It's Our Day! Celebrate National Book Lovers Day with Us

Happy National Book Lovers Day! This August 9 holiday may not be on everyone's calendar, but we think it should be! Here are some novel (heh heh) ways to celebrate the day that's all about us, as well as a few endearing qualities that book lovers share.

Fun Ways to Celebrate

1. Start a Book Club: Sure, you may already be in a book club (or two), but we all want more time discussing books with like-minded people, right? You could consider forming a neighborhood book club or a niche reading group that focuses on a particular genre. If you need some ideas of titles to start with, check out our Staff Picks or our Celebrity Book Clubs page.
2. Celebrate Your Favorite Author: There are lots of great ways to let your beloved scribes know you care. Buying more of their books is one idea of course. But you could also consider sending fan mail or giving them a shout out via social media. #bookstagram
3. Read a Whole Book: It may sound daunting but there are actually a lot of slim classics that you can easily finish in a day, like:
   • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (112 pages)
   • Heartburn by Nora Ephron (192 pages)
   • Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (160 pages)
   • O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (176 pages)
   • Night by Elie Wiesel (144 pages)

Books about Book Lovers

From enchanted underground libraries to women risking their lives for literature this list of stories about fellow readers may just inspire new additions (and editions) to your own bookshelves:

• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: Graduate student Zachary discovers an ancient, enchanted library hidden far below the surface of the earth.
• Misery by Stephen King: Badly injured in a car accident, novelist Paul Sheldon finds himself in the questionable care of his "number one fan."
• The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler: Five women and one man come together each month to discuss books by their favorite author.
• The Reader by Bernard Schlink: In post-WWII Germany, a teenager's affair with an older woman teaches him about the power of the written word.
• Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan: This literary puzzle follows a new employee of the titular shop as he uncovers the clues.
• Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi: A memoir by an Iranian teacher who defied book bans and hosted a forbidden women's reading group.

You Know You're a Book Lover When . . .

We bookworms share some oddly endearing traits. Here are five ways to tell if you're a true literarian:

1. You love sniffing books: Author Oliver Tearle introduced the term bibliosmia, referring to those who stick their noses, quite literally, into the pages of their books. Some people prefer the old book scent, but we find they're all quite aromatic.
2. You use books to decorate your home: Is it because we have too many or just because we think they're beautiful? Maybe a little of both. In any case, we're not alone. Here's a whole book about it. And this one too.
3. You're never without a book: Ivanhoe author Sir Walter Scott coined the charming phrase book-bosomed to describe someone who carries a book at all times. Guilty!
4. You analyze the people by their books: This pastime has gone into overdrive during the pandemic with the bookshelves of celebrities becoming fodder for public scrutiny. If this is something you've enjoyed, check out My Ideal Bookshelf to examine the fave titles for a whole host of famous folks.
5. You take your books off the shelf just to hold them: We're not the only ones, right? We may even hug or caress them sometimes. (It's not weird at all!)

Hopefully this gives you some ideas about how to celebrate our special day. But if all else fails, you can just do what you do every day: Read a book. Any book you want.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon