The cheapest getaway you’ll ever discover is as close as the nearest stack of books. At least it is for Powder Springs mom Kim Gamblin.
“I like to lose myself in a mystery,” she said. “I prefer books with action, some romance, and maybe a twist in the ending.”
With two sons—ages 3 and 6—and a 5-year-old daughter, Gamblin doesn't have that much time to read. “I don’t have free time,” she explained.
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But when she does, she finds a cozy corner and pops open a book.
Rhonda Walton’s “cozy corner” is usually “somewhere with plump pillows in my house.” The active mom and grandma writes book reviews for a number of websites, but reading is her “way to relax."
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"I can escape in a book," she described. "And I like to research and learn.”
Her college-age daughter, Brittany, heads to to read when the weather cooperates. “It’s nice to unwind there with a book,” she said. “I also like the . You can grab a table and a cup of coffee, and it’s not noisy.”
Some busy moms will bring their kids to at the and will stick around to read in the reading area, according to branch manager Bruce Thompson. “We also have moms come in to read to their kids.”
While the library does not have a book club, library associate Tara Klodnicki said “moms who frequent story time with their kids have become good friends with other moms.”
There are plenty of other places to find something to read in the area. Hastings Books, Music & Videos on Riverside Parkway in Lithia Springs offers a broad selection of genres, along with a chair or two to plunk in.
Walton said she grabs “dark fiction or classics—lots of metaphysical-themed books” for her own personal choices.
She works at the in Powder Springs, and the biggest seller there is “romance, romance and more romance."
"Actually," she said, "it’s the biggest seller for women anywhere.”
Mom’s choice of how to read her book has expanded, with the advent of e-book devices, some of which are under $100. However, not everyone goes high-tech when it comes to reading for relaxation.
“It’s kind of hard to cuddle up with a Kindle,” Gamblin laughed. "And forget about a bubble bath."