a lifestyle blog for book lovers

What are your weekend plans? I’m visiting Scotland and exploring Edinburgh for the first time this weekend. I promise to share a glimpse on Instagram if you want to follow along.

My favorite finds from around the web:

• Black male writers for our time. “But too often the discussion around writers of color is more about content, and their dazzling artistry is overlooked. To read the work by these men is to have an urgent encounter with a vital and thriving consciousness.”

• 21 completely subjective rules for raising teenage boys. “Love them for sleeping late. The only other option is to not love them for sleeping late, since the sleeping late is itself a given.”

• Bookselling is the most over-romanticised job in the world. “Bookselling has been relentlessly romanticised, most often by Hollywood: in truth, it is further away from You’ve Got Mail (Tom Hanks’s snazzy shop Fox Books would have been toppled by the internet) and much closer to that moment in Notting Hill when Hugh Grant catches Dylan Moran ferreting away a book in his pants.”

• Seattle high-school teacher shares ‘the wonder of books’ with students on a different kind of field trip. “Years ago, he began asking his students if they’d ever been to a bookstore. Many hadn’t, so he would occasionally take a lucky few on shopping trips to Elliott Bay, buying each a book or two.”

Favorite Instagram:

Two planes, two trains, and one windy drive later (plus eleven hours of sleep so I’m coherent to photograph and post) we’re at The Open Book in Scotland’s book town of Wigtown. (Follow me on Instagram @annebogel.)

On the blog:

One year ago: 9 excellent books for gifting this season. “The right book makes a wonderful gift, and there’s something here for everyone—young or old, devoted bibliophile or casual reader, cook or artist or history buff.”

Two years ago: Colson Whitehead’s post-election reading list. “After a moment’s thought, he recommended three specific titles, all thoughtfully written works with plenty of nuance, regardless of your political beliefs.”

Three years ago: 7 books that will make you a better human. “Have you ever read a book and thought, The world would be a better place if EVERYONE read this? These 7 books made me think exactly that.”

Four years ago: Great reads for your Christmas vacation. “Whether you want a fast-paced thriller, a contemplative memoir, or a relatable novel, my hope is that this list will inspire you to pick up a great book (or a dozen of them) for your holiday reading.”

Five years ago: 10 unusual gifts for kids. “So get your mind out of the toy aisle. To find unusual–but appropriate–gifts for the kids in your life, the #1 rule is to follow their interests.”

On the podcast:

One year ago: Episode 110: When your life resembles Big Little Lies

Two years ago: Episode 57: What’s your reading personality?

Have a great weekend!

7 comments

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  1. denise says:

    Have a wonderful time in Scotland…I am jealous!
    And thank you for the link to the article about raising teenage boys. My boys are 21 and 18 and both off at college now. But everything she said rings so true to me. Seeing the young men they have become makes my heart burst. One I would add to the list is “tell them regularly how proud you are of them…for their accomplishments, for the person they have become, for the good they bring into the world”.

  2. Solveig Ommedal says:

    It’s not Scotland, but I would absolutely LOVE it if you, or any of your wonderful fellow readers, know of any must-visit bookstores in London! I only have one days worth of free time while I’m there, so I would love to not waist any time wandering around looking for them. This will be my first trip where I’d have planned in advance to go to a spesific bookstore, and I can’t wait!

    • Kirsten says:

      Solveig,
      There is a fantastic bookshop in Central London on Picadilly called Hatchard’s, and has been in business since the 1700s. They’re owned by Waterstones now (a UK bookstore chain), but it still has a lot of old world charm. The associates there obviously love books, its cozy and it has some amazing finds. Its next door to Fortnum & Mason. I usually will check the Waterstones website to see books that I can’t get in the States and then purchase them at Hatchard’s (their website isn’t the greatest). Another bonus about Hatchard’s – they have a ton of signed copies of books there. You can also get new releases sometimes earlier in the UK than you can in the US. Both Waterstones and Hatchard’s have reading rewards, so you can accumulate points with every purchase.
      If you find yourself in York, there’s a small, quaint bookstore on the road that leads up to the Cathedral. Its sort of caddy-corner to the Cathedral. They have a wonderful mix of used/new books. We picked up a Latin primer from the 1950’s for our daughter, who will be starting Latin in school in two years.
      If you have younger children or nieces/nephews, Hatchard’s and Waterstones carries two series that my girls love: the Katie series by James Mayhew (fantastic stories that introduce art to children) and the Hairy MacClary books by Lindy Dodd.

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