Bookish Lifestyle

Book Dates

March 31, 2019 /
Tertulia Coffee in Downtown Oakland – This place was way too cool for me!

I’m currently in a highly competitive step challenge at work.  Our team name is “Will Walk For Food” and we are in 5th place and are very mad about it.  One of my coworker-teammates also happens to be my roommate and in an effort to motivate us to get more steps in over the weekend, she found a few interesting looking coffee shops around Oakland and forced us to walk to them.

Why the hell am I talking about this on a book blog?  Because, while coffee is a great motivator for me, my lovely roommate knows that coffee alone won’t push past my natural lazy tendencies.

But coffee and books will definitely do it!

Thus began our weekend of Book Dates.

Now all of you book lovers out there know that reading is more often than not a very solitary endeavor.  This is why so many of us flock to online communities like Tumblr and Bookstagram (and blogs!). Human nature craves connection and connecting over your passions is best of all.

But even that is still for the most part a lone art; we read in a silo and come together afterwards to share.  It’s great and I definitely need my alone time (I’m pretty much an outgoing introvert), so it’s a perfect way to disconnect and recharge.

That’s lovely 99% of the time.  But sometimes you just need a little company.

Enter the Book Date.  Now, I don’t necessarily use “date” in a strictly romantic sense, though I would probably fall in love if someone suggests reading together as a third date!  One of my favorite things in the world is reading while sitting next to someone who is also reading. Even if you’re headphones in and completely engrossed, there’s just something about the feeling of a mutually shared, though separate, adventure.

Awaken Cafe in Downtown Oakland – This place had the greatest caprese sandwich and I’m IN LOVE

We both started different books, both listening to different music, hell, both drinking different coffee, but it was a shared experience.  

I know not everyone can focus in coffee shops or places with lots of noise and distraction.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t book date it up! I also love just sitting on my balcony with a glass of wine or on the couch with a cup of coffee with my roommate or another friend and reading.

If you haven’t had a book date, you should definitely give it a try!

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