Galaxies and Goddesses: A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bookcast

Episode 6 Summer Book Bingo

Andrea: I’m Andrea.

Elizabeth: And I'm Elizabeth.

Andrea: Join us as we chat about sci-fi and fantasy books and beyond.

Elizabeth: Looking for a little escape from reality. So are we.

Andrea: Welcome to Galaxies and Goddesses,

Elizabeth: On this episode, we'll be talking about some of our favorite summer reading activities

Andrea: nostalgic Reading Programs.

Elizabeth: and ways to engage with your local library or little free library.

Andrea: Let's get started!

Andrea: Elizabeth, do you feel like your reading habits change seasonally?

Elizabeth: That is a great question. I have actually just been thinking to myself that here in Helena, Montana, it's starting to get nice. The last couple of weeks had been [00:01:00] pretty nice, actually. Except for a couple days ago. The weather changed and now it's been very rainy the past couple days and I literally was just talking to my friend about how the weather for the past couple days is very Pacific Northwest Seattle weather.

Elizabeth: It's been really wet and raining a lot. So that kind of put a damper on that.

Elizabeth: But yeah, no, definitely it was so nice for the past couple of weeks that I've started to think to myself, you know what? I don't have any good outdoor patio furniture. And actually maybe I need to invest in some patio furniture because I really mostly have been looking outside, been like, man, it's so nice outside, I really wanna read my book outside. But I don't really actually have a great way to do that. So that's something that I'm working on.

Elizabeth: So yes, I suppose I probably would be more interested in reading outside is how that would change seasonally. What about yourself?

Andrea: I still tend to read inside, in a cozy position even in the summer 'cause I'm doing it after the kids go to sleep. But

Elizabeth: it's

Andrea: yeah.

Elizabeth: or something outside. Yeah,

Andrea: Now that, they're getting a little older and they get a more reliable [00:02:00] nap time, that one o'clock timeframe is nice and quiet, and maybe I'll get to read outside this summer on our porch,

Elizabeth: yYou have a very nice porch. I'm like, are you don't read outside?

Andrea: it, kind of needs a deep clean, because in Seattle, things just grow

Elizabeth: covered in like moss and Some leaves.

Andrea: But after a good scrub or two, it'll be a delightful place to have some ice tea and just relax.

Elizabeth: It's funny 'cause before we started recording, we were talking about the Spheres in Seattle.

Elizabeth: So I've been to the Spheres once, also known as Jeff Bezos' Balls. One thing I was most impressed by with the spheres was actually the outdoor furniture game that they have at the Spheres.

Elizabeth: So even though the Spheres are technically inside because they're this, glass plated, ball shaped structure. It's supposed to be as if it's outside. There are all these plants and trees and it's supposed to create this tropical environment inside that then can be used and can be similar year round. [00:03:00] That means that then these outdoor but indoor spaces has all this outdoor furniture. So when I was there I was like, "oh my God, this furniture is incredible". And so then I proceeded to start flipping furniture around to look at the labels of like "who made this?"

Elizabeth: And like, "where can I find this furniture?" 'Cause it's either super comfortable or it seems to be nicely designed.

Elizabeth: So the last couple weeks I've actually been thinking to myself like, huh, maybe I should go back through my photos and find these photos that I took of the labels from the outdoor furniture at the Spheres to buy these really nice metal outdoor rocking chairs.

Andrea: Ooh,

Elizabeth: Didn't even need padding. They're just that

Andrea: Wow.

Elizabeth: and comfortable just with the metal frame. And I was like, "you know what? I might actually splurge and buy some fancy outdoor furniture."

Elizabeth: And then I've been thinking to myself last couple weeks, that would be nice to have that and sit outside and read my book . I don't know, that might be a large investment. That's not really an investment. Mostly just a splurge on fancy outdoor furniture.

Andrea: I [00:04:00] like the idea of reading outside a lot more than I actually end up doing it.

Elizabeth: Fair enough, yeah

Andrea: When I was in, school I could just walk on campus mindlessly. I would read while walking .

Elizabeth: Wow!

Elizabeth: I'm impressed

Elizabeth: That requires a certain level of being able to concentrate on what's in front of you while also maintaining your peripheral vision and being aware of what's going on around you. Wow.

Andrea: I think it's before I listened to podcasts or audio books.

Elizabeth: Yeah.

Andrea: Now I have other options.

Elizabeth: An audio book Sounds like a solution to that problem. Yeah, you just have somebody read it to you as you walk around.

Elizabeth: I will say that as a kid the house that I grew up in, my parents' old house in Billings had this, screened in backyard patio.

Elizabeth: I've even had friends that maybe randomly would come visit me at my parents' house , more as we got into college age and adult age, friends would come to my parents' house and see the backyard patio and would say, " that is an incredible [00:05:00] patio".

Elizabeth: And a friend of mine, even still to this day, still has my parents' patio, like in her mind. And that's something that she wants to recreate someday, because my parents' patio was a nice size, fully screened in, the central panel of the roof. would allow a lot of light in through this opaque corrugated plastic paneling. So there was just incredible airflow. You essentially were outside, but you were protected from all the bugs and you got good light.

Elizabeth: So mostly what I'm getting at is that as a kid, I spent so many hours in the evening, especially summer evenings, on chaise lounge in their backyard screened in patio reading so much.

Elizabeth: Someday I'd like to maybe, when I'm in a position where I own my own home and I can have something like that's I will always remember that patio. Someday maybe I could recreate it myself too.

Andrea: We would go visit my grandparents for a week every summer. And I remember sitting on their back porch, screened in [00:06:00] patio, sitting there reading, and it was just relaxing and nice.

Elizabeth: And, yeah.

Elizabeth: There was this really big set of windows that was between the main living room inside the house and the backyard patio that you could always just peek out the window and see who was out on the patio.

Elizabeth: If it was nice in the summer, we'd go out in the back patio and have a drink or there'd always be like maybe a month or two or we'd have dinner out on the back patio. Someday I can

Andrea: Yes, goals.

Elizabeth: recreating that. Yeah, it was

Andrea: Another thing I like to do in the summer is explore local little free libraries in the neighborhood. Growing up in Arizona, that wasn't something I really did, but I found out recently, they still have little free libraries everywhere. I thought it was just a Seattle thing and it's not, it's like all over the world, there are little free libraries.

Elizabeth: Oh.

Andrea: I never, I've never seen them before coming here.

Elizabeth: That's a very like Seattle centric point of view. That's okay.

Elizabeth: You kind of gain that more and more the longer you live in Seattle that you [00:07:00] think that everything is just a Seattle thing and not a rest of the world thing. That's okay. Yeah, no, they're little free libraries everywhere.

Elizabeth: There are a bunch in Helena, there are a bunch in Missoula.

Elizabeth: That's also a goal in life is that someday that when I own my own home, I'm gonna have a little free library.

Elizabeth: There's a really good one that's like just around the corner from my house. I have taken multiple books from that library. I have to admit that I am the type that tends to take more than leave. That's always a thing that someday I'm like, I will leave more books. I swear. But you know, I just can't help myself when I'm , walking past when I have to look then I like don't plan on leaving a book. 'cause I don't have a book to leave. 'cause I wasn't

Andrea: Yeah.

Elizabeth: looking at a little free library. So then I end up taking , but yes, I do leave every once in a while.

Elizabeth: But yeah, there's just they're everywhere.

Andrea: They actually even have an app. So you can download the app and then look up the map, and then you can like, check in to specific little free libraries or see little stories about them or

Elizabeth: I didn't know you could find stories about them.

Andrea: kind of interesting,

Elizabeth: Like

Andrea: yeah.[00:08:00]

Elizabeth: of the property owner,

Andrea: They can write a little writeup about,

Elizabeth: Their own personal kind of cool.

Elizabeth: little free library. Oh,

Andrea: Yeah.

Elizabeth: I love that.

Andrea: Last summer I found Crying in H Mart in one of the little free libraries . So I read that and then I got to put it back and it felt really satisfying to return.

Elizabeth: The circle of life? The circle of book life. Yeah.

Elizabeth: I had not read any Philip Roth, but he's a fairly well known author and he's to won Pulitzer Prize and, won some other prizes. So I randomly was looking at one little free library, just probably within five to 10 blocks of my house and saw a hardback copy of The Plot Against America by Philip Roth and was like, "oh, I think that's on some good lists."

Elizabeth: I think that's well-known author like didn't really know much about it, but I was like, yeah, I think I'm gonna take that. And then I read that a couple months ago and it actually was phenomenal.

Elizabeth: It's just a very thought provoking kind of book.

Elizabeth: Since then this one that's just around the corner from my house I was looking at that one a couple [00:09:00] weeks ago and there was a different Philip Roth book The Human Stain.

Elizabeth: And I was like, well, I don't know. That might be a good one. So I just yanked that one.

Elizabeth: There are always books, if I come across it, for example, in a little free library or super cheap in a used bookstore or something that I'm have in my mind to snag. But then also there is sometimes where you're looking at a little free library and you're like, well, I've never heard of that book, but I don't know, I know that author. Or the cover is interesting or it looks like a really good book. And so I don't know anything about this book, but I'm just gonna take it. And so that happened recently. I think it was maybe called A Fine Balance. And I was like, well this looks like literature, and like a really nice book and I'm, it's well I don't know anything about this book, but I'm gonna take it. And yeah.

Elizabeth: I think that same one that I just the other day, I've got that still sitting here. yeah. Kate Quinn think I have multiple books from her. I don't think I've actually read any of them.

Elizabeth: But anyway, this one's called The Rose Code. That had a really good rating on Good Reads and I was like, well, I know that author and it seems like a good copy. And I took that one last week maybe.

Elizabeth: Yes. Andrea, what I'm trying to say is that's not [00:10:00] just a Seattle thing.

Andrea: No, I know it's not just the Seattle thing.

Andrea: Fun fact. It has been recognized as the largest book sharing movement in the world.

Elizabeth: Yeah, totally

Andrea: I just never seen before.

Elizabeth: Okay. Wait, wait, I gotta ask because we're talking about it. When did you become aware of little three libraries?

Andrea: Well, that's a good question. Probably 'cause I was living around Queen Anne, there was one on the way to the bus stop. It was like,

Elizabeth: 'cause I was gonna say that I knew about little free libraries when we lived together and I definitely at times would pull up the map of like, "where little free libraries in Seattle?"

Andrea: You might have been the one to introduce me

Elizabeth: Walking tre ks to find the little free libraries.

Elizabeth: I very specifically remember looking for the little free libraries in Wallingford or Fremont that would've been really easy to walk to from where we lived in North Queen Anne.

Elizabeth: I'm not gonna say that I introduced you to the little free library, but I'm just questioning whether or not I introduced you [00:11:00] to the little free libraries.

Andrea: You may have.

Andrea: Well, because prior to that, the bubble that I had lived in was really just academic or outside of neighborhoods that would even have little free libraries. I either lived on campus or I lived out in the middle of nowhere.

Elizabeth: Oh, fair

Elizabeth: so it'd be like student housing or it'd be like the burbs.

Andrea: Yeah. Or the middle of the desert.

Elizabeth: Or in the middle of the desert

Elizabeth: At like Arcosanti?

Andrea: yes.

Elizabeth: Oh

Andrea: There was no little free library there, but maybe there should be

Elizabeth: be a little free library at Arcosanti

Andrea: They had their own library, it wasn't a little free library, they just had their own community library.

Elizabeth: They could have the best little free library. Oh my God. If they don't have a little free library, you need to write a letter.

Andrea: Maybe I can't get in touch with someone.

Elizabeth: Oh my God, that seems like that'd be like the coolest stuff.

Andrea: And that'd be a fun project to build it, i'm sure they,

Elizabeth: Oh my

Andrea: yeah.

Elizabeth: be the coolest looking little free library. The coolest [00:12:00] structure of little free library, 'cause it'd be designed by architects who are interested matching the environment and Oh God, that'd be the coolest little free

Andrea: Or they could have a series , like an array,

Elizabeth: Yeah. Variation on a theme. Oh my God. And then it would be not only the people who are at Arcosanti, but also the tourists who are there to visit it. The kinds of books that you could find there would be really cool.

Elizabeth: And you could probably find the coolest books on architecture as well. In addition to like fiction, nonfiction, but also just architecture type books would be so cool. Yeah. If that's not a thing, you should make sure that becomes a thing.

Andrea: I'll maybe send a message or two. We'll see.

Elizabeth: Definitely.

Andrea: I just didn't know about at the time. Yeah.

Elizabeth: Well, yeah, it's not a Seattle thing, Andrea.

Andrea: Little free library, they just had their own book Bingo. That by the time this episode comes out, it's gonna be over, but it's going on right now as we record this. So I'm sure once the [00:13:00] episode's out, you can still probably look up their bingo sheet and do the activities just for fun.

Andrea: But if you do it within the week that they consider a Little Free Library week, you can complete it and be entered into a drawing to win a gift card. So that's cool.

Elizabeth: only lasts a week.

Andrea: Well, a Little Free Library week, like this is a celebration week of when they were founded. So,

Elizabeth: that's great. I like that. That's cool. I didn't know about.

Elizabeth: I would've been into that had I known.

Elizabeth: Do they do it every year or, that'd be cool. For next year.

Andrea: I don't know. This is the first time I've seen it. I wouldn't be surprised if they do it every year. It seems like it'd be a fun thing. I mean, a lot of places that do a summer bingo do the summer bingo every year.

Andrea: The Seattle Public Library summer bingo comes out May 19th, but it goes all summer. So I am looking forward to seeing what they have lined up for that.

Elizabeth: have you done it in years past?

Andrea: So I always print out the sheet and try to fill in a couple, but I've [00:14:00] never actually submitted my card. I've gotten like four out of the five , but not a complete bingo, and didn't submit it. So Yeah.

Andrea: So I was looking up do other groups have summer reading bingos. I went to University of Maryland. They have an alumni summer reading program and they call it the Terp Summer Reading Challenge that you can register online and then you're entered into a raffle to win a prize.

Elizabeth: That's cool! And the prize wins a Kindle and five people win a $25 University of Maryland bookstore gift card, and 25 people win a free copy of whatever the summer reading book is. That's cool. Those are nice prizes.

Andrea: I think this was more for alumni, so you maybe have to check with what your university has set up.

Andrea: But the one I did find that it looked like it was open to anyone was Ohio State. Ohio State had a open to anybody Summer book Bingo.

Andrea: But I do wonder if it's like a way for [00:15:00] them to update your alumni information. You know how they call you

Elizabeth: You're never gonna be able to get off of their email list or their text message list . Even if you have never set foot in the state of Ohio, they're gonna just have your information forever.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Sounds like it.

Andrea: Yeah, I mean, we something out. It might be worth it.

Elizabeth: There are so many other companies and corporations these days that get ahold of your information and never let it go, even if you get nothing out of them. So I don't know if you just sign up for it and you actually manage to get something out of it, maybe that's, makes it worth it for the Ohio State University to have your information.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Anyway.

Andrea: While we're on the topic of book Bingo we are inspired by, setting reading goals and wanting to read different types of books. I think in general I have high aspirations for how much I would like to read or what I'd like to read, and I never quite meet it, but it's always fun to try.

Elizabeth: Always have higher aspirations for what I'm gonna read than versus what I [00:16:00] actually read, and I am still a person who reads a lot and there's still a lot more that I have plans to read and don't actually manage to get to.

Andrea: I've heard that, it shows that you're optimistic, right? It's okay to have lots of books that you haven't read because it just shows that you're optimistic and you like to, think about potential.

Elizabeth: You should tell that to my mother. Because she has a real problem with books on the shelf, yes, you could tell that to my mother that means that I'm an optimist. That I have goals for books I'm gonna read.

Andrea: There's a couple books I have where I actually have multiple copies of that book. 'cause I have one in case people wanna borrow it. And then one that I wanna keep for myself.

Elizabeth: You wanna make sure to be able to still read yourself at any time that you loan it to somebody else, that somebody else has it, but you still might wanna read it at the same time. Okay, fair enough.

Elizabeth: Yeah.

Andrea: Not many, but

Elizabeth: Like what? What books do you have multiple copies

Andrea: All Systems Red because I bought the first couple in the series and then I ended up buying the box [00:17:00] set. And I was like, well, I don't wanna,

Elizabeth: there's a box set?

Andrea: Actually now they've re published it into two volumes*, like two books that have multiple stories within them.

Elizabeth: Cuz like All Red is like 150 pages How would you publish that as two?

Andrea: No, because there's the rest of the series. There's like the, there's four or five books

Elizabeth: In the Murderbot Diaries?

Andrea: Yes.

Andrea: So they've combined like books one, two, and three, and then four and five are like separate, maybe.

Elizabeth: and then

Elizabeth: four

Andrea: Correct.

Elizabeth: separate volume.

Andrea: I think that's how it's set up. I'd have to double check that, but

Elizabeth: Yeah.

Andrea: to a watch party for it on Sunday. I'm so excited.

Elizabeth: Right. Yeah.

Elizabeth: That's cool. That's great. Well, yeah, 'cause I feel like Alexander Skarsgård has been on Stephen Colbert and, making the rounds with this new show that's coming out . I still have only read the first one that you loaned to me.

Elizabeth: When I'm in Seattle, can I borrow them?

Andrea: To make you like a care [00:18:00] package. Do you? You have to have room.

Andrea: Did you end up getting any books in New Orleans when you went for Independent Bookstore Day?

Elizabeth: Great question So before going to New Orleans, I was like, okay, Independent Bookstore Day, I'm gonna be in New Orleans. I should look to see if there's some sort of activity going on. And Google said that there was gonna be a passport type situation where on Independent Bookstore Day, if you go to these bookstores and you collect the stamps and if you go to enough of them, then you can enter into some sort of a drawing for prize.

Elizabeth: In New Orleans instead of one day it was gonna be over a couple of weeks. And so what I did is I said to myself okay, we're only gonna be there for a couple of days for New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, so I just didn't know if there was gonna be time to to some bookstores.

Elizabeth: So there was one bookstore that was close to the fairgrounds at Jazz Fest that could have worked, but just didn't quite work out. 'cause when you went to Jazz Fest, there was no reentry, so we couldn't leave to go to a bookstore and then come back. So it just didn't really work out time-wise. But then that night, we were going to a part of town where [00:19:00] locals will go to good music shows, clubs, and things like that, it's called Frenchman Street. We walked over to Frenchman Street and as we literally turned the corner onto Frenchman Street, there was a bookstore right on the corner, and this was like 11 o'clock at night.

Elizabeth: And we walked past his bookstore and it was open and I was like. " Oh my God, we have to go into this bookstore right now". There is a bookstore on a Friday night that's open at 11 o'clock at night. We're going into this bookstore. so I bought some incredible postcards. Bookstores sometimes have the best postcards and the best stationary. So that's what I was looking for, was , cool kinda local postcards.

Elizabeth: Then while I was standing in line to buy these postcards, these people in front of me were buying some books. And the guy, as he was going through these books was stamping them on the title page.

Andrea: Oh wow.

Elizabeth: So this bookstore was called Frenchman Art and Books. So he was stamping these books, these people were buying in front of me with their [00:20:00] own personal bookstore stamp. And I was looking at the stamp and I was like, that stamp is awesome.

Elizabeth: I just wanna buy a book just to have the stamp . So I just was like, I need to find a book, any book, I will buy any book right now just so that I can literally have the guy stamp the title page. And so then I bought James by Percival Everett. 'cause I was like, you know what? That's on all of the lists these days and of all of the books to buy in New Orleans. Like a book about, James, the slave from Huck Finn, where they're on a raft going down the Mississippi River.

Elizabeth: I was like, of all the books to buy in New Orleans, it seems like a good book to buy in New Orleans. So

Andrea: Yeah.

Elizabeth: and it's a cool UK printing of the book. So I'm really excited about it. I don't usually buy books at full price, in a bookstore, but I was like, I will buy one right now. And so at 11 o'clock at night on a Friday, I randomly bought James by Percival Everett and got a cool stamp on the front page and bought like 20 really cool postcards. That I have yet to send, because I literally had [00:21:00] no time whatsoever in New Orleans to send any postcards at all. It was just like a whirlwind of a trip.

Andrea: What else is fun, is that now that book will always remind you of your trip to New Orleans.

Elizabeth: Yeah, totally.

Elizabeth: When I buy a book, I don't always plan on keeping it necessarily forever, but this is one that I'm like, you know what? I probably would keep that forever. Yeah, it's great.

Elizabeth: What about yourself?

Elizabeth: What did you do on the Independent Bookstore Day?

Andrea: So because it lasts longer than just one day here I did plan it out. And the first day of Independent Bookstore Day, that Saturday, there was a bookstore that was close to a playground. So I was like, great, it's a playground we've never been to. The kids can go play and then we'll go to a bookstore.

Elizabeth: Totally.

Andrea: And that was fun. And so we bought a kid's book at the bookstore too, and they were super nice to us. And we picked up the passport there.

Andrea: And so, I was like, you know what, I have childcare available for four days of the week, so can I get to the rest of the stores in [00:22:00] four days? And I proceeded to make a map. I tried to use chat GPT to get me the most efficient route, but it wasn't super helpful.

Andrea: I guess it's the traveling salesman problem. It's not great at figuring out ideal distances between places or routes, and it couldn't account for traffic. So I had to come up with the route. But yeah, I did it.

Elizabeth: How many was that?

Andrea: 29.

Elizabeth: What?!

Andrea: 29 bookstores.

Elizabeth: over the course a week or how, what?

Andrea: Over the course of a week. There were some bookstores that had weird hours, and not necessarily every single day of the week.

Elizabeth: Like in New Orleans where they're open at 11 o'clock at night on a
Andrea: Yeah.

Elizabeth: Yeah.

Andrea: great. That's great.

Andrea: So I planned to get my final three stores, which are in downtown Seattle, which I didn't wanna do during the week. We went to the aquarium in the morning and we took the boys to the [00:23:00] aquarium, and that was our first time going. And they were more interested in climbing on the furniture than looking at the fish.

Elizabeth: Or the octopus! It's a cool octopus

Andrea: So we had lunch real quick downtown, and then the boys and my husband went home for their nap.

Andrea: And I finished out my three stores downtown.

Andrea: So there was one at Pike Place Market basically. It was a
Elizabeth: Okay.

Andrea: I had never been to any of these. Another one was a poetry specific bookstore near Pioneer Square

Elizabeth: So Seattle, that there is a poetry specific bookstore.

Andrea: Yes.

Andrea: And then my last one was near Occidental Square, a little bit south of Pioneer Square and it was really fun. I definitely felt a sense of achievement. I might never be able to do this again, so I'm glad.

Elizabeth: that collect 'em all like adventure quest.

Andrea: I went places I'd never been before. I did a whole loop around the sound.

Andrea: Yeah, I went to Poulsbo, I'd never been to Poulsbo before.

Andrea: There were [00:24:00] two bookstores in Poulsbo. And they're on the same little main street. I,

Elizabeth: there's only one main street in Poulsbo.

Elizabeth: Did you go to Sluys The bakery?

Andrea: No. I went to another one.

Andrea: I went to Hotshots Java.

Elizabeth: I think liberty Bay Books might be the one that's on the corner that I'm thinking of.

Elizabeth: Liberty Bay books, definitely. I've been in that multiple times and like regularly will go in there every time I'm in Poulsbo just to be like, all right, what are the cool books that are on display at the moment , titles of the moment?

Elizabeth: Yeah, no. Next time you're in Poulsbo, you have to go to Sluys Bakery. S-L-U-Y-S. They make the best donuts. Oh my God. They make the best donuts. But just all of the Sluys Bakery things, and it's like classic Scandinavian themed bakery.

Elizabeth: So next time you're in Poulsbo you have to go to Sluys Bakery and make sure you get a donut from Sluys, particularly Dough Boys are these like giant gingerbread man shaped donuts, but they're like raised donuts with like chocolate frosting and they're so good.

Andrea: Well can you bring me back something [00:25:00] from Sluys?

Elizabeth: a hundred percent

Andrea: Okay.

Elizabeth: They might be day old by the time they get to you, but I will 100% bring you from Donut, from

Andrea: awesome.

Andrea: Awesome,

Elizabeth: you go to Poulsbo that you make sure to go to Sluys. Definitely.

Andrea: Early birthday present.

Elizabeth: Good talk! There you go.

Elizabeth: But yeah, I know that Liberty Bay bookstore is super cute. It's a really cute bookstore. Away With Words.

Elizabeth: I'll have to go there. I'm gonna be out there in a couple of weeks. I have to make sure that we make sure to stop in . That's a great name for a bookstore also, by the way.

Elizabeth: Well, good for you. I'm stoked for you that you went to all 29.

Andrea: Now I get a 25% off coupon to all of the bookstores,

Elizabeth: wait a

Andrea: to all of them.

Elizabeth: All year?

Andrea: you can use it once. Within the next year.

Elizabeth: Within the next year, you have a one time 25% off at each of those bookstores.

Andrea: Yes. You get a card, you're considered a champion I think.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. Oh, that's great. I'm very impressed, Andrea, you went to all 29 bookstores.

Andrea: Yeah, technically there were 31 bookstores, [00:26:00] but Third Place Books has three locations and you only had to go to one of the three locations.

Elizabeth: Absolutely. Yeah.

Andrea: yeah,

Elizabeth: 29 you went to 29 bookstores. Damn. Wow. How many books did you buy?

Andrea: I did not count. I did not buy a book at every store. Some stores I bought like soap,

Elizabeth: Or like postcards or something,

Andrea: Yeah.

Andrea: As you continue on the journey to get all these stamps , the first maybe five bookstores people. Just shrug it off. They're like, okay, another one, they're used to 'em. But then when you start to fill up your card, people are like, oh you're gonna finish this.

Andrea: congrats, like you're doing it. and they start to ask you more questions about " oh, did you have any favorites ?" And really they were all so different. That was what I was most shocked by it. And some places there were two bookstores, on the same main street.

Andrea: We were talking about Poulsbo, but also in Burien, there's two bookstores that aren't that far apart. And just they're all really so unique. And that's kind of why independent bookstores are [00:27:00] so special is that they really do have their own character and their own communities that support them.

Andrea: And they have book clubs and, it's just such a nice environment and the people there are great. And you can just have conversations about books that

Elizabeth: yeah.

Andrea: your day. It's just so nice. And then in the meantime in the car I just listened to an audio book it was almost like a little mini vacation.

Elizabeth: Listening to a book as you go to different bookstores.

Andrea: yeah.

Elizabeth: That's cool. one was your favorite?

Andrea: I mean Elliot Bay Books in Capitol Hill is amazing. It's just a huge store. Such a good group of people. It's just impressive too.

Elizabeth: I remember we went some years ago, like when we lived together, for Independent Bookstore Day we tried to do the passport thing and we ended up going to Elliott Bay books and they had this really awesome like tote bag gift as you walked in the door that was like, here's this really cute tote bag with a comic book and some stickers. And I don't think there was a free [00:28:00] copy of a book, but media pen or something.

Andrea: A lot of stores, if you were there on Independent Bookstore Day, gave you blind date with a book like arc copies of books that are already published, but that you got to Yeah. Yeah.

Elizabeth: like pre-release, pre-publication copy or

Elizabeth: Still has in the back or something. Yeah. Cool. Blind date with the book kind of stuff. Nice. Okay. Elliott Bay Books always a classic.

Elizabeth: What was like one that you were most surprised by?

Andrea: I don't know. They're just all really great. Every store, right? Has something special. And it's always fun to ask for recommendations too.

Andrea: I felt bad because at one of the stores, they just had so many of the little shelf talkers. I asked do you always have this many shelf talkers? Or is this like special for Independent Bookstore Day that you're giving out more recommendations than you normally do? And it was an honest question, but I realized after the fact it might've come across rude.

Elizabeth: Wait when you mean shelf talker? Do you mean like the little thing that's like on the shelf that says [00:29:00] this particular staff person really likes this book.

Andrea: Yes, where they have a recommendation for a specific book, but you would look down the aisle

Elizabeth: like

Andrea: and it was just like papers everywhere. Just so many papers. And it was a little bit overwhelming, because when I see a shelf talker to me that's oh, this is a book I should know. This is a book that I need to read. So it was almost overwhelming "oh my God, there's so many books that I need to read.

Andrea: I need to read them all!

Elizabeth: need to read them all

Andrea:All of them.

Andrea: but she said, no, it's not special for Independent Bookstore Day. They always have a lot of books that they recommend and they maybe had a lot of staff and maybe each staff person submitted a lot.
Andrea: I don't know, but it was just, I.

Elizabeth: yeah.

Elizabeth: I have to read them all, I guess.

Andrea: yes.

Elizabeth: That's funny.

Andrea: Like a couple is nice. Oh, these are our three favorite books and you only have three on the whole wall. That's fine with me.

Elizabeth: Yeah. That's funny.

Elizabeth: Like that was a very successful day or

Andrea: Yes, [00:30:00] multiple days.

Andrea: But it is this big buildup, and I'm sure as a bookseller they feel this way too, that you plan and build up for this one day or one week, and then there's a lull. There's the calm before the storm, but also it just settles back down and goes back to

Elizabeth: regular business.

Andrea: flow.

Andrea: Yeah.

Andrea: But it does feel like a holiday. It's like a holiday for book lovers.

Elizabeth: In a way

Andrea: I hope people listening got to do something fun for Independent Bookstore Day, or if they missed it this year, they put it on their calendars for next year.

Elizabeth: Totally. Yeah. Yeah

Andrea: But if they want more bookish fun, but that's why we're talking about book bingo stuff.

Andrea: And we came up with our own Galaxies and Goddesses, Book Bingo that we'll post on our Instagram. And have a couple of recommendations, for books that we've enjoyed or are hoping to read this summer in the days to come.

Andrea: There's always so much [00:31:00] fun summer stuff. One other thing is summer reading as a kid. I feel like part of what got me into be a life-long readers reading in the summer. Maricopa County Library had a summer reading program.

Andrea: It wasn't a bingo program. It was like a map that you filled in your spots on a journey and when you got to certain points on the map you got a reward of some sort. That's how I remember it. But I think, having something as a kid that you're excited about reading is great.

Elizabeth: motivation to like

Andrea: mhmm

Elizabeth: to reading more than you would've otherwise. I feel like as a kid it was Pizza Hut.

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah, it was a thing. Yeah.

Elizabeth: that, like you read a certain number of books or you read a book per some amount of time. And then you'd get some stamps if I remember correctly. And if you got a certain number of stamps, then you get a free personal pizza. Not to say that I did that a lot, I probably did that some. I don't know if that like motivated me to read more than I would've otherwise.

Andrea: Everybody loves pizza.

Elizabeth: I do just distinctly remember that there's some sort of Pizza Hut reward [00:32:00] system with reading, Which I love that Pizza Hut did that. I don't know if they do that anymore. I hope they still do. but

Andrea: I think they do. You earn a free personal sized pizza!

Elizabeth: That's awesome.

Andrea: It's a summer reading program. Another summer reading program that I didn't know about until we did some research for this episode was that Barnes and Noble has a kids summer reading journal program where if you read from the Barnes and Noble selected list of books and then you've fill out the title of the book that you read and your favorite part, you can bring it to the store and you can get a free book.

Elizabeth: only for kids?

Andrea: It's only for kids. It's grades one through six.

Andrea: Yeah.

Andrea: So we're too old and my kids are too young, so I can't benefit from this personally, but it sounds like a great program. Like,

Elizabeth: Someday your kids will be old enough and

Andrea: yeah.

Elizabeth: you can take advantage of all of the kids' book stuff. Yeah. That's cool.

Andrea: Unfortunately, that concludes this week's episode. We've reached the [00:33:00] end of another cosmic journey on Galaxies and Goddesses.

Elizabeth: But don't worry, the adventure never really ends. There are always more stories to explore and let's be honest, more bookish, tangents for us to go on.

Andrea: Hey, that's part of the fun. If you love today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the magic with your fellow goddesses.

Elizabeth: Be sure to check out our Instagram at galaxies and goddesses, where we'll post our summer book bingo.

Andrea: Join us for our next episode where we'll share some of our favorite reads featuring queer main characters to celebrate pride in June.

Elizabeth: In the meantime keep your mind fueled by the magic of stories.

Andrea: and never stop chasing the world's waiting for you between the pages. Thanks everyone!

*Transcription note 5/22: The Murderbot Diaries were re-published as 3 volumes on January 7, 2025. The Murderbot Diaries #1-2 as The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 1. The Murderbot Diaries #3-4 as The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 2 The Murderbot Diaries #6-7 as The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 3.