Friday Feature: Need Last Minute Gifts? Check out LiteraryBookGifts.com #Holiday Books

My guest today is Melissa Chan of LiteraryBookGifts.com (See her ad in the left sidebar.)

Do you love to write? Perhaps you are an author. Maybe you publish to a worldwide audience or simply write for fun and don't show your work to anyone. While your writing is uniquely your own style and creative expression, the books you read are not.

I find this to be an interesting dichotomy. We all read the same books, but write different things. As a global community of writers and readers, we consume the literature and contribute back to it with our own work. Just as some books will impact certain readers in meaningful ways, so does some writing. Some novels rise to global fame while others remain in relative obscurity, yet are still loved by a small but devoted fan base. The ebb and flow of this ecosystem of literature is one that has been around for hundreds and thousands of years.

I started the online store Literary Book Gifts in hopes of bridging the gap between reader to reader. Clothing and accessories can be trivial things, items people buy out of necessity during their time of need. Or they can be articles of self expression. As continuous consumers of art, be it through reading books, watching movies, or observing visual art in museums, it is not often that we are able to express our own feelings towards this art. I believe that personal self expression is an important element of the human experience. Self expression is part of reflection, and self reflection is an aspect of personal growth.

Wearing a shirt with your favorite book or author on it is a way to connect with the literary community at large. Perhaps wearing your Edgar Allan Poe shirt to the local cafe will interest a stranger enough to strike up a conversation with you on the topic. Glance over to see another's The Hound of the Baskervilles shirt and pick up a copy yourself later that week at the library.

Reading books and discussing them with others is an amazing opportunity we have to uncover hidden secrets of our best loved stories as well as to pass on our favorite titles to own another. If you see someone walking down the street with a Pride and Prejudice tote bag consider letting them know you've also read Jane Austen's books, or would like to read them. Who knows, maybe you will find other things you have in common as well.


Melissa Chan loves chatting about books and designing shirts and totes at Literary Book Gifts. The code katieosullivan20 can be used for 20% off of any order. This code does not expire.