Today’s Armchair Book Expo topic is about collaboration and listening:

The online book community has changed so much over the years. How do we keep up within our own book-sphere as well as within the community as a whole (i.e., libraries, bookstores, authors, publishers, etc.)?

Keeping up? What’s that?

Seriously, though, I’m not sure how much of a collaborator I am. I’m a participant, sure, a community member, but I’m not really sure if that’s really what this topic is asking.

However, much like on a college exam essay, if you don’t know the answer to the question asked, offer the answer to a question closely related that you do know!

So, how do I remain active in the online book community?

First, here on my blog: While I’ve been haphazard over the years about reviewing the books I read, I do try to share what I’m reading every couple weeks or so. After Ginny decided to retire from Yarn Along, Kat took up the mantle and has been bringing us Unraveled on Wednesdays. It’s a chance to check in on what everyone is knitting and reading and is where I stumbled across the Book Bingo game. I also share some of the bookish community things I get into here. And I’m remarkably grateful to my commenters from …

The blogging community at large: I use an RSS reader to pull in posts from a large number of blogs, and many of you are readers who like to share the books you’re into. Some of you have blogs specifically relating to books, others have a more general focus, and a few share links to news articles on topics like best books of a month or recommended summer reading or year-end best-of lists. (As a side note about how I’m not collaborating, I don’t really follow Bookstagram or BookTube accounts or listen to podcasts.) I always take note of titles that interest me and add them to my to-be-read list at …

Goodreads: I admit that while I’m not great at participating in the groups I belong to, I do log every single book I read there and keep an impossibly long list of what I’d like to do when I no longer have to work to support myself or sleep. Titles that I particularly want to read, I request from …

My local library: Washington, D.C., has a great library system with wonderful librarians at branches around the city. They have a huge collection (which I like to browse both online and in person through the stacks), a generous renewal policy, and a lot of events, ranging from sign language classes to knitting circles to author appearances. They also hold book groups both in person and on …

Twitter: The one I like best meets Wednesdays at noon with the hashtag #brownbagdc, and everyone is welcome to attend, even if you aren’t local. I also follow a number of authors and bookish accounts, which keep me up to date on new books, as well as overarching themes I should be aware of, such as the move from #WeNeedDiverseBooks to #OwnVoices, so as to make the bookish community a more inclusive, welcoming one. (Although I see plenty of drama there, so that may be more of a goal than an actuality.) Between Twitter and book blogs, I’ve gotten to take part in a number of …

Bookish Community Events, such as Armchair Book Expo. Other community events I’ve taken part in over the years include The Broke and the Bookish Top Ten Tuesday, Ninja Book Swap, Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge, the Cybils, Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon, the TBR Takedown, and Bout of Books.

And last, but only because I couldn’t make them flow with the rest of the post, would be my local bookstores. D.C. is home to five independent book shops (as well as a couple socially conscious restaurants that also sell books, at least two toy stores that sell kids’ books, and two new shops that hope to open later this year) and eight used bookstores. Each has its strength and helpful booksellers, and I’ve purchased from nearly all of them and attended events at many, including author signings and book launch parties. (Oh! and Little Free Libraries in a bunch of places around the city, which add literary serendipity to my life.)

This feels long and rambling, so my apologies for not being more concise…