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AJ Brown’s Sideline Read, New Year & More Bookish Buzz 🏈📚
James, AI, Neil Gaiman
Kyle Colley
January 14, 2025
Happy New Year!
Alright… The holiday season is over, 2025 is in full effect, and we are back to yapping about books!
For our LA area readers, we are praying for your families and your safety.
To help those in need, we are linking a curated list of resources by Traci Thomas of The Stacks Podcast: Show and Tell: LA Fires and Ways to Help.
Our New List:
📚 Nook: James Discussion
📺 NFL WR AJ Brown Reading Book on Sideline
📖 Playworld: A Novel by Adam Ross
This Week On Bookum:
Kicking off the New Year with a bang!
This Wednesday, the spectacular Jordan, a book content creator known as @_completelybooked, is hosting a Nook conversation on the National Book Award-winning novel James by Percival Everett.
On the Book James:
The novel is a re-imagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain but told from the perspective of Huckleberry's friend on his travels, Jim, who is an escaped slave.
If you’ve read the book (or even if you haven’t) and have been dying to talk about it, come listen and chat as Jordan & friends discuss the book's plot, themes, and their thoughts.
The conversation starts at 7:30 PM EST!
Sharable Flyer for Friends!
Nooks are real-time audio group talk spaces for engaging book discussions!
If you have a book or topic you want to discuss with friends in a group audio space, consider hosting a Nook on Bookum!
This Week in The Book World:
From offensive AI prompts to the pending TikTok/BookTok ban to Neil Gaiman, there's been nothing but craziness happening in the Book World to start the year (we'll list them in the footnotes).
So instead, we are taking our talents to the gridiron for some wholesome news this week.
Apparently, the best time to read isn’t before bedtime, on a plane, or even on a beach.
No.
The best time to read is on the sidelines in the middle of an NFL playoff game.
At least, that’s what Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver AJ Brown did on Sunday.
Here’s proof:
Photo captured from Fox Sports Footage
Even better, the book he was reading, Inner Excellence, jumped to No. 1 on Amazon’s bestsellers list within 24 hours of the game.
Now that’s a certified book influencer. His team won the game, so hopefully, we’ll see more book suggestions from AJ next week.
Next time you go to a football game & you’re not excited about, just do what AJ Brown did!
To see the full story, courtesy of AP:
Philadelphia Eagles' AJ Brown and His Sideline Reading Moment.
This Week in Publishing:
We are heading to the stage for this.
Playworld: A Novel by Adam Ross is the book of the week.
Summary:
“In the fall of 1980, when I was fourteen, a friend of my parents named Naomi Shah fell in love with me. She was thirty-six, a mother of two, and married to a wealthy man. Like so many things that happened to me that year, it didn’t seem strange at the time.”
This book has received nothing but praise from the book world. If you enjoy plays, theatre, or even New York, this book is for you!
As always, if you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, please share it with others. Every share helps and keeps us growing!
Definitely share to a book content creator friend that might enjoy our newsletter!
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Happy Reading!
See you next week!
Footnotes (Aka other articles we are reading and Bookum content):