Olympia’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation added a year-round online book sale to complement its annual Books, Brownies, and Beans book sale. If you live in or around Olympia, Washington, check out the OUUC Book Nook online at https://books-ouuc.com/. This well-curated collection of used books includes new releases, many books of local interest (like gardening!), and like-new books in many categories. All Book Nook proceeds benefit the Thurston County Food Bank. Yay!
I am a regular, and many of the books I read this month are from the Book Nook. I have also purchased books for our Little Free Library. The most recent books I put out in the LFL were gone within a day.
Book Nook books are available for pick-up only. Book donations are accepted during the first seven days of every month. (See the Book Nook FAQ page for details.) Making regular donations helps us keep our book collection under control. Now you know our secret.
Writing/Creativity: If You Want to Write: A Book About Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland. (purchased from the Book Nook)
This book was originally published in 1938 and is often recommended to writers. I have lost count of the number of recommendations I have received for this book. I bought this reprint from the Book Nook a while back, and it’s been waiting patiently to reach the top of my stack.
First, the bad: it is dated, there are all manner of -isms that are unfortunately well-represented in this book, and her nod to Columbus doesn’t hold up well. But it conveys the basic truth that everyone is creative, and anyone can write. I have wasted my time on far lengthier—and pricier—creativity tomes. This is a book where you take what’s useful and leave the rest. Or just read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird or my favorite, Almost Everything: Notes on Hope, Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, Everybody Writes by Ann Handley, or Amie McNee’s much more recent We Need Your Art. And I remind myself that no one is perfect.
Coaching: How to ADHD: An Insider’s Guide to Working with Your Brain (Not Against it) is a book by Jessica McCabe, creator of the popular YouTube channel of the same name. It’s one of the most comprehensive and compassionate guides to navigating life with ADHD, your own (she calls these readers Brains) or someone you love (she calls these people Hearts). Many common strategies for performance, productivity, and even mindfulness practices don’t always work well with ADHD Brains. One of the things I love is the focus on what’s great about ADHD–she even has a bingo card for Brains to keep track of compliments they receive.
Sewing/Quilting: Free-Style Quilts: A “No Rules” Approach by Susan E. Carlson. Another Book Nook book! I want to make a portrait quilt and was looking for some inspiration and guidance when I came across this book. Carlson has a fun and easy approach to fabric collage, using layered fabric shapes to build up images like fish, flowers, and landscapes. She also covers portrait quilts, my specific interest, but I love landscape quilts, too.
Fiction: This month’s read-aloud selection is The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, the author of The Enchanted Greenhouse. We loved this book! It’s actually a pseudo-prequel to The Enchanted Greenhouse (same universe, different characters). This is a cozy, cottagecore romantasy novel about Kiela, a librarian who flees a revolution with her sentient spider plant assistant, Caz, and several crates of stolen spellbooks, eventually opening an illegal spellshop disguised as a jam shop on an island that was her childhood home. Talking plants, winged cats, bad ass women, and jam—plus a super helpful hunky neighbor—what’s not to like?
Gardening: Grow More Food: A Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Getting the Biggest Harvest Possible from a Space of Any Size by Colin McCrate and Brad Halm. YET another Book Nook find! Written by the founders of the Seattle Urban Farm Company, this book covers planning, seed selection, composting, and pest management to maximize production at any scale. I am interested in maximizing yield and extending the growing season.
Photo by Donatella D’Anniballe on Unsplash
