Annie B. Jones at the GDBS

The Garden District Book Shop is thrilled to announce that debut author Annie B. Jones will be at the shop on April 29 for a discussion and signing for her new book Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put. 

In her first book, the popular From the Front Porch podcast host and independent bookstore owner challenges the idea that loud lives are the ones that matter most, reminding us that we don't have to leave the lives we have in order to have the lives of which we've always dreamed.

Rummaging through her small-town existence, Jones finds hidden gifts of humor and hope from a life lived quietly. Staying, can itself be a radical act. It takes courage to stay in the places we’ve always called home, Jones argues, as she paints a portrait of possibility far away from thriving metropolises and Monica Gellar-inspired apartments.

The evening will kickoff at 6:00 PM. Jones will be joined in conversation by former Garden District Book Shop bookseller Benjamin Morrison. After their chat, Jones will be available to mingle with guests and personalize copies of her book. 

The event is free and open to the public but interested parties are encouraged to reserve their copy of Ordinary Time ahead of time on Eventbrite. 

Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put. 

Annie Jones always assumed adulthood would mean adventure: a high-powered career; life in a big, bustling city; and travels to far-flung places she’d longed to see. But her reality turned out differently. As the years passed, Annie was still in the same small town running an independent bookstore —the kind of life Nora Ephron dreamed.

During that time, she hosted friends’ goodbye parties and mailed parting gifts; wrote recommendation letters and wished former shop staffers well. She stayed in her small town, despite her love of big cities; stayed in her marriage to the guy she met when she was 18; and she stayed at her bookstore while the world outside shifted steadily toward digital retailers. And she stayed loyal to a faith she sometimes didn’t recognize.

After ten years, Annie realized she might never leave. But instead of regret, she had an epiphany. She awakened to the gifts of a quiet life spent staying put.

We’ve long been encouraged to follow our dreams, to pack up and move to new places and leave old lives—and past selves—behind. While there is beauty in these kinds of adventures, Ordinary Time helps us see ourselves right where we are: in the middle of messy, mundane lives, maybe not too far from where we grew up. We don’t have to leave to find what we yearn—we can choose to stay, celebrating and honoring our ordinary lives, which might turn out to be bigger and better than we ever imagined.

Host or Publisher Garden District Book Shop