From the publisher: A librarian’s laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving collection of love letters and breakup notes to the books in her life. If you love to read … you know that some books affect you so profoundly they forever change the way you think about the world.

Some books, on the other hand, disappoint you so much you want to throw them against the wall. Either way, it’s clear that a book can be your new soul mate or the bad relationship you need to end.

In Dear Fahrenheit 451, librarian Annie Spence has crafted love letters and breakup notes to the iconic and eclectic books she has encountered over the years.

From breaking up with The Giving Tree (a dysfunctional relationship book if ever there was one), to her love letter to The Time Traveler’s Wife (a novel less about time travel and more about the life of a marriage, with all of its ups and downs), Spence will make you think of old favorites in a new way.

Dear Fahrenheit 451 on Bookshop.org*
Dear Fahrenheit 451 on Amazon*

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Schomberg: The Man Who Built a Library
by Carole Boston Weatherford 

From the publisher: In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children’s literature’s top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg’s quest to correct history.  Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro–Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg.

This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages … A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.

Though this book is meant for grades 3 to 6 (illustrated by Eric Velasquez), it can really be enjoyed by “children of all ages,” and is a wonderful way to learn about an amazing, under-appreciated personage in American literary history.

Schomberg on Bookshop.org*
Schomberg on Amazon*

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Read These Banned Books:
A Journal and 52-Week Reading Challenge

From the publisher: The American Library Association presents a must-read banned book for every week of the year in this beautiful book lover’s reading log. Expand your reading list and stand against literary censorship with this one-year reading challenge and book journal!

Featuring 52 modern and classic books that have been challenged or banned, from The Hunger Games to Maus, this book log includes ALA’s insights into each title as well as writing prompts for further reflection. A perfect holiday stocking stuffer, birthday present, or gift for bibliophiles, librarians, teachers and educators, activists, and rebel readers of all genres!

Read These Banned Books on Bookshop.org*
Read These Banned Books on Amazon*

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*This post contains Bookshop Affiliate and Amazon Affiliate links. If a product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post Nonfiction Books about Books, Bookstores & Libraries appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Two years ago my husband and I realized we needed a change. We had grown tired of city life after raising our children in Richmond, Virginia, our hometown, so one Sunday we drove southside to go antiquing in Blackstone, where my mother-in-law spent part of her childhood.

We met a distant cousin for the first time, and explained we were looking for a small place to move not too far away from family and friends; she took us around to look at real estate, and a week later we put a contract on a Queen Anne Revival built in 1896. By fall, we had put our house on the market and rented a residence while we renovated the Victorian. I also had to explain to several people we were not getting a divorce.

Adjusting to small-town life

Granville and I moved from a city with a metro area population of 1,105,000 to a town of 3,400 plus a National Guard base. The change took some getting used to, yet we acclimated quickly. Our adventure had begun.

At a certain time of day, under a smoke-blue sky, if you drive down Blackstone’s Main Street, it looks like the 1950s – other than the traffic. The welcoming stark white spire of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church; the monotonous brick façade of the Wedgewood Motor Inn; and turn-of-the-century homes, some showplaces, some mummified and depressing.

This is a town where most people drive pickup trucks and we all wave to each other, strangers included. A contractor told me Blackstone was so small they would all know what I was going to do before I did, and he was right. I learned it may only take fifteen minutes to do my errands whereas I needed an extra half hour so I could talk to everyone I met. This is just what we do.   

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The Book End in Blackstone, VA
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Introducing The Book End

One of the best parts about Blackstone is our bookstore, The Book End (gently used books), on Maple Street, next door to the Sanitary Barber Shop and down the way from our newspaper the Courier Record. My husband and I frequent the store more than Amazon or the library and I am sure he is one of their best customers since he buys at least eight books a month.

The prices haven’t changed since they opened in 2007; unless you buy a first edition online, the in-store prices range from 25 cents to 4 dollars. The store, 15 by 15 feet, is so small that I must move the coffeepot if I want to look at the biographies.

Finding treasures to read

Pat Conroy called a bookstore “a wonderland” and a “portal to the world” and I agree with him one hundred percent. One of my favorite pastimes is to browse. The moment I walk through the front door, I can feel life’s stress lift from my shoulders. 

Where books there is fellowship so I can study the shelves to my heart’s content and talk to anyone nearby. I rarely go with a list of hope-to-finds and all those inexpensive books make me feel heady; stories of love and triumph, heartbreak and devastation, the glories of victory and the results of despair, not to mention just good old-fashioned storytelling at its best. This is a trip to a foreign land and you never know what you will stumble upon.

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A well-loved copy of The Yearling found at The Book End
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The last time I visited The Book End, I bought To Begin Again, one of M.F.K. Fisher’s early memoirs; Blue Nights by Joan Didion (which I will return because I can’t bring myself to read about the tragedy of losing a daughter); and a 1939 copy of The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings with illustrations— Thoreauian-toned prints by Edward Shenton. The inside cover of the Rawlings is inscribed as follows: “To Courtney – on her 11^th Birthday- written over 60 years ago and enjoyed by millions of young people just like you— With love, Grandma”

And what have the volunteers (who are paid a book each day they work) found in donated books? “Bookmarks, letters, airline tickets, and bills,” remembers volunteer Arrol Lund, Secretary of the Friends, and reported to know the inventory thoroughly. Granville had the biggest find of all: a one hundred dollar bill that was being used as a bookmark. He promptly donated this to the library.

How it all began

Volunteers opened the bookstore to serve the Louis Spencer Epes Memorial Library and encourage school-aged children to read. At the time, the library needed to expand and wanted to sell books they no longer needed; they had no money or space, so a group of volunteers organized Friends of the Library and decided to open a used bookstore.

A benevolent businessman, Bobby Daniels, offered the building for free and the ladies had a contest where people submitted names like The Bookshelf, The Book Depot, Unwinders Books, The Dusty Page, and the Book End. Hence, a paradise was born for readers. 

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Mission and community support

According to the Friends of the Library pamphlet, the mission is to generate community support; volunteer at the library when needed; operate and maintain The Book End; conduct book sales and special events like discussions and storytellers; buy necessary equipment and books the library may need; cultivate donors; and host special events and book giveaways.

Projects have been extensive – $10,000 was given to the library a few years ago for carpet and computers and last year the Friends split the cost of online services like hoopla and OverDrive with Crewe, a neighboring town. Every year the Friends host several children’s book giveaways including Halloween and the Grand Illumination event at Christmas.

Customers like the once-a-month Purple Bag Sale: a bag of books for $5.  Moreover, on a sweet note, every third grader in Blackstone has received an inscribed dictionary from The Friends of the Library. (If I had been one of those students, I would still have my dictionary.)

A loyal following

The Book End can count on customers like my husband. His study is a sea of murder mysteries with titles like Bad Business, The Skull Beneath the Skin, and Wicked Prey. (For a mild-mannered man he certainly does have violent tastes in reading.) I asked him once what made The Book End unique and he says it’s local and easy to drop in on: “I can go through the entire store in ten minutes and the stock turns over quickly.”

Granville considers this a way of giving back, calling it “penny philanthropy. I can buy a book for a dollar,” he explains as he puts down the Robert Parker mystery he is reading, and “the dollar goes over to the library and then I will take it back and they can sell it for another dollar. Every time I go, I donate twice.”

The Book End sells mostly westerns, science fiction, and romance. The hours are generous, though if you call and leave a message, they’ll open just for you. They put their best books on the website Alibris, where they list nearly one thousand books; the rest of the inventory, about 4,500 books, comes from not only donations but also library purges.

Dedicated volunteers

Any non-profit reflects the dedication of its volunteers and The Book End is run by a core of women of a certain hallowed age. According to Lauren Watkins, Treasurer of the Friends and a neighbor, “running The Book End would be impossible without them.” 

Tilly Conley is a longtime volunteer and current Vice President of the Friends who helps with pricing and does most of the computer work. A former English, theater arts, and photojournalism high school teacher, she is loquacious on the phone and interviews herself for the most part. “I like to read so much I’ll read the back of a cereal box,” she chuckles. Books have been a part of her life growing up in Blackstone (she lives in her childhood home) and she reminisces about the town librarian Mrs. Franny Jones who would take a book away from you if she thought you were too young for it. 

What does the future hold for The Book End? The building has been sold to Molly Black, owner of the Sanitary Barbershop, and the good news is the store will remain as tenants and the rent will not be increased from $200 a month.

The Friends are still discussing financial details with Blackstone and Nottoway County and they plan on holding more fundraisers. The shop is also looking for volunteers because many of them have cut back on responsibilities like manning booths, baking to raise money, and carrying hundreds of heavy books. Or sadly, they have died.

Support local bookstores

The day draws to a close and Main Street is starting to quiet down. The horizon has a lilac tint – spring is on the way – and I see a few people walking towards the Farmer’s Café for an early supper. I turn left on Maple Street and park in front of The Book End to gaze at the books beckoning from the windows. Who would have thought such a modest place could have an impact on so many? In life, I have learned, sometimes it is the small endeavors that are inspirational. 

Please support your local used bookstores and consider a donation to The Book End. Make checks payable to Friends of the Library, Blackstone. Mail to The Book End, 102 Maple Street, Blackstone, Virginia 23824.

Contributed by Tyler Scott, who has been writing essays and articles since the early 1980s for various magazines and newspapers.  In 2014 she published her novel The Excellent Advice of a Few Famous Painters. She lives in Blackstone, Virginia where she and her husband renovated a Queen Anne Revival house and enjoy small town-life. Her website is Tyler Scott | Pour the Coffee, Time to Write.

The post The Only Bookstore in the County: The Book End, Blackstone, Virginia appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

One of Manhattan’s few independent bookstores (and only feminist bookstore) is Bluestockings, located in the lively Lower East Side.

It’s more than than a repository for feminist thought; their shelves are filled with a beautifully curated selection of more than 6,000 titles on queer and gender studies, resistance/liberation, capitalism, climate, race, and a selection of rad children’s books. Also on the shelves are zines, journals, and poetry collections.

How about this tag line?  “Bluestockings tag line is 98% radical, 100 volunteer-powered, 2% glitter.” It’s a community-oriented venue, and to that end, the store hosts events nearly every evening, including readings, workshops, films, and performances.

Bluestockings Cooperative is conveniently located at 116 Suffolk Street, New York NY 10002, near the F train at Second Avenue and E. Houston. Please link through to the website for up-to-date hours and events.

Please note, these photo were taken in 2019, in the previous location on Allen Street. Clearly, it’s time for me to make a return visit!

While you’re in the neighborhood, other highlights of the Lower East Side include the nearby Tenement Museum, The Museum at Eldridge Street (historic synagogue), and the Lower East Side art galleries.

Bluestockings was founded in 1999 and is collectively owned and volunteer run. About the collective philosophy: “Bluestockings strives to empower our volunteer workers through non-hierarchy, cooperation, and collective-based decision making, providing an example of the society we are working toward.”

The first time I visited the store, I came to hear a reading from a recently-published book of sci-fi short stories by trans writers — Meanwhile, Elsewhere. And ever since, I’ve stopped to browse and buy, and to rest my weary feet, because there’s no better way to explore the Lower East Side. Bluestockings has a small café with organic, vegan, and fair trade coffee and goodies, and a few tables where you can sit and sip and read.

Bluestockings’ history

First of all, where did this name come from? It harks back to  The Blue Stockings Society, a political movement and literary discussion group that promoted female authorship and readership in mid-18th century England. Today, the definition of a bluestocking is “an intellectual or literary woman.” Yeah, I’ll wear that mantle proudly!

The store was founded as Bluestockings Women’s Bookstore by Kathryn Welsh, then only twenty-three. With a silent partner and a group of volunteers, the store opened in 1999.

Then a new and used bookstore, its selection focused on feminism and was collectively run. After 9/11, the business declined and was set to close down in 2003 when an angel named Brooke Lehman bought the business. She put together a six-person collective and the store was saved. The updated mission statement reads as follows:

Bluestockings is an independent bookstore, café, and activist resource center, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Through words, art, food, activism, education, and community, we strive to create a space that welcomes and empowers all people.

We actively support movements that challenge hierarchy and all systems of oppression, including but not limited to patriarchy, heterosexism, the gender binary, white supremacy and classism, within society as well as our own movements.

We seek to make our space and resources available to such movements for meetings, events, and research. Additionally, we offer educational programming that promotes centered, strategic, and visionary thinking, towards the realization of a society that is infinitely creative, truly democratic, equitable, ecological, and free.

With Bluestockings’ rebirth, the vision was enlarged from feminism to a broader spectrum of progressive and activist books and activities. The store also nearly doubled its space.

• See more of our features in Literary Travels and The Bookish Life

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Dudes just bring a different energy to the room, and sometimes we just need to be in a setting where our voices are sure to be heard, where we feel supported and valued.

There are lots of benefits to attending writer’s conferences, not the least of which is networking. You’ll meet writers in all stages of their careers; learn to pitch yourself and your work efficiently, hone your skills, get constructive critiques, and more. It’s a rare attendee that doesn’t leave a conference feeling energized and inspired.

Many conferences offer a direct route to meeting agents and editors, as well. This listing of women’s writing conferences and retreats in the U.S. is by no means exhaustive, so if you know of any others we should list, please contact us. We’re planning a listing of global women’s writing conferences, so please check back!

And please note, these conferences change from time to time, so make sure that any listing that appeals to you is up to date, and let us know if you find any that are now defunct, have changed venues, etc.

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Anne LaBastille Women’s Writing Weekend

When: July of each year
Where: Adirondacks, New York State
Learn more: ALWWW

From the website: “Join a group of like-minded women for a reading and writing retreat. Activities will include writing workshops, reflective paddling, arts-based activities, technical writing and experiential learning, and Adirondack-based readings to contemplate the role of sense of place in nature writing.”

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BinderCon: The Conference & Community For Women And Gender Variant Writers

When: Last one held in 2017; subscribe at site below for updates
Where: New York City and Los Angeles
Learn more: BinderCon

From the website: “BinderCon is a writing conference and community for women and gender variant writers. Born out of a community of over 37,000 writers, our conference is a uniquely powerful, supportive, and career-changing event.”

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C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference

When: November of each year
Where: University of Central Arkansas in Conway
Learn more: C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference

From the website: “The mission of the C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference is to recognize, promote, and encourage women-identifying writers with special emphasis given to writing inspired by or written in the south.”

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Festival of Women Writers at Hobart Book Village

When: Early September of each year
Where: Hobart, New York
Learn more: Festival of Women Writers

From the website: “Since its inception, the Festival has created space for established and emerging women writers to share their insights and skills through a variety of writing activities and public readings with audiences throughout Delaware County, the state of New York, and beyond.”

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The Fiction Writer’s Journey
When: October of each year
Where: Bar Harbor, Maine
Learn more: The Fiction Writer’s Journey

Emily Hanlon’s writing retreat for women is an annual event that’s been happening for more than twenty years in beautiful Bar Harbor, Maine, adjacent to Acadia National Park. 

From the website: “Women who write fiction share aspects of their creative life that need community to flower. In my Writing and Creativity Retreats, this community is embodied by our Circle. ​Whether we’re writing,  sharing, critiquing, playing with our creativity, feasting on meals, experiencing the awe-inspiring landscape of our surroundings, listening to open readings, or chatting with new friends, you’ll find the freedom and inspiration that such a community brings.”

Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival

When: June of each year
Where: Langley & Seattle, WA
Learn more: WPF

From the website: “Hedgebrook offers a variety of opportunities for writers to hone their craft. For over twenty years, the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival has proudly supported the creation and development of hundreds of new theatrical works by some of the most exciting playwrights of our time—who have gone on to become Pulitzer Prize, Tony, Obie, Emmy and Golden Globe award winners, as well as McArthur Genius Fellows.”

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International Women’s Writing Guild Summer Conference

When: July of each year
Where: Allentown, PA
Learn more: IWWG Summer Conference

From the website: “Over two dozen workshops ranging from three to six days in length and spanning fiction, poetry, memoir, creative nonfiction, screenwriting, playwriting, writing as performance, social justice, multi-genre, and mixed media.”

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Jennifer Louden Retreats and Writing Intensives

When: Several times throughout the year
Where: Taos, NM, Mexico, and other locations
Learn more: Jennifer Louden Retreats and Writing Intensives

From the website: “The retreats I create are among the best on the planet. Wow, that’s a bold claim. Okay, I can’t know that for a fact, but what I do know is hundreds of women over the course of 20+ years have told me, ‘I have been to so many retreats and yours are the best.’”

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Kentucky Women’s Writers Conference

When: September of each year
Where: Lexington, KY
Learn more: Kentucky Women’s Writers Conference

From the website: “Kentucky Women Writers is the longest running literary festival of women in the nation, launched by UK in 1979 to showcase the talents and issues unique to female writers.”

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Literary Women

When: March of each year
Where: Long Beach, CA
Learn more: Literary Women

From the website: “The committee that organizes the Festival is comprised of twenty-five volunteers. They believe in the continuing need to provide the Long Beach community with a cultural forum which reflects its diversity of literary interests. As succeeding generations of women continue to support the event, it is apparent the intentions of the original committee were well-founded and continue to be relevant today.”

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Story Circle Network: For Women with Stories to Tell

When: July of each year
Where: Austin, TX
Learn more: SCN

From the website:“Stories from the Heart IX will bring women from around the country to celebrate our stories and our lives. Through writing, reading, listening, and sharing, we will discover how personal narrative is a healing art, how we can gather our memories, how we can tell our stories. We welcome readers, writers, storytellers, and any woman with a past, present, and future.”

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Women Fiction Writer’s Annual Retreat

When: September of each year
Where: Albuquerque
Learn More: WFWA Retreat

From the website: “The WFWA Retreat is a craft and networking event. It’s an opportunity to talk about women’s fiction – both the writing and marketing aspects – with like-minded writers in a relaxed atmosphere.”

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Women Reading Aloud

When: April of each year
Where: Sea Girt, NJ
Learn more: WomenReadingAloud.org

From the website: “WOMEN READING ALOUD will host its 9th Writer’s Weekend Retreat in NJ devoted to women writers who are looking for time to write in a nurturing environment … Begin the day with a walk on the beach. Discover your authentic voice through writing workshops modeled after the Amherst Writers and Artists Method. This method allows writers to flourish at every stage of the creative journey.”

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Women Writing the West

When: October of each year
Where: Walla Walla, WA
Learn more: WWTW

From the website: “In 2018, Women Writing the West head to the Pacific Northwest for the 24th Annual Conference.” The conference covers many areas of the craft of writing, for women who use the American West as inspiration.

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Workshop for Women Writers of Color

When: November of each year
Where: Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA
Learn more: Workshop for Women Writers of Color

From the website: “Welcome women of color writers! We can often find it a lonely and daunting experience as we seek to make our contributions in fields dominated by white men, whether in academia or other genres of fiction or non-fiction. Let us come together as women of color to share our writing work in progress, celebrate our diverse voices, confront our common barriers, and build a sisterly community of support for the challenges ahead.”

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Young Women Writers Workshop

When: April of each year
Where: Colorado Springs, CO
Learn more: YWWW

From the website: “As a young woman between the ages of 18 and 30-ish, you’re a unique kind of writer. Your needs and aspirations are different from those of writers who are either of a different generation or are, well, male. You aspire to write about the issues and challenges that face your contemporaries, your world. That means finding forms and structures that are different from what has come before. If that resonates, this retreat is for you.”

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Young Women’s Writing Workshop

When: July of each year
Where: Smith College, MA
Learn more: YWWW

From the website: “With so few writing programs that cater exclusively to high school girls, Smith’s Young Women’s Writing Workshop allows you to explore your writing in a creative and supportive environment that fosters your love of writing in a variety of mediums.”

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Plus …

If you’re looking for something a little more of a writing vacation, you might enjoy perusing this list of international retreats — some specifically for women.

And finally, there’s the AWP Conference, which is for writers of all genders, but we list it here because it’s kind of the grand dame of writers conferences — four jam-packed days of readings, workshops, and panels. Probably an amazing networking event. As their site says, “Everyone should go to AWP at least once.”

When: Spring; usually March or April
Where: Location changes each year
Learn more: AWP Conference

From the website: “The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) is one of the largest and most popular writing conferences in the world. With more than 15,000 annual participants and 800 exhibitors, it’s more than a conference or book fair – it’s an event. AWP is an essential experience for writers, students, teachers and academics alike.”

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Book groups can form strong bonds and have surprising longevity, becoming somewhat of an anchor as the world shifts beneath our feet. There’s something about the combination of good books and good friends that feels quite timeless and comforting, even when discussing a challenging book or difficult themes.

Whether your group has been together for two years or two decades, it’s possible to fall into a rut. Are you squeezing out 30 to 45 minutes of discussion on who did or didn’t like the latest novel you chose before digressing into idle chit-chat? If so, you might need a change of pace.

Here are some themes and tips for successful book group (aka book club) meetings, especially for times when you need a change of pace and shake things up:

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Nonfiction themes

In a book group I belonged to some years ago, some of our fiction selections fell short of expectations in the first months of our meetings. We didn’t know one another very well, and somehow our discussions weren’t as satisfying as they could have been. What helped us gel as a group was switching nonfiction for a while. Our selections included travel memoirs, social movements,  memoirs, and especially, history. 

By focusing more on the themes rather than literary analysis or our opinions about the books, we became more comfortable with discussion, and re-introduced fiction into the mix by and by.

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Classic women authors

If you had your fill of male authors in school, consider filling the gaps in your literary education with books by classic women authors. Willa Cather, Zora Neale Hurston, Pearl S. Buck, Kate Chopin, Carson McCullers, Daphne Du Maurier … the list goes on.

Don’t forget global authors as well. A good place to start is this list of women who won the Nobel Prize in literature.

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Reading and eating

This duo of passions can become one delicious ritual. Combine your discussions with a potluck dinner, brunch, or even a high tea. Take this theme to its utmost by choosing books with a culinary thread — rustic French fare with A Year in Provence; earthy Mexican food in Like Water for Chocolate; and speaking of chocolate, Chocolat.

A few more recent food-themed novels include The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, The Mistress of Spices, and Pomegranate Soup. There are many others; get more ideas in this list of food in fiction. 

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Lunch hour (or happy hour) book group

Those with truly crowded schedules might want to take a page from a professional women’s book group in Washington, D.C. The group convenes once a month in one of several museum cafés, taking longer-than-usual lunch breaks to discuss Pulitzer Prize-winning books. You need not go full-on Pulitzer, but some unifying theme could help keep this kind of lunch break group focused.

Happy hour is another good time to de-stress and discuss a great book.

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Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House
is one of several women authors’ homes to visit in New England

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Book group field trips

Enrich your reading group experiences by taking field trips or occasional pilgrimages to literary sites. Planning this kind of adventure for your group can be a stimulating once-a-year event. Is there a well-known author’s home, a special library, or a college hosting a related exhibit or event? Is a well-known figure you’re reading about connected in some way in an area nearby?

Within a 4-hour range of where my book group lives and meets, are the historic homes of Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Washington Irving, Pearl S. Buck, Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, and others. Yes, you guessed it, New York State and New England. Note, however, that many of these sites are open only from around May through October.

Do some research and discover which authors lived in or wrote about your region. Read their writings and/or a biography, then plan a voyage to pay homage to your local literary luminaries.

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Women’s biographies

One book group I heard tell of reads biographies of accomplished or daring women. Their selections have included bios of Georgia O’Keefe, Amelia Earhart, Billie Holiday. Others you might consider are Cleopatra, Martha Graham, and Eleanor Roosevelt. If you like to read about women authors, see our selected list of 12 Great Biographies of Women Authors.

The lives of the talented and famous were never tidy and not always happy, but they followed their unique paths, even if it meant breaking the rules. Their life stories can be tremendously inspiring.

Phyllis Rose, in The Norton Book of Women’s Lives, offers a great perspective on why it’s so gratifying to read women’s biographies: “I wanted to know what the possibilities were for women’s lives … I wanted wild women, women who broke loose, women who lived to the fullest.”

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Young adult books and children’s classics

When you need a break from 400-page tomes, there’s a lot of great contemporary literature in the Young Adult sector. There’s no shortage of heavy themes here, to be sure, but the books are eminently readable. Time magazine offers this list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time.

We discussed classics by women authors above; you can also consider the great classics of children’s literature — ones the members of your group never read, and others that haven’t been cracked open in decades, and ripe for revisiting. Among them: Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, Little Women.

Reconnect with your inner girl or teen, and rediscover why these classics are so timeless. and if you have any daughters, read these with them — and invite them to join in the meeting!

In addition, contemporary Young Adult books — especially the ones that have been challenged and banned — are worthy of discussion as well. Here’s a short list for you.

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RELATED POSTS

Reading Aloud to Children: Creating Lifelong Book Lovers
4 Ways to Love Books as a Family

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Photo credits
Teacup and books (top), Anete Lusina/Unsplash
Mindfulness book, Breather/Unsplash
Teacup and books (middle), freestock.org/Unsplash
A Little Princess & Anne of Green Gables, Annie Spratt / Unsplash

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Literacy experts agree that reading aloud to children from an early age helps assure their becoming avid readers later on.

Don’t limit reading aloud to preschoolers—school-age children and sometimes even teens love being read to. Add whatever embellishments you’d like—a warm beverage, a specific setting, lots of cuddling—to ensure a prominent place in your child’s memory for this time-honored ritual.

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Jim Trelease is the author of The Read Aloud Handbook, which is revised and updated every few years. He writes, “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.” 

In his “30 Do’s to Remember When Reading Aloud” he offers great tips and benefits. Here are the first five:

1  Begin reading to children as soon as possible. The younger you start them, the easier and better it is.

2  With infants through toddlers, it’s important to include books that contain repetitions; as they mature, add predictable and rhyming books.

3  During repeat readings of a predictable book, occasionally stop at a key phrase and allow the child to provide the words.

4  Read as often as you and the child (or students) have time for.

5  Set aside at least one traditional time each day for a story.

Read the rest here in this online brochure.

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Revisit heroines you loved as a child

Reading these books to your own children is a thrill, especially when you can introduce them to heroines you loved as a child. Remember Jo March and the rest of the Little Women, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?

Revel in their tales of spunk and courage while sharing them with your daughters. There’s no reason not to read them out on boys, too. Few children (of all ages!) can resist Pippi Longstocking, Pollyanna, or Anne of Green Gables.

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It’s never too late for a classic

Discovering classics that somehow passed you by is a delight, too. If you somehow missed Peter Pan, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, and others as you grew up, share them with your children.

Not merely great children’s books, but great books altogether, the rich language of classics, experienced aloud, stimulates your imagination as much as your children’s.

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Fairy and folk tales, myths, and fables

Fairy and folk tales, myths, and fables make wondrous read-alouds, and their universal themes can be experienced on many levels. Start with the folk stories from your own cultural background, then move on to those of cultures that interest your family.

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Read-Aloud Resources

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The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder by Erin Blakemore pairs literature’s most beloved heroines (including Jo March, Francie Nolan, and Scout Finch) with their creators to impart wisdom for life’s challenges. These intertwined pairs will inspire you to re-read your old favorites with your daughters.

The Read-Aloud Handbook  by Jim Trelease is a definitive volume on this subject. Updated every few years, it makes an inspiring case for reading aloud, and supplies a thorough list of the best read-aloud books for several age groups.

The New York Times’ Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children by Eden Ross Lipson is a guide to children’s literature from picture books through young adult novels, with special recommendations for books that make good read-alouds.

Once Upon a Heroine: 450 Books for Girls to Love by Alison Cooper-Mullin and Jennifer Marmaduke Coye explores classic and contemporary literature for girls.

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*This post contains Amazon Affiliate link. If the product is purchased by linking through, The Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

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The 75 meticulously detailed paintings of fantastic bookstores by Eckstein feature some of the most charming and iconic bookstores around the world. The art is embellished with charming, bittersweet, and often humorous anecdotes by writers, thinkers, and dreamers who have visited them.

Some of these bookstores have gone by the wayside, many, thankfully, are still open for business. Here, Bob shares the bookstore adventures of three contemporary women authors.

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Pageant Book & Print Shop
New York City

Pageant Book & Print Shop on 12th Street, Manhattan was in business from 1946 to 1999 until it became an online store. It has since returned as a small print shop on 4th Street.

When Sharon Mesmer first moved to New York City, she went straight here, hoping to find a book that would serve as a gateway to her new life as an acclaimed New York poet. “The way it looked in ‘Hannah and Her Sisters,’ it had to be the first bookstore I set foot in.

In the nether-most corner, a book fell on my head: ‘Ways to Self-Realization,’ by Mouni Sadhu, the spiritual nom de plume, I later discovered, of a Polish author named—wait for it—Mieczyslaw Demetriusz Sudowski. I opened it to a random page, and the first words (in caps) were ‘WE ARE NOT THE MIND.’

I thought, well, it has nothing to do with literature, but I’ll bet anything I’m going to need it later. When I finally opened it again, twenty-three years later, during a nervous breakdown, I was right.” (— Sharon Mesmer)

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Alabama Booksmith
Birmingham, Alabama

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Alabama Booksmith of Birmingham sells only exclusively signed copies. All books are sold at regular retail prices and are displayed by cover instead of just spines.

“Tracy Chevalier was an incredible trooper. Her flight was delayed coming in from Denver and she had not slept in 24 hours. She came straight to the store and signed 400 books for our Signed First Editions Club and then performed in great fashion at a benefit for the Literacy Council. She quickly visited six U.S. stores then returned to London for Passover to make Matzo Ball soup.” – Jake Reiss, owner

“[BTW,] the matzo balls turned out like cannon balls. I love his bookstore. It’s the only store I’ve ever been in where the jackets are turned out so that you see the front covers. It means he can only display a fraction of what a bookstore normally does, but the shelves are so much more interesting.” (– Tracy Chevalier)

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The Antiquarium Bookstore
Brownville, Nebraska

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The Antiquarium Bookstore is located in Brownville, Nebraska, one of the three ‘Book Towns’ in the United States. Book Towns are rural towns with a large number of used book or antiquarian book stores where bibliophiles gather and literary festivals take place.

“What I loved was the hospitality there. The bookstore is/was run by a sort of legendary fellow in my mind and life…a little otherworldly, ethereal anachronistically pursuing gentility … changed my impression of what people were like in the middle of the country. So kind and generous and thinky.

“Twice I slept at the bookstore, snuggling in the aisles with my traveling companions, my then boyfriends. I remember the bookshelves looming above us forever and ever, like skyscrapers. I remember feeling like the books were maps to other people and other times and other lives.

I’ve slept in other bookstores–I stayed at Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and I napped at Pistil books in Seattle. But only at Antiquarium did I feel a sense of what the library at Alexandria might have been: an accumulation of evidence and suggestions.” (– Amy Halloran)

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Bob Eckstein is an award-winning illustrator and writer, New Yorker cartoonist, snowman expert and author of the New York Times bestseller, Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores. He is also the author of The Complete Book of Cat Names, The History of the Snowman, and Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums, among others. Visit his website and connect with him on Substack.

Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores is available
on Bookshop*, Amazon*, and wherever books are sold
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*These are Bookshop.org and Amazon.com affiliate links. If a product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

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Any of these will make family reading time a ritual to look forward to, equally pleasurable for parents and kids. Reading aloud with or to your kids is a whole topic unto itself, which we’ll explore in Reading Aloud to Children: Creating Lifelong Book Lovers.

Make a ritual of reading time

No matter how “educational” certain TV or computer programs are, few are more nourishing than reading. On the contrary, with all that visual stimulus right in your face, the imagination has little chance to take flight, let alone soar. Make books part of your kids’ lives from the start, and their lives will be richer for it.

Make reading time family time. While reading is surely a wonderful way to spend time alone, if that kind of time eludes you, establishing rituals of connectedness around books helps ensure that time devoted to books  is carved out.

Reading rituals involving family and friends can be just what’s needed to give books their due on an regular basis. These can be as simple as designating a special family reading time or forming a family book group with a distinct focus. Here are a miscellany of reading rituals that will get your family reading as a lifelong habit.

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1 – Reading in the great outdoors

When our kids were young and we wanted to take a hike — nothing strenuous, mind you — we would just call it a picnic and there was never any fuss. You can easily add books to this mix.

When the weather is nice and the outdoors beckons, pack a simple picnic and have all family members pack a book in a backpack. Or just choose one book that you might all like to read together aloud (taking turns if everyone is a reader). After a vigorous walk and a nice meal, what better way to relax than with a great story?

Or just keep it simple — grab a snack, your books, and head to the park!

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2 – Family reading night

In Maggie, the mother of three school-age children, has created a cozy family reading ritual. Two evenings a week, the TV, computers, and all other electronic devices are turned off, and everyone convenes in the den for an hour or two of silent reading.

An avid baker, Maggie nearly always has wholesome goodies on hand for reading nights. In winter, hot cocoa and a warming fire add a final flourish.

A family reading night doesn’t necessarily need such distinctive touches, though; it can be as basic as everyone piling into the biggest bed in the house to read silently, or aloud to one another. When older kids and teens have reading to do for school, designated family reading time can make assignments seem less of a chore.

If you’d like to make family reading night less for cocooning and more for community, see if your local library or even your child’s school would host such an event once a week. Family Reading Night by Darcy J. Hutchins and others goes into detail on the benefits of engaging in a regular event of this kind.

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3 – Reading at the table

Most of the time, family dinners should be a time for communication and sharing, but some families designate one evening each week when bringing a book to the table is not only allowed, but encouraged. Sometimes, especially toward the end of a busy week, we just want to decompress. And reading at the table somehow seems quite preferable to having everyone staring into their phones. 

Encourage your family members to look up once in a while and share passages and great lines that call out to them!

It’s also worth considering reading aloud to your children while they snack or during weekend lunches, rather than parking them in front of the television.

Meg Cox, author of The Heart of a Family, fondly recalls her favorite mealtime ritual: Living close enough to walk home for lunch during her elementary school years, she remembers her mother reading Treasure Island or the Oz books to her and her siblings while they ate their sandwiches.

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4 – Family book clubs

Here’s an appealing idea. This kind of book club can include both parents and older kids or teens; it can also include extended family members. It’s a fantastic way to connect with grandparents. Teens are especially prone to losing common ground once shared with grandparents; a shared interest in books can span the gap.

Some libraries are now promoting the concept of family book groups, as well as hosting them. If you’d like to keep your family book group private, your library might at least be a good resource for reading lists that appeal to a wide range of ages.

Mother-daughter book groups can be fulfilling for preteen and young teenage girls. This is a nifty way to help them get their wings as readers, while providing a constructive way for growing girls and their mothers to stay connected.

Another way to make a family reading group enticing to older kids and teens is to make it a book-and-film themed event. Find classic books that have been made into films; read the book first, then watch the movie together. A discussion on the differences as well as the merits of book-versus-movie version can be quite spirited and thought -provoking.

From classic fiction (National Velvet) to contemporary YA (The Fault in Our Stars) to timeless fantasy (A Wrinkle in Time), this kind of book group is sure to appeal to budding bibliophiles.

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10 Classic Children’s Books to Read Before you Die
has some great ideas for a family book club with younger
and middle-grade readers

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The post 4 Ways to Love Books as a Family: Family Reading Night & More appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Welty won numerous awards for her writing, among them, a Pulitzer Prize (for The Optimist’s Daughter, 1973 — which many critics considered her best novel), an American Book Award, National Medal for Literature, and The Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was a six-time winner of the O. Henry Award for Short Stories.

Welty dispensed gentle wisdom on the subject of how being a good writer is intertwined with the love of reading. Here are several of her ideas on the art of reading gathered from her nonfiction books, notably On Writing and One Writer’s Beginnings.

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Disappointment that a book has to end

“My main disappointment was always that a book had to end. And then what? But I don’t think I was ever disappointed by the books. I must have been what any author would consider an ideal reader. I felt every pain and pleasure suffered or enjoyed by all the characters. Oh, but I identified!” (Conversations with Eudora Welty, 1984)

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Enjoy more musings about the bookish life
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Devouring books always encouraged

I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the minute I reached our house, I started to read.

Every book I seized on, from Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-a-While to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, stood for the devouring wish to read being instantly granted. I knew this was bliss, knew it at the time. Taste isn’t nearly so important; it comes in its own time. (One Writer’s Beginnings, 1984)

Great fiction shows us how to face our feelings

Great fiction shows us not how to conduct our behavior but how to feel. Eventually, it may show us how to face our feelings and face our actions and to have new inklings about what they mean. A good novel of any year can initiate us into our own new experience.” (On Writing, 2002)

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See also: 10 Inspiring Thought on Writing from Eudora Welty

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In love with books

It had been startling and disappointing to me to find out that story books had been written by people, that books were not natural wonders, coming up of themselves like grass.

Yet regardless of where they come from, I cannot remember a time when I was not in love with them — with the books themselves, cover and binding and the paper they were printed on, with their smell and their weight and with their possession in my arms, captured and carried off to myself.” (One Writer’s Beginnings, 1984)

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The moment and memory

Fiction shows us the past as well as the present moment in mortal light; it is an art served by the indelibility of our memory, and one empowered by a sharp and prophetic awareness of what is ephemeral. It is by the ephemeral that our feeling is so strongly aroused for what endures, or strives to endure. (On Writing, 2002)

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See also: 4 Ways to Love Books as a Family
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The power of imagination

Both reading and writing are experiences — lifelong — in the course of which we who encounter words used in certain ways are persuaded by them to be brought mind and heart within the presence, the power, of the imagination. (On Writing, 2002)

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Writing comes from a devotion to reading

“Indeed, learning to write may be part of learning to read. For all I know, writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading.” (On Writing, 2002)

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