Julie McTernan doesn’t own a bookshop, nor has she ever written a book. She certainly doesn’t have a platform as a celebrity influencer. What she does have, however, is an enthusiastic love of books, a compulsion to share that love with others, and, importantly, an infectious personality that makes her followers want to pay attention.
The Summit resident and mother of four is simply an avid reader. Feeling isolated during Covid lockdown reading book after book, McTernan found herself sharing her favorites with friends.
“Talking about a book experience, I found that it was a way to bring community back together,” she says.
A friend’s daughter suggested she start a “bookstagram.” “I had all this book knowledge, and this became a way to share it,” McTernan explains. That’s how her account, @grapevinegalreads, was born.
McTernan’s posts have built a following, but also a community. She gathers friends, and friends of friends, to talk about what she has been reading. The discussions always cover multiple books—as many as 30—and it doesn’t matter if attendees have read the books in advance.
She’s shared her book passion by speaking at senior centers and book club meetings, the most recent of which had 80-plus attendees.
Now McTernan’s reading includes researching in earnest, attending book fairs, meeting authors and scouring the local library. “I’m always in the library,” she jokes. “Libraries are magic.” Any traveling she does offers an opportunity to discover a local bookseller. “I always highlight and purchase from independent bookstores,” she says.
“People find me. This is organically grown. It started with friends, and now I see all walks of my life following me.”
So, is it a business? A passion? “I’m not sure,” she says. “But I’m connecting people, and that’s fun to watch.”
“Anyone can become a reader,” McTernan says. “Books introduce you to a world you’d never otherwise see.”
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