Meet Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history (she is 22). Since 2017, she has served the United States as the first ever National Youth Poet Laureate, but this morning, she was launched further into the public spotlight when she recited a poem during President Biden's inauguration ceremony.

Her poem, titled "The Hill We Climb," is a new poem she wrote with the intention to "speak to the moment" and "do this time justice".

Grab a Pencil & Take Note

by Linda, a Bookloft bookseller

I'm trying to focus on the positive. It's been a very strange year -- AND because you never know, BE PREPARED!

You are just one of billions of humans who are all different. We can be unkind to each other and yet we can accomplish great things together.

Treat others as you would like to be treated. Keep smiling since THAT kind of face can bring a smile to another & brighten their day. Remember to take care of yourself!

And now, get outside (where I'd rather be) to meet & greet NATURE. Our EARTH is billions of years old & has survived many challenges. Humans are one of those...

By Julia, a bookseller

I don't know about you, but here at The Bookloft, my coworkers and I have been dealing with one common element... Dreams. Lately we have all been coming into work exclaiming how intense our dreams were the night before. I, for some years now, have been a vivid dreamer. Like many of us, my dreams have been where I work out my stress and anxiety I am experiencing in my waking hours. But usually most dreams are a fuzzy memory, where you know something weird or very real was experienced, but you can't quite remember.This is natural, dreaming is where our subconcious works through things, it's just lately, say in the past several months, they have been working extra hard. Raise your hand if you can relate. See, I think we all feel the tension and anxiety...

Shopping early is important this year due to the high demand for books, the potential for supply chain disruptions and delayed inventory shipments, and the need to help bookstores and other small businesses make it through the end of the year.

Your support this holiday season ensures that we'll still be here for 2021! Your choices matter. Thank you for supporting us this holiday season and keeping your money in our community!

Who are these letters written to? There is letter to a child, a parent, a partner, to a close friend, for someone we've lost, a letter for healing, to the world, to the reader, the one they wished they had received, the letter to a former version of the author's self, or a version they have yet to become....

READ MORE HERE

You no longer need an appointment, but here's what to expect...

by Jenna Homen for Libro.fm.

Click here to go to Libro.fm's website to browse audiobooks and support The Bookloft.