It’s the reading season

Winter is great for hunkering down. I love a good season of hunkering (although I have to pay attention to myself that the hunkering tendencies don’t veer too far into the depressive episode tendencies, ya know?) and one of the joys of hunkering is reading books! And also seed catalogs, but this one is about books. I love my local library—Sequoya branch is so perfectly located kitty-corner to a location of local coffee roaster EVP—and I visit frequently throughout the year. Usually at the turning of the year, I look back at the books I read over the last 12 months and decide which ones I want to add to my personal collection. That’s when I turn to my favorite indie bookstores—shouts out to legends Room of One’s Own, Mystery to Me, Kismet Books, Leopold’s, and The Book Deal.

And when I need to order a book online, I’ turn to Bookshop.org. In case you’re not familiar, Bookshop.org is a certified B corp online bookstore that financially supports independent local bookstores.

I love talking about the books I read with anyone who is interested. The funny, inspiring, warm women of my book club are truly a life-giving bunch. And giving just the right recommendation to a friend or family member is one of the greatest joys in life. I’m constantly thinking about the right book and/or podcast that I just KNOW will tickle the fancy of someone I love. It’s like giving the gift of a little piece of someone’s brain.

So, I combined these passions and became a Bookshop.org affiliate! This is my first foray into affiliate territory so it’s quite exciting for me. I’m delighted to have a space where I can officially recommend books on gardening and whatnot and get a little financial support for doing so.

My storefront is open and has two lists on it: gardening books and gardeners’ delights. The gardening books list is just what you would expect: the down and dirty on growing stuff, especially native plants. The gardeners’ delights list operates mostly on vibes: it’s a list of books that have something to do with the natural world or just seem, to me, to be the type of book people who like to garden would like. This means some other nonfiction (like The Light Eaters), some memoir (like Better Living Through Birding), and some fiction (like The Seed Keeper). Should I add a third list of books that I just really like and can’t stop recommending but don’t have anything to do with gardening or nature?

If you, too, like to try and solve life’s problems by reading a book, you might want to mosey on over to my Bookshop storefront. Also, if you like me and want to support me, anything you