Summer is coming, which (hopefully) means warmer weather, longer days, and, for some, more free time! Though I am no longer in school, I still find summer to be a more relaxed and laid back season. So, to honour its spirit, I’ve decided to make a list of 10 bookish things I’d like to do this summer!
1. Find a Little Free Library and leave some books in it!
Ever since I started book blogging, I’ve accumulated books at a very fast pace! Since I don’t own a bookshelf currently, it means that I have books EVERYWHERE in my apartment. While I’m not complaining, I think it would be a really fun idea to find a Little Free Library in my neighbourhood and donate some books that I will probably not pick up again. For those in the Toronto area, do you have any clues to where I might find one?
2. Attend some Luminato Literary events.
Every year, Toronto has a huge festival called Luminato, an event that celebrates creativity. Their literary events include a #ReadWomen2014 panel on Wednesday June 11th, 2014 and a Literary Picnic on Sunday June 25th, 2014 and much much more! So far I am committed to going to the two events above but I would love to attend more if I can! If you’re planning on attending any of the above, let me know! I would love to say hi 🙂
3. Go to more IFOA events.
If you’ve been reading my blog or follow me on social media, you’ll know that I LOVE going to IFOA events. I’ve met so many wonderful authors there and have learned about so many new books! For those who are unfamiliar, IFOA stands for International Festival of Authors and every Wednesday they host a weekly reading! I am definitely attending the reading on June 25th, 2014 which features Emma Healey (you know I loved Elizabeth is Missing!), Tom Rachman (whose book I’m currently reading!), and Linda Holeman (an author I am unfamiliar with but would love to hear more from!), but I would love to attend more throughout the summer. If you’re planning on going to a reading, let me know! Again, I would love to meet you!
4. Meet more book bloggers and book lovers!
This kind of ties in to points 2 and 3, but I love meeting book-loving friends at literary events! Feel free to say hi if you see me out and about, or let me know if you’ll be at an event I’m attending and make completing this task easier for me!
5. Have a mini Ernest Hemingway pilgrimage in Toronto like Earnest Hemmingway did in No Relation.
I have gushed about Terry Fallis’ No Relation on my blog and what better way to further my love than retrace his footsteps in Toronto this summer? I loved recognizing a few places that Hem visited while he was in Toronto and would love to discover new spots. I can’t wait to go on my Earnest Hemmingway Ernest Hemingway pilgrimage!
6. Volunteer at Word on the Street!
While technically this event isn’t during the summer (it’s going to be held on Sept 21st, 2014), I thought I would include this in my list because what’s more summery than attending an outdoor book and magazine festival? I have never been to Word on the Street before, and I think volunteering for it would definitely show me what the festival is all about!
7. Get a bookshelf.
This is a little less ambitious than the other goals I’ve listed, but I seriously need to get a bookshelf pronto.
8. Attend my first book club meeting.
While I was in Vancouver last week, I met up with two of my fellow English major friends and we created our very first book club! I’ve never been in a book club before so I don’t really know how it works (we live in different provinces so meetings will have to be online) but I’m excited for our first meeting! In case you were wondering, we picked The House Girl by Tara Conklin for our first book!
9. Follow more book bloggers and book tubers.
Since I won’t be able to meet everyone around the city at events, I would love to follow more book bloggers and book tubers online! The more the merrier, right? If you have any recommendations for me, please share!
10. Document it all!
Summer is a time for making memories and laughing until your sides hurt. I would love to document all of these events so I can remember them forever. Summer of 2014, I’m ready!
Do you have any goals/bucket list items you’d like to cross off this summer? I want to hear all about them!
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Here’s an alphabetical list of Little Free Libraries by city – looks like there are quite a few in Toronto! http://tinyurl.com/kempeto
I can’t wait to see you document all of this!
Shannon, that link is incredible. Thank you so much! The closest one is only 15 minutes from my place :O I can’t wait to visit it this summer!
You could document it the way Lindsey does on Reeder Reads. (Maybe that’s what you already mean.) It’ll be fun to hear about it all. My reading actually usually goes down a bit in the summer, because the kids stay up later at night, but I still have to go to bed on time. So, this translates into less reading time for me, but there so many fun summery things to do with the kids to make up for it! We always sign up for the summer reading program, and I get excited to read all their books instead of mine. 🙂
Aw, kids’ books are so fun to read! That sounds like an awesome summer plan. I actually didn’t think of using video! Thanks for the reminder. I was just going to take pictures and write re-caps maybe. I’ll definitely consider doing some videos 😀
Sounds like you have a great summer ahead of you. I think my trip to Iowa City last weekend might be the highlight of mine (from a bookish standpoint, anyway).
It sounded like a fun trip! Plus, you got to see a book-loving friend, so that’s basically 2 things done at once! 😀
Those are some really great plans! I hope you have a lot of fun doing them. Of course, I am waiting to see your posts on these items!
Thanks Athira! I’m excited. Do you have any summer plans yet? 🙂
Nothing major! Just read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, I guess. 🙂
That sounds like an interesting book! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Like Shannon, I was going to point you to the Little Free Library list as well. And I can actually help you with #1 and #4 if you’d like. I’m going to be in TO in July and I want to meet up with some bloggers. My other plan is to hit as many LFL as possible, since we don’t have any in Scotland. Shall we make a plan?
YES! This is so exciting! I am totally down to go on a Little Free Library tour around Toronto. Do you want to email me so we can exchange contact info? karenfenellama (at) gmail (dot) com. Eep!
Don’t get too excited. You know I’m almost old enough to be your mother, right? I’ll email you tomorrow.
Hahaha! I’m looking forward to your email Tanya! (Age is but a number, right?)
This is a great list! My husband and I were planning to put a Little Free Library in our front yard, but another one popped up in town via the school’s construction courses. I definitely need to load it up with some books!
Oh my gosh! Having a little free library in your front yard would be AMAZING! You’d be able to check its progress every day! If I had my own front yard I would totally want to put one up. Hope you enjoy your visit to the one in your neighbourhood; I want to hear all about it!
Two of these things I’m doing this month – Saturday I’m going to a national book fair and I am buying a new bookshelf at the end of this month. My book collection has been GROWING 😀