I've listened to From the Front Porch, a podcast about books that Annie B Jones, the owner of The Bookshelf, a indie bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia, hosts, for years.
In fact, I feel like I know her personally. In 2019, the last year of Book Expo in New York City, I was lucky enough to run into her. And she was just as charming as I had hoped.
Now Annie has her own book that will be published in a few months. I was lucky enough to read an ARC from Netgalley at the tail end of 2024, and promptly gave it five stars.
I felt like Annie could have been sitting across from me with a cup of coffee while we talked candidly about what it is like to live close to your hometown during adulthood while other people go off and have adventures. What it feels like to look for a different church, leaving something familiar and comfortable. Having to work to make friends and to find your group that you are comfortable with.
Annie talks to me every week about books - and over the years, I do feel like I've come to know her husband, Jordan, her parents and her coworkers at The Bookshelf. But knowing them in advance is not a necessity to liking this book.
I have read books by Elizabeth Passarella (Good Apple and It Was An Ugly Couch Anyway) and Mary Laura Philpott (I Miss You When I Blink and Bomb Shelter) and have raved about all four of these books. I would put Annie's book on par with these winners.
If you are looking for a great nonfiction book that is enjoyable and will feel like time spent hanging out with a good friend, pick up Ordinary Time. You will fall in love with it and start planning your trip to Thomasville so you can meet Annie in person.
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