4 Things Bookworms Can Do for Fun While Stuck Inside

As healthcare professionals battle COVID-19 across the world, many of us are stuck at home, either working from home or studying through online classes. For the safety of ourselves and others, the best way for us to help is to continue practicing social distancing.

However, even for bookworms, reading all by your lonesome can get a bit monotonous when faced with being home for extended periods of time. To help, we’ve compiled a list of things book lovers can do while staying at home!

Get Crafty

Who says book lovers can’t be artsy, too? There are certain items book lovers are always in need of that you can DIY right there at home. Pinterest has tons of craft project ideas for bookmarks, anywhere from tiny button bookmarks to crochet pen holder/bookmark combos. Not into bookmarks? How about journals? You can create custom journal covers in the comfort of your home, whether that means you paint a journal,  make a cover out of felt, or stitch your initial or a design onto it. If you really want to invest some time and take it up another notch, online retailers have bookmaking kits that you can use to build and bind your very own hardcover book. Pretty cool, right?

Play Games

Playing games is a great way to stimulate your brain and have fun at the same time, especially if you’re holed up with other family members or roommates. If you want to play a board game, there are several we think bookworms will love, and they are all available to order for delivery right to your home. These include Trivial Pursuit: Book Lover’s Edition and Bookopoly, which are twists on classic board games. We also love games like The Great Penguin Bookchase, where you compete to collect books, or The Origin of Expression, where players compete to come up with the most interesting backstory for a particular phrase or word.

If you would rather make do with what you have at home, there are options for that, too! For example, write a group story by passing a notebook around to your family members and having each person write a line, which will result in a crazy, often hilarious, final story. Another great game idea is called “Character Roulette.” In this game, each person gets fifteen minutes to create a character, with as many details as they can muster in the time limit. Then, draw a scenario, which have been pre-written before the game begins, from a hat, and each person has to write a scene or mini-story in which the character they’ve created reacts to the situation. This one is great if there are others with you, but just as great if you’re by yourself!

Revamp Your Bookshelf

Now is also the perfect time for a bookshelf makeover, whatever that means for you. It could mean a simple reorganization. Maybe you want to switch things up and color code your books, alphabetize them, or perhaps organize them by size or genre. Our suggestion is to organize by category--favorite books, books you want to read next, and whatever other categories strike your fancy.

Revamping your bookshelf could also mean something a little more intense. You can order supplies (Lowe’s is delivering!), and wallpaper the back wall of your bookshelves for a pop of color. If you want to get even more hands-on with the project, you could do some more extensive changes and sand and paint your bookshelf a new color, or do some antique distressing.

Participate in a Virtual Book Club

One of the most difficult parts of being physically apart from our friends and loved ones is the lack of social connection. One way to find a little bit of connection to others who share similar interests is to participate in a virtual book club.

You can go about this in a couple ways. One option is to start an online book club with your book-loving friends by choosing a book and then hosting a regular book club meeting, just over a video chat tool like Google Hangouts or Microsoft Teams. Another option is to participate in a “celebrity” book club, where a celeb posts their book of the month on their social media and website--as well as food for thought that goes along with it. Two great ones are Belletrist (curated by Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss) and Reese’s Book Club (curated by Reese Witherspoon).

Either way, a book club will give you the motivation to read something new, a subject to talk about that will take your mind off the world’s events, and an avenue to talk to other like-minded individuals.

We hope these suggestions help stave off some of your boredom. If you take us up on any of them, let us know by tagging us in your posts on social media! We are @NightHeronMedia on Facebook and Twitter and @nightheronmediatx on Instagram.

Stay safe and stay home!

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By Melinda Mayden, Intern

Melinda Mayden is a student at the University of Houston who will graduate in May with a Bachelor's degree in English-Creative Writing and a minor in Marketing, as well as with a certificate in Digital Marketing. She is passionate about good books, quality coffee, the Oxford comma, and all things Houston.