Independent bookstore manager Jillian Puzzo is fostering connections throughout West Hartford, not just at River Bend Books, the independent bookstore she opened in town.
By Grayson Rivers
Once a month, women from all across town pack themselves into a single room, identical paperbacks tucked beneath their arms.
Some blocks away, the interior of a quiet shop is awash with color. Thousands of book covers glow in the bright sunlight and fill the air with every hue and shade imaginable.
In countless other places, literary totem poles dot the earth. They’re Little Free Libraries, and each holds an easy-to-access treasure trove of books.
And the person in the middle of it all: Jillian Puzzo. She’s the founder of four book clubs – The Book Babes, Book Worms, Book Dragons, and Book Lovers – which have over 40 combined members. Puzzo is also the general manager of independent bookstore River Bend Bookshop and a prominent local member of the Little Free Library movement.
What began as a love for Anne of Green Gables and Nancy Drew catalyzed Puzzo’s passion for reading into a career that’s been bringing people together since 2017. In the nearly seven years since their conception, her book clubs have turned neighbors into sisters, with each member opening up to the group more and more every month.
“I don’t take the fact that they put their trust in me and each other lightly,” Puzzo said. It’s through her masterful selection of novels that the women are able to get so close. Controversy, although seemingly the antithesis to a unified group, is actually the x-factor Puzzo looks for when researching books.
A sampling of titles Puzzo’s book clubs have immersed themselves in. Photo courtesy of Vonetta Romeo-Rivers
“The most boring book club is when everyone is like ‘I loved it!’ because then we have nothing else to talk about. I want everyone to enjoy themselves, but because there’s a door to open,” she said.
Circe, one of the book clubs’ first books, had an undeniably unifying message of female empowerment, but its mythology genre was initially met with some hesitation. To many of her members, Greek mythology evoked memories of the dry and stale lessons of their youth.
“What I hear a lot is if it weren’t for book club I wouldn’t have finished it.” But Circe, like many of the novels that have come since, was positively received despite initial doubt. Puzzo says controversy by way of reader-bias is one of the most effective ways to stimulate conversation.
And her book clubs aren’t the only way Puzzo is bringing people together. Her position at River Bend Bookshop lets her interact with readers throughout Connecticut.
“I am surrounded by books every day. It’s a bibliophile’s dream. But the people are the best part. I have an amazing team of people, and our customers are the best,” she said. Working to meet her customers’ tastes is yet another community building endeavor for Puzzo.
“We like to bring in the books that our community is interested in reading,” she said. “We’ll always have the newest books that come out, but we’ll also have unique books that are special to the region.”
And while much of Puzzo’s work has spanned the course of years, she doesn’t shy away from less prolonged one-time opportunities. Her help with the construction of Smith STEM School’s own Little Free Library was a project close to her heart.
Although she’s not as directly involved in getting the public bookcases built anymore, Puzzo considers herself a “book fairy,” regularly dropping off dozens of books into the town’s seventy-three little free libraries.
With all she does for West Hartford, Jillian Puzzo is a sweeping force keeping her town connected, communicative, and reading.
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