To celebrate my transition from Substack over to Beehiiv, I thought it would be fun to start with a new monthly newsletter event that I hope to keep alive!
I’m calling it my monthly LFL Haul; or, my Little Free Library Haul!
What is a Little Free Library?
You might not even know what I’m referring to when I talk about a Little Free Library. They’re essentially small libraries littered around your community, put out by your neighbors, in which you take a book and/or leave a book. For free!
They operate wholly on an honor system, in which you can take a book from the collection it provides or donate a book for someone else to read. They exist to promote a love of reading and a sense of community. You can find out more about them here.
What waited for me?
This go-around, I only went to two LFLs after picking up a quick Coke from Sonic (it was happy hour!). I also didn’t carry many books with me to donate. I don’t feel right digging through them without giving anything back, especially if I take a few!
At the first one, there wasn’t anything that really caught my eye. There were about 6 different Nora Roberts books out of the 13 books to choose from, so whoever loves her would have a hay-day there. I left Mistborn and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, both mass market paperbacks. I hadn’t read either, but I knew I could pick up copies of them at the library I work at, so I wasn’t bent out of shape leaving them both.
At the second LFL, I struck gold. Two pieces of gold, actually! The selection was far more varied (by that I mean it wasn’t half filled with books by Nora Roberts) and I was able to dig out two novels that sparked my interest:
Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell stuck out to me because anything historical fiction taking place in the medieval-to-renaissance times always catches my attention. I loved the political intrigue of the summary as well:
His blood is Saxon. His heart is Viking. His battleground is England.
A fragile peace reigns in Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia. King Alfred's son, Edward, and formidable daughter, Æthelflaed, rule the kingdoms. But all around, the restless Northmen, eyeing the rich lands and wealthy churches, are mounting raids.
Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the kingdoms' greatest warrior, controls northern Mercia from the strongly fortified city of Chester. But forces are gathering against him. Northmen allied to the Irish, led by the fierce warrior Ragnall Ivarson, are soon joined by the Northumbrians, and their strength could prove overwhelming. Despite the gathering threat, both Edward and Æthelflaed are reluctant to move out of the safety of their fortifications. With Uhtred's own daughter married to Ivarson's brother, who can be trusted?
In the struggle between family and loyalty, between personal ambition and political commitment, there will be no easy path. But a man with a warrior's courage may be able to find it. Such a man is Uhtred, and this may be his finest hour.
When I came home and did a little research on the book, I realized it was book 9. Of 13. Pretty cool. I do want to still start it, see if it can read standalone pretty well. If not, it might have to get shelved until I can get around to the first 8 books. (Though, I’ve been struggling to read past the first book in series’ lately, so we’ll see if that’s a possibility).
I am Princess X by Cherie Priest intrigued me on cover alone, and the summary seemed interesting:
Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the comics, May wrote the stories, and Princess X fought monsters, ghosts, and other assorted creepazoids from her haunted house high on a hill.
Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across a bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.
Once upon a now, May is sixteen and lonely when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window—a figure in a gold crown, pink dress, red Chucks, and a long katana sword…
Princess X? Suddenly, May sees the princess everywhere: stickers, patches, graffiti—an entire underground world built around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the comic, the more shocking connections she finds between Libby’s death and Princess X’s adventures. And that means only one person could have started this phenomenon—her best friend, Libby, who lives.
Just that summary alone is a sell, right?
Even with it being young adult, I took it for my shelf. When I got back in the car, I flipped through the pages only to find it holding even more fun: comics! Sprinkled throughout the novel!
Guess who’s fit this in as their next read based on this alone?
Needless to say, this was a good haul.
I did leave a book… I have to be so honest with you guys though, I don’t remember the name of it at all. Just the cover. It was one I mindlessly picked up at my library’s used book store, held onto for a few weeks, then decided I would never read it. I will never do this again, I promise. It was a middle-grade fantasy, that’s all I can say!
Anyway, come next month, I’m hoping to have I Am Princess X read so I can share my thoughts on it.
This is a pretty new kind of content for me to write, but I’m hoping it’ll stick. I think having a monthly event for my newsletter like this will help me keep up with it and will give me a reason to get out of the house on a Sunday afternoon. I’m hoping it’ll encourage you, too, to go out and search your own communities for Little Free Libraries! You won’t always find something, but when you do, it’s like Christmas.
The official Little Free Library website does offer a map you can use to find them in your city or town. It’s what I used when I first started seeking them out. After a while, you start to gain an eye for them and find some that aren’t even registered there!
Liked what you read? Consider sharing it with your friends!
And as a thanks for reading and following me here to Beehiiv…
Take double the trouble.