August 2024 - Reading Recap

August 26th was National Dog Day. Nikolette was celebrated for being a wonderful four-legged kid. She is the dog behind my book blog, and I love her to pieces. I think my library is her favorite place to hang out. She has great views of the birds visiting her yard.

An active August

August has been an interesting month for reading, book clubbing, and taking on an outdoor project. I participated in the Silent Book Club for a second time at my local independent bookstore, Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Kentucky. This month’s experience was so much better. There were three repeat participants and five newcomers. Thanks to an eager newcomer, introductions were made and everyone shared about the books they were reading. Everyone came with a welcoming and friendly attitude, eager to talk about their books. It was nice to observe people connect over their books and engage in further conversation at the end of the night. I took Rakiya: Stories of Bulgaria to read. The bookstore setting is so comfortable; I got completely engrossed in my book. 

I was excited to attend the first Bookish Vibes: An Introverts Book Club at my local library. It was advertised to offer patrons some dedicated reading time. There was to be an informal opportunity to share what you are reading and how you were enjoying it. It seemed very similar to the Silent Book Club.

I was a bit sad to have arrived at an empty parking lot at 6:20 p.m., minus the library staff cars. Being the brave introvert I am trying to be, I entered the library a few minutes before 6:30pm. I was hoping to find other patrons inside, but as I feared, I was the lone attendee. The librarians openly welcomed me inside and directed me to a nice, large room with ample tables and chairs. I noticed calming piano music being played in the background, which created a lovely environment to read in. 

I began talking with librarians as we patiently waited and hoped, more patrons would arrive. The librarian who oversaw the adult reading program was present, as was the librarian who served middle grade through college. Both were easy to talk with as we shared about genres we prefer, a historical archival project they are working on, and upcoming library programs. We decided to operate under the 15-minute rule, like in college. If no one else showed up in 15 minutes, we would call it a night. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. They graciously offered me the opportunity to stay and read, as they had to be there the duration anyway. I declined so they could work on other library tasks. Hopefully, this will be offered again in the future, and more patrons will attend. If it is, I will be there to support them.

We bought a greenhouse!

I’m retiring in September and have been preparing for this next big chapter in my life for a couple of years. Reading is a huge part of my life, which is why I created, with the encouragement and help of my IT genius husband, my book blog. It’s the perfect extension to reading, and I have a lot of fun writing book reviews and creating posts. I have been phasing myself out of my job for the past few months, and this has allowed me the time to attend book clubs. For the past couple of years, my husband and I have been talking about buying a greenhouse and having a garden. With my upcoming abundance of time in retirement and him already working from home in his art studio, we both have the time to dedicate to growing plants, trees, flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Our new greenhouse was delivered this month, and we immediately got to work on the hard labor of creating the landscaping just the way we wanted it. We’ve made a lot of progress in a short period of time, and we still have a long way to go. 

Last but not least— my August reads!

Working on the greenhouse has impacted my reading just a little bit. I’ve managed to keep listening to audiobooks, but my time with physical books or e-books has taken a back seat. The greenhouse is going to make a beautiful backdrop for my future book cover pictures. I read nine books: eight audiobooks and one e-book — a celebrity biography that read like a true crime, a celebrity’s humble journey through grief, a couple of books that have received a lot of hype, a historical fiction, a collection of short stories set in Bulgaria, an education on dinosaurs, and a suspenseful novella. I suppose I was all over the genre map! Furthermore, I hope you enjoy browsing the books I read, and that you had a great month of reading too! 

Reaching for my next book,
-Natalie 📚