{"id":18759,"date":"2026-03-12T14:20:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=18759"},"modified":"2026-03-12T14:20:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:20:57","slug":"shut-up-and-read-a-memoir-from-harrietts-bookshop-by-jeannine-a-cook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/shut-up-and-read-a-memoir-from-harrietts-bookshop-by-jeannine-a-cook\/","title":{"rendered":"Shut Up and Read: A Memoir from Harriett\u2019s Bookshop by Jeannine A. Cook"},"content":{"rendered":"

c.2026, Amistad\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/strong>
\n$28.99\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/strong>
\n272 pages<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Terri Schlichenmeyer<\/strong>
\nThe Truth Contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shhhhhhhh.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an old wives\u2019 tale that that\u2019s what librarians always say. Shhhhhhh, hush yourself, be silent, don\u2019t be so loud, no talking. Shhhhh, quiet is what makes a library appealing for many folks. As in the new book, Shut Up and Read<\/em> by Jeannine A. Cook, <\/strong>though, the bookstore <\/em>is where you can really make some noise.<\/p>\n

She had no plans to live in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s where Jeannine Cook landed after she graduated high school \u2013 in Philly, in college, living in a \u201cshell\u201d of a house with occasional rats and junkies. She stayed, though, fell in love with the city of Brotherly Love, and made plans in the form of college essays. She wanted to do something good for her community, to teach youth and put books in the hands of the people who needed to read.<\/p>\n

As it\u2019s been throughout her life, Cook was supported in this plan by \u201cAunties\u201d and sister-friends, and by \u201cangels\u201d who often appeared. She also appealed to her muse, Harriett Tubman, whose name graces Cook\u2019s first physical bookstore.<\/p>\n

But Harriett\u2019s didn\u2019t happen easily.<\/p>\n

Cook understood that she needed to own the building that housed her bookstore, and the owner finally decided to sell it to her. The closing took more time than expected; she was in Paris when purchase day came unexpectedly, so she had to fly back home quickly to get it done. There were problems with construction workers, problems with stock and events and building additional bookstores in New Jersey and in Paris. Problems with safety, in the aftermath of George Floyd\u2019s murder, and Breonna Taylor\u2019s murder, and the riots that followed.<\/p>\n

There were times, she says, when she felt like she was drowning. Her mother had gone back to the Caribbean, her father was dying (again), but Cook stayed the course.<\/p>\n

She knew that books were the answer. That\u2019s the mantra she said every day when she got out of bed: books would always be humanity\u2019s salvation.<\/p>\n

Go ahead, admit it: you need more books. And while you\u2019re at it, you need this one.<\/p>\n

Shut Up and Read<\/em> is a sweet story with grit, determination and magic. Anyone who\u2019s ever looked for room on their calendar and found none will identify with it. Anyone who\u2019s ever dreamed larger than large will find parallel in author Jeannine A. Cook\u2019s words.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve had a hero or two in mind when you launch a difficult endeavor, this is your book. Struggled with your health and that of an aggravating but much-loved family member, yep. Ever wondered how you\u2019re going to get things done, uh-huh. It\u2019s all shared, novel-like, held together by coincidence and magic and heartbreak, surprises, customer-service smiles, an \u201coverground underground railroad,\u201d literature, and an artificial leg named Lester.<\/p>\n

Yeah, it\u2019s everything you\u2019re thinking, and there\u2019s room for it on your shelf.<\/p>\n

Hush little reader, here is your book. Shut Up and Read<\/em> is so worth a look. And if opening a bookstore was ever a lure, this is a book that you\u2019ll love for shhhhhh-ure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

c.2026, Amistad\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 $28.99\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 272 pages By Terri Schlichenmeyer The Truth Contributor \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shhhhhhhh. It\u2019s an old wives\u2019 tale that that\u2019s what librarians always say. Shhhhhhh, hush yourself, be silent, don\u2019t be so loud, no talking. Shhhhh, quiet is what makes a library appealing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18760,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[20],"class_list":["post-18759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book_review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18761,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18759\/revisions\/18761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18759"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=18759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}