Celebrating July 30th, Paperback Book Day!

|Devangana Sharma| The Atlantic Muse| Paperback Book Day| 2024-07-30 |

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Hello Fellow Readers!

Today is July 30th, which means it is officially Paperback Book Day. If you enjoy reading, then you must know the importance of paperbacks. If you don’t, then I’m here to help you. By sharing its history, and celebrating it right, here’s everything you need to know about the day.

The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.”- Karl Lagerfeld

Paperback Book Day is celebrated every year on July 30th. This date leads back to the anniversary of the first paperbacks published in 1935 by Penguin Books in England. The first ever paperback books were published by Tauchnitz in 1841. While Tauchnitz continued to publish paperbacks, other publishers would stick to the original hardbacks. This was until Sir Allen Lane thought of the idea of high-quality paperbacks. On a train ride back from visiting Agatha Christie, Allen found himself with no good stories to read. His choices available were cheap-quality paperbacks or magazines. This sparked an interest in high-quality paperbacks. Appealing to the population for its cheap price, and small size, they soon brought some of the best fictional titles to all societies. Hardbacks were a luxury to many people as they were expensive to make and expensive to buy. Whereas paperbacks were cheap to make and cheap to buy. Even to this day, people prefer a nice glossy paperback over the hard exterior of a hardback. 

What is the right way to celebrate Paperback Book Day? Well here is a step-by-step recipe of perfectly curated bookish activities to make it the best bookish day ever.

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Paperback Book Day Recipe

Step 1: Find your book.

Go shopping for your paperback or go to a local library to find one! I recommend going to a local bookstore or showing some support to local authors. However, it all depends on your mood and what you feel like reading.

For example: 

Reading Hit & Mrs. by Lesley Crewe. 

Step 2: Song of the day.

Picking a song for the day is an essential step in having a full bookish day experience. Surrounding yourself with music is a way to set the tone and complete the cozy atmosphere. Play your songs when you take a break from your bookish activities and busy yourself with mundane tasks such as washing dishes or doing laundry.

Some tips to help you find the best song for the paperback day are:

1. Try to match your book’s genre to a similar music genre.

2. Browse applications such as Spotify and Apple Music to explore songs. 

3. Find inspiration from movies and TV shows. You can always search a show or a movie’s playlist online.

4. Reflect on your emotions. Feel what song you're in the mood to surround yourself with for the day.

For example:

Reading The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han and listening to Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift. Let the summer aesthetics of both the book and the song create the perfect pair of themes to truly put yourself in the book. 

Step 3: Find the perfect reading spot. 

The perfect reading spot is always catered to a person’s taste, whether that be your bed or a bench at a park, make sure it’s a place where you can have a binge-reading session. Cozy up with your chosen book from the previous step to binge-read at your perfect reading location. 

For example:

Reading outside at a park bench, while the birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and it’s a clear blue sky. 

Step 4: Tea, coffee, or lemonade- the golden three.

Tea, Coffee, and Lemonade are the golden drinks. No matter what season it is they are always in. Not only do they enhance your reading experience, but they also have cognitive benefits, such as enhancing your attention span and concentration.

“Having a drink in bed while listening to music and reading a book. As precious to me as a beautiful sunset or good clean air.”— Haruki Murakami

For example: 

Icy strawberry lemonade, paired with The Sweetness in the Lime by Stephen Kimber, (Nimbus Publishing). As you read your book, immerse yourself in both the citrusy flavours of your drink and the book’s intriguing narrative, all coming together to bond the perfect reading experience. 

Step 5: Watch books, books, and books

Since this day is all about immersing yourself in bookish activities, spending time watching shows revolving around themes of books is definitely a part of it. Light hearted comedies like Gilmore Girls have endless book recommendations, references, and jokes, making it a perfect reader show. Or you can always go on the other path of watching movie adaptations of books. When you can read books, why not watch books? Reading is all about putting yourself in other’s shoes, whereas movies are all about observing. Together, they create an imepeccable balance, one that truly makes you know the book inside and out.

Tip: Try to watch a movie/show adaptation of your paperback to make it even more special. 

For example: 

Watching the Crazy Rich Asians movie directed by John M. Chu after reading its paperback written by Kevin Kwan. 

Step 6: Reflect and Preserve

As the day comes to a wrap, wind down and reflect on your experiences and emotions of the day. This can be done through journaling, as it will not only mirror your day, it will also preserve all the moments that came together to make this day special. I recommend adding pictures from your day and decorating your page with colours to capture your day’s essence. 

For example:

Writing in bullet points activities that occurred and the books read, wiritng about emotions and feelings dedicated to each activity on a piece of paper, and decorating it with polaroids from the day. Later putting it in an envelope, making it more special and personalised. 

There is no better day than the one dedicated to reading and doing all things books. If you’re spending your day in your room reading all your favourite paperbacks, picking out your song for the day, or deciding between the three golden drinks, I hope that you get to enjoy Paperback Book Day and experience all the wonderful adventures that it has to offer. Happy reading!

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References

Days Of The Year. (2022, July 30). Paperback Book Day. Days of the Year. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/paperback-book-day/#:~:text=Paperback%20Book%20Day%20is%20observed,books%20were%20of%20good%20literature.

Sultan, A. (2021, July 25). Paperback Book Day. National Today. https://nationaltoday.com/paperback-book-day/

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024, July 3). Sir Allen Lane | Penguin Books, Paperbacks & Bookselling. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Allen-Lane