Who Could Use a Reading Retreat?
Raise your hand
If you had two full days of uninterrupted time…
What Would You Read?
Would you dive deep into a dense text?
Make some progress on the general To Be Read pile?
Finally read those books on your Bucket List?
Whatever you want to read and however you want to read it, you’ll find the cozy reading nook you’ve been searching for in Delhi, NY from September 27-30, 2024.
I have this teeny-tiny dream.
I’m not sure where it came from, maybe the fact that I purchase many more books than I can possibly read. I know I have almost 900 books in my Nook library (which is Barnes & Noble’s answer to the Kindle). Before we moved the last time, I sold and donated I don’t know how many boxes of books and still filled somewhere around twenty boxes to store, and my “office” box that I carried with us for the journey was half books. Now that we’ve created a home base in Ithaca, my physical book buying started again, and I have a bookcase and bedside table filled with new books to read.
And I keep thinking…When?
I make time to read every day. That’s just how I roll. I start my workday reading ten pages of a book on the writing craft or creativity practice. Most of my fiction reading happens in the nighttime, a few pages before falling asleep and then more during the night if I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. That’s when I read cozy mysteries, ghost stories, and my found family/queer sci-fi and fantasy novels.
And yet…when will I have a chance to read all of my Queer History books? What about the comic memoirs and ghost stories for my genre research? My other nonfiction reading about subjects that just inspire me? And how about the paper novels that sit on my shelf waiting for a luxurious spare moment?
Plus, just when I find that space, one of the books from my hold list at the library shows up in my Libby app and I’ve got to read that one first because it will be due soon.
How can I catch up?
Thus, I dream of a reading retreat. A lovely space where all of my needs are supported while I read in a little cranny, curled around a cup of warm tea. Making progress through a stack of books over a weekend, reading those cozy mysteries, making my way through a difficult piece of queer history, delving into a luxurious bit of comic writing.
All while someone else makes my meals, tops up the hot water in the tea kettle, and suggests breaks from reading with easy walks to the local bookshop.
But Do I Deserve Time to Just…Read?
Oh, my friend. Yes. Yes, you do.
How do I know? Because you came to this page. Because you don’t have enough time to read (and probably not a lot of free time at all) because of taking care of work, friends, family, pets…the general toll of living life.
And we get to have a break.
Why don’t you say that with me? “I Get To Have a Break.”
Oh! That was scary! Take some deep breaths and realize…
This reading retreat is for you.
It’s a time for peace, for quiet, for reading those books that you’ve wanted to read, for contemplating their words, for journaling their effect on you, for just sitting and enjoying the delightful experience of reading.
No judgement. No drama. Nothing but reading.
Where? When? Cost?
When I started researching reading retreats, I discovered luxury breaks that cost thousands of dollars and not much else. But you know what? We all deserve space for reading! So I began to create an accessible reading retreat.
Thus, I visited Delhi, NY (named after the city in India but pronounced “Dell. Hi!”) to meet with a new friend who is starting a retreat for creatives there, Birdy’s House.
Delhi is two hours from where I live in Ithaca, nestled into the Catskills. Birdy’s House contains nooks and crannies, plumpy sofas and cozy chairs, porches and patios—perfect for the Reading Retreat!
What Other Events Are Happening?
Fan Poetry Workshop with Leigh Stein
9/28 - 6PM at The Lost Bookshop
Leigh Stein, named the "poet laureate of the Bachelor" by The Cut, will lead a delightfully weird workshop on writing poetry about the famous people who live rent-free in our heads.
Info: https://thelostbookshop.com/events/89020240928
Politics and Protest: The Eighth Moon and the Anti-Rent War’s Relevance Today [reading, discussion, and sound performance]
9/28 3PM at the Bushel Collective (a few doors down the street from the Lost Bookshop)
Traveling into the Area?
If you need to fly into the area, aim for Ithaca and we’ll drive down together. You should also plan for any other sundry expenses like “just the one” book from the bookshop (which is called The Lost Bookshop—how adorable is that?!) or lunch at a nearby restaurant.
But lodging and meals are generously provided by Birdy’s House (which makes this low-cost opportunity possible. Thanks, Kay!).
What do you think? Do you want to read books with me this autumn?
Leaves will be beginning their colorful display. Warm days will be offset by cool nights.
We’ll arrive on Friday afternoon, September 27th and leave on Monday morning, September 30.
Two days of reading all those books. Making progress on your shelves. Delving into those tomes that you haven’t started because you need uninterrupted time.
Maybe we won’t make it all the way through our TBRs, but I expect to see a dent by the time we leave.
Cost is $100, with the intent of making this opportunity affordable. If you are in, write me at la@labourgeois.biz and apply by letting me know how this Reading Retreat will benefit you and what talents you can share with the group.
I'm LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois, Kaizen-Muse Certified Creativity Coach
Contact me at la@labourgeois.biz to allow me to empower you to manifest your creative dreams.
I’m definitely pondering this idea. I love the concept.
📚 luscious reading time 📚