Wandering a bookstore

My reading habit is something that I tend to fall in and out of. I very much enjoy reading, but I can get caught into cycles where I am not picking up books nearly as often as other times. It is kind of hard to say why. I really enjoy reading, but I don’t force myself to do it. However, I was actually watching some book reviews on YouTube and I was nudged to check out one of the recommended books.

I have plenty of books in my library that are on my list to read. But those were books I decided I wanted to read years, or sometimes decades ago. Based on one particular review, and confirmed by several others, I went to go pick up a copy of Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green at my local bookstore, Moon Palace Books. I try to buy any book from a local bookstore, whether it is for myself or as a gift. I will also purchase from Bookshop.org if a book is not available. While I was there, I also picked up a gift for my mom for Mother’s Day, Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad. I also picked up The Ninth Metal by Benjamin Percy, for myself. I have always enjoyed a good sci-fi book.

I blasted through Everything is Tuberculosis in a few days. Informative, funny, terribly sad, and very humanizing. That put me on a tear to read several more books in a short period of time. I read The Ninth Metal in a few days as well, a fun book after the very heavy subject matter of the previous book. I am now almost done with Hip Hop is History by Questlove. That was a book I had picked up from another great local bookstore, Comma Bookshop. I got that book a while ago after seeing Questlove’s documentary Summer of Soul. His writing is unbelievable dense, personal, and informative. Questlove has an ability to pack deeply complex ideas about music and culture into a single sentence.

I am eager to finish Hip Hop is History so I can start on The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It has also been in my library since reading her book Braiding Sweetgrass some time ago. I hope this particular book habit gets me into a more regular routine of reading. More books to read, less doom to scroll.