How are you all this fine Tuesday morning? I'm worn out and my ears are still ringing a little bit from the fun Sting concert I went to last night. He's 72 and can still rock it. I'm 47 and I'm...really tired! Sting might not need a nap this afternoon, but I'm definitely going to. 

Today's TTT topic—Top Ten Bookish Jobs I Would Do For Free—is an excellent one, if I do say so myself. I thought it up and submitted it to Jana (our lovely TTT host) because I thought it would be an enjoyable one to explore. It only occurred to me later that it may feel a tad offensive to people who actually work in bookish fields. Let me be clear: This topic is not meant to imply that those who work with books in a professional capacity do not deserve to be paid for what they do. No matter how much a person loves their job, few people can afford to work for nothing. Nor should they, especially considering how valuable their time, education, experience, and expertise are. My hope with this topic was just that we could all have fun with it, get creative, let our imaginations go wild, etc. Maybe I should have worded the prompt more like this: Top Ten Bookish Jobs I Would Do For Free (if money, education, experience, actual skills, reality, etc. were no object). 

That being said, here is my list. The first five are "jobs" I currently do for free(ish) and the last five are those I would do for free (theoretically, anyway) given the opportunity.

Top Ten Bookish Jobs I Would Do For Free (if money/education/experience/actual skills/reality, etc. were no object)

1. Book Blogging—It's not a job for me and I do get "paid" in books, but blogging is something I would do no matter what. I love it it so much that it doesn't (usually) feel like work. 

2. Book Reviewing—Over the years, I've written reviews for several different magazines. One of them does pay their reviewers, but the other reviews were published in exchange for free books and blog publicity. 

3. Book Hoarding Collecting—I work at this like it's a full-time job, so I'm counting it!

4. Beta Reading/Editing—It's been a hot minute since I actually did any beta reading/editing for friends and other authors, but I've enjoyed doing it in the past simply because reading and giving feedback on a developing manuscript is a good ole time for me. Plus, I generally get "paid" in chocolate for these types of gigs. What's not to love?

5. Nurturing Young Readers—I don't have a teaching certificate or any kind of actual training in this field, but I always (okay, most of the time) enjoyed reading to my own children and making frequent trips to the library so they could pick out new reading material. Volunteering in classrooms and in the library at my children's elementary school was something I also really enjoyed.

6. Book Picker-Outer—Once upon a time, my mother-in-law was hired to be the librarian at a brand-new elementary school. She had a great time hand-picking and buying all the books that would fill its library shelves (on their dime, natch). That part at least sounds like a dream job (not so much handling all the volumes later desecrated by sticky, booger-y, kid germs). I'd volunteer to do deck out a school library!

7. Personal Librarian—On a similar note, I'd dig being a personal librarian at someone's big, beautiful home library. Think Belle and her prince are hiring?

8. Bookstore Owner—Remember how money is no object for this prompt? In this particular dream, I run a cozy bookshop in some quaint little town. I have stimulating book chats with cheerful, always satisfied customers. When the shop is quiet, I relax in a comfy armchair with an engaging book and a mug of cocoa, surrounded on all sides by shelves bursting with potentially amazing reads. Sigh...

I think all book lovers have dreamed this particular dream. Not to burst your bubble, but before getting too carried away with this fantasy, you might want to read The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch. It's eye-opening. Welch—who opened a used bookstore with her husband on a whim without having any idea how to actually operate such a business—says the job is less about reading and more about dusting, dealing with customers, and constantly restocking shelves. Hmm. That doesn't sound nearly as charming as my version. Good thing reality is nothing we need to worry about today. 

9. Hogwarts Librarian—Sure, there are some dangerous books and sneaky students to contend with, but c'mon, this job sounds like pure awesomeness! I'd do it just for a chance to live in the castle and hang with Hagrid, Dumbledore, Hermione, and Co. 

10. Book Organizer—My favorite part about moving last year was organizing my books. Even though it took forever, I loved sifting through them, sorting them by genre, deciding which volumes to keep and which to donate, unpacking them, organizing and reorganizing them on my shelves, etc. Bookish tasks like these make me happy. I'd be willing to do something similar for other people or organizations. Although, to be fair, there's a local non-profit that could probably use my help doing just that and I haven't hit them up yet...

My list isn't very imaginative, but there you go. Do you do an actual bookish job? What do you love/hate about it? What bookish jobs would you do if you money, imagination, etc. were no object? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.