I’ve been wanting to attend the Jewish Book Council’s “Raid The Shelves” event ever since I heard about it a few years ago, but the timing never worked out for me. This Tuesday, I finally got the chance to participate. For those that don’t know, once a year the Jewish Book Council combs over their shelves and removes books to make space for new publications. In an epic stroke of genius, they turned Fall cleaning into a fundraiser. For a small fee, intrepid readers can come and fill their bags with as many books as they want. For an additional price attendees can be an “early bird” and gain access to the room fifteen minutes before the general crowd.
I was super pumped, but also a little nervous. I was concerned I wouldn’t make it in time for early bird and was unsure what books would be leftover after I got out from work. Both of those worries turned out to be unfounded. Work let me go in time, AND there were plenty of books still left when general entry began. I received an email with very clear instructions stating that people could bring any bag they wanted – including one suitcase each. Dear readers, I failed to take the hint and only brought a couple of tote bags. Epic mistake. I should have brought the suitcase. What was I thinking???
I’m pretty sure I spotted some of my fellow reviewers and bookstagrammers checking in, but I was too shy to go say hi and inquire so if you noticed me awkwardly staring – super sorry. The staff was fun as they announced the rules and I met some veterans of the event while waiting in line. Mostly their advice boiled down to this – if you think you might want a book, then pick it up. You can always sort through and put it back later. There was even a side room to do exactly that. Or to pack your suitcase if you were smart enough to bring one.
Upon entering the space I tried to make a game plan about what areas to hit up in the 15 early bird minutes. When I looked to my right, I saw tables of fiction. When I looked left, I saw a sign labelled “Holocaust”. I plunged to the right because Holocaust books are not usually my preferred reading. This turned out to be a tactical error. Behind the Holocaust books were the Jewish thought, history, and biography tables. I’ve been trying to expand those sections of the blog AND this seemed to be the most popular table with the early birders who included quite a few Yeshiva University alumni looking dudes who were snapping up the Torah commentary and Jewish history. But also – the cookbooks were on a small spot to the left! Luckily I still snagged the one I wanted, but whew that initial decision to turn right first could have cost me.
Don’t get me wrong, fiction is still my fave and constitutes the bulk of the reviews on the blog, but I freaking love cookbooks and there was less early bird competition in the fiction areas. Plus, I have an easier time obtaining reviewer copies of fiction than nonfiction.
I saw many familiar books on the shelves, but I didn’t pick up anything I have already read. Instead, I proceeded to tell my fellow shoppers why they should be taking those books. Obviously you’re not likely to find an upcoming book on the shelf – these are the books the JBC is finished with- but I have found that unlike what publishing industry hoopla would have you believe, most readers do not care when a book came out or even know what the terms front list and back list mean. They just want a good book. That’s why I review front list and back list titles despite knowing what those terms mean and the disproportionate importance traditional publishing places on them. So yeah, I picked up A LOT of books and I haven’t no regrets. The variety was great.
The one genre I didn’t find on the shelf was sci fi (which is my personal wheelhouse) but they can only put out what they receive and there were plenty of fantasy titles available. In addition, the children’s sections were mostly ignored by early birders but disappeared within seconds of general entry. So next year I’ll rethink which tables I hit first. Many shoppers were working in teams. Others seemed to be part of loosely organized groups. Quite a few were on the phone consulting with friends and family. There were definitely a lot of veterans, and even a couple who just so happened to be visiting from Florida but heard about the event and signed up!
There were plenty of books available for the regular entry period, but the room was definitely more crowded and some books were gone FAST. I was aided in making quick decisions by having recently updated my spreadsheet of Jewish books and therefore recognized some of the covers, knew what they were about, and could grab them quickly without reading the cover copy. For every book I recognized, there were five I hadn’t heard of before. This was both wonderful from a yay-there-are-so-many-Jewish-books perspective and intimidating from a which-ones-should-I-take perspective.
Special shout out to the guy in the suitcase packing room who was only there to help his wife carry her books home. You two are relationship goals. I also loved how while we were sorting, several of us shopped each others reject piles. Each book found its proper home. Plus, the staff was again incredibly kind and helpful and offered to take back our returns for us. They were also guiding people around the room and helping them find what they were looking for.
I was really torn about a few books and ended up putting them back because of lack of bag space. Which proved to be a prudent decision because one of the totes lost structural integrity on the way home and I would not have made it with even a single additional book. But still. Why didn’t I bring a suitcase?? Why????
There was one book I took despite having read it already because I dearly love it and would like to own it. One was a book I’m currently reading in e book format from the library and it will significantly speed me up to have a paper copy. Another few books were on my TBR and I let out little gasps of delight as I spotted them. I must have scared a few people with my running commentary to myself as I greeted each book, but hey, I’m weird like that when it comes to books. In the end I took about 55 books with a good spread across age ranges and genres. I’m looking forward to featuring some of them here.
I will definitely go back next year if time allows but I’m bringing suitcase and maybe even a friend!