By now it should be obvious that simply reading books is not enough for me. I have to also talk about books, share books, think about books, and write about books. Fortunately, there are many tools to help me fully realize a bookish life.
Texas Book
Festival
The 2019 festival begins Saturday morning at the Capitol. This is
a free event open to the public with speakers and activities for all ages. There
will be over 300 authors, book signings, readings, presentations, panel
discussions, demonstrations, and thousands of books for sale. If you’re a
reader, this is the premier event for you. Check out their website to plan your
trip.
Web tools
and apps
There are at least a dozen websites and apps that allow you to
list, categorize, and rate books you own, you’ve read, or you want to read. You
can also connect with others who share your interests. Goodreads and
LibraryThing are two of the most popular. I use LibraryThing simply because my
librarian daughter recommended it to me.
Whenever someone recommends a book to me, I immediately enter it
on my wish list on LibraryThing. I don’t have to worry about trying to remember
the title or author, which I probably wouldn’t do anyway. When I want to
recommend a book to someone, but I can’t remember the author, I simply search
my catalog. Sometimes I can’t even remember the title. Fortunately,
LibraryThing includes a thumbnail of the cover, so all I have to do is browse
for what the book looks like.
Some other options are Shelfari, Booksr, and Libib. You can find
many others. Just google “book cataloging.”
Book clubs
The Bastrop Public Library will launch the Director’s Book Club
Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Maynard Conference room. January’s title is The Library Book by Susan Orlean. The
club is geared for adults, and the public is
invited. The club will meet regularly on the third Thursday of the month.
“We’ll be reading a mix of fiction and non-fiction and
contemporary and classic titles,” Library Director Becca Sexton said. “When it
makes sense, I’ll be tying in books to things happening in our community.”
The Bastrop folks on Nextdoor.com also have a book club that meets
on the third Saturday of each month at 1 p.m. at Casa Chapala (upstairs). The
book for today’s meeting is She Said
by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the New York Times reporters who broke the
Harvey Weinstein story. You can join Nextdoor.com to find more information and
receive their emails.
“We usually have in attendance from
four to nine individuals,” Nextdoor book club member Diana McNabb said. “We
enjoy getting together to socialize, talk over chosen reads, and enjoy a meal with
one another.”
The American-Statesman hosts an Austin 360 virtual book club. They
read a book each month and discuss it via Facebook Live on the last Thursday of
the month, which is great if what you’re looking for is to simply watch two
people discuss a book. However, their Facebook page is a good place to connect
with people who read and to get recommendations for titles.
KUT also has a book club. They focus on Texas and Austin authors
and meet at Book People for a live discussion (as well as on Facebook Live)
with the author. Not many books clubs get to discuss books with the folks who
wrote them.
If none of these suit you, choose a book, invite some friends, and
serve some snacks. Now you have a book club.
Retailers
Bargain hunters might be interested in websites like Bookbub,
Ereaderiq or Kobo. On Bookbub’s website, you can browse titles that range in
price from free to a few dollars. You can also set up your preferences and
receive an email each day with the day’s deals. Ereaderiq lets you browse Amazon
books by price (including free), genre, or length. Kobo allows users to search
for discounted or free e-books and audiobooks.
I check my Bookbub email (most days). Several times I’ve found
books that are on my wish list for just $1 to $2. They also send me
recommendations based on my preferences. I can also sign up for an alert when a
particular title is discounted.
For the ink-and-paper purists, Thriftbooks offers new and used
books at deep discounts. You can search their website or browse categories.
I’ve purchased several hard to find titles from them.
E-books
and e-audiobooks
If you’re not interested in purchasing e-books or e-audiobooks,
you can borrow them from the Bastrop Public Library. You just need a library
card and internet access. You can read e-books or listen to e-audiobooks on any
device and even switch it among devices. Two apps are available, Overdrive and
Libby, which are free to download. There are also several websites that offer
e-books for free, like SYNC, Project Gutenberg, and OpenLibrary.
