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.
23 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!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you! I definitely feel very lucky to both live in a place with so many bookstores (I still have a bunch of Virginia stores–mostly an hour-4 hours farther afield to visit), and that I visited two cities this year (NYC and Boston) that also have a wealth of bookstores.
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
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you for the suitcase idea. I didn’t find it until the fall–I looked for it for ages. “Wonderland” is a great bookstore name.
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.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you! It was so fun!
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!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you, Tracey! It was so fun!
Laura Purdie Salas
Wow, this is amazing, Marcie! Hooray for weekly reflection and also yearly reflection. The reflecting time is when we really learn from what we’ve done. Love your poetry suitcase! Happy New Year!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
I’m such a big reflection person. I do a reflection every Sunday evening, one each quarter, and one each year. It really helps put everything out of my head and onto paper.
tanita
I love your year in review! I really should sit down and actually figure out what I do with my poetry and writing throughout the year. And I’ve really enjoyed your bookstore challenge. We have all of two in my neck of the woods but now I’m inclined to drive a bit further…
Happy New Year!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
It is so fun! Anytime I traveled this year, it also became a bit of a focus in each location.
Susan T.
Marcie, it’s always such a pleasure to come over here and see what you’ve been up to. The bookstore project turned out wonderfully. I love all the stickers. Congrats on the publications, too. Nice work in both! Consilience is a new publication for me; the concept is terrific. Happy 2025 to you and yours.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you, Susan! I’m thrilled to have good poetry news to report at the end of the year.
Heidi Mordhorst
Well, Marcie, shoot–you’ve alerted me to Wonderland, which has opened in my old neighborhood where a bike shop used to be, and then you were at People’s Book which is in my NEW neighborhood, like literally a mile from me and where, if we’re not eating and shopping at Busboys & Poets, we’re buying our books. If you venture this way again, give me a shout!
Congrats on making your rounds as planned–your suitcase is going to be so fun to tote around. And also on getting to “growing as slowing”–that’s a hard one for a lot of us. Happy, merry and bright to you and yours, and also good healing.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Oh shoot! We’ll have to plan it in the new year. Perhaps, Linda Mitchell and I can carpool to you. I love Takoma Park. What a great place to live!
Carol Varsalona
Marcia, congratulations on your recently published work, and blessings for a speedy recovery. The pause in your life offers you more time to ponder and muse while writing. I found your video slideshow to be one beauty of nature scene and haiku after another. Now seat back and breathe in happiness.
Karen Edmisten
Marcie, what a wonderfully uplifting round-up! (Though I’m sorry you had to have surgery, and I’m wishing you a speedy recovery!)
Your suitcase and all those indie bookstores give me hope and faith in humanity. 🙂
Here’s to turning 2025 inside out.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you, Karen! 2024 has had a mix of good and bad, but I’m looking forward to 2025.
Carol Labuzzetta
Marcie,
You’ve been busy! I live so rurally, I could not reach many independent bookstores, so kudos to you on that effort. I was able to visit two this year. I hope I can visit more in 2025. I am just finishing a book I bought for 1.99 – the Magpie Murders – in the used book section of an independent bookstore in the town in which my dad lives.
I might make another visit there soon. Happy New Year!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
I feel very fortunate to live in an area where this challenge was possible. I read The Magpie Murders a few years ago at the beach. It was great! I love finding great used books. One of my favorite used book haunts closes down in the winter, so I will have to wait until March to browse again.
Michelle Kogan
“Songs for the Landbound” looks intriguing… Congrats on all your reading, poems written, and published. Fun sticker-covered suitcase hope it takes you on many new journeys this coming year! Wishing you well healing too!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you, Michelle! I’d recommend “Songs for the Land-bound.” I just went back through all of my sticky notes from reading it! So many delicious things to transfer to my notes document!