As “social distancing” continues to be encouraged and more and more workers are told to stay at home, we’ve suddenly found ourselves with more time to catch up on a good book. We spoke with with Ivy Bookshop owner Emma Snyder and Greedy Reads owner Julia Fleischaker about their picks for what to read while we have some time alone.

Don’t forget: You can still order from your local booksellers via their websites, bookshop.org, or Libro.fm, and local libraries continue to offer digital versions of many titles. Enoch Pratt branches have even started offering a digital library card to allow those who weren’t previously registered to get instant access to online materials while the physical branches are closed.

Emma Snyder’s Picks

Weather by Jenny Offil: Heralded as timely and witty, Offil’s newest novel takes the perspective of a university librarian, Lizzie Benson—a mother, a wife, and a caretaker of her “God-haunted” mother and brother, a recovering addict. The story picks up as Benson is tasked by an old mentor to answer emails sent to her in response to her climate change- themed podcast. The job gives Benson a sort of reality check—teaching empathy, self-worth, and perspective on a polarized world. It’s certainly a read that will hit home.

Disturbance: Surviving Charlie Hebdo by Phillipe Lançon: In 2015, Paris was attacked. Terrorists claiming to be from ISIS targeted a weekly publication, Charlie Hebdo. Lançon was a contributing writer on scene who was left gravely injured. This is his story—recovering after his relationships, his writing, and his career are turned upside down. A narrative for those who want to feel inspired by resilience and transformation, Disturbance is a spring must-read.

The Resisters by Gish Jen: A dystopian novel set in a divided “AutoAmerica” run by artificial intelligence follows the story of Gwen, a girl born with a golden arm. She attracts the attention of the olympic team, playing amongst the very people her family is against. Family, values, and the disruption of normalcy, this story is another take on a future America.

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré: In her debut novel, Daré tackles self-confidence, resilience, and perseverance as she tells the story of Adunni, a 14-year old Nigerian girl on the search for her own kind of freedom, what her mother calls her “louding voice.” Though wanting to get an education, her father attempts to marry her off. She runs away, but her work in servitude for a wealthy faces her with prejudice and degradation. Readers follow a triumphant story as she finds her “louding voice,” standing up for herself and the women among her.

The Brilliant Darkness by Jeff Sharlet: A writer and author himself, Sharlet has been a storyteller his whole career. Yet, after his father has a heart attack, and he himself later suffers one, he turned to photographs. First on Instagram and then beyond, Sharlet has captured images of people, forming a photojournalistic book taking on the concept of suffering and how we cope.

Julia Fleischaker’s Picks:

Severance by Ling Ma: This sci-fi satire set in a world stricken by a pandemic called “Shen Fever” may seem a little on the nose for the current moment, but if you need to laugh in the face of danger, this is the book to read.

How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell and Silence: In the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge: Both of these picks encourage us to slow down and log off. With a world that seems to be yelling about just about everything, Odell and Kagge offer a small respite and some guidance for those who want to pursue the quiet.

Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle for the Vote by Ellen Carol Dubois, Hood Feminsim: Notes From The Women That A Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall, and Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman: With the news dominated by pandemic updates, Women’s History Month has been moved to the back burner for most. Take some time with these titles to remind yourself what this month was supposed to be about.

The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel and My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell: These two new releases are some of the most anticipated of the year and are both on sale now. Whether Mantel’s tale of the fall of Thomas Cromwell or Russel’s #MeToo-era novel is more your speed, they’ll both give you plenty to talk about once everyone returns to their water coolers.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi: With the kids out of school and stuck at home, take some time with this educational young-adult nonfiction selection. It’s full of important history and conversations dissecting how racist ideas came to be and the ways they manifest in the present.

The works of D. Watkins, Kondwani Fidel, R. Eric Thomas, Dora Malech, and Elizabeth Hazen: Both stores and local authors are feeling the effects of author talk and event cancellations. Show your local talents some love by picking up their books in the meantime.

6:15 A.M. FRESH START

This is way earlier than I usually wake up. The store opens at 11, and my sleep schedule has definitely adjusted to the later start. That said, the past two years have seen a lot of good habits fall by the wayside. A 7 a.m. class at Pilates House in Fells Point is an attempt to get one of them back.

9 A.M. PLAYTIME

Time to walk the dog in Patterson
Park. Audie is pretty much my
constant companion. As much as
she likes being in the shop and
getting love all day every day
from her regular visitors, I try to
give her enough outdoor time to
keep her energetic and healthy. Plus, she loves to watch the squirrels run around.

10:30 A.M. BACK TO WORK

Head to the Remington store to open up and begin the day. I start by filling special orders and reordering anything we need back in stock. A few vendors come by and drop off products. I love working with other small businesses in the city; it’s such a collaborative and supportive environment.

12 P.M. IN THE WEEDS

Meet with a publisher’s sales rep to go over my order for the upcoming season. I heard a bookstore owner joke once that opening a bookstore means you stop reading books and start reading catalogs. That’s not entirely, or even remotely, wrong.

3 P.M. HUSTLIN’

Leave the store in the capable hands of my new booksellers to run errands. The second store has been a big adjustment to my schedule; I’m busier but also have more time and flexibility to get housekeeping and administrative things done.

5 P.M. AFTER HOURS

Pick up Audie and walk to the Fells Point store. I’ve been doing special evening hours for book club members. It’s a fun way to see and thank this great group of people who have become my reading community.

9 P.M. IN A DAY’S WORK

Home. Take out the laptop to answer emails and do some buying for the store. I read for a while, but my eyes and brain are tired. I’ll fall asleep to the dulcet tones of Paul Hollywood critiquing people’s proofing times on the Great British Baking Show, and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.

Behind the wrought-iron gate at the corner of Aliceanna and South Ann Streets, visitors will find two things: hundreds of handpicked books—displayed on wall-to-wall shelves, stacked on tables and benches, perched in the windowsill—and Julia Fleischaker, the owner of this new independent bookstore in Fells Point.

Since officially opening Greedy Reads in March, Fleischaker has transformed the cozy bookshop into a neighborhood salon of sorts, a breeding ground for community and community.

After spending nearly 20 years in book publishing, the Montgomery County native came to Baltimore in November and fell for the city’s community spirit and dedication to local businesses. Surprised by the neighborhood’s lack of bookstores, Fleischaker decided to take over the former Maja Jewelry space and stock it with a collection of novels, nonfiction, and kids’ books that balances the bestsellers with lesser-known gems.

“There’s a joke in publishing that everyone who works in the industry either wants to write a novel or open a bookstore,” says Fleischaker with a laugh.

Greedy Reads, named after the can’t-get-enough feeling of browsing for a book, is a one-woman operation, and it’s teeming with personality. Something that sets it apart from other bookstores is its thoughtful variety of titles, with an emphasis on books by women and people of color, as well as Fleischaker’s recommendations and frequent visits from Audie, her labrador-greyhound mix.

In addition to hosting a monthly book club, hanging handwritten “Why I’m Greedy About This Book” notes from customers, and organizing readings and talks from notable authors, Fleischaker plans to expand the store’s charitable components to local and national causes.

“A lot of people think reading is very serious and solitary,” says Fleischaker, “but books can bring people together, and mostly, they’re just fun. I want my store to say that.”