Debbie Laskey's Blog: What are you reading TODAY to celebrate National Book Lovers Day?

If you know why today is special, then you're a bibliophile like me because today is National Book Lovers Day!

While the pandemic changed everything in our lives, one positive thing happened to me since 2020: I've been reunited with my passion for reading. During 2020, 2021, and 2022, I read between 35-45 books each year. In 2023, I read 50 books; in 2024, I read 75 books; and this year, my total will be somewhere between 50-75.

No matter which book you consider your favorite, today is a great day to support the writers who take you on unforgettable and inspiring adventures! Give them a shout-out on Amazon or Goodreads with a positive review or send a DM on Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, or elsewhere online.

According to NationalToday.com, "Books are the purest form of escapism. They can take you to any time, place, or culture. In honor of National Book Lovers Day, August 9, we put away our smartphones, pull out a good book, and simply read. (Well, an audiobook will suffice too.) From clay tablets to today's eBooks, literature has played a crucial role in preserving cultures, educating the masses, and storytelling. Thanks to Johannes Gutenberg's 15th-century printing press, anyone, not just royalty, monks, or landed gentry, could read and own books. But, alas, there was no overnight shipping. Today, join a book club or re-read a favorite novel because National Book Lovers Day rocks!"

Since I've previously shared my favorite all-time books on my blog (check out the links at the end of this post), I thought I'd share something different today. Thanks to Beckie with the Good Stuff, I recently added a blank book to my collection. As Beckie wrote in the journal's introduction, "Within these pages, you are creating a home for the words that have moved you, shaped you and/or made you feel something. These quotes are more than just ink on a page. They are reminders of the stories and moments that had you in a chokehold during your escape in reading. Use this journal to write the quotes that made you laugh, scream, cry, kick your feet, throw your book...let it be a place where you revisit all your favorite moments of escape in reading. Write them down."

So, here we go as I share some of my favorite passages from recent books I've read:

WHO IS GOVERNMENT - THE UNTOLD STORY OF PUBLIC SERVICE by MICHAEL LEWIS:

"Writers write the words, but readers decide their meaning."

THE WOMEN by KRISTIN HANNAH:

"Thank God for girlfriends. In this crazy, chaotic, divided world that was run by men, you could count on the women."

THE HIKE by LUCY CLARKE:

"If the mountains had taught Liz anything, it was that the journey was never about reaching the peak. You climbed - and kept climbing - to push through the struggle and experience the glimpses of beauty along the way."

THE WOMAN IN SUITE 11 by RUTH WARE:

"For traveling is a magic like no other. It brings us together. It creates memories."

THE NAMES by FLORENCE KNAPP:

"Maybe freedom is just about choosing the life you want. Even if that life's in one place, doing the food shopping together. Arguing over who forgot to buy loo roll."

LETTERS FROM STRANGERS by SUSAN WALTER:

"He was that rare person who made you feel good to be alive, even on your dark days - a squeeze of lemony sunshine on a cloudy day."

and

"My point is, you're on your own journey. I don't want you to compare yourself to anyone else. That only leads to disappointment and self-sabotage. You can't succeed if you're chasing someone else's goal."

PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA by JENN MCKINLAY

"If you can, always be yourself, unless you can be Batman - then always be Batman."

and

"There are good ships, there are wood ships, there are ships that sail the sea - but the best ships are friendships."

BAN THIS BOOK by ALAN GRATZ

"How do you explain to someone else why a thing matters to you if it doesn't matter to them? How can you put into words how a book slips inside of you and becomes a part of you so much that your life feels empty without it?"

and

"Good books shouldn't be hidden away. They should be read by as many people as many times as possible."

and

"Well-behaved women seldom make history."

THE PASSENGERS ON THE HANKYU LINE by HIRO ARIKAWA

"Better to cut ties with people whose values make you uncomfortable. Otherwise, the longer you stay with them, the more you risk forfeiting your own values for the sake of theirs."

and

"Winning is about BELIEVING you can win."

THE LIBRARY OF LOST DOLLHOUSES by ELISE HOOPER

"Libraries are viewed as solemn places - but why? Reading is magic. Think of the imagination and sense of adventure that readers employ every time they crack open a book. There are few places filled with more magic than libraries, no doubt about it."

LOVE, LIES, AND CHERRY PIE by JACKIE LAU

"Not everyone pictures what's happening in a book as they're reading. Isn't that interesting? I don't picture things in elaborate detail and bright colors, but there's always a picture in my mind. I wonder what reading's like without that...I think that's part of the beauty of a novel. What we see - or don't see - in our minds, our pasts...a single novel can be such a different experience for everyone who reads it."

THE PARIS DAUGHTER by KRISTIN HARMEL

"If you give a person a book, you give him the world."

WHEN YOU OPEN A BOOK by CAROLINE DERLATKA

"For you unlock magic that is hidden within, and opening the cover is how you begin. Oh, all the worlds and the places you'll see; when you hold a book, you hold the key."

WATER MOON by SAMANTHA SOTTO YAMBAO

"Books do not find value when they are written. They find value when they are read."

THE LONELY HEARTS BOOK CLUB by LUCY GILMORE

"Some women were born to be great leaders. Some were meant to inspire greatness in others."

and

"Life stories were written in ink, not pencil. Once they were written down, the only thing you could do was turn the page."

and

"Of all the books you have in your personal library, that one has the most highlighted passages. It obviously means something to you. Something big."

Lastly, above all, happy reading!

Debbie Laskey's Blog

Saturday, August 9, 2025

What are you reading TODAY to celebrate National Book Lovers Day?