Volume 2, Resources 19: Book Shortage, Pandemic Fatigue, and To Do Lists That Might Work
Hi friends! As usual I’m writing this on Wednesday evening and I’m very excited to have the next couple of days off work because 1) I’m burned the fuck OUT and 2) I’ll be attending FIYAHCON, the conference for FIYAH Literary Magazine. FIYAH is a quarterly speculative fiction magazine that features stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora. Last year was the first FIYAHCON and it was amazing. They did such a phenomenal job and I had no idea a virtual conference could be as wonderful as that. They’ve set the bar really high and I’m looking forward to this year’s virtual con.
This is a resource week so I’ll get to it after I share this Tweet that sums up my life right now:
Resource #1: The Book Supply Chain is Fucked
So, if you aren’t connected to the book world outside of being a reader, you may not know that the book supply chain is totally fucked right now for a number of reasons: paper shortage, paper costs, shipping costs, shortage of workers at printers and warehouses, shipping port congestion, the list goes on. Here is a really helpful thread that lays it all out if you’re interested in the details:
Publishers Weekly also had an article about the book shortage if that’s more your style.
Why am I telling you this? Well, I am a person who often gives books for the winter holidays and word on the street is that if I want to support my local independent bookshops (shout out to Spectator Books and Marcus Books), I need to buy and/or order books sooner than later if I actually want to get them by late November or December. I’ve just added more recommendations to The Infophile’s Bookshop if you want to buy via Bookshop instead of the company that doesn’t allow their warehouse employees to take a pee break.
Resource #2: 4 Ways to Manage Pandemic Fatigue
Nedra Glover Tawwab recently wrote about 4 Ways to Manage Pandemic Fatigue. It’s a short read, but it offered me a bit of comfort and I wanted to be sure to share it here.
Resource #3: Hundreds of Ways to Get Shit Done—and We Still Don’t
Full disclosure: Unsurprisingly, I used to be super into productivity apps and hacks etc. etc. I still have my few favorites and also, I still use pen and paper for many lists. I’ve calmed down a bit, but I find comfort in lists and they help me focus when I so often feel out to orbit.
This article is a longer read about how all the productivity apps in the world, namely the ones that involve making to do lists, rarely actually result in us getting things done. Coincidentally, the big tip at the end (scheduling your day and not just having a chaotic list) is something I started doing about a week or two before I read this article and it’s helped me be more realistic about what I can do in a day and offers me a north star to turn to instead of wandering toward my phone and Twitter or Instagram.
H/t to Ashley at Crooked Reads for bringing that article to my attention.
That’s it for this week! You can shop any books I’ve mentioned in this newsletter at my affiliate shop, The Infophile’s Bookshop, and support independent bookstores. If you want to send me some snail mail, you can find me at P.O. Box 21481, Oakland, CA 94620-1481. If you want me to send you some happy mail, feel free to give me your address.
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That’s it for this week! You can shop many books I’ve mentioned in this newsletter at my affiliate shop, The Infophile’s Bookshop, and support independent bookstores. In fact, any Bookshop, Amazon, or Etsy links in this newsletter are affiliate links so if you shop through those, it helps support my work. Or you can leave me a tip on Ko-fi, Paypal, or Venmo.
If you want to send me some snail mail, you can find me at P.O. Box 21481, Oakland, CA 94620-1481.
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