The Ripped Bodice by Katelyn Hancock.

I’m fascinated by the concept of bucket lists. Few things fascinate me more than hearing what other people consider to be must-have life experiences, mostly because the range of “must-have” encompasses so much.

I have a general life bucket list (see the Northern Lights; go sky-diving; walk the Camino De Santiago), but I also keep a more specifically bookish bucket list, stocked with book-related experiences I’d like to have during my lifetime – everything from reading specific books to getting more bookish body art to attending conventions.

Recently, I got to put a checkmark next to a huge item on my bookish bucket list: visiting The Ripped Bodice, an all-romance novel bookstore located in L.A. I discovered the store via their excellent Twitter last year and had been sadly pining away from afar. (You know that whine-and-paw-at-the-ground thing that dogs do when they’re sad? That was me, every time someone posted photos of The Ripped Bodice.)

The Ripped Bodice by Katelyn Hancock.

As luck would have it, one of my dearest friends moved to L.A. last fall and issued me a standing invitation to visit her. So in May, I booked a flight, and 24 hours after landing, my beloved friend Katelyn and I walked through the doors of The Ripped Bodice. (Well, she walked — I am reliably informed that I bounced through the door, Tigger-like, and then preceded to levitate with joy for the rest of our time in the store.)

While Katelyn browsed and took photos with Sir Fitzwilliam Waffles, Esq., the store’s dog-in-residence, I got direct Readers’ Advisory help from one of The Ripped Bodice’s owners, Bea, who patiently listened to me explaining what I like in romance (competent characters trying their best; a tinge of sadness in the tone) and what I don’t (banter for banter’s sake; alpha heroes) and then helped me pick out a completely reasonable number of books for purchase.

Completely reasonable, and definitely not so many that the cost of said books hit the triple digits and I had to take advantage of the store’s free shipping policy to get them all home. Definitely not.

On a generally excellent trip, visiting The Ripped Bodice was a definite high point — not just because it is the most beautiful store in the world, but because it was so wonderful to get to talk about a topic I love with people who share my love of it. I’m pretty sure I teared up at one point.

Other major items on my bookish bucket list:

– Visiting the Ingalls Homestead in De
Smet, South Dakota: I couldn’t tell
exactly you how many times I read the
Little House series as a kid, but it
was at least 15 times all the way
through (and many more for my
particular favorites). Now that I
live a few hours’ drive from South
Dakota, I’m low-key planning a trip
to the Homestead and other important
locations from the books.

– Read the [complete works of James
Baldwin][4]: Given that Baldwin’s career
as a writer spanned four decades and
included novels, plays, essays, short
stories, poems, and various other
uncategorizable work, this one will
be a years-long project. I wrote a
thesis on Baldwin, have a tattoo with
a quote from one of his novels, and
read his work for pleasure, and I’ve
made it through maybe 30 percent of
his work — which is honestly a
generous estimate. If I ever achieve
this goal, you will all know because
I’ll never shut up about it.

– Completing [National Novel Writing
Month][5] (NaNoWriMo, for short): I’ve
made half-hearted attempts at
NaNoWriMo in the past, but I lack the
drive to actually finish it. The
major problem with this item is that
it falls under the extremely broad
category of things I want to have
done but do not want to actually do.

I may never get through all of these, but it’s fun to think about. What about you, readers? What items are on your bookish bucket list?

— Meredith Wiggins is a readers’ services assistant at the Lawrence Public Library.