With my sister and her friends graduating college this spring, I've been asked a few times about how to get a job, what field to choose, how to get the interview, etc. I'm far from an expert, but I've learned a few things in the past few years that hopefully can come in handy for you, too.
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Don't Talk About Book Club
Talking about books continues to be one of my favorite things to do. Different perspectives light up receivers in your mind, sparking new ideas, new interpretations. Sharing a book with someone is one of the greatest connectors, I've found.
I've wanted to start a book club for a long time, but circumstances continually prevented it. In high school, no one really has the time, between homework, sports, learning to drive, etc. College was just oversaturation in the market; every class was a more intense version of a book club. And last year, my first in New York, I didn't meet many people outside my office, and those that I worked with were decidedly uninterested. That's why I made sure to make it widely known that I was open to book clubs when I started my new job three months ago. And it worked! I got a positive response, and I'm lucky enough to have genuinely kind and likeminded coworkers that were ready to commit! We had our first meeting last week, and I had so much fun sharing thoughts and theories with everyone.
But book clubs can be hard. It's nearly impossible to coordinate a group of busy people toward a common goal, that is for fun, not necessity. I want to share some steps I took to organize my book club that I hope will be helpful to anyone who's aiming to start their own.
I've wanted to start a book club for a long time, but circumstances continually prevented it. In high school, no one really has the time, between homework, sports, learning to drive, etc. College was just oversaturation in the market; every class was a more intense version of a book club. And last year, my first in New York, I didn't meet many people outside my office, and those that I worked with were decidedly uninterested. That's why I made sure to make it widely known that I was open to book clubs when I started my new job three months ago. And it worked! I got a positive response, and I'm lucky enough to have genuinely kind and likeminded coworkers that were ready to commit! We had our first meeting last week, and I had so much fun sharing thoughts and theories with everyone.
But book clubs can be hard. It's nearly impossible to coordinate a group of busy people toward a common goal, that is for fun, not necessity. I want to share some steps I took to organize my book club that I hope will be helpful to anyone who's aiming to start their own.
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Thoughts on Bookstagram
Last year, I discovered some really creative and interesting Instagram accounts dedicated to posting about books, This led me down quite the rabbit-hole of Instagram, leading to my following more and more of these book-specific accounts. As it turns out, there's a name for those: Bookstagrams.
Pretty soon my feed was filled with books. Though they were beautiful posts, they were taking over my personal feed. It would be easier to have a whole separate account just to follow all these wonderful Bookstagrams...which led to the birth of ClassicsCalling.
My time in the Bookstagram community, though brief, has been wonderful. It's a rare space on social media where people seem to feel free being honest, and don't try to paint an unreal picture of themselves. This could be in part because the primary subject of the photos is books... But if you take the time to delve into the captions and comments, you'll find details about people's lives, their joys and struggles, and in the comments, overwhelming support and interest not only about books, but about people's day-to-day.
The creativity is impressive, as well. You'll find accounts that use props to visualize the environment of the book, accounts that are wonderfully minimalist, accounts that are so colorful your eyes will burn a little, accounts that feature a pet with their books, accounts that exhibit books in nature, in coffee shops, just in a house, levitating in the air. These Bookstagramers really bring their A game. The photos and posts take so much time, effort, and planning. Bookstagram is more of a commitment than first meets the eye. Here are some accounts that I really admire, and that would be a great gateway into the Bookstagram community, if my raving about it has made you curious!
There are so many other accounts that I love, but I couldn't include them all right in my first Bookstagram blog post! I think that would be overwhelming for you, Reader. Maybe I'll do some Bookstagram feature posts in the future, just so I can spread the love.
I've really loved becoming part of this community, and I'm excited to continue developing my page and pushing myself to be more creative with it. As well as use it as a space to talk about books, so I don't continue torturing those in my real life with chatter about books they haven't read.
This blog has not been entirely book-specific, though a fair number of my posts are my "Books of the Moment" and reading lists, which are usually my favorite to write. I'm exploring the idea of making this a more book-centric blog, changing the title to ClassicsCalling, reviewing more books, etc. I would still scatter in posts about my personal life, but they would not be the star of the show. So stay tuned. In the meantime, you can always find me at ClassicsCalling ;)
