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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Armchair BEA, Day 3: In the Real World

Design credit: Nina of Nina Reads.
So, I'm kind of taking a slightly different spin on the Armchair BEA topic today.  Positive real life bookish experiences aren't too hard to come by in my profession, usually.  In my current position as an academic librarian, they are more rare than in a public or school library (sometimes I feel like a printing factory).  I do have some fun, quick interactions when a student will see me reading and strike up a conversation about their reading.  One memorable experience was a former military young man who informed me that he and a group of his buddies in Afghanistan all started on a reading kick (and a writing one for him) because of one book his wife sent him.  Guess which book?  If you said Hunger Games, you're wrong.  It was Twilight.  I loved the image of all those tough soldiers devouring Twilight and finding that spark of reading fire within them.  Say what you will about it, that series can make readers out of the most unlikely people.

Or I could talk about donating my ARCs and other YA books to my local library and hearing them exclaim over the contents of the bag and how excited they are about giving it away for the summer reading program!

Or the local book club I am slowly building.  It's so much fun to connect with other women, even if the vast majority of the time, we talk about other things.  What brings us together is a desire to find time for books in our lives. 

What I'm getting at is it doesn't have to be some big interaction with the community or a huge event - and it doesn't even have to involve your blog.  Reading is a connection that can create friendships in unlikely places and form bonds between strangers met online (oh blogger meet-ups, you are my favorite) or strangers met in real life.  If you haven't made a "real life" connection, take a book out in public and read it.  Or talk to someone who's reading.  There's something about that book (or kindle or other reading device) that can bring people together.  Try it!

What are your favorite real life bookish interactions?

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31 comments :

  1. It drives me crazy when someone is reading a book in public and I can't tell what it is. I hate to interrupt their reading, so I try to wait untill they take a break and ask. Great conversation starter...

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    1. It really can be a great conversation starter - especially for the perpetually shy like me :)

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  2. When we get together with extended family the first question out of our mouths is usually, "So tell me what good books have you read lately?" And we all end up taking notes and writing down ideas. It even makes me look at what I've been reading so I can have something new and exciting to suggest! ;)

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    1. I love it when my family asks about my reading. AND when they talk about theirs. Not a lot of them have time for it, but it's nice to swap books :)

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  3. I love the idea of just asking people what they are reading :) I never thought of that as networking but it is. I love that story about Twilight and soldiers. That is SO awesome. My hubby liked twilight too.

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    1. I think quite a few guys liked it, but were too ashamed or embarrassed to admit it. Or even try it. Which is too bad.

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  4. Building a local book club is something I don't think I mentioned in my post, but I'd love to do.

    I also love the real life networking experiences that are just little moments and discussions about books.

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    1. It's so much fun to have a book club! And to have those quick little moments of book talking :)

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  5. My favorite is giving surprise books to people. Just meeting someone, giving them a book, and moving on.

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    1. I'd love to do this sometime! I meant to do the world book night, but ended up spacing it. I think it must be so cool.

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  6. I just recently found out about donating books to the local library. I had a brand new hardcover YA I wanted someone to benefit from. YAY! I know they don't want a bunch of old crusty paperbacks, but newer books I figured I'd give a shot.

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    1. Definitely they want those new ones and ARCs make great summer reading prizes. It never hurts to ask!

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  7. My current favorite real-life-book moments are introducing my kids to books I also loved as a kid. Sometimes they also love them; sometimes I think I misjudge their reading/listening level, and sometimes we discover new ones together from the library.

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    1. I can't wait to share the books I loved with my kids - and see if they like it or not. Sounds like you have fabulous interactions!

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  8. Ha ha! That's awesome about the soldiers and Twilight. So funny. Great post. I think you're absolutely right. Just take a book somewhere and read it in public and you'll be sure to talk to someone about it! Happens all the time!

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    1. I love that I can have a book prop and something to break the ice in a conversation. Books = awesome.

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  9. Awww, the image of tough soldiers sitting around reading Twilight is just too funny :-)

    Happy ABEA!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by - I had a grin on my face the whole time he was telling me his story :)

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  10. That military story is pretty funny.

    I agree that reading can bring people together. If I see a stranger reading in a public place I always ask what they're reading and before you know it, we're having a conversation. I love it!

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    1. It's better than prompt cards for conversations :)

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  11. Oh I love this mental image!!! Thanks for sharing that.

    Thanks for participating!

    Here's my networking post

    Valerie
    StuckInBooks

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    1. Thanks for dropping by! I can totally picture it and it makes me smile :)

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  12. Really nice blog.

    I wish more of my friends were readers. I can talk for hours with people if we have read and enjoyed the same books :)

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    1. Sometimes you can help your friends become readers - I know I've gotten a few folks to give it a try and some of them stuck with it!

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  13. I love chatting books with my real life friends!

    Love your blog!

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  14. I love the military story ;) Twilight has a lot of lovers out there. Great post!

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    1. Yeah, I love that it has people reading. It definitely did that well!

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  15. What a great post! And you're absolutely right about Twilight - people badmouth it like crazy, but I know tons of people who would never pick up a book, and they gave Twilight a try and it sparked their love of reading. Go figure. I like your idea of taking a book out in public and starting up conversations about reading.

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    1. It may not be great literature, but it's gotten a lot of people reading and that's wonderful! I love networking with strangers about reading. I sometimes get a bit too passionate about it :)

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