April 29th is Independent Bookstore Day, and it’s time to celebrate by reading books that celebrate your love of literature. So pick up one of these books about books, and know this is your season, bookworms!
Nonfiction Books About Books
If you love books, then you know a library can be your home away from home. Book lovers everywhere should check out The Libray, which is exactly what it sounds like it is, a history of the library. In this book, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the dramatic history of the library, from famous collections of the ancient world to to the cherished collections in libraries today.
In Daraya, just southwest of the Syrian capital Damascus, the people were besieged by government forces during the Syrian Civil War for four long years. Yet citizens found hope from a library. Hidden below the fray, volumes of books lined nearly every wall. But these weren’t books bought by publishers or loaned by other libraries. These books were salvaged from the wreckage above. Syria’s Secret Library is the story of this library and these books and how they brought purpose and refuge to the people of Daraya during the most difficult of times.
My Bookstore is a beautiful, heart-warming, and sometimes humorous ode to booksellers and bookstores everywhere. In this book, eighty-four beloved authors pay homage to the stores they love through essays, stories, odes, and words of gratitude. Contributing authors include John Grisham, Louise Erdrich, Chuck Palahniuk, Tom Robbins, and many more.
The Reading Promise all started when author Alice Ozma was in 4th grade, and her father decided to see if he could read to his daughter for 100 consecutive nights. On the 100th night, it became clear that neither one of them wanted to stop reading, and so the tradition carried on. This book is Alice Ozma’s ode to her relationship with her father, the books he read to her, and the lessons she learned from them.
Fiction Books About Books
The True Love Bookshop is a feel-good story filled with romanced and, you guessed it, books. Tess Lane is working her dream job, running Lakeside Books and hosting the weekly book club for the women in town. The bookstore has been her safe haven ever since her husband died three years earlier. She has tried to move on with her life and get past the mysterious circumstances surrounding her husband’s death. But then River Harrison shows up on her doorstep. River is her husband’s best friend and a private investigator, and with his help and the support of her friends, Tess might finally get answers to what happened to her husband. But will this mean she’ll finally be able to move on? And will she be able to forgive herself for past mistakes?
The Moment of Everything is a touching story of one women who finds her calling while working to save a used bookstore. Recently “involuntarily separated from payroll” from a Silicon Valley startup, Maggie Duprès now spends her days at The Dragonfly’s Used Books, just waiting for her next big thing to come. So when the opportunity arises for her to network at a book club meeting, Maggie jumps at the chance. But the used book Maggie picks up is no ordinary book. In contains notes in the margins from two lovers. Maggie begins to dig into the lovers’ story, searching for them to discover their fate. And of course, she learns so much more about herself in the process.
The Memory Book is an ode to the power of words and the magic of writing down your story. When Sammie discovers she has a rare genetic disorder that will slowly start to steal her memories, she comes up with a plan: The Memory Book. By writing in the book, Sammie creates notes for her future self, recording all the beautiful details of her life that she never wants to forget. Even though Sammie is not living the life she’d once planned for herself, through the book, she learns to cherish the life she is living.
Emily Martin has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi. She’s a contributing editor at Book Riot and blogs/podcasts at Book Squad Goals.
