Poetry Friday: December Roundup of Bookstores and Books
On this last Friday of 2024, our host for the week is Michelle Kogan at MoreArt4All. Hop on over there for the roundup.
24 Bookstores in 2024
38 Wonderland Books, Bethesda, MD
Visited on December 15, 2024
This is a brand new indie bookstore. I was in DC for brunch with friends, so I decided to venture into Maryland to visit two new bookstores. I visited on opening weekend, so it was packed!
39 People’s Book, Takoma Park, MD
Visited on December 15, 2024
This one is nestled in a neighborhood and has a great selection of books too.
Check out this entire section of Zines!
Since I make the rules for my own challenges, I’m counting the new bookstore I visited the last week of December 2023. That brings my total to 40 bookstores visited.
Bonus Visit
I also visited One More Page Books. I ordered all of my Christmas present books from them and went to pick them up in the store in December. I already visited them several times this year, so I didn’t count them again in the roundup.
Recording My Book Adventures—With Stickers
I’ve been buying stickers at the bookstores that have them (quite a number of them didn’t have stickers). Irene Latham made the suggestion that I put them on a vintage suitcase and I could use the suitcase for school visits.
I finally found one at a local thrift store. There was another suitcase that was much older and had more character, it was much bigger, and had a bigger price tag. I carried it around for a bit and just knew it was a no-go for me.
This one is definitely a newer model, but a much more reasonable size.
Even though a lot of bookstores didn’t have stickers, I still had plenty of stickers to fill up the space. Introducing my very own Poetry Suitcase! I hope to take it to school visits.
24 Bookstores in 2024 has been one of the most fun challenges I’ve ever done, though definitely not the cheapest. But I was thrilled to support local businesses! Stay tuned. I have a new challenge for myself in 2025.
New Poems Published
In the past few weeks, I’ve had two new poems published.
Books Read in December
I’m recovering from surgery. There’s not a lot of good things about surgery, but it does give you a good excuse to rest and read. I’m writing this round up on December 26, with a full six more days left in the month. This list will get longer, but this is my list of books read up through the evening of December 25.
I read seven middle grade books since I’ve been off work.
Aida Salazar
by Shari Green
by Ellen Hopkins
by Su Cho
by Violeta Garcia-Mendoza
by Margaret Noodin
by Michiko Aoyama
by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
(It took me a couple of months–on and off–to finish this on audio. It’s 39+ hours)
While this is not a book read, I do recommend it. I finally got around to watching the documentary on “The Reading Rainbow” called “Butterfly in the Sky.” You can stream it on Netflix.
A Year in Haiku
I wrote 44 haiku for the blog in 2024. I wrote many more haiku that never saw the light of day too.
Poem as Picture Book Roundup
As a personal deep dive, I wanted to study poems as picture books in 2024. My Nevermores groups does a quarterly Zoom deep dive into something poetry-related. When it was my month to lead the discussion, I picked poems as picture books. This year, I featured 33 poems as picture books. They’ll stay featured on this archived page.
Grow
Grow was my word of the year this year. Each week, during my weekly reflections on Sunday evenings, I tried to think about ways I’d grown. There were a lot of challenges this year for me–both personally and professionally. I’ve grown as a writer. I’ve grown to respect my limitations. I’ve grown to learn I can, and need to, take time to slow down.
4 Comments
Mary Lee Hahn
Oh, to live where I could reasonably hope to visit so many independent bookstores in one year! Thank you for generously sharing your book picks at each store — I’ve gotten lots of great recommendations that way!
Looking forward to your choice of challenges in 2025! You definitely inspire!
Irene Latham
Marcie, I love how the suitcase turned out… you “World Traveler” you! It’s a work of art. And I think “Wonderland” may be my favorite bookstore name ever! xo
Liz Garton Scanlon
Averaging two bookstores a month is a beautiful, heartening feat. And those stickers as reward and inspiration — I loved this. Thank you.
Tracey Kiff-Judson
Congratulations on surpassing so many goals, Marcie! You are truly a marvel. I love that suitcase! What a clever idea! I hope it accompanies you on many exciting journeys in 2025!