It’s one of my favorite times of year again! And this time, despite a precarious schedule and some potential work travel, I am very set on winning.

The Reading Rush (July 22-28) is the shiny new evolution of BookTubeAThon, the reading challenge I hold near and dear to my heart. BookTubeAThon, way back in 2014, was the catalyst that threw me headfirst into BookTube.

And that year was a dream.

After that, I’m pretty sure I failed year after year after year, but I had fun doing it. And truly, nothing will ever compare to that first year, when I read the entirety of The Selection by Kiera Cass in three days. What a time to be alive.

Anyway, there’s not much different for me this year, save for the massive rebrand the readathon hosts have undergone — that and my dogged determination to get back to my former seven-books-in-seven-days glory.

So here’s to the first year of The Reading Rush! Get yourself to the fancy new website where you can track your progress and earn shiny badges and whatnot. Exciting stuff, man. As a note, I’ll be hosting the Twitter sprints Thursday the 25th from 7-8pm. For those of you who’ve been around for previous BookTubeAThons, you know what that means…. *devious face*

Here’s my TBR and the challenges [two audiobooks not pictured]! May your days be filled with wonderful words and comfortable reading spots.

1. In The Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce (purple on the cover)
2. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (Book to Movie Adaptation)
3. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce (meant to read last year)
4. My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life by Rachel Cohn (over 5 words in title)
5. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab (an author’s first book)
6. The Light Jar by Lisa Thompson (Same Spot the Whole Time)
7. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Non-Human Main Character)

Are you doing The Reading Rush? What are you reading?

In early 2018, I discovered something online… something so immensely up my alley I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of it yet. It was called “Indie Bookstore Day” (which in itself was such a lovely idea) — but that wasn’t even all. On top of a day meant to visit and celebrate all of the wonderful independent bookstores in your region, Seattle had something that took it to another level. Something that took it to a very… Kristina-level.

Here in Seattle, there’s something called the “Indie Bookstore Challenge”, which is a quest to visit all of the independent bookstores (during their hours of operation!) in a single day. This sounds all well and good, until I remind you that there are 21 participating bookstores in this particular challenge. And some require a ferry to get too.

Indie Bookstore Day sits at the cross-section of all the things I love: it’s about books, it’s about patronizing stores that really do need our help, and most importantly: it’s about doing something that sounds slightly crazy, something that other people might say is “too hard”.

So back to 2018. If this was something I discovered a whole year ago, why is this blog post only coming out now? Well, the truth is, I discovered this amazing challenge last year… and then discovered that it fell less than a week before my wedding. So believe me… I considered it. But it just wasn’t in the cards.

I put a note in my calendar for 2019 and waited patiently the entire year. When Indie Bookstore Day finally rolled around again, I grabbed my most dedicated friends (or the ones I’m just the best at convincing to do things, you choose) and set out to make this dream come true in 2019.

It takes a village to successfully visit 21 bookstores in one day. Here’s how we made it happen, via roles:

Me, Kristina Horner: General cheerleader and social media documentarian. I orchestrated getting photos of us taken at every store, kept track of whose turn it was to buy something at any given store, logged what was purchased, and engaged with bookstores and other participants on Twitter and Instagram. Typically could be heard saying things like “Excuse me, can you take a photo for us?” and “Oh crap, I completely forgot about Twitter for like four bookstores.”

Katrina Hamilton: Navigator and schedule mistress. Katrina built the spreadsheet and itinerary that set us up for success and kept us to it throughout the day. Was often the one to say things like, “Hurry and pick something, we have 2 more minutes here,” and “Guys we did not schedule in this trip to Dick’s Drive in.”

Liz Leo: Travel agent and resident DJ. Liz booked our hotel in Bainbridge Island the night before so we could start the day on the right side of the ferry, and curated an epic girl-power playlist for the car. Liz’s signature quotes were things like “Wait this is the best song,” and “No wait, this is the best song.”

Jenn Godwin: Snack mom and moral booster. Jenn provided the necessity that was car snacks, and generally remembered to ask us all if we were doing okay, which is a very important role in a group very driven book-nerds. Jenn could most often be heard saying things like “Anyone need some licorice?” and “Wait who’s turn is it to sit in front?” 

Abbey Jacobsen: Gettaway car driver. As the girl in our group with the best car (no contest, she has a Tesla), Abbey provided the mode of transportation for our adventure. She had the most important job, which was making sure that not only did we accomplish this amazing goal, but that we did it in style. Abbey’s catchphrases for the day was “go on ahead, I’ll find parking” and “did you know the Tesla could do this?”

There are a few ways to achieve Indie Bookstore Day glory, and if you search online, there are a number of wonderful blogs out there that walk you through each blogger’s personal execution of the day. I’ll let my pal Katrina explain to you the extreme methodology we exercised, because that’s much more her domain. The important thing to know for this blog post is that you need to have specific goals when attempting this challenge.

Here were ours:

Goal 1: Spend a reasonable amount of time in each bookstore.

Goal 2: Between the five of us, purchase something at every store.

Goal 3: Enjoy the day.

Here are some crucial things we learned:

1. Social Media Takes Time: The day goes by fast. I had all sort of grand plans to keep Twitter and Instagram updated throughout the day, and journal about the experience in real-time, and keep up a dialogue with other folks on social media that were doing the same thing. This fell apart pretty quickly. In the end I gave up on my epic documentation dreams and focused on one social media account (I posted a pic from each store on Instagram). This allowed me to feel secure in capturing the day, but also take a moment to enjoy myself, as well.

2. Pace yourself: It’s incredible how much energy it takes to be constantly moving all day. No one in our car considered this ahead of time, but there’s something incredibly overwhelming about never staying in one spot for more than a few minutes, and doing this for hours on end. On top of that, we started the day on such a high that we all got excited and started buying this immediately — some of the later bookstores were a bit more of a stretch to find something to purchase, since we’d all spent a lot of money already. It was overall a lot more exhausting than we expected. 

3. Eating out of the trunk of a car sucks: It was wonderful to have car snacks when we needed them, but we realized we didn’t schedule in an actual sit-down lunch. I think we all would have benefitted from a bit of a break, even if it was short. If we do this again, we’ll definitely need to budget this into the day.

4. Even very good friends might get cranky: This one speaks for itself. The Indie Bookstore Challenge is an intense day. You’re often confined in close quarters while driving from place to place. Always assume best intent, and be a little extra kind to each other.

5. Book people are the best people: Despite living in a large city with many bookstores, the books community is small. We were often on a different route than most people, but we ran into the same people over and over again through the day, regardless. This is one of the best parts! Everyone was so happy and excited, and the bookstore employees in particular were a delight. This alone makes the day worth it. 

6. You very rarely regret purchases you make at bookstores: I will caveat this one, of course, with the reminder that only you know your own personal finance situation, and should go into the day with some kind of budget… but we were often making snap decisions on what to buy, fueled wholly by adrenaline. And when I got home and looked at my little haul, I was still so pleased. Buying things at indie bookstores is the best.

If you’re curious, I thought I would make a list of every bookstore we visited personally and the things we purchased there (for reference, there are a couple bookstore chains that allow you to pick one and have it count for all of them). Being that we never spent more than 20 minutes in a single bookstore, this was the epitome of impulse shopping, but as stated above… it’s hard to regret a purchase you made at a place as delightful as a local indie bookstore, especially when you know that money goes directly toward keeping these places in business. 

1. Eagle Harbor Book Co. — “Read Wild” tote bag (Jenn)

2. The Traveler — Insect repelling scarves (Kristina, Jenn), Travel Writer (Katrina), Collapsible water bottle (Liz), Travel guide to Nice (Abbey)

3. Liberty Bay Books — Font/Letter themed tote bag (Liz), The Grave Keepers — free ARC (Kristina)

4. Edmonds Bookshop — Ordinary Magic and a blind book (Liz)

5. The Neverending Bookshop — Tea Rex (Kristina), Harry Potter 2 & 3 Illustrated Editions (Abbey), The Antidote (Jenn), Voodoo Killings – won (Liz)

6. Open Books — A Poem Emporium and American Journal (Katrina)

7. Book Larder — Rhubarb Cookbook (Kristina), How to Be Gluten Free and Keep Your Friends (Abbey)

8. Magnolia’s Bookstore — Digital Minimalism and a blind book (Katrina)

9. Arundel — Dead Feminists (Jenn)

10. Fantagraphics — Grab Back Comics anthology (Jenn)

11. Page 2 Books — Eleanor Oliphant (Kristina), Architecture for Dogs (Abbey)

12. Island Books — No One Here is Lonely (Kristina), Koala plush (Abbey), Mysterious Mansion (Liz)

13. Brick & Mortar — The Vanishing Stair (Katrina)

14. Book Tree — Little Nothing (Jenn)

15. Secret Garden Books — Women Talking (Katrina)

16. Queen Anne Book Company — “Choose Kindness” mug (Jenn), I Love You Mommy (Liz)

17. University Bookstore — My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life (Kristina)

18. Third Place Books: Ravenna — I’m A Lot Cooler on the Internet mug (Kristina), Housegirl and a card (Jenn)

19. Madison Books — Oregon Trail Choose Your Own Adventure (Jenn), Future Cities (Liz)

20. Ada’s Technical Books — Very tiny Moleskin (Katrina)

21. Elliot Bay Book Co. — A journal (Liz)

Overall, Indie Bookstore Day was worth the wait. I’m not sure I mentioned this before, but winners get a 25% coupon for every single bookstore, and it’s good the whole year long — but that’s not why we did it (though that coupon is definitely nestled happily in my wallet now). We did it for fun, for the community, and for glory.

If you’re interested in checking this awesome event out yourself, be sure to read up on the official website, and check out my friend Katrina’s post for the logistical side of our day. Everyone’s Indie Bookstore Day is a little different, but there’s no wrong way to celebrate the book community and thank our local bookstores for being there for us. The general consensus in our car was that folks weren’t sure they wanted to do this every year, but I think I’ve got plenty of time to start convincing them to join me again next year.

I’m going to be honest… I actually forgot that I set specific reading goals this year. It’s one of those things that was BW…. Before Wedding. Some of those things are a bit hazy these days, lol.

Anyhow, I was reminded of my goals, and so I have dug them up so that I can check in on my progress. There’s just a little over two months left in the year, so I think hitting most of them is still pretty reasonable at this point.

Below is my progress, with the bold ones being the ones that are incomplete.

1. Read at least 3 books in the category of “you should have read this by now” whether it’s a classic or been on your shelf too long
   • Vicious by V.E. Schwab
   • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
2. Read at least 3 books about people who are very different from yourself
   • The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee
   • Far From the Tree by Robin Benway
   • If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodsen
3. Read at least 8 actual physical books
   • My Boyfriend is a Bear
   • If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
   • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
   • Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson
   • Midnight at the Electric
   • City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
   • An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
   • The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
4. Finish reading The Book Thief
5. Read The Name of the Wind
6. Read a book that’s over 500 pages
   • Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman (504 pages)
7. Quit a book before you’ve finished (or at least skim the rest)
   • Black Beauty by Anna Sewell — this is the second time I have tried to read this book, and I just can’t do it. I can’t get past the fact that it’s from the POV of a horse. I know it’s a classic and was written in the 1800’s. I’m sorry.
8. Get rid of a book immediately after reading it
   • Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters (did not like this book at all)
9. Read a book immediately after acquiring it or hearing about it (before it even makes it to the shelf or TBR)
   • Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson (Bought this book at the Strand when I was in NYC and read it immediately, loved it)
10. Read a book you think might make you a better person
    • How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t by Andrea Owen
11. Read a book of short stories
12. Read a book with a cover that bothers you
    • Save the Date by Morgan Matson
13. Get rid of a book without reading it
    • (I have definitely done this already this year, but I want it to be intentional, so I still need to pick one.)
14. Get at least 2 books behind or ahead of schedule at some point in the year
    • Definitely have been 2 books behind at multiple points. Only 1 book behind now, though!
15. Decide not to do one of the challenges on this list
    • The Name of the Wind might be waiting until 2019…

I’ve read 23/30 books I set out to read on Goodreads, putting me 77% of the way through that goal as well. November is a bit of a tough month for reading, sine so much of my time will be spent writing my NaNoWriMo novel and finding creative ways to procrastinate writing my NaNoWriMo novel… hey! Maybe I will do some reading that month!

Being unemployed for awhile has been an interesting journey and it’s definitely given me a bit more time for reading, as well as for other things I tend to have much less time for with a 9-5 job. I think I’ll be writing an entire blog post about this experience soon, so keep an eye out for that.

Wish me luck! If all else fails, I will consider the year a win if I at least finish reading The dang Book Thief.

Listen, if there was gonna be even one good thing about my role being eliminated at work and needing to find a new job — it was going to be that I would actually have time to do Booktubeathon for serious this year. Because as I’m sure you’re all aware — it’s my second favorite book-related challenge on the Internet. The first of which, of course, being NaNoWriMo.

But get this. While I don’t technically have a day job I need to go to, Booktubeathon falls on the perfect storm of days I still will be quite crunched to actually read books at all, let alone seven.

Monday: Job interview that will take at least half the day
Tuesday: Doctor appointment in the morning, going into the office for something midday, then a hair appointment afternoon/evening
Wednesday: Nothing, thank goodness. I’ll be reading pretty much all day, when I’m not packing
Thursday: Why was I packing? Oh right, because I am spending the rest of the week in NYC. Which will be amazing, just – you know – ill timed. At least I have a long flight to read on.
Friday-Sunday: Doing NYC things, and trying to fit some reading in amongst it all

Basically, I’m doomed. Here’s my TBR:

I opted for a bunch of short books, thankfully, with a ratio of 3 actual novels to 4 graphic novels. The bottom two graphic novels I’ll be doing a coin flip over, as per the challenges. To find out about the rest of the challenges, watch the official challenge video. I also need to consider doing one of these as an audiobook, since I now have two days of commutes I didn’t account for. Plus I need to find time to watch the movie version of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas… yikes. This is going to be something.

But this is par for the course, with me. Nobody is surprised. If you want to watch me flail along during this challenge, be sure to follow my Instagram account!

As a fun little bonus, this week I have also created a series of lists with recommendations for things I like and use, like board games and cute stuff and even products I use to maintain pink hair. I’m an Amazon affiliate, so I do get a small commission if you end up buying anything, but I get asked so often for recommendations that this seemed like a good solution. I recently made one for writing, and while it’s not exactly made for readathons, there’s still a lot of stuff in there that applies. Like fuzzy socks. Man, I love fuzzy socks.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got. This was initially going to be a video, since I had this small inkling of a desire to make a video, but that was a fleeting idea. Then it took me another week to actually write this, because apparently, all content on the Internet is difficult for me these days.

Who else is doing Booktubeathon? Do we think Kristina will actually win this year?

I haven’t successfully won since the very first time I tried it, back in 2014. Coincidentally, that was the last time I didn’t have a full-time job taking up all my time.

 

If you want – leave a comment telling me what you’re most excited to read, or give me NYC recommendations!

You’ll have to forgive me, because it’s taken me the better part of January to get a handle on my reading goals for the year.

The reality of 2018 is that the first 4 months are going to be heavily dedicated to my wedding, but then… then I have the entire rest of my life to not be planning a wedding anymore, and thus, to read. Plus a Honeymoon. Which means many, many books on the plane.

So here are my goals. I tried to give myself a handful of specific and semi-ambitious goals, but most of the rest of them are casual, and even encourage stopping reading books when you’re not enjoying them, or skipping out on a particular challenge altogether.

Goals 1-5 I wrote myself, and goals 6-15 I borrowed from the 2018 reading goals set by my friend Katrina. Her goals are great, and I highly recommend checking out her full list.

1. Read at least 3 books that fall into the category of “you should have read this by now” whether it’s a classic or been on your shelf too long
2. Read at least 3 books about people who are very different from yourself
3. Read at least 8 actual physical books
4. Finish reading The Book Thief
5. Read The Name of the Wind
6. Read a book that’s over 500 pages
7. Quit a book before you’ve finished (or at least skim the rest)
8. Get rid of a book immediately after reading it
9. Read a book immediately after acquiring it or hearing about it (before it even makes it to the shelf or TBR)
10. Read a book you think might make you a better person
11. Read a book of short stories
12. Read a book with a cover that bothers you
13. Get rid of a book without reading it
14. Get at least 2 books behind or ahead of schedule at some point in the year
15. Decide not to do one of the challenges on this list

The best place to follow my progress is my Goodreads account, though I will try to remember to come back here and update when I’ve finished a particular challenge.

I’d love to hear what your reading goals are for the year, or what other things you hope to accomplish in 2018!

Booktubeathon is upon us yet again, and I fear I have made a grave mistake this year. Actually, let’s take a step back.

So, as you all likely know, I am participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month. I set a modest goal for myself, but writing 20,000 words in a month (arguably the busiest of the summer months) is still nothing to shake a stick at. I knew that attempting Booktubeathon and Camp NaNo in the same month would be a stretch, but I’ve never been one to look in the face of a challenge and back away. I welcome challenge. I thrive on challenge.

This was all well and good – totally doable – until I found out about the Marauder’s Marathon. This is a month long virtual Harry Potter themed marathon, which I, of course, signed up for because you can absolutely trick me into exercising if you disguise it as a fun Harry Potter fandom activity. Plus I am trying to be more active, so why not apply a NaNoWriMo-esque filter to running, to make it more exciting? 26.2 miles in a month? A whole month? No problem!

Problem is, it started on the 17th of July. While I was in New York, in oppressively hot weather. Listen, I’m as committed to pretending to be a wizard while I run as the next person, but I’m not going to start my running adventure in 90 degree weather. So here I am, finally home from NY, 5 days behind. But still determined.

Okay. Okay Kristina. Three marathon style events in one month. All overlapping for one chaotic week starting on Monday. Is this possible? You can listen to audiobooks and run at the same time. You can get up early to write. This is doable.

You can listen to audiobooks and run at the same time. You can get up early to write. This is doable.

Oh wait. Your friends invited you on a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas for one of their birthdays starting on the Saturday of your Week of Madness, and you can’t turn down a spontaneous adventure? AND your best friend gets married on August 9th and you’re not only in the wedding, you’re also planning the bachelorette party, which happens right in the midst of all of this?

Guys, nothing can save me now. I um… I may have over-committed.

BUT! Follow me on Instagram and Twitter over the next couple weeks to see if I survive, and in the mean time… here’s my Booktubeathon TBR:

The challenges:

1/ Read a book with a person on the cover: PAPER GIRLS by Brian K. Vaughan
2/ Read a hyped book: MILK AND HONEY by Rupi Kaur
3/ Finish a book in one day: DEAR IJEAWELE, OR A FEMINIST MANIFESTO IN FIFTEEN SUGGESTIONS by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4/ Read about a character that is very different from you: HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi
5/ Finish a book completely outdoors: MEN EXPLAIN THINGS TO ME by Rebecca Solnit
6/ Read a book you bought because of the cover: THE WILD ROBOT by Peter Brown
7/ Read seven books: THE ONE MEMORY OF FLORA BANKS by Emily Barr

I forgot to mention… it would be so nice to have this weekend, this glorious Saturday and Sunday, to get ahead in writing, to do some solid running, cleanse my reading palate with some television, do laundry and relax and prepare for the insanity ahead – but I’m got another wedding tonight and won’t be back until tomorrow. *falls over and dies*

Wish me luck, and please let me know if you’re participating in any of the above challenges. Bonus points if anyone out there is crazy enough to do all three, like I am!

I don’t know what’s wrong with me – I get an idea in my head and I can’t let it go until it comes out as a real, living thing that people can experience. This is exactly what happened with #readingbingo.

What is #readingbingo? It’s a readathon, one that I have invented. It’s going to be low key. I’m saying that more to myself than as part of this announcement.

A little backstory: Probably at least a year ago, I had this idea that it would be fun to pick reading challenges off a bingo board. It gives the participant some agency in deciding what they read, but they’re still within the constraints of picking the challenges that make a bingo together. I also love that there are varying degrees of difficulty, depending on if the participant decides to make one bingo, two bingos, or go for a whole blackout. Bingo boards could also be reused by bringing in other types of bingos as well, like 4 corners or the L shape or whatever.

Essentially I couldn’t get this idea out of my head, so it’s happening. It’s happening the week before Camp NaNo July, which in hindsight wasn’t the best plan, but HERE WE GO ANYWAY!

So there you go! If you’d like to participate in the first ever #readingbingo, it’s happening from June 19-25. The best way to keep up is to follow the channel on Instagram. The bingo board of reading challenges is live now, and there will be daily Instagram challenges and other fun surprises over the course of the week. My intention for this readathon is for it to grow and change over time, so this first one is more of a test, and I’d love your feedback!

My intention for this readathon is for it to grow and evolve over time, so this first one is more of a test, and I’d love your feedback! Happy reading, and thanks for always being down to try out my crazy ideas. Let me know in the comments of this blog post or over on the Instagram account if you have any questions.

This week was a “blogging prompt” week on #wordbound, and there’s really no excuse not to participate on those weeks (for me at least). It’s just so much easier than writing fiction, haha. So here I am! Being productive! Doing #wordbound!

The prompt is: Make 3 writing related confessions.

1. There are maybe 3 people on this planet who have ever read one of my book drafts in their entirety, and none of those people are family members or close friends. None of them is even Joe. One is an established and successful YA author I look up to, one lead a company that was thinking of publishing books written by YouTubers back before everyone decided to write an autobiography, and one was the then-girlfriend of a friend I only knew from online that lived in Australia. This is a very, very strange assortment of people and I really can’t tell you how each one came to read my writing. They all read the same book too, which is actually the one I recently dusted off and decided to work on again. I can say with certainty that what they read was not ready for external eyes, but you live and you learn. And then you don’t show anyone else your writing for many, many years. Haha.
2. I definitely worry that I’ve hyped up my writing and my NaNoWriMo wins for so many years now (a decade!!) that by the time I actually publish something, people will expect something much better than I am actually capable of. I hear all the time that to be actually pro level at something, you have to practice for 10,000 hours. It applies to anything – musical instruments, crafting, cooking, sports, etc. 10,000 is a long time – it’s a lot of hours. 10 NaNoWriMos is also a long time, but I chalk most of those years up to “practice”. I think it’s okay that I haven’t been ready to share yet, but the fear of not meeting expectations is real.
3. One of my biggest regrets, though, is not being one of the first people to write and publish a book about internet friendships, or fanfiction, or fandom, or cons. I’ve been practicing writing books about these types of topics for years, and they were still pretty novel even just a couple years ago. But now I feel like books about fandom are the new dystopian YA or vampire books, and so many of them are so obviously written by people who are jumping on a trend and not writing their personal truth. These types of books are so pervasive now days that I almost don’t want to write one anymore, even though I know I could definitely write something from a very unique perspective. Maybe I’m just bring a brat, but with the ever-constant desire to write something ‘different’, I feel like that experience has gotten a bit oversaturated in the YA book world.

What are your writing confessions? I’d love to read them!

I have been excited for this ALL YEAR LONG and now it’s finally here… BOOKTUBEATHON!

Above is my TBR video. This is the video that explains the reading challenges and which books I’ve decided to read for each one. The overarching goal is to read 7 books over the course of the week, and due to my extremist tendencies (coughNaNoWriMocough) I obviously take this one the most seriously.

Here’s a photo of the books I’m reading. Aren’t they pretty? The phone represents the Jenny Han book, since I am audiobookin’ it:

Here’s my progress so far:

The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Simon Rich: 50% done
I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest: 50% done
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han: 15% done

I have successfully started 3 of my books (1 is an audiobook, 1 is a compilation of short stories and 1 is straight fiction, so I’ve been juggling all three pretty easily) and I’m feeling pretty good for my first day. At least on the reading front – as far as video and instagram challenges go, I’m failing miserably. I’ll start doing those tomorrow. Today I was too excited for the actual reading, and also having a day job AND a dentist appointment were not conducive to day one of a readathon the way it is.

I’m loving this week already. Stay tuned to my blog/twitter/youtube channel/instagram/basically everywhere for my reading updates. Also, don’t know what #BookTubeAThon is? Check out the YouTube channel!

I was a little late on this, but here’s the video I put together about my trip to NYC for Book Expo America! I had a fantastic time, got to spend time with friends new and old, and came home with a sizable stack of ARCs I can’t wait to read. I absolutely adored this event and I can’t wait to go again next year!