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Happy January, honeys, and welcome to 2020: The Threequel. It's New Year's Resolution season, but with the pandemic raging, tempers flaring, and reserves of energy and fortitude flagging, it doesn't feel like the right time to talk about aspirational goals. Instead, let's dig in to your questions on a topic most of us are now intimately familiar with: Burnout. Whatever kind of burnout you are struggling with, I hope my answers, below, offer guidance. At the very least, I hope it helps to know that you are not alone in running on empty.

Ho, ho, ho, my sweet wee wassails, it’s the end of September, so naturally we’re talking about the holidays. It may not be time to select your tree, light the menorah, or dance beneath a solstice moon, but it is time to start thinking about where and when you’re going to buy gifts. Because “supply chain,” darlings, two words I rank only slightly higher this year than “COVID-19,” “caffeine-free,” and “new adult.”

You’ve probably seen the articles explaining supply chain disruptions, but the physical and logistical mechanisms of e-commerce are confusing, and I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how books are being impacted and what a conscientious local shopper is supposed to do when every option points to online shopping.

I hope my answers, below, help alleviate some of the confusion or stress you’re experiencing...

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Summer vacation started about a week ago, and if your life is anything like that of the parents I know, it's become a montage to the tune of "I'm bored. I want a snack. I'm booorrred. Can I have a popsicle? I'm boooorrreeed." Beautiful and soothing though this tune is, you need a respite (if not a margarita) and Aunt Paige is here for you.

Summertime is the ideal time to invest in a hammock and a stack of books. But kids' books and getting kids reading aren't challenge-free subjects. Here are some of the most common questions I get asked about what children should read and when...

Sweethearts, we are at a crux. COVID restrictions are lifting, but that doesn't mean everyone feels ready to resume life as we knew it. I've heard from readers already mourning the loss of quiet spaces and time to read, and from others who can't wait to attend in-person events. Some folks want to break out of a year-long habit of "easy" reading, but I've also heard from a lot of people who haven't cracked a book in 14 months. It's clear to me that everyone is trying to establish where their comfort zone starts and ends while dealing with the fracas of an entire, often discordant society doing the same. How do we be patient and kind, with ourselves and with others, while still moving in a positive direction? Here are some of my favorite recent letters on the subject.

Dear Aunt Paige,

An unexpected silver lining of social distancing has been getting more quiet time to read. Now that life is beginning to pick up speed, I’ve been wanting to create a private space I can sneak away to when I just need to get lost in a story — and away from my housemates. Do you have any recommendations on how to go about building one...

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Hello friends! I’ve been receiving a lot of mail from readers about how to “read happy,” especially right now when we’re all pressed down with worries, and since it seems like a defining element of “serious literature” is that it be depressing as heck.

I think there are a couple of things going on here. The first is a misunderstanding that a book that makes you feel good — whatever the genre or theme — is somehow “un-serious.” The second is that reading as a form of self-care, to make yourself feel better, is also somehow “un-serious.”

Well, abandon those preconceived notions, sweethearts. “Reading happy” is something I take very seriously, and I’m thrilled to get you started...

Sweethearts, I've been in this industry for a long time and nothing makes me blush. When it comes to embarrassing book-related questions — Where do you keep the guides on do-it-yourself colonics? Do you sell Meatloaf's discography? I'm looking for Pokémon books... for my kid? — I've heard them all and lived to see another day. (And so have my erstwhile interlocutors.) Here are my favorite recent inquiries.

Dear Aunt Paige,

Should I be offended that my friends keep giving me self-help books?

Sincerely,

Dubious Donna

Dear Dubious,

Yes. Either they're bad friends or you're just a total hot mess...

Hello Honeybucket,

Aunt Paige here. As a bookseller and lifelong bookworm, I’ve spent years of my life answering bookish inquiries: in the bookstore and at family gatherings, on the bus, at happy hour… you get the idea. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that no book question is just about the book. That friend isn’t just looking for a sad book — they just went through a breakup and they’re looking for an excuse to ugly cry while demolishing a pint of rocky road. That customer isn’t just looking for a book they remember from childhood — they LOVED that book, lent it to a friend, never got it back, and are still trying to replace it 20 years later (just one reason you should never lend books to friends you want to keep as friends).

That deeper conversation is one of the best parts of being a book person...