A list of Joyous Bookish Moments™

They were abundant this year

Hello, readers! With just a few days left in 2023, I’m thinking about all of the joy that books have brought me this year. So I’m sharing a list of some of my Joyous Bookish Moments™.

Beyond great stories, books can bring so much goodness into our lives, so here are some highlights for me. I'd love to hear yours, too!

I recently became a Substack Bestseller, which is something I didn’t even see on the horizon at the beginning of this year, and I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who has joined me in this space this year to chat books! So, as a big thank you, I’m offering 20% off paid subscriptions (both monthly and annual!) through the end of the year.

I’ll be back after the New Year with new posts. Cheers to 2024 🥂

A List of Joyous Bookish Moments™

1. Buying an Ann Patchett book used online and finding it dedicated to another Michelle ten years prior. Serendipitous!

2. Monthly meetings with my local book club at a cozy bar as the seasons changed. We hunkered around fire pits, donned our shorts on the patio, and squeezed in on cool autumn nights to gather and talk about books.

3. Finding some of my books new homes through Pangobooks. And subsequently buying many new (to me) books through Pangobooks 🤣

4. Crochet and audiobook. It will never get old. Or cease to be soothing.

5. Getting to play librarian for Dean as he started work on a new podcast project this year. He was looking for fiction books geared towards tweens that tackled climate change. It was so fun to research and put together a list for him. Most of which he read and actually found helpful! 

6. Airport layovers with overpriced coffee and a good book.

7. Excitedly going to the bookstore on pub day to buy the third and final installment of the All Our Hidden Gifts trilogy.  

8. Summer Mondays (my Sundays during wedding season) at the beach under an umbrella by myself with a good book for hours. 

9. Decking out my Kindle with various stickers or cases that brought me joy.

10. Driving home from weddings at 10pm on Saturday nights, winding down with a soothing audiobook after having my eardrums blown out on the dance floor (note to self: buy earplugs for next season)

11. The first cold autumn night, curled up on the couch with a book under a blanket. 

12. Impromptu Friday night bookstore dates downtown with Dean, followed by dinner. 

13. Sundays with the NYT Book Review in print and a hot cup of coffee.

14. Riding my bike this summer to the park with books in the basket. The joy! 

15. Watching the Daisy Jones adaptation and having it exceed my expectations.

16. Getting into bed to read at 8:30pm in summer just because it's the only room in the house with AC.

17. Filling up my creative cup by giving my Substack a revamp at the end of summer and connecting with many new readers.

18. Visiting Exile in Bookville and gushing to the book seller what a wonderful shop it is, only to have her return the compliment and tell us what good taste we had as she was ringing us up. 

19. Stacks of book mail awaiting me after we go on vacation.

20. Fixing up the porch to be a cozy reading nook for the summer. And then reading on it so much all summer because it rained so often. 

21. Getting to finally meet Italic Type book friends in real life over brunch while we were in Chicago after two years of only seeing each other on Zoom.

22. A local bookseller/friend giving comforting book recommendations for pet grief after Quincy died that really helped. 

23. Discovering new authors that become all-time favorites. This is a delight year after year.

24. A warm and sunny April day spent in Boston all to myself to browse the bookstores.

25. Warm winter light and lunch over a book instead of my phone.

26. Checking even more bookstores off my Bookstore Bucket List every time we travel to a new place.

27. Reading in a cat snuggle pile. Always.

I’d love to hear if you have any Joyous Bookish Moments™ from this year! Share ‘em below.

‘Til next time,