Category: Books

I wanted to post these photos on my Bookstagram but I didn’t feel like that 1080px by 1080px square would do them justice. I had just watched an Instagram live video by @yaallegiance and was positively ogling her wall to wall bookshelves! While my bedroom is quite big, it would take a lot of heavy moving to be able to even get my bookshelves next to each other. Also, I have built in cubby holes which house a lot of my books, and they’re deep enough for me to double-shelve my books, if need be. I’d rather not have to, though, which is why I just re-arranged my bookshelves (yet again!) so that most of the books’ spines are visible with a glance.

So, without further ado….drum roll, please….

If you’re like me, stuck in your house because of COVID-19, (and I think most of the world is at this point), you’re looking for things to keep you busy. Right now, I am a librarian working from home, but also looking for ways to help patrons (and blog readers) stay sane. I hope you are enjoying these new blog posts that have gone a little off the norm for me, but I figured I’d try something different since everything has turned on its head.

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae and Ctrl, Alt, Delete: How I Grew Up Online by Emma Gannon are two books that I think millennials like me will love. I read both of them, and they were major trips down memory lane for me. They discuss dial up internet, AOL Instant Messenger, nudges on MSN and the early days of catfishing.  I get a thrill whenever I read something and think to myself, OMG I remember that! Or, I forgot all about that until just now! I felt I could relate to these authors on a personal level. As I read about how Emma Gannon’s parents were clueless about internet safety, I pictured myself in the chilly basement where the desktop computer was and thought, yeah, I could have gotten into so much trouble down there unsupervised.

If you’re a millennial who spent their days on the early internet, got kicked off when your parents needed to make a phone call and were a girl who wrote your name like this: ~*~*~*Michelle*~*~* I highly recommend these books.