“A book is a gift you can open again and again.”

- Garrison Keillor

I was talking to my sister last week—happily telling her about four very cool new books I found on sale for my Kindle and two other hardcovers I just ordered from Amazon. She laughed as she nodded her head: “You work for a publisher. Don’t you have enough books?”

Can we ever have enough books?

Not me. Whether I’m at Hay House or have worked somewhere else not even remotely related to the publishing industry, there is always a book on my list to read. I love books. I feel good when they’re around me. They are my friends—old and new, trusted and true—scattered on my desk, stacked next to my bed, spilling out of my bookcases, and stuffed in storage boxes. If there were a reality show about Book Hoarders, there would probably be a camera crew in my garage by now.

But I know I’m not alone.

Here at Hay House, I am in the company of many other voracious readers and book lovers. Let me introduce you to some of them:

• Marketing copywriter Jodie clamors for classics and escapes to foreign lands in travel books.
• Senior editor Shannon adores Anne Tyler and her character-driven novels.
• Acquisitions director Patty is frenetic for fiction.
• Managing senior designer Charles prefers short stories to help him unwind.
• Customer care assistant manager Maryann loves a good, juicy mystery.
• Accounting specialist Beth relishes unexplained phenomenon and all things that go bump in the night.
• Email marketing manager Heather devotes all her spare minutes to the discovery of new sci-fi, fantasy or horror selections.
• Event manager Mollie savors Southern romance.
• Senior radio producer Diane dabbles in memoirs and historical novels.
• Database administrator Anna buries herself in Anne Rice and Mary Higgins Clark thrillers.
• Publicist Lindsay devours sultry Hollywood bios and sizzling bestsellers.
• Internet marketing specialist Roberta goes for dark comedy to make her smile.
• And senior customer care rep Henoc says he’ll read anything that has to do with cars and cigars! 

Sure, you’d expect anyone who works at Hay House to have an affinity for reading and books. And we do. By day, we savor each of our new releases—whether we’re reading it, editing it, designing it, promoting it, printing it, digitalizing it, stocking it, shipping it, or delivering it. But when 5:30 comes along, we’re still talking about them. We’re still living their stories. We’re bringing them home to read and share with our families. And when that’s not enough, we’re checking out Amazon and BN.com way past our bedtimes!

We would like to meet other voracious readers and book lovers like us. So we started The Hay House Radio Online Book Club.  Each month, we’ll announce the Hay House Book of the Month on our Facebook page.  We’ll invite the author to join us on the air for the first half-hour to discuss the book with a panel of fans. And then we’ll spend the second half of the program taking live Facebook questions and talking about how this book helped change our lives.

I had the opportunity to sit in on the taping of last month’s Hay House Book Club Show with the empowering and courageous Iyanla Vanzant. It was such a rewarding experience to listen to Iyanla talk about what motivated her to write such raw truths about her life and how she hoped it would make life’s challenges easier for her readers. Plus, I met some wonderful new friends who (as Iyanla said) chewed on the corners of this book as I did.

Do you love books? Do you love talking about the stories that moved you most in some of our Hay House books? Would you like to enhance your life, your relationships, and meet more book-loving friends?

As Oprah says, “When you make loving others the story of your life, there’s never a final chapter, because the legacy continues. You lend your light to one person, and he or she shines it on another and another and another.”

Hope to meet you at our next Hay House Radio Online Book Club Show.

Keep on Bookin’!