Hahaha, who would have thought that I'd be incredibly busy this month and have no time to read?
Probably almost anyone, honestly. April was my last
full month at the iSchool. It was a month full of new discoveries, like that it
is possible to have both a cold and allergies at the same time and that you
will feel like dying. I also celebrated a birthday, so I am wiser and clearly
know what I am talking about now.
So, in this particular order, let’s talk about the one
book I read and the very first Austin Independent Bookstore Crawl!
The Shortest Stack:
1. Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz
If you’re not a Hamilfan, turn back now. This young
adult novel about Elizabeth Schuyler meeting and falling in love with Alexander
Hamilton is just what I needed this month. Eliza is given more character than
she has in the musical; instead of being entirely lovesick, she goes to
Morristown to help her aunt vaccinate Washington's troops against small pox, where she is reunited with Alexander (they met earlier) and begin courting. While this is obviously a fictionalized account,
I really enjoy books where women are allowed to think about things other than
men. Even if they do eventually get married (spoiler!). Pay attention to
chapter titles.
April 29th was Independent Bookstore Day across
the country and part of the celebration was Austin’s first IndependentBookstore Crawl.
Participants completed scavenger hunt challenges at up to fourteen independent
bookstores across Austin and posted pictures on social media to prove it. I didn’t do the complete crawl because I
should have been doing almost anything else, but I visited BookPeople, Malvern
Books, Dragon’s Lair Comics and Fantasy, BookWoman, Half Price Books on North
Lamar and Balcones Books.
Despite living here since I was an undergrad, I hadn’t
been to Malvern, BookWoman, that Half Price Books or Balcones Books. The Half
Price Book thing makes sense since there are four other locations and they were
all on the crawl, but I’m almost appalled by myself for not going to some of
these sooner.
 |
| Zach, my driver to insanity |
BookPeople
Required visit for all book-loving Austinites/Texans.
I love their variety and amount of author readings and signings. I met Kinky
Friedman here when I was in undergrad!
Task: Take a picture with or in the Barber Chair
Malvern Books
This is a smaller store and had a bit of a
too-cool-for-me vibe, but I liked their poetry sections and they are across
from the Texas French Bread Company so I could pick up a croissant after this
photo.
Task: Take a picture with a book that was originally
in French. I actually bought a different copy of this book because I liked the
layout more, but I liked this cover better.
Dragon’s Lair Comics and Fantasy
This is where I pick up my comics, so I’m here every few
weeks. The crawl coincided with my pull list, so we stopped in to pick up Bitch
Planet #10 and the very last of Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat!
Task: Take a picture with Deadpool and a Variant comic
from their table. I didn’t love Monstress, but none of the others were ones I
had read.
BookWoman
This place should be my bookshelf, and I am
so mad that I haven’t been here before. I’ve driven past it plenty and wondered
what was in here, so the crawl was a wonderful excuse to pop in. There were so
many books that are on my wish list, plus I have never seen that many
female-centric Who Is…? books in one location. I was really impressed by this
place and I will definitely be back.
Task: Take a picture with an inspiring children’s
book. Thanks for the vote, Susan B.!
Half Price Books at North Lamar
Another one I haven’t been to that made me a bit sad.
I visit Half Price Books plenty in general and even worked for them a few
summers during undergrad, but I have never gone into this location. It’s so
big! Plus, their collectibles section is ridiculous. I’m so used to tiny
sections of a store devoted to signed, rare and simply old books that this made
my eyes go wide.
Task: Find the see-through Roswell alien.
Balcones Books
We originally planned on skipping this stop because I
needed to get back to school work, but we missed our turn onto the highway and
ended up driving right next to it. It’s a small store full of used books in
pretty decent condition, and it had my favorite task. It’s worth visiting if
you’re nearby, but I might not go out of my way to find it.
Task: BookFace.
The Austin Independent Bookstore Crawl was a great way
to experience new bookstores and support local businesses. Plus, it reminded me
of all the things I’d like to read once I’m done with all my work! Definitely
visit some of these places or some of the other 14 if you get a chance.
Back to work for me, bookworms. I’ve got a massive TBR
pile waiting for me after I finish!
