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A spirit that is not afraid

Monthly book challenge unites Auburn community

<p>Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers hosts a monthly book challenge on their social media page.&nbsp;</p>

Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers hosts a monthly book challenge on their social media page. 

The Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers are finding new ways to connect with their customers amidst a largely distant time.  Namely, they have begun a monthly book challenge. 

The Auburn Oil Co., located at 149 E. Magnolia Avenue in Suite A, offers a broad selection of literature, cards, gifts and custom drinks from their coffee menu. The name alludes to a time when gas stations were a center for community.  

Angela Wilhite, store manager at Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers, said the company saw several challenges going on across Instagram, book-related blogs and podcasts and immediately wanted to “get in on the fun." 

This year, 2021, marks the company’s second year committing to the 12-month challenge. With the book challenge starting in January 2020, it has trickled into yet another year.

For the challenge, Auburn Oil Co. posts a genre or theme of reading monthly for their audience to complete. 

Upon completing a book that meets the criteria, the reader posts about it on their social media platform with the hashtag "#aocbreads2021." Those with private accounts are asked to DM the company’s account.  

If a person completes all of the challenges, they are entered into a drawing at the end of the 12 months to win a prize, but everyone gets to celebrate over a party. Due to the pandemic, the group decided not to meet for their party in 2020 in an effort to keep everyone safe, Wilhite said. 

The bookstore has seen a variety of people join their challenge.  Wilhite said this included several booksellers and an entire family. The family has been coming to the bookstore monthly to pick out age-appropriate books for all of them to enjoy, she said. 

Two other customers, Rhonda Foradori and her teenage daughter, Sofia, have also been participating in the challenge. Rhonda said she met Wilhite within her first few weeks of moving to Auburn last fall and the two have remained close friends. 

“The things she and her staff are doing at the bookstore are so amazing,” Rhonda said. “I love going into the store and reading the ‘staff picks’ on the index cards. [It's] just a nice personal touch.”

One day, Sofia heard about the challenge through the bookstore’s Instagram and Rhonda said she was instantly drawn to the challenge. 

“In those teenage years where shoulder shrugs, eye rolls, and grunts are sometimes what passes as conversation nothing beats your kid running across the house telling you ‘You have to read this,'" she said. 

Rhonda said her daughter has always been a voracious reader, boasting nearly 55 books just last year. “Lovely War” by Julie Berry remains Sofia’s favorite book of all time. However, the challenge has introduced her to new works like “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller.  

“I have big hopes for some of the upcoming months, particularly the May and July challenges,” Rhonda said. “I feel like those two months will lend themselves to some really great choices.” 

So far this year, the bookstore has completed two challenges: “A book by a person who is famous for something other than writing” and “An author’s debut novel." For the month of March, they are reading “A book about an animal, any animal."

“Our primary goal is to get folks reading, but we also love the sense of camaraderie people get from posting about the challenge on social media," Wilhite said. 

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Emery Lay | Lifestyle Writer

Emery Lay, junior in journalism, is a lifestyle writer at The Auburn Plainsman.


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