I’m extremely passionate about book·cation because it’s an experience I’m craving so badly and I know there are other readers out there who agree! However, I figured you might want to hear from other attendees so you don’t have to just take my word for it 😉
Introducing my new ‘Featured Reader Series‘ where I’m interviewing past book·cation attendees about their experiences at our retreats as well as questions about them and their book preferences + opinions!
Amanda and I have been friends since we met my freshman year of college. We’re sorority sisters (wooo Pi Phi!) and bonded over our love of anything Tina Fey does, taking selfies, and reading of course! When I created this idea, she was one of the first people I reached out to and she was an immediate ‘yes’! Get a peek into why she came and what she loves. 👇
What’s your favorite genre?
I love Historical Romance! ‘Secrets of a Summer Night‘ by Lisa Kleypas was the first book I read that made me fall in love with this genre. I started reading them when I was maybe 13 or 14? And Lisa Kleypas, one of the biggest historical romance authors, was doing a book signing at a local mall and I so badly wanted to go and get my book signed. I was with my grandma and mom and they were like, ‘What? You can’t read these books!” But I finally convinced them and I got my book signed and to this day, it’s one of my favorite books of all time!
What was your favorite book you’ve read so far in 2024?
I have a few! The first one I just read for a book club and thought it was an excellent true crime! It’s a fictionalized story based on Ted Bundy. It’s called ‘Bright Young Women‘ by Jessica Knoll.
For my romantasy girlies, I loved ‘A Fate Inked in Blood‘ by Danielle L. Jensen which was the first in the series and has norse mythology ties.
‘The Notorious Lord Knightly‘ by Lorraine Heath – she’s a prolific historical romance author and if you love Bridgerton, you need to read her!
And honestly, I love reading my husband’s poetry! He’s so talented and also on Kindle Unlimited so check him out- Jack J. B. Hutchens!
Why did you decide to come to book·cation?
I love reading and I love talking about what I’m reading! I love being in a book club or going to events where I’m with people have similar interests to me, but have different life experiences so we can talk about books and what they mean to us, our lives/joys, all of that! I’m looking for a connection – since reading is such a solo activity- but when I finish a book, I want to talk about it with someone and my husband doesn’t wanna talk about ACOTAR with me.
What’s your favorite book·cation memory?
It was on the first book·cation, we were all on this massive couch and all reading drastically different books – some contemporary romance, some romantasy, nonfiction, self help- and I loved that we would all stop what we’re reading and talk about what we’re reading!
Like someone would pop their head up and read a passage from their book or say something about reading and we’d all talk about topics I never would’ve talked about normally with these women and I left that interaction with my cup full.
Describe book·cation in 5 words.
What’s a good way to say ‘I can turn my brain off…like Mallory is taking the wheel… I just get to enjoy!‘
What is your unpopular book opinion?
I’m not a fan of Colleen Hoover. I’ll leave it at that.
Kate and I met through my cousin our freshman year at Illinois State University and immediately hit it off because of a mutual love of all things Disney and a capella music 🎶 We ended up living together in a bonus semester where you could find us watching Veronica Mars marathons or staying in on a Friday night to watch the Les Mis anniversary special on PBS… I promise we’re cooler than we sound 🤣 Kate and I have always loved sharing music recs and now we love sharing book recs so here’s what she has to say about her book·cation experience!
What is your favorite genre?
Okay this is very hard for me; I don’t think I can pick a fav! I switch between a couple different genres. For a long time it was historical fiction (specifically WWII) and also memoirs, but then in the last couple years I’ve switched to literary fiction and romance.
Basically, I’ll read anything that makes me want to giggle or emotional devastate me- those are my fav!
What is your favorite book you’ve read so far in 2024?
Okay this is another hard question because I discovered both Fourth Wing and ACOTAR this year which is crazy because I can’t remember life before them, but if I think about the books that really effected me I have a few that come to mind.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang ; I found it so impactful
Funny Story by Emily Henry ; I gobble anything she does right up- I loved it so so much
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb; it’s a story about a therapist talking about therapy and her being in therapy -it was such an interesting memoir
Why did you decide to come to book·cation?
I decided to come for a couple reasons. First, the idea of having a weekend to just read and honestly not feel guilty about it – where I could just sit around, read, and enjoy it and not feel the pressure of daily/adult tasks- it was very appealing.
Second, I thought it would be fun to experience a solo trip to see how it would go to meet new people and this felt like a comfortable space for me to be alone and do things I enjoy alone, but also have the ability to make friends and socialize in a comfortable environment.
And third, the idea of it sounds like so much fun! Who doesn’t want to just read and be taken care of all weekend and get to indulge in stuff we’ve always wanted to?!
What is your favorite book·cation memory?
I think there’s 2 favorite memories. The first one is when we first got there and we all sat around the table and went around answering questions about the genres/characters we love. I would normally not love ‘get to know you’ game/ice breakers, but it was really fun and everyone was so passionate about the books they like. I learned about books I had never heard of that are now my favorites so I feel like it expanded my interests.
My second fav memory was on the second day when we were all in our own little pockets in the room and everyone was just reading silently. Then after a few hours we’d all stop and converse for 20-30 minutes and then everyone would silently go back to reading quietly. The flow of it was so natural and fun and everyone seemed so comfortable! It was so nice to be around people who were on the same page as you (pun intended)!
Describe book·cation in 5 words.
I’d say: rejuvenating, relaxing, friendship, cozy, and ‘super fun’ (pretend that’s one word)!
What is your unpopular book opinion?
I have a few and maybe they aren’t all ‘unpopular’, but my first one is that I’m not a fan of Colleen Hoover; I just can’t! And another one is that if you aren’t enjoying a book and you’re at least a third of the way in, just DNF it! And that DNF counts towards your reading goal because you tried.
I’m so grateful for these two women and not just their friendship, but also their support and encouragement of book·cation. You might think, ‘of course they’re supporting you, Mallory, they’re your friends!” but these two women are very honest and wouldn’t shy away from telling me what they really think! You can trust them 😜
If you see yourself in Amanda and Kate and feel like book·cation could be a great escape for you, let’s do it! I’d love nothing more than for you to come and just ~be~ while getting to do the things you enjoy…. like reading silently! Hope to see you there 😘
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