Last week, I started reading Rat Bastards: The South Boston Irish Mobster who took the rap when everyone else ran. I received it as a Christmas present and I was missing the person who gave it to me, so I cuddled up in the nook of my sectional couch and started reading it. Later, I’d discuss it with him, providing both of us some much-needed levity to our days. It warmed my heart; you all know I love talking about books! The fact of the matter is that books can bring us together in a lot of ways, even in quarantine. 

Book mail

Brittany, Rachel and I still mail each other books on a semi-regular basis. (We shoot for monthly, but the best intentions and all that.) It’s pretty awesome to get that text or phone call saying “I just finished X” or “I can’t believe you made me read Y” or “I don’t know which book to send next!” As the missive is passed around from one of us to the next it can be, quite literally, a lifeline during the pandemic. I would have also classified it as so before that and I think I will be able to do so after, as well. 

Book club

Whether it is hopping on a Zoom call once a month on my lunch break or Google Hangouts every few Sundays, book club is a reason to put down work or Netflix, respectively, to connect to some new people or old people in a new way! At work, our book club book for May was Whisper Network. Suffice it to say that five of us ladies had plenty to talk about! The dynamics between the female characters and the group narrator, combined with our own experiences throughout life, made it a lively and enthusiastic discussion that really gave me purpose that day. In a new book club that I’ve joined, we’ll be meeting in a few Sundays to talk about Kristin Hannah’s book Firefly Lane. I don’t know much about it yet, but I just got it from Brittany in the mail and, it being Kristin Hannah, I’m confident I will not only like it but tear through it! 

#booksofig

Sharing my book love on Instagram has been pretty awesome. I love getting new likes from people who enjoy books I’m reading or when a friend of mine IRL engages with a new read or an old one. These sparks of conversation are another means of connection, should we choose to seize them. 

So, how are you connecting with books during quarantine?

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