Well, it's time to read. There's a reason we have books, and though we might not have ever imagined this exact reason, we are here now and in need of an escape. What has inspired me most in social distancing is the amount of people in my life who have continued to keep on keeping on. Crafts and redecorating, cooking long lost recipes and learning to sew. And though at Books-a-Million, we can offer you cookbooks and sewing books, more than anything, the people who work behind the scenes can offer you their books. What they are reading, what they would read if they were you-- the one book, during all their years at BAM, that they recommend to get through this. From religious to romance, these are the books that we believe in.

Day in and day out, the employees of Books-a-Million think about and talk about books. We trade them back and forth, we have book clubs and arguments over what is and isn't worth reading. We cry over them and we come into work bleary eyed from reading all night and then we discuss them more at work. We love books-- not just the newest releases or the biggest hits, but the books that have stayed with our souls and always feel like coming home. Here, in this new and changing time, books are an escape and books are a home. What better to do than read right now?

1. Heather Bullard, Assistant Book Buyer

“I started reading Nora Roberts in high school, but I got busy during college and lost track of her books. A few months after I started working at BAM, I picked up Stars of Fortune and fell into

the magical world this author created. The next day I bought the second book, and then I had to wait a whole month for the third to come out. The whole series took me to places all over the globe (and to a few places that I wish existed) without even leaving home. Whenever I need an escape but can’t go on an adventure, this is the book I pick up."

2. Lauren Jones, Book Buyer

"I’ve been thinking a lot about In The Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides. It is such a gripping story and the best narrative non-fiction I have ever read. When I think about

everything the men on the Jeannette expedition went through it makes any inconvenience today seem paltry and trivial. Our world is rapidly changing and with those changes come more conveniences. Imagining what life was like 100 years ago makes me feel so blessed for the life I am living today.

3. Olivia McDaniel, me!, Marketing Coordinator

"Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy. It's just this beautiful true story of one man who tries to bring justice to death row inmates in Alabama. Over and over, he says-- 'Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.' And in a time where we all desperately need love and empathy, what better to do that begin with the people we feel are unreedamble?"

4. Elizabeth Guarnieri, Omnichannel Coordinator

"The first time I read The Sandman I sat on a bookstore floor and couldn’t stop reading. I ended up buying Volume 5 first because the store was closing and I couldn’t put the book down. I don’t

know how to describe it, but I’m going to try anyway. Picture a god, a flawed, powerful, imaginative, immortal god. Okay, now give that god power over all mortal minds while they’re asleep and you’ve got Morpheus – our protagonist. You might think that gods have it all, but they are not immune to bitterness, spite, or sadness. Bitterness and spite can eat you up inside, can the King of Dreams overcome his own Nightmares? READ IT."

5. Jim Morris, Manager of IT Support

"A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I first read that book in the 5th grade and have reread it many times since. It’s the first book in a series – the whole series is great. Meg feels like she can’t do anything right, that she’s all alone and full of flaws and nobody understands her. Then she goes on this crazy journey to fight the darkness that’s already completely enveloped other planets and is slowly trying to do the same to Earth and it changes her life. That probably doesn’t do it justice, but it’s definitely one of my comfort books."

6. Sandra Wilson, Book Buyer

"My book makes me want to cry tears—some happy and some sad—Charlotte’s Web. A wonderful story of friendship, ingenuity, and the simple life.  This is a children’s classic, but a great one to revisit as an adult to help us remember what is truly important. "

7. Margaret Terwey, Book Buyer

"Th

e Honey-Don’t List by writing duo Christina Lauren will let you escape reality for 320 pages. This hilarious rom-com is the perfect comfort read!"

8. Sierra Patterson, Marketing Project Manager

“As you wish” this would all be over, escape to Florin and read the beautiful adventure and love story of Buttercup and Wesley. Staying inside is “inconceivable” so I am reading The Princess Bride which is one of my favorite movies.

9. Melanie Smith, Senior Director of Marketing

"I was in a rough patch of life several years ago and a close friend gave me One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. Reading it taught me to show gratitude, even during life’s most difficult struggles. From it, I learned to be grateful the crazy-mundane stuff, not just the monumental and material gifts. I’m a firm believer in finding joy right where I am. This book was where that started.”

10. Jessica Murphey, Assistant Book Buyer

"Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is my all time favorite book and I just may start reading it again."

11. Erin Blake, Merchandise Planner

"I read the Bridget Jones series again this weekend. These books make me laugh and forget."

12. Erin Crutchfield, Book Buyer

"Procrastibaking : 100 Recipes for Getting Nothing Done in the Most Delicious Way Possible"